Football author and executive Ben Lyttleton (Twelve Yards, Edge, Football School) joins Alan and James on The Huddle Breakdown Interview to talk about how data analytics is changing football and what that means for Celtic. Ben goes behind the scenes of the Netherlands’ penalty data before the 2010 World Cup final. He explains why your best penalty taker should go first or fourth, and why most Premier League transfers fail. He also makes the case for a sporting director as the “guardian of the culture.” Then the conversation turns to Martin O’Neill. Ben explains how the man-management strengths that won Celtic the Scottish Premiership title are now being held against him, and how a well-run club should handle a short-term slump. They also cover over-optimisation, the comeback of the dribbling winger, and why creativity may be the one thing AI can’t predict. Ben ends with why football is still a force for good.
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