Our guest on Episode #79 of the TGG Podcast is Joe Newton.

Joe was part of Thomas Frank's inner circle at both Brentford and Tottenham and is a new breed of analyst.

After starting as a youth player at Tranmere and Wrexham, he got a degree and Masters in performance analysis and secured a job at the New Saints in Wales.

His big break came when he was appointed first-team analyst at Brentford, where he forged a close relationship with Frank and helped the club gain promotion to the Premier League.

After that came a brief and turbulent spell at Tottenham, which ended in the sack in February 2026.

Joe told us about his progression in the game, about what makes Brentford special, why things went wrong at Tottenham and about his special relationship with Frank.

In this episode we also have an interview with Adam Ridgewell, who worked for Southampton for five years before becoming Account Manager with Genius Sports.

Adam told us how clubs like Brentford are using Genius Sports' tracking data and Performance Studio to gain an edge in the game.

Wilfried Nancy speaks for the first time since his departure from Celtic in this exclusive episode of the Training Ground Guru Podcast.

The Frenchman opens up on why he took the job, the intense pressures of the Old Firm, what happened in those 33 days, and key lessons he's taken for the future.

SHOW NOTES =>

01:46: Intro. Back in Columbus and recharging.

06:47: Reflecting on short and turbulent tenure at Celtic. 'Beautiful experience.'

18:56: Style of play was very ambitious. Too ambitious?

34:17: Playing with fear. Banning Sky Sports News at the training ground.

39:15: Football in Glasgow quite conservative? 'They hired me to change that. But the idea wasn't to change everything.'

41:25: Weren't there realistic discussions with Board before taking job?

46:13: Friendship with Russell Martin. Shared philosophies and experiences.

47:34: Moving about a lot as a child, because his father was in the French navy. Helped him develop empathy for people.

51:24: Does he have a rigid style of play?

53:35: Ridiculed for using tactics board/ putting venn diagram on his X account.

57:43: Ambitions for the future.

Episode #77 of the Training Ground Guru Podcast, in association with Genius Sports, is with Ben Ryan, the Performance Director of Premier League side Brentford.

Ben is responsible for making sure that the club's players are mentally and physically equipped for matchday.

Before joining Brentford four years ago, Ben consulted with a number of leading organisations and was Head Coach of Fiji's rugby sevens team, leading them to Olympic glory in 2016.

Ben told us how someone from a rugby background landed a top role in football, what it's like to work with Head Coach Keith Andrews and about the club's secret supremacy rating.

We hope you enjoy this episode and if you do, please give us a follow via your preferred podcast provider.

SHOW NOTES =>

01:31: Facilities at the training ground, where the interview is taking place.

03:05: Concerns about players being pampered?

04:39: What does your role as Performance Director involve?

07:19: What have you been doing today?

11:50: Changes that took place at the end of last season, when Thomas Frank left and Keith Andrews took over as Head Coach.

15:54: How Keith Andrews confounded the critics and doubters.

20:05: Brentford's supremacy rating. Taking a strategic view and not being overtaken by the emotion of results.

23:22: Clever recruitment and importance of developing players.

26:00: Coming into football from rugby union. Importance of looking outside football networks.

31:22: Head Coach of Fiji Rugby Sevens team - chalk and cheese with Premier League football.

39:47: GPS - one of the first teams to use it (with England Rugby in 2006) but not the panacea and won't be important forever.

42:07: Risk of over-monitoring players/ 24-hour surveillance.

43:58: Power of play/ how Brentford break up routine and regimen.

46:59: Setting up guard rails. Analogy about going across Firth of Forth Bridge.

48:52: Europe on the horizon. Challenge of extra games.

52:23: Premium Member question. Lessons from rugby. Chaos and surprise.

55:51: Ambitions: personally and for the club as a whole.