Performance analysis plays a massive part in football
Performance analysts Mike Haines and Jake Barnes both play an important role behind the scenes in the development of the Club’s playing squad.Haines, the Club’s Head of Performance Analysis, graduated from the University of Gloucestershire with a first class honours degree in Sport Science, and later completed a Masters with distinction in Performance Analysis at UWIC (now Cardiff Metropolitan University).
Before joining Graham Alexander’s men he spent four years working at Swindon Town in his native Wiltshire, advancing to Head of Academy Analysis and regularly working with the first team.
Haines provides Town’s management team with key video and detailed statistical information ahead of games, preparing a comprehensive profile on the opposition including
playing styles and the traits of individual players.
Key points are provided to the players using dossiers, iPads and pre-match team meetings to provide a preview of upcoming opposition.
On a match day his main responsibility is to film a wide-angle tactical view of the game whilst simultaneously editing footage and collating detailed statistics on the Cod Army’s performance.
This provides the basis for weekly post-match meetings where the Town squad review their performance based on key points identified by the management team.
Barnes, who hails from Thornton, joined the Club as an intern in July 2013 after graduating from UCLan with a 2:1 degree in Sports Science and commencing a Masters in Sports Coaching.
Alongside his primary roles with the youth and development squads, he has worked closely with and been mentored by Haines, gradually gaining more experience within the first team environment, including working on Town’s 2014 Play-Off final victory at Wembley.
Barnes is a further example of Fleetwood Town’s growing reputation for producing top class interns, as thanks to his hard work and application he was rewarded with the offer of a full time position with the Club in July 2015.
The focus of Barnes’s work is on player development, utilising video to facilitate the transfer of the Town coaching staff’s extensive knowledge of the game to the Club’s youngsters, something which has played a key role in assisting the likes of Tyler Forbes and Nick Haughton with their step-up into the first team.
As with the first team all games and specific training sessions are filmed which allows the management and analysis teams to review individual and collective performances, feeding back to the young Cod Army through team meetings and one-to-one’s.
Analysis continues to play a huge part in football, and the impressive work the pair produce at Highbury is invaluable to Graham Alexander and his management team.