Chelsea have now announced two new signings in the last two days. No, not players, but that will come very soon. This time, we talk about staff.
Yesterday, the club officially announced that Laurence Stewart will join Chelsea from Monaco in a new role as manager to focus on global football.
Then comes another appointment today, with Joe Shields arriving from Southampton as Co-Head of Recruiting and Talent.
Two big announcements and two big additions as the club looks to build a new and improved world-class recruiting department, with more names expected to come as well.
It’s clear which direction the club is headed, with data-driven recruitment and field experts leading the team, and then focusing on buying more clubs for the multi-club model, and these top-class appointments are part of that. vision.
Personally, I think these developments are really something to get very excited about as a fan.
Todd Boehly said in conjunction with today’s announcement:
“We have a clear plan and will adopt a modern, data-driven philosophy focused on elite emerging talent. We are assembling a deep and collaborative management team that is eager to build a continued and sustained winner at Chelsea.”
And that quote right there is a big reason to be excited about Stewart in particular, who has years of experience becoming an expert in data analytics recruiting.
In April 2021, Stewart said:
“There are many different ways to do this role. I have a certain history and have been in some personal development, so I’ve been more exposed to certain principles, like data, since my performance analysis days.
I feel very comfortable understanding the data and also its weaknesses, so where are the blind spots so as not to fall into any traps?
Laurence Stewart in 2021: “I’ve had more exposure to certain principles, like data, since my performance analysis days. I feel very comfortable understanding the data and its weaknesses, where the blind spots are, so I don’t fall into any traps.” https://t.co/pm8hiXNRLJ
— Si & Dan Talk Chelsea (@SiandDanTalkCFC) October 27,
I think this is important because sometimes data or statistics CAN lie. Okay, not actually, but sometimes people prefer to use the ‘sight test’, and I think what Stewart is talking about here is using the whole thing and not just the data.
There is no question that we are getting an absolute expert in the field of recruitment, and Shields also comes with an impressive resume and the desired experience. Boehly and company are building something big here!
