Statistics can be our secret weapon: Allardyce

LONDON (Reuters) – Sam Allardyce has always leaned heavily on statistics during his managerial career and believes they can be a useful tool in Sunderland’s bid to climb the Premier league table.

Sunderland’s current numbers make worrying reading, with one win from 11 league games, six points gained and 25 goals conceded, the most in the top flight.

During his days in charge of Bolton Wanderers, Allardyce extensively used ProZone data, often to great effect, and plans to do the same at the Stadium of Light having inherited a squad already mired in a relegation battle.

He is planning a presentation to his players to spell out the exact formula required to ensure top-flight survival.

“The hard job is fitting it in,” Allardyce told a news conference pn Friday.

“Normally you’d do it before the season starts because it’s quite in-depth and you want the players to really study and take it in.

“Basically, it’s about where you can finish and if you want to finish in that position what you have to do to achieve that, it’s not that complicated in terms of the math, but it’s a breakdown of equations of what you need to do to achieve the finishing position you want.

“I started it in 2001-02 and the numbers haven’t changed much,” he said.

Allardyce said it was a case of working out how many points you need to finish where in the league, how many goals you must score, how many you concede, clean sheets, how many goals do you need from your strikers, your midfielders and how many games you need to win at home and away.

“The ratios all put together gives a clear picture,” he added. “It’s not an exact science, but a great indicator for the players.”

Sunderland were hammered 6-2 by Everton last week, having battled back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 and Allardyce said a “gung-ho” attitude had cost them.

They host an in-form Southampton side on Saturday and Allardyce expects a more responsible approach from his players, insisting that not losing is more important than winning.

“We’re not in a position where we have to win the game we’re playing next — we’re more in a position where we have to make sure we don’t lose it,” he said.

“We have to continue to do that and if it’s a point respect it because ultimately that will lead to a win and breed confidence, but if you continue going to try and win it you will end up losing and be in a pickle.”

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)