I desperately wanted the announcement of the announcement to be made via some billowing white smoke from the air vents of the Lion & Castle but instead, the Club chose to go route one to announce the pending arrival of Ben Knapper as its new Sporting Director.
A lengthy and painstaking process that has been ongoing (so we are told) since March was distilled into a 346-word statement on their website in which the Club welcomed Arsenal’s current ‘loans and pathway manager’ to the role of overseeing our entire football operation.
A big leap for sure but while Knapper arrives (or will arrive) with a relatively light CV, he also comes with a burgeoning reputation and some very warm words from the Gunners’ own Sporting Director, Edu, who referenced his departure in a message to all staff members at the Emirates and London Colney.
“We are so proud that Ben has been appointed Sporting Director at Norwich City … He has been a huge asset to us during his career at Arsenal, where he has developed through our performance analysis teams to become our highly successful Loans and Pathway Manager.
“Ben has played a key role in the positive development of so many of our men’s players over the years, where he has driven a part of our football strategy to give our players the best possible experience, to ensure they return to us with enhanced qualities to continue their careers with us or elsewhere.
“We are proud to have given Ben the opportunities to develop his own career too, and we wish him all the best in his next chapter with Norwich City.”
Whether a stellar but fledgling career in player development can translate into one as a stellar sporting director will only be revealed over the next few seasons but for for 36-year-old Knapper to emerge successfully from what was clearly an exhaustive process says something about him.
In fairness to the Club on this occasion, they have steered clear of the safe, more traditional option, which would probably have been Rob Newman or Leigh Bromby – both names mentioned in dispatches but neither of whom (according to Connor in the Pink Un) made it to the short-list of six.
But who the heck is Ben Knapper? And why Ben Knapper?
Well, thanks to the good old Internet we can track his career progress from the time he studied Sports Coaching & Performance at the University of Hull through to his goodbyes to colleagues at London Colney.
Whether he played football at any decent level along the way is not clear but what we do know is that in his final two years at Hull Uni – where he earned a 2:1 degree – he was also employed as a first-team performance analyst at Scunthorpe United Football Club.
Upon completing his degree he was immediately snapped up by Prozone – the first and most well-known name in sports performance analysis – where he worked as an analyst for three months before being assigned, still as a Prozone employee, to Arsenal.
As it transpired, he spent just a year in his hybrid role before, in July 2010, moving permanently to the Gunners in the role of football analyst – a role he carried out for five seasons.
During that time, he was part of a team that provided information on player performance, team structures etc for teams in the Arsenal academy through to the first team.
In July 2015, he was appointed to the role of lead football analyst – heading up the team of which he was previously part – before, in February 2019, having the duties of loans and pathway manager added to his wider role at London Colney.
In that position, he performed the role made famous in these parts by Neil Adams, which was to arrange and oversee the loans, both in and out, and monitor the performance of those players during those loan spells.
As pointed out by MFW’s ‘Man in the Stands’, Don Harold, in that role Master Knapper will have liaised with his Norwich equivalent to arrange the ill-fated loan move of Marquinhos – one that ticked rather more Arsenal boxes than it did City ones.
Along the way, between 2018 and 2021, Knapper also found time to complete another degree, this time in Sporting Directorship at the Manchester Metropolitan University – something that no doubt figured highly in his ‘sell’ to, among others, Delia Smith, Michael Wynn-Jones, Mark Attanasio and David Wagner.
Whether the name ‘Marquinhos’ cropped up during the interview process we’ll never know but it’s clear that whatever else was discussed was sufficient to see him emerge from what we’re told was a high-quality shortlist of six that was whittled down to three prior to the final decision.
So, the upshot is we finally have a successor to Stuart Webber, albeit that successor doesn’t start for another six weeks and then will be hand-held by Webber for a period yet to be determined but which looks likely to extend to the January transfer window.
In true Norwich City tradition, the process moves with the speed and agility of the Titanic’s turning circle. But what did we expect?
If it’s going to take three years for Mark Attanasio to be permitted even the prospect of making a decision on his own, then we can’t expect Ben Knapper to go in all guns blazing from November 27.
(In truth, a handover period in this instance makes a bit of sense).
What we must hope for is that, once he is settled, Knapper is allowed to do it his way. Webber was given licence to do it and his successor should be permitted that same freedom. If that means keeping a lower profile and going about the job quietly, I don’t think there will be too many complaints.
But there’s no doubt that Knapper’s knowledge of the data-driven side of the game ties in perfectly with the Attanasio ethos and how things are driven within the Milwaukee Brewers’ organisation. That particular crossover makes perfect sense, as does the fact that Colney’s near-complete transformation will enable our new SD to concentrate on footballing rather than infrastructural matters.
Here’s hoping anyway.
Either way, once Webber has finally departed a new era can begin but until then we’ll be in this weird hinterland that Norwich City so often manages to find itself.
For example, if the current decline continues into early December and a decision has to be made on the future (or otherwise) of Wagner, who makes that call?
And the prep for the January transfer window, which as things stand looks likely to be a crucial month for the club. Who leads that piece of work?
As ever, there are more questions than answers but we can perhaps all agree on the fact that it is a bold appointment and, as mentioned earlier, has seen them veer away from the safer options.
The decision-making in our football club has been, let’s say, indifferent over the last three seasons. Let’s hope they have got this one right.
Welcome, Ben Knapper.
Good write up Mr G, Forgive me if I am wrong we will have a guy who has learned all the theory from lectures, books and videos, . As to playing the following quote from Hull university. Q&A session:
“As a young footballer my focus was on playing professionally – but when that didn’t quite materialise my focus switched to other ways in which I could remain involved and build a career in professional football.”
I would have thought “Our Neel ” is placed to help with the hand over, if not what has the guy been doing. ? This would get one of the Webber’s out of Carrow quicker.
I admit to not knowing much about football’s data driven, I am more old school watching players in live games , no doubt they do, but a bunch of stats means bugger all to me. A player can make 100 passes a game but how many of them are actually going forward ( ala Southgate) or creating something. along with Is he strong enough, has he vision and awareness ?
I just hope we don’t end up being a training ground for Arsenal youngsters.
He will have decisions to make, like getting enough money for Sara and Rowe , as they are the only way any income will be seen, that must not go towards the debt, . if the football is important . Then we need replacements not ruddy loans.
I really do not envy his job sorting out this bloody mess
Cheers Lad… good spot on the piece from Hull Uni on his playing days. Fancy a job as a researcher? 😀
Marquinhos got a goal and an assist in his first game. It’s difficult to judge him in a team that has no defence, but he achieved more here than H..Kane.
Kane could not hit a barn door from 5 yards. I struggled the hell to believe it was the same bloke we had on loan, apparently he was no better at Leicester 2 goals months apart.
Hi Gary thanks for giving us a bit more info on the new SD. I tend to skim read the club PR to be honest but initial thoughts are he’s come in from a great club, and he’ll obviously have lots of contacts. Maybe I’m naive (which is crazy when being battered down by Webber and the above’s ideology for so long) but I hope the one big thing from this appointment is that Mr Knapper is keen to be his own man and decide to sort out a philosophy on style and liaise with the Attanasios and bring in a new way of doing things. Please to god none of this selling anyone as soon as they’re with £5 million or more and go back to appointing a HC who has something to prove and achieve. Ditto players.
Can Webber please go home on the Leeds team coach on the 21st.
I can but dream.
These are always tough decisions for the club. Do you go for tried and tested? Usually either too expensive or tested=failed somewhere.
Webber did much good for us but lost his way, whether that was his own failings or just the budgetary restrictions meant he ran out of rabbits to pull. I think he leaves us in a better place than when he arrived.
If this guy has most of the right experience and is seemingly ready to step up then lets hope for the best. It sure isn’t an easy job!
Hopefully between the hand over period and some staff continuity (NA) he can start to make a positive impact on the club in the second half of the season.
His remit is obviously changing, I mean for Arsenal he was able to cherry pick and scout in Waitrose, Lets hope he also has a handle on Lidl because he’s in the poor house now.
I continue to believe the DoF model is the way forward, certainly when not bankroled by billionaires. I just hope he can bring the continuity of style and thought that Webber lost with the bizarre appointment of Smith.
I am hopeful this guy will be good….but not overly shocked if he finds the financial straight jacket impossible too.
Some great comments, folks. Thank you all.
The point made around Mr Knapper being likely hamstrung by the same financial straitjacket that so hindered all before him (including Webber) is a very relevant one.
We know Attansio is not going to be splashing any cash anytime soon but I (perhaps naively) hope that maybe he’ll at least offer us a financial buffer that we’ve never had with D&M in charge. But, either way, it could be a rude awakening for our new SD when he realises he’ll be expected to sell any player who’s worth is on the rise.
A tough ol’ gig for sure.
Hi Gary
I hope Mr Knapper has a tough hide as with Webber’s wife aon the board I can see her questioning a lot of what he does.
Maybe we will see Delia’s shield leave with her husband but as Canarylad said, why can’t Neel do the handover period.
Let’s also hope that with this appointment we see more of our top recruitment team stay instead of moving on to pastures new but a 3-year wait for Attanasio to take over is really a very poor decision on his part for agreeing to such a condition.
Welcome to City, Mr Knapper
I’m absolutely sure that someone with the data analysis skills of Mr Knapper will have understood the financial situation at Carrow Road before applying for the job. It’s not as if it is a great secret in the footballing world.
The amount of data acquired during a game on each player’s performance is enormous, including not only the number of passes, but the direction and effectiveness of the pass. There’s a whole world of information available to clubs these days, as my grandson who is currently studying for a sports science degree, has opened my eyes too. The players don’t wear those “sports bras” to enhance their upper regions!
I am with Jim on this one Gary. We have to give him every chance.
Brighton haven’t done too badly on the “data” front that’s for sure and this guy looks to be well versed on all of this.
I still like the thought of actually watching a player before we buy them but football has changed massively in the years since Saunders and Bond. So we have to go with the times or be cast adrift.
I must admit to the fact I had never heard of him, but my fears of him being the guy from “Prison Break” or the serial killer (Names spelt differently) were of great relief.
Okay its is hardly likely that Delia would employ either but lets all remember who employed Gunny as manager ? Case closed.
I agree 100%, Tim (and with Jim).
He has to be given a chance. I actually quite like the fact he’s a bit leftfield and is from the ‘young and hungry’ aisle that has served us well in the past.
Gary; let’s hope we can recoup some of his salary from loan fees received…..
Unless of course he’s working a while for free to repay some of the exorbitant sum we’re rumoured to have paid for Marquinhos!
O T B C
My opinions are framed by 15+ years of performance/data analysis, albeit in a different industry, but I spent years analyzing data and looking for business trends, shortcomings, and used massive amounts of data to create business strategies -the point being that I’m not overawed when ‘data analysis’ is trumpeted and I certainly will acknowledge that there are shortcomings within any modeling (why?, you are making both objective, but also subjective assumptions and conclusions.) I’ll add, living on the other side of the pond, that while Mr. A and the Milwaukee Brewers, like every MLB, NFL, and NBA team, does dig into the data ad nauseum but there are large limitations when applying, say MLB data, to football (and I think the issues with Chelsea and their US owners bears this out.) There may be some application to their processes/analysis from say a retail product and marketing standpoint but from a player standpoint,,,no.
I’ll add that within the player modeling, there are also differences that cannot be ignored. Take the comparison between Skipp and Norman. Skipp = English profile and brought up in the English game =reduced risk and higher success possibility because the analytics of his performance are targeted at a playing environment that is familiar. Norman = out of the Norwegian and Russian league (with the Russian analytics being more recent and more relevant). His performance data wasn’t really applicable to the environment he was going to play in (and we saw first-hand he wasn’t a good fit.) But, he was affordable = ultimately the wrong criteria.
I think Mr. Knapper understands his remit, the constraints he faces, the player markets and pools he can go play in financially. I hope what we see is an ability to better understand what the essential and key criteria from the data, and a better assessment of player upside and, ultimately, better decisions being made.
Excellent post, Ennis.
Very informative that. Cheers.