BENFICA and Cricket Australia are pioneering use of a ‘player performance platform’ that enables them to make sense of their vast amounts of data.

MANCHESTER CITY have been banned from signing Academy players for two years after being found guilty of tapping-up two schoolboys.

ALAN PARDEW says sports science and medical staff have become ‘too protective’ and that this contributed to his sacking at Crystal Palace.

After months of speculation, Monchi has finally been unveiled as Roma's new Sporting Director. The Spaniard has become an almost mystical figure after transforming Sevilla from Segunda División side to perennial European contenders.

SPORTING DIRECTOR Stuart Webber has continued his whirlwind start to life at Norwich City by releasing seven players and holding informal talks with Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill.

NORWICH’S new sporting director, Stuart Webber, has appointed heads of UK and European scouting as part of his revamp of the club’s recruitment.

Joe Roach, Bournemouth’s long-serving Academy manager and head of coaching, is to leave the club at the end of June for personal reasons.

DAVE PARNABY, who is retiring at the end of the season after 20 years as Middlesbrough’s academy director, says youth football has become too ‘formalised’ and lost the art of play.

NEW ZEALAND mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka has given an insight into how to think like an All Black.

STEVEN GERRARD vowed to switch the focus away from “showboating” and “lollipops” as he was unveiled as Liverpool’s new Under-18s manager today.

On the face of it, New Zealand Technical Director is a thankless job: the country is rugby obsessed, its top players play thousands of miles away, and only half a World Cup place is available every four years. Andreas Heraf describes it as a “great gift” though.

SAO PAULO assistant Michael Beale says English football has suffered because of a focus on developing teams instead of individuals at youth level.