Sheffield United have appointed Joe Stephenson as their First Team Head of Analysis.

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Lets hope his analysis will get us back on the tracks and he helps transport us back up the league. Or maybe his analytic skills will shed light on where we have been going wrong so far this season. Heaven knows, the players need a Rocket up their collective arses.
 
I had a friend that was a video analyst at more than one championship club, who used to do some of the work in the evenings... while stoned at his flat. He had no football qualifications, just strong football knowledge and a foot in the door/character reference.

But this was back in the day, about 10-15 years ago... I'm sure Stephenson won't be doing the same! But if he does, you know, I'd have to respect it.
 
Really good spot Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou, cheers.

So we know he's been at Wolves, Swansea, Boro, Luton and Plymouth since he left our academy after 2017/18.

Would be helpful to know exactly when he was at each of those, as they've all had good and bad spells over that timeframe.
 
Lord Eddard Muir said:
Really good spot Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou, cheers.

So we know he's been at Wolves, Swansea, Boro, Luton and Plymouth since he left our academy after 2017/18.

Would be helpful to know exactly when he was at each of those, as they've all had good and bad spells over that timeframe.
Click to expand...
Realised I could just go on LinkedIn and find out rather than being lazy.

Here we go https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-stephenson-633360117/details/experience/

  • At Wolves doing loan and recruitment analysis for 19-20 and 20-21 season
  • At Swansea for 21-22 season as head of recruitment for their academy
  • At Boro for 22-23 and 23-24 seasons. Came when Wilder was boss, stuck around under Carrick. Focus was on opposition analysis.
  • Spell at Luton was first half of last season under Rob Edwards, "led on all aspects of opposition and team analysis". Left with them second-bottom
  • Went to Plymouth as head of analysis on a consultant basis. Joined them in February when they were already bottom of league so debatable how involved he'd have been with that one
If nothing else he's been doing these roles for a while, but why am I not surprised to learn he's worked with Wilder previously.
 
Lord Eddard Muir said:
Really good spot Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou, cheers.

So we know he's been at Wolves, Swansea, Boro, Luton and Plymouth since he left our academy after 2017/18.

Would be helpful to know exactly when he was at each of those, as they've all had good and bad spells over that timeframe.
Click to expand...
It's in the link.

"Stephenson returns to Bramall Lane, where he had nine months as Academy Performance Analyst Intern during the 2017/18 season. He had a similar placement with Sheffield Wednesday before that.

Since then, he has spent three years with Wolves, most of which was as Loans and Recruitment Analyst, a year as Swansea’s Head of Academy Analysis, two seasons with Middlesbrough as First Team Analyst – Lead Opposition and seven months at Luton as Senior First Team Analyst.

Most recently he had a four-month contract as Head of Analysis (Consultant) at Plymouth in the closing months of last season."

United academy analyst 2017/18 (first team finished 9th in the Championship; our U23s finished 4th in the PDL that season)
Wolves loan & recruitment analyst 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 (7th, 7th, 13th in the PL)
Swansea academy analyst 2021/22 (15th in the Championship; u21s finished 8th of 9 in the PDL South)
Middlesbrough first team analyst 2022/23, 2023/24 (4th, 8th in the Championship)
Luton 2024/25 first team analyst (7 months - so probably until Rob Edwards was fired in January; 22nd in the Championship)
Plymouth 2025 head of analysis (4 months - likely under Miron Muslić who was in charge from January to May; 24th in the Championship)
 
Balham said:
It's in the link.

"Stephenson returns to Bramall Lane, where he had nine months as Academy Performance Analyst Intern during the 2017/18 season. He had a similar placement with Sheffield Wednesday before that.

Since then, he has spent three years with Wolves, most of which was as Loans and Recruitment Analyst, a year as Swansea’s Head of Academy Analysis, two seasons with Middlesbrough as First Team Analyst – Lead Opposition and seven months at Luton as Senior First Team Analyst.

Most recently he had a four-month contract as Head of Analysis (Consultant) at Plymouth in the closing months of last season."

United academy analyst 2017/18 (first team finished 9th in the Championship; our U23s finished 4th in the PDL that season)
Wolves loan & recruitment analyst 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 (7th, 7th, 13th in the PL)
Swansea academy analyst 2021/22 (15th in the Championship; u21s finished 8th of 9 in the PDL South)
Middlesbrough first team analyst 2022/23, 2023/24 (4th, 8th in the Championship)
Luton 2024/25 first team analyst (7 months - so probably until Rob Edwards was fired in January; 22nd in the Championship)
Plymouth 2025 head of analysis (4 months - likely under Miron Muslić who was in charge from January to May; 24th in the Championship)
Click to expand...
Quite good analysis.
 
Lord Eddard Muir said:
but why am I not surprised to learn he's worked with Wilder previously.
Click to expand...

I guess for most people that work staff in companies for years on end that they don't always appreciate these things. Many work in the same department for years on end, with the same manager and team around them in a very stable environment.

But for those of us that work on projects and work as contractors, this is very normal. Having worked the last 20+ years in this way, I get calls from people i've worked with previously to join them on projects. I came back to my current role, not just through the standard HR process, but because the senior manager was aware that i was applying to come back and he proposed me to rejoin the team.

In projects, often with a duration of 2-5 years, the lifecycle is very similar to that of a football manager. In a permanent staff role there is time, money and the desire to invest in the development of people, this will also happen at football clubs. But when a manager needs someone for a role, he'll most likely go for someone he knows and trusts because he wants someone that he knows will fit in.
 
Not sure this is anything other than standard par for the course stuff these days. All clubs, including us, done this for years.
 

Will he be checking Wilder out or just the players?
 
Is BladesAnalytics still at Luton? It was interesting seeing him develop his hobby and then getting a decent job out of it. Our loss
 
Lord Eddard Muir said:
Realised I could just go on LinkedIn and find out rather than being lazy.

Here we go https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-stephenson-633360117/details/experience/

  • At Wolves doing loan and recruitment analysis for 19-20 and 20-21 season
  • At Swansea for 21-22 season as head of recruitment for their academy
  • At Boro for 22-23 and 23-24 seasons. Came when Wilder was boss, stuck around under Carrick. Focus was on opposition analysis.
  • Spell at Luton was first half of last season under Rob Edwards, "led on all aspects of opposition and team analysis". Left with them second-bottom
  • Went to Plymouth as head of analysis on a consultant basis. Joined them in February when they were already bottom of league so debatable how involved he'd have been with that one
If nothing else he's been doing these roles for a while, but why am I not surprised to learn he's worked with Wilder previously.
Click to expand...

Two things to take from this,

1. That’s hardly a round of unbroken success listed there..

2. Another mate of Wilder ….CW is here for ever guys..
 
Training ground guru? Sounds like yoghurt and sandals all round then.
 
Wilder: "So, Joe - what have you got for me?"

Stephenson: "Well, I've collected hundreds of thousands of data points and analysed it all in granular detail. The results speak for themselves."

Wilder: "So what have you discovered?"

Stephenson: "Tom Cannon is w@nk!"
 
As a data analyst that was laid off yesterday, I'll offer "gerrit in mixer", drop Cannon and "titwank" as consultancy. That'll be five grand please
 

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