Jobs4Football meets Michael Rainey
Data analysis has become a vital aspect to clubs across the world and in football today it is applied in every aspect of the game imaginable.
From recording how far players run each game to which direction a penalty taker is most likely to shoot, data can tell coaches and management every possible statistic they could ever want to know.
Upcoming analytics specialist, Michael Rainey, believes data in football is going to become even more valuable in the future. He said: “I think it’s becoming more and more important; you see every big team on TV now has an iPad on the touch line, they’re not doing that for show, they’re getting real high value information which will help the team.”
“It’s not just having an effect in training, management is also getting real life and real time results during a game and then using this information to make tactical and personnel changes. I believe it’s going to become even bigger in the next 5 to 10 years, I think it’s really going to blow up.”
The Northern Irish born has obtained analytic experience including, being an opposition analyst at Northern Irish club Larne FC, a video scout for Spanish club Velez CF and a performance analyst at the Steven Gerrard Academy before taking on his current position of being an education mentor and academy performance analyst at Tranmere Rovers.
The 27 year old believes this experience has put him in good stead for the future. He went on to say: “I wouldn’t have swapped it for anything, every club I’ve been at I have learnt something new. Through grassroots as a coach you sometimes learn through negatives, but especially at Tranmere it has all been positive, everything that I’ve done I have had support, I really couldn’t have asked for more.”
Before getting into analysis, Rainey originally went down the route of coaching after his youth football days back in Northern Ireland were over and has recently completed his master’s degree in Coaching and Analysis at the University Campus of Football Business.
“I probably see myself more on the analysis side of things, but I really see myself being a part of that new breed of analysis where you’re really getting that coaching experience as well, meaning you’re boots on the ground and taking a real active approach in the actual training.”
“Every day I want to improve I want to get better, so I don’t really set myself a target in terms of wanting to be here in 5 or 10 years I just go into it every day looking to become better and looking to improve those skills that got me here in the first place.”
It is not just about the first teams either, Rainey is part of the analysis team for the U18s at Tranmere which helps provide pre and post match analysis which is used to assess and improve performance of the academy.
Some clubs, like Brentford, even base their entire transfer strategy off data collected on players in the hopes to find the under the radar players for a good price. This method has seen the club for the first time in its history reach The Premier League, despite not having the financial backing that other clubs do at that level.
“There are so many things that could put a team off a player, maybe he runs funny or strikes the ball funny, but data doesn’t lie, data will tell you who is a good player and who is going to come into your team and really produce for you”, Rainey said.
“I think data and getting your eyes on a player work hand in hand, because with data you can whittle down a shortlist of 200 players down to 20 or 30 who fit in with the type of player the club is looking for. Then combining this with the observational scouts who can go and watch these players you can then obtain the best suited players to the club, so I believe this method is effective and that a lot more teams could invest in the actual data side of things.”
The Liverpool resident has only started using analysis software for two years but in this time he has gathered a lot of experience in the subject at a number of different clubs in different countries. As well as his degree, Rainey also holds FA licenses in coaching and first aid along with PFSA certificates in; opposition reporting, talent identification and advanced reporting.
Rainey puts this rapid progression down to hard work and good mentor support. He went on to say: “For people looking to get into analysis there’s a massive element of hard work and self-taught skills. I had a great mentor, Connor McGillik, at UCFB who introduced me to the basics of football analysis, but I spent many hours late at night developing my skills and finally got the reward for that work with my current role.”
“By no means am I an industry leader in analysis yet, but I’m knowledgeable and I can put together in-depth reports on what the management team need, and I would consider myself pretty handy to say the least.”
“In the future I would like to have the resources to really go to the next level and make a difference for the team.”