Forest land Man City's Astley as Data and Analysis rebuild continues
Sam Astley arrives from Manchester City, where he was First-Team Performance Analyst
Written by Simon Austin — October 27, 2023
NOTTINGHAM FOREST have hired Sam Astley from Manchester City to become their new Head of First-Team Analysis as their Data and Analysis rebuild continues.
Astley has worked for City for a total of nine years, in their Academy, loans department and first team. For the last three years he has been a First-Team Performance Analyst.
At Forest, he replaces Tom Corden, who has departed the club after seven years to become a full-time lecturer in performance analysis at the University of Worcester, having previously done the role on a part-time basis.
The club’s overall Head of Data and Analysis - and the man leading this rebuild - is the highly-experienced Steve Rands, previously of Manchester City, Derby County and Swansea City. Astley’s arrival enables Rands to continue working closely with manager Steve Cooper and the rest of the coaching team.
Meanwhile, Adam Smith has been appointed as Forest's Tactical Analyst after nine years with Wigan Athletic, where he was Head of Performance Analysis. Tom Jenkinson, a Senior Analyst with Red Zone Analysis, does 16 hours a week with Forest as a Project Analyst.
In terms of data science, Dan Morris was appointed as Forest's Head of Data Insights a year ago, following five years with Swansea City. Morris is supported by two data science PhD students, as well as consultancy services from Touchline Analytics.
