Mythbusters - can data and intelligence drag Scottish football into a bright new era?

Scottish FA chief football officer Craig Mulholland and chief executive Ian Maxwell have both referenced the sporting intelligence insights provided by Twenty First Group as a key factor in identifying Sebastien Pocognoli as the new Scotland manager. (Image: Stuart Wallace / Shutterstock)

There are some subjects that are certain to elicit groans from a section of the Scottish football public. A team’s xG, for one. Data analytics. Passing the ball out from the back. Terms that will have many channelling their inner Sean Dyche to dismiss such concepts as ‘utter woke nonsense’.

The notion then of sporting intelligence being used in Scottish football may strike some ears as oxymoronic, but in boardrooms and in positions of influence up and down the country, there are more and more converts to the theory that every tool available should be utilised to gain an edge in an ever-more challenging and competitive environment.