Bloom is also among the best at understanding the limitations of data, accepting the inherent unpredictability of football and the importance of the human touch

Bloom is also among the best at understanding the limitations of data, accepting the inherent unpredictability of football and the importance of the human touch both in building a team and keeping staff happy, motivated and loyal. And so stories of Bloom’s kindness and generosity are numerous. The role of experienced scouts watching matches in person is still valued and, beyond combining that feedback with hugely sophisticated data, character checks on prospective new employees are considered highly important. It's refreshing to hear that, after endless worship of "management by data" dogma that treats people as replaceable cogs and leads to derivative, uninspired products based on yesterday's trends.