THE POWERTABLE
It may sound like one of those Black & Decker DIY gizmos your dad used to get at Christmas, but the PowerTable is the result of extensive number crunching by Catalyst (a Hertfordshire management consultancy), an index of stats from every English league game since 2000.
Presenting breakdowns of competitive analysis, the PowerTable throws up various hypotheses and trends; when a teamâÂÂs most dangerous during a game, when theyâÂÂre most vulnerable, whether a side is too reliant on one specific player when it comes to getting goals, etc.
The table is split into four colour-coded tiers, based on the number of points won this century, management quality, squad strength, financial turnover and the clubâÂÂs âÂÂpotentialâÂÂ.
The PowerTable in all its glory
THE TIERS
The first tier is home to the richest and most powerful clubs in the Premier League; the second the wannabes, those with a decent cash flow and plenty of ambition; the third a mixture of the newly-promoted and the stuck-in-their-ways mediocre; the final fourth tier housing the struggling relegation fodder.
Interestingly, and a little depressingly, it seems the biggest gap lies between those top two tiers. Breaking into the top four takes a huge leap in both performance and, crucially, finances.
Manchester City fans be warned: according to CatalystâÂÂs Mark Reynolds, they need to add ã100 million to their turnover, sell about 70,000 new shirts, increase their wage bill by about ã80 million, buy back the stadium from the council and âÂÂfind players who want to live in Manchesterâ to edge their way into that top-four promised land.
ItâÂÂs highly unlikely theyâÂÂll be able to do all that in the tight squeeze of a January transfer window, but where theyâÂÂll sit in the PowerTable at the beginning of next season should be interesting.
Catalyst declare an 89 percent success rate when it comes to predicting which one of these four tiers the various clubs will end up in come the end of the season. Ultimately, the PowerTableâÂÂs USP is itâÂÂs ability to accurately show whether a team in the Premier League are playing above, below or in line with their true capability.
THE EFFECTIVENESS TABLE
Within the PowerTable itself, an effectiveness table picks out the points achieved against clubs in each tier. ItâÂÂs really the key to everything, an ever-evolving statistical snapshot providing an effectiveness percentage figure and summarising a clubâÂÂs success rate.
So, to choose a team at random, Tottenham, in Tier Two, are playing Tier OneâÂÂs Aston Villa. Spurs have a 17 percent success rate against teams in the highest band, while Villa have a 42 percent rate when playing second tier sides.
âÂÂThis is objective data,â says Reynolds. âÂÂThe man in the pub may disagree, but thatâÂÂs all part of the debate. None of these are predictions, weâÂÂre not saying theyâÂÂre going to win, while this lot are going to lose; weâÂÂre saying, these guys have a propensity to get it right, and these to get it wrong.âÂÂ
Chelsea's effectiveness table for last season
For the in-depth subscribers edition of the PowerTable, go towww.powertable.co.uk
