Ross Mitchell’s Post

Hibs' 5-0 loss to Aston Villa last night reflects the enormous gulf that has opened up between English and Scottish football. Below are the revenues for the two clubs, since the final pre-Premier League season. 1991/92: 3.4x difference Villa: £7.5m Hibs: £2.2m 2006/07: 5.4x difference Villa: £52.7m Hibs: £9.8m 2021/22: 15.0x difference Villa: £178.4m Hibs: £11.9m Broadcast revenue is the main reason for the difference; if Hibs were competing in the English pyramid, their revenues would be comparable to a bottom half Championship club. As it happens, Villa play Burnley this weekend - formerly of the Championship - whose revenues in each of the above seasons reads: £1.9m, £6.7m, and £125m. The finances reflect where these clubs are in Twenty First Group's World Super League ranking of teams globally: Aston Villa: 22nd Burnley: 64th Hibs: 938th (just above League One's Lincoln City)

Six Nations Showdown: England's Resilience Secures Victory Over Wales! 🏉 The clash between England and Wales at Twickenham in the 2024 Six Nations was a rollercoaster of intensity and determination. Despite Wales' strong start and impressive attacking stats, England's resilience and strategic second-half play led them to a narrow 2-point victory, remaining undefeated in the tournament. 🔥 Key stats reveal the pivotal moments of the match, showcasing England's strategic turnaround and Wales' missed opportunities. The fluctuating possession and territory, scrum success, lineout challenges, and defensive efforts paint a compelling picture of the game's dynamic nature. 🌟 It's a testament to the unpredictability and exhilaration of rugby, where every moment can shift the tide of the game. Cheers to both teams for an exhilarating display of skill and sportsmanship! #SixNations #EnglandVsWales #RugbyClash #ResiliencePrevails 🏆

The Watermelon Effect 🍉 In our most recent webinar, the Chair of Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, Nemone Wynn-Evans, addresses the common "watermelon effect" in board reporting and suggests steps building societies can take to avoid it. Below is a sneak preview of the webinar ⏬ To view the full video, click here: https://lnkd.in/eXuQJqJy

Last thing on the Wallabies before they take on Wales. Doing the mathematics about how the pool can play out is a double-edged sword. The Wallabies can still top Pool C and their QF chances are entirely in their own hands. But there are a lot of iterations of how Pool C might play out. On the one hand, the last thing you want to be doing is the mental maths of it all in the middle of the field with 10 minutes to go. You also don't want to overcomplicate the situation and bring in too many variables. You want your focus solely on the performance and task at hand. However, knowing what's required is important for making good in-game decisions. You need to know the various game situations you might find yourself in and plan how you want to handle those. The last thing you want is kicking the ball out when you need to deny Wales their losing BP. Simply put Aus need to come away from this game with 4 or more match points than Wales. - Win with a BP and deny Wales a BP and Australia are in the QFs (so long as they beat Portugal with a BP) (First or second will depend on Fijis results) - Win with no BP and deny Wales a BP and Australia is almost certainly in the QF (so long as they have a better PD than Wales) There are a lot of other outcomes but these all require Georgia and Portugal to do Australia some favours. I would not even bother looking at these. This then provides the in-game context needed to make decisions. Should Australia be leading 14-12 with 10 to go and awarded a penalty, what should Australia do? Take 3 points and force Wales to score a try to win the game or go for a try to deny Wales a BP (but be at risk of losing to a penalty if they don't score)? #rugby #worldcup #mentalskills #scenarios #highperformance

The old 'can-do attitude' extends from my professional life into my personal life! ⚡ If I have my sights set on achieving a goal, you best believe I will do everything in my power to accomplish it. If you have a moment, check out the story below by Chris Pike (feels a little like my autobiography)!

Cracking list on here

🚀 *Norwich City: Mastering Set-Pieces to Rank Among England's Best* ⚽ In my view, and backed by statistics, Norwich City stands as the third best team in England for set-pieces, trailing only behind Arsenal and Wolverhampton. Their innovative patterns in attacking corners have made them a formidable force. Let's explore some of these patterns in detail. #### *Pattern One: Near Post Run* - *Setup:* A player starts at the far post and makes a swift run towards the near post. - *Execution:* The short cross is played along the ground to meet the player’s run into the penalty area. - *Outcome:* The player receives the ball in a prime shooting position and often scores. - *Blocking and Fake Movements:* Players positioned at the near post block the nearest defenders and make deceptive movements to draw them away from the target area. #### *Pattern Two: Outside the Box Shot* - *Setup:* The short cross is played to a player positioned outside the box. - *Execution:* The player outside the box takes a shot at goal. - *Support:* During this maneuver, one player from inside the box runs back to cover the area outside the box. This not only prevents counter-attacks but also ensures they can regain possession of the second ball. #NorwichCity #SetPieceStrategy #FootballTactics #SoccerAnalysis #PremierLeague Once Sport

Hear from Toby Freeman on why he chose to train as a financial adviser after a career in rugby with St. James's Place Financial Adviser Academy “To be a competent and effective financial adviser, you need to be good with people. You need to be asking the right questions, and you need to be interested in other people. You're not trying to be the most interesting person in the room; you are genuinely trying to get to know other people. It was the same in rugby, and it is the same in this new world as a financial adviser.” To read more, head to the LAPS Blog! #lifeaftersport #lifeafterprofessionalsport #financialadvice #retrain #careerchange #rugby Cornish Pirates Rugby Football Club Exeter Chiefs Harlequins

My writing… Away from the Euro action, this Saturday sees a colossal derby in the EFL Championship, the East Anglia Derby Ipswich v Norwich: My interview with 17-time Switzerland international, since 23/24 an U21s coach at FC Basel 1893 Timm Klose: "Norwich fans are loyal, the atmosphere of the derby is electric" In England’s second tier, the EFL Championship, David Wagner’s Norwich travel to local rivals Ipswich in the 115th derby between the two on Saturday. This is a crucial game in the former BVB U23 coach’s career; 'The Canaries' are currently 13th are up against leaders Ipswich. The contrast couldn’t be greater. The Yellow and Greens are 6 points off a play-off spot and a loss would see that gap stretch to an ever more critical gap in the promotion chase. A club of the size of Norwich needs to be in the mix for promotion. Has the Frankfurt-born firmer Mainz 05 striker been given a real chance at Carrow road? David Wagner has not been given a budget since joining in January, in spite of the big transfers of Andrew Omobamidele, Max Aarons and Milot Raschica which brought in over £25m. The only spending has been Christian Fastnacht from YB Bern for £3m. Arguably the club's leadership, surrounding outgoing sporting director Stuart Webber, have not backed Wagner's vision and have only themselves to blame for being out of contention. Ipswich are formidably led by former Manchester United assistant manager Kieran McKenna, himself a former Northern Ireland international. In spite of investing only £3m in the summer and with a squad half of the value of their local rivals; £34m v £70m, Ipswich have lost only twice this season and are playing fine football. McKenna has focussed on what they do without the ball and on making it as hard as possible for the opposition to transition from defence to attack, this team are hard to beat. The blue half of East Anglia feels like a better place to be right now, at least in football terms. Opta Analyst takes a closer look at the game play at the 1981 UEFA Cup winners this season: https://lnkd.in/eC_d6fu3. Overall, results are evenly balanced City have won 47 and Ipswich 45 of the games played. What is the Ipswich v Norwich dynamic? Here is a video which is illustrates this from the terraces better than any words: https://lnkd.in/efXewyqK The scorer of ‘that goal’? Swiss international, former VFL Wolfsburg centreback Timm Klose. Timm, right in the image below, tells the story of that goal in 2019, the significance of the derby, his five years with Norwich including Premier League promotion, anecdotes from his Bundesliga career, winning the DFB Pokal, and life with the ''Die Nati' Switzerland national team, on episode 49 of the ‘Dortmund Fan Club London' podcast: https://lnkd.in/eJm-4e7j The sold-out game at the 29,000 capacity Portman Road stadium is a 1230 (UK) kick-off. Video credit: Alex Griffin #benmcfadyean #fussball #germany #biography Edward Couzens-Lake Aaron Briggs

Concise and rational…..