The Wire, episodes 4x05-4x09

“Alliances” to “Know Your Place”

Former Premier League manager Sam Allardyce is a curious figure. What we see on the pitch feels very old fashioned and backwards, but his methods of achieving this were truly innovative and cutting edge, at least by the standards of the 2000s. Allardyce loves stats. He pioneered the use of primitive data analysis at Premier League clubs, asking some col…