Ian Graham > Quotes

“The family had been reasonably prosperous until “the Enclosures.” These were a series of acts of Parliament that enclosed land that had previously been open. Until the Enclosure Acts, local people had been able to use this common land for grazing animals and collecting firewood. More than a fifth of the land in England was enclosed by these acts to bring it into more productive use by farmers and landowners. Whole villages that had previously been self-sufficient were driven into poverty as a result. The impoverishment of Witheridge by the Enclosure Acts rendered most of Mr. Willcocks’s usual customers unable to afford new footwear. After this, everyone in the village fell on hard times, except for the squire, who benefited from the land enclosure.”
― Ian Graham, The Ultimate Book of Impostors: Over 100 True Stories of the Greatest Phonies and Frauds

“There is an excess of Librans in the Premier League, because the age cut-off for youth football is 1 September, and an excess of Aquariuses on the continent, because the age cut-off is 1 January.”
― Ian Graham

“Jürgen agreed with the analysis. ‘We should have won that game! You saw it?’ No, I hadn’t seen it. I had just analysed the data.”
― Ian Graham, How to Win the Premier League: The Inside Story of Football’s Data Revolution

“At Liverpool we were anything but harmonious. We had many arguments about many players but the disagreements eventually led to better decisions being made.”
― Ian Graham

“7.5, the typical variation in points from season to season”
― Ian Graham

“The Foundling Hospital was established in 1741 by a businessman and philanthropist named Thomas Coram as a children’s home for the “education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children.” He was moved to establish it by the sight of abandoned babies and young children starving and dying on the streets of London. Today, part of the site the Foundling Hospital stood on is a children’s playground near the world-famous Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. The Foundling Hospital itself has gone, but the charitable organization behind it still exists, now known as the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, or simply Coram.”
― Ian Graham, The Ultimate Book of Impostors: Over 100 True Stories of the Greatest Phonies and Frauds

“Football fans shouldn't hate the statistician. They should hate the game that weights penalties so extremely, and whose goals are so rare that it is sometimes better to be sent off than allow a chance of conceding one.”
― Ian Graham

“Players who attempt dangerous passes can get away with a lower completion rate: fortune favours the brave.”
― Ian Graham

“Data analysis can lead to a distorted view of the world. We analysts measure what is easily measured and we tend to ignore what cannot be easily measured. However, if we make the mistake of thinking that which can't be easily measured is not important, then we'll make bad decisions.”
― Ian Graham