Tony Bloom transfer juggernaut can seal two key traits in Hearts recruits as Hibs backed amid Bill Foley exit

Hearts investor Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics has been praised for two hard to find traits - as Hibs are backed to thrive without Black Knight Football Club influence.

Both sides of Edinburgh have had investment from Premier League owners in the last couple of years, with Bournemouth billionaire Foley taking a 25% stake at Hibs, while Brighton chief Bloom has backed title glory at Tynecastle within a decade after his £9.86m investment, While he brings his lauded Jamestown software to top of the table Hearts, which has propelled Brighton into a solid Premier League side with savvy signings, Foley has exited stage left in Leith.

His wishes for Hibs to become more in feeder club form for Bournemouth within his BKFC collection of sides across Europe and Auckland FC in New Zealand was strongly rebuffed by chairman Ian Gordon. His stake has now been bought out and ex-Scotland boss Gordon Strachan has been assessing the landscape in the capital.

How impactful has Tony Bloom been with Jamestown Analytics?

Now technical director at Premiership rival Dundee, who Hibs face on Saturday, Strachan watched Manchester United face Bloom’s Brighton a few weeks ago. He has been left marvelling over not only the talent Jamestown can find, but the characters it also unearths.

He said: “We can't all use Jamestown. There's a couple of things to Brighton because people just think it's running stats and heading and things like that, there must be more than that to Brighton. I watched Brighton a few weeks ago, I went to Old Trafford and Manchester United won it because of two players really, Mbeumo and Fernandes. As a team, watching as a coach and looking at a team, the better team was Brighton. I look at it and go, he's quick, he's good on the ball, he's this, he's that.

“What it doesn’t say in data, now maybe they get this in data I don't know, but I don't know anybody else's who does, is the character and the resilience of the players who were playing for Brighton. We can all go to data, which we've done even at Dundee at times and other clubs have done it, but then you find that we really should have been doing more homework on character, resilience and things like that.

“Every one of their players was a top professional. He got up, he took a knock, he got up and played, they ran, they covered, in between that there's lovely passing and bravery on the ball. I think if it is all down to data, then Brighton have got it, whatever it is, they've got it. Every other club has got data. Man United have got data, Man City have got data, Arsenal have got data, Spurs have got data, they've all got data. Within that, all the money spent, there is people who have not been worth the money, so there is data, but there's something else there.

“Whether it's having a good eye, understanding what the player is all about, character, resilience, is he a good teammate, all these kind of things have to come along with the data. At the moment, Tony Bloom's Jamestown thing is working brilliantly for him, but again you've got to put that together with a good coach, a top coach, and the top coaches at Brighton. I've seen something during their games that not many people use the tricks that they use or moves to get on the ball that they do, but it's been over the last three managers I've seen the same things.

“So there's a stability about their management as well, so it's a big thing. There's a lot going for data, but data is not the be all and end all, I think you've probably heard most people my age saying that! But it depends what kind of data you've got. At Dundee, how much can we spend on data? Very, very little, because we’ve got very little money. If you have somebody like Tony Bloom come along and give you that assistance then that is absolutely wonderful if you can get something like that. Well done to Hearts for putting this deal together to make sure that Bloom is on board, and I can understand why he would want to take Hearts because there's a big potential at Hearts.”

Will Bill Foley exit impact Hibs

When it comes to Hibs, Strachan does not feel Foley’s departure will hurt the team he grew up supporting, but players like him and Bloom entering Scottish football can only be a positive. He added to Video Gamer: “I don't think it'll make any difference to Hibs to be honest with you. I really don't know the political scene there at Hibs in particular. I just watch the football, I just hope they do alright, apart from when they're playing Dundee. I've got so much in my life going on that I never get involved in the politics of any club that you're talking about, because it's just a waste of time for me, I just watch the beauty of the game.

“It'll be handy if they (people like Bloom and Foley) can bring in players, and it's all about making money, and bringing money into the game. There's different ways of bringing money into the game, if you can produce players like Celtic have done over the years. Bring them in for £2m, and then you sell them for £16m, you hope that circulates around and they buy people like Luke McCowan from us.

“That gives us another million and a half at Dundee, so you're hoping that that works, so they bring players in, sell them on, they make money, maybe come to Hibs, Dundee, Dundee United, want to buy your players. That gives you another million and a half that you didn't have, but that's all come from the fact that these people can produce players, move them on, make money. So it's handy, if Hearts gets somebody in and they make 8 million then there you go, it's going to circulate around Scottish football.

“If you have a Hibs vs Hearts game and it's full of players that you've invested in and everybody wants to watch them. A full house which you’re always going to get, but the better players, it looks a better game, the atmosphere's always going to be there, but if you've got better players, then that is better to watch. It's better for our image and standing in world football. Then we're going to get better sponsorship, so there's a lot going on with these guys coming in to help our clubs.”