Head of Recruitment Interview (6 Viewers)

[Liquid Gold]

INTERVIEW: Head of Recruitment Chris Badlan talks about his work and strategy at the Sky Blues

Good stuff, says we're already pretty sorted for the summer, even if we go up. If all the off field crap was sorted we'f be in a great position.

 

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[Nick]

Good that players are identified and ready to go. Much better than the last minute panic.

I wonder if his link with bright will mean he signs for us if he is out of contract?

 

[ccfcway]

"There are players that we knew would take time to settle that are now starting to show what they are capable of – it has to be remembered these players are young and you can’t demand things straight away and we always knew that it would click."

spot on. embarrassing that people are writing off chaplin at 21, Bakayko at 23, Shipley at 21 etc

 

[Liquid Gold]

Good that players are identified and ready to go. Much better than the last minute panic.

I wonder if his link with bright will mean he signs for us if he is out of contract?

Didn't someone say they'd met him and it looked promising. More than a year together and Bright would give Robins an aneurism.

 

[Nick]

Didn't someone say they'd met him and it looked promising. More than a year together and Bright would give Robins an aneurism.

Yeah said he wanted to stay.

Interesting that both badlan and widdrington followed bakayoko.

 

[ccfcway]

Yeah said he wanted to stay.

Interesting that both badlan and widdrington followed bakayoko.

and yet some fans think he's sh1t

 

[Philosoraptor]

Good article.

It does have myself wondering though if there is a system to measure game mechanics and herustics between groups of players, and not just the attributes of individuals within a game, By measuring I mean positionally as well as tactically.

To give a chess example.



I am wondering if there is a football equivalent to this kind of engine?

 

[Calista]

Good that players are identified and ready to go. Much better than the last minute panic.

I wonder if his link with bright will mean he signs for us if he is out of contract?

If that were the case I’d be over the moon – what a talent he is. People will always find fault and it’s easy to question his decision making etc., but it’s just inexperience. A cut above a lot of the loans we've had IMO, and I’d love to have him on board as a permanent signing.

 

[skyblue025]

Chances are Bright will sign for mid to lower end Championship club on double or treble the wages we will pay. we might have a small sniff if we go up. Would love to see him stay but can't see it.

 

[DannyThomas_1981]

Seems much more professional than past regimes.

For example, it seemed to me at the time that no planning had been done following the sale of McSheffrey which resulted in paying way over the odds for Kevin Kyle (a classic panic buy).

Anyway all the signs right now are very positive....well at least until the next narrow defeat and the return of the 'spineless cowards' rent a mob.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

However meyler may well have been great off the pitch he hadn’t been great on the pitch yet

 

[covcity4life]

great read. we all know sisu been cunts but last 2 years feels like things ar ebeing done right. if we can get a new rent deal ageed we can defintly make championship over next few years if we keep supporting robins like this.

to know summer targets already sorted be it L1 or championship is very encouraging

we must survive to see this through! we could be on precipice of something special

 

[SkyBlueDom26]

What a shame if it all goes tits up!
A very good read!

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Yeah said he wanted to stay.

Interesting that both badlan and widdrington followed bakayoko.

He’s an interesting player, 6”4, is quite quick and young. Potentially a diamond in the rough if he’s coached properly.

 

[Hobo]

"We knew that fans wanted us to recruit in some other positions, but if the right players don’t come up then you can’t panic - that is the worst thing to do in football."

I wish some of our fans really understood this.

 

[Nick]

"We knew that fans wanted us to recruit in some other positions, but if the right players don’t come up then you can’t panic - that is the worst thing to do in football."

I wish some of our fans really understood this.

Goalkeeper?

 

[covcity4life]

our fans wanted 19 strikers

 

[shepardo01]

Worry is that you can identify targets and make plans but if the club aren't playing at the Ricoh then things will certainly change.
If groundshare, goalposts will move massively (no pun intended) and will have to factor in reduced budget (lower crowds) and less attractive venue (unless maybe Villa Park!). This means that targets will certainly have to be reassessed.
Poor and sad situation for Robins to be in.

 

[Edgey95]

Hiwula has a year to go come the end of the season,right? Id try and get a decent contract for him imo

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Goalkeeper?

Wingers and strikers too probably... in Jan a lot of people didn’t fancy Baka or Chaplin. Bright was seemingly signed to play on the wing which didn’t last very long.

 

[JulianDarbyFTW]

Two year contracts are great because it means if things go wrong you're not saddled with them ala David Bell, and if they have a solid first season they may sell for a decent amount. The problem with them is that the Jordy Hiwula's of this world who do well but don't set the world alight are in a kind of no mans land, and we risk losing them. Still, I think the club have done quite well within recruitment over the past couple of years, with the few notable exceptions moved on quite quickly.

 

[shmmeee]

Good article.

It does have myself wondering though if there is a system to measure game mechanics and herustics between groups of players, and not just the attributes of individuals within a game, By measuring I mean positionally as well as tactically.

To give a chess example.



I am wondering if there is a football equivalent to this kind of engine?

Chess is a very very simple game to model and brute force predictions on move quality.

Football is an order of magnitude more complex than even GO which we’ve just managed to effectively model.

Any football model will be so simplified it’ll be almost worthless IMO.

 

[covcity4life]

Philosorapter August 7 2013 - March 22nd 2019

"He loved chess"

 

[Captain Dart]

"There are players that we knew would take time to settle that are now starting to show what they are capable of – it has to be remembered these players are young and you can’t demand things straight away and we always knew that it would click."

spot on. embarrassing that people are writing off chaplin at 21, Bakayko at 23, Shipley at 21 etc

Agree 100%, and is it the same crowd that want to chuck Ponti and other youngsters on? You got to trust the management.

 

[junglej13]

Two year contracts are great because it means if things go wrong you're not saddled with them ala David Bell, and if they have a solid first season they may sell for a decent amount. The problem with them is that the Jordy Hiwula's of this world who do well but don't set the world alight are in a kind of no mans land, and we risk losing them. Still, I think the club have done quite well within recruitment over the past couple of years, with the few notable exceptions moved on quite quickly.

In fairness to the club it seems some of the two year deals have an option for a third year in the clubs favour which makes perfect sense.

 

[ccfcway]

to know summer targets already sorted be it L1 or championship is very encouraging

or should be par for the course for a professional club.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

"There are players that we knew would take time to settle that are now starting to show what they are capable of – it has to be remembered these players are young and you can’t demand things straight away and we always knew that it would click."

spot on. embarrassing that people are writing off chaplin at 21, Bakayko at 23, Shipley at 21 etc

Nobody's said they will never come good. But perhaps front loading a squad with youngsters who will inevitably make mistakes and lack consistency will have pitfalls. This doesn't mean sign a bunch of 35 year olds as a counterbalance, but some established heads for this league to take pressure off. Ogogo was one, but never fit and got binned off.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Chess is a very very simple game to model and brute force predictions on move quality.

Football is an order of magnitude more complex than even GO which we’ve just managed to effectively model.

Any football model will be so simplified it’ll be almost worthless IMO.

Artificial intelligence chess engines have started to crush the brute force software-wouldn't rule out applying something that is more intuitive that is able to look past more materialistic outcomes.

 

[Philosoraptor]

Artificial intelligence chess engines have started to crush the brute force software-wouldn't rule out applying something that is more intuitive that is able to look past more materialistic outcomes.

You would be surprised where they are at the moment. One thing that needs to be remembered in all this is the future use of this technology, and the impartiality of the commentary around this. It's a huge developing market, and if you scratch below the surface, all is not quite like what it seems.

The engine that takes the prize, for me at the moment, is Houdini. It plays in a romantic style which is counter-intuitive for a good many engines to understand.

It's not the strongest engine, on the way it is set up. The way it is set up though is what makes it interesting.

It is not your usual chess engine.

Houdini Chess Engine

 

[shmmeee]

Artificial intelligence chess engines have started to crush the brute force software-wouldn't rule out applying something that is more intuitive that is able to look past more materialistic outcomes.

I’d be surprised at that. Have you got a link?

The reason ML is needed in go is because the potential futures are too large to model in time. I’m not sure I’d see where the “intuition” is in chess, don’t know the game that wel though so would be interested to read about it.

The leap between Go and football is huge though is my point. You can’t even accurately model the state of the pitch at any given second let along predict possible futures for action planning.

 

[Hullinho87]

Good article.

It does have myself wondering though if there is a system to measure game mechanics and herustics between groups of players, and not just the attributes of individuals within a game, By measuring I mean positionally as well as tactically.

To give a chess example.



I am wondering if there is a football equivalent to this kind of engine?

I do exactly as you describe here as a consultant for professional clubs (not City unfortunately) and have a full time project doing this for a semi professional club - who are looking to be professional in 2 years.

All interesting stuff.

 

[Nick]

How does it work with football?

 

[shmmeee]

I do exactly as you describe here as a consultant for professional clubs (not City unfortunately) and have a full time project doing this for a semi professional club - who are looking to be professional in 2 years.

All interesting stuff.

Would love to know the details if you’ve got anything you’re allowed to share.

 

[Gibbo]

Seems much more professional than past regimes.

For example, it seemed to me at the time that no planning had been done following the sale of McSheffrey which resulted in paying way over the odds for Kevin Kyle (a classic panic buy).

Anyway all the signs right now are very positive....well at least until the next narrow defeat and the return of the 'spineless cowards' rent a mob.

Our panic buys last year were Davies (which has worked) and JCH (who has been moved on) otherwise we seem to stick to loans. This is much much less risky, and so a better way to do panic acquisitions. Sometimes do you need to panic, and we needed an alternative to Max up front last season as Beavon was a dud.
However even so our record with January panic loans is not good. Neither worked last year and Meyler looks to have added little.

 

[Gibbo]

great read. we all know sisu been cunts but last 2 years feels like things ar ebeing done right. if we can get a new rent deal ageed we can defintly make championship over next few years if we keep supporting robins like this.

to know summer targets already sorted be it L1 or championship is very encouraging

we must survive to see this through! we could be on precipice of something special

I think you are right about SISU although their better record is a bit "Robins dependent" they have made 9 managerial appointments iirc, of which only Robins x 2 and Mowbray x 50% have worked