\n AI is becoming increasingly common in football, with clubs using it to process vast amounts of data that would be impossible for staff to assess manually.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rather than replacing coaches or scouts, AI can be used to identify patterns, support recruitment, monitor fitness and assist tactical planning.\n<\/p>\n
\n Modern AI systems can analyse millions of data points in a matter of minutes, helping clubs assess performance, injury risk and opposition tendencies.\n<\/p>\n
\n By using AI effectively to improve key areas, including recruitment, clubs can close the gap on rivals with bigger budgets – and that is what Solak expects.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We invested a lot of money in making an AI suite that could give our analysts an unbelievable amount of information within a few minutes,” said Solak.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mark Bitcon (right) is head of the club’s health and performance (Image: Stuart Martin)\n<\/p>\n
\n “So I really don’t understand why we needed to go and watch over the fence! But okay, that’s something for me to figure out in the next few months.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Because in my opinion, I look at our pre-game preparations and I’m amazed at what type of information we have and what can actually be done.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Tonda [Eckert] is a great coach to use all of this because he’s very methodical and goes into every little detail. Every player against his opponent.\n<\/p>\n
\n “All the little tiny things of every game. Then we have a very advanced AI within our science and medical department with over 215 million data points.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It’s probably more now, but when I was there, we looked into the medical data, and we had 215 million data points on the medical status of our players.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Our AI agent sometimes needs four minutes to give us the full report on one player, as there is so much data, but this is where I want to develop our club.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Head coach Tonda Eckert regularly praised director of football operations Mark Bitcon, who leads the performance department, last season.\n<\/p>\n
\n Bitcon was formerly in a similar role at Man City’s academy and England Rugby before he came to Sport Republic and Saints during the 2023\/24 term.\n<\/p>\n
\n The German thanked him, his staff and the medical department for having what he deemed to be impressive player availability throughout the year.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mads Roerslev missed most of the season with an Achilles injury, but the majority of his key players, including Ross Stewart, were always options.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mads Roerslev was one of few players who suffered last season (Image: Stuart Martin)\n<\/p>\n
\n It is one example of an edge Solak believes Saints can gain, as they operate within a budget more than five times smaller than some top clubs.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We don’t have the funds that are available to Man United, and it was the same when I was running my telecommunications business,” added Solak.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We were competing with Deutsche Telekom, and these world telecoms were like multiple times bigger, so we always tried to be smarter and faster.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We had to use our agility and size, if you want, to do things better than them. I think that Southampton represents a very similar type of challenge.\n<\/p>\n
\n “When I look towards the big clubs in the Premier League, and we have to find a way to be more agile, smarter, but we have to have the same ambition.\n<\/p>\n