As part of our Inside the EFL series, Adam Bate visited Lincoln City to speak to chief executive Liam Scally and head coach Michael Skubala to find out how the League One club are using an innovative approach to gain an edge over their rivals.
Image: Inside the EFL: Lincoln City put innovation at the heart of their plans for success under Michael Skubala
Lincoln City are not the richest club in League One, but they are probably the most innovative. Perhaps that is what will help them achieve what they call the 'sweet spot' and achieve their goal of promotion to the Championship.
A 2-0 home win over Reading on the opening weekend was a great start for Michael Skubala’s side. The only surprise was that none of the goals came from set pieces. The Imps were League One’s top scorers for set pieces last season – and for good reason.
However, the first goal came from a long pass from goalkeeper George Wickens. That was probably also a result of data analysis. Speaking to chief executive Liam Scally at the training ground, he was a little reserved.
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“Maybe the only thing I would like to share at this stage is that I think attacking principles are often determined by fashion in football, but these things are cyclical. In 10 years, the 4-4-2 formation with transition from defense to attack may be popular again, who knows?”
“What I want to say is that we focus on results, not trends.”
Going against the grain is Lincoln’s forte. Skubala outperformed his budget last season and the season before, making him statistically the team’s most successful coach this century. “When you look at the data, there’s a huge disconnect between resources and results,” Scully says.
“I think of our approach as playing a game of trumps. If you spread your limited resources thin and try to outdo your competitors in absolutely everything, you'll end up slightly weaker than your opponents across the board. Our strategy is to focus on a few key areas and really dig into them.
“Our goal is to find the biggest differences. We have to understand where we can change the game, make the biggest impact, get the most bang for our buck.” For example, set pieces? We set a goal to be the best in the division. We managed to be the best in the country.”
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Scully acknowledges that many other clubs have access to artificial intelligence, which they have used to optimise set pieces. “You have to be really dedicated to it.” That’s where Skubala comes in. Because you don’t just have to be dedicated to it. You have to actually coach it.
“I started learning about AI and set pieces at Leeds,” Skubala told Sky Sports. He was a coach there during their Premier League days, joining after many years in the Football Association, including a stint as England futsal coach.
“The most interesting thing is to focus on building attacks from defense. But a goalie can only give six attempts per game. You have 50 attempts
Sourse: skysports.com
