Paul Johnson
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Paul Johnson
@paulrjohnson.net
1.6K followers 800 following 870 posts

Data Scientist interested in causal inference, machine learning, and statistics | He/Him

Website: https://paulrjohnson.net
Github: https://github.com/paulj1989

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Paul E. Johnson is an American historian and professor emeritus at University of South Carolina.

Source: Wikipedia
Philosophy 17%
History 15%
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paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · Nov 11
I recently wrote a blog post about the impact of clubs’ financial resources on football outcomes.

paulrjohnson.net/blog/2024-10...

The TL;DR is that the rich stay winning (shocking, I know), but I thought I’d put together a little thread of some of the findings because Always Be Posting.
Analysing Money’s Effect on Football Using Multilevel Regression – Paul Johnson
What if I told you that we can use statistics to laugh at the silly football teams too?
paulrjohnson.net

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Paul E. Johnson

violagrl09.bsky.social
Christine @violagrl09.bsky.social · 1d
Kids can't hang out in parks. They can't hang out at the mall. They don't have 3rd spaces because no one wants kids around and then we are surprised when they rely on SM for connection.
If you take that away, what do they have left?

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 3d
Where the That's Right on this thing?

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 3d
John doesn't know ball
johnspacemuller.com John Muller @johnspacemuller.com · 3d
Don't know which is more embarrassing, that I missed one or that I immediately recognized the other five

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

johnspacemuller.com
John Muller @johnspacemuller.com · 3d
Don't know which is more embarrassing, that I missed one or that I immediately recognized the other five

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 7d
This is an amazing answer and stops her in her tracks completely haha
saulstaniforth.bsky.social Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 8d
#bbclaurak tries to get a gotcha. Zack, you refuse to fly. How can you be a candidate for high office if you'd refuse to ever get on a plane?

Well Laura, in that situation I'd get on a plane.

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

michaelcaley.bsky.social
Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 7d
you can read the @jnorthcroft.bsky.social piece online here: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...
Why carnage of the ‘meat wall’ is bringing back giant goalkeepers
Clubs are turning to physical goalkeepers to combat the set-piece revolution, as teams wreak havoc with awkward crosses aimed at a mass of bodies in the box
www.thetimes.com

Reposted by Andrew Scott, Paul E. Johnson

saulstaniforth.bsky.social
Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 8d
#bbclaurak tries to get a gotcha. Zack, you refuse to fly. How can you be a candidate for high office if you'd refuse to ever get on a plane?

Well Laura, in that situation I'd get on a plane.

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 10d
This is a point worth internalising if you work with data in any domain. Your data is only valuable in as much as it is a good representation of the real world you are studying, and your analysis needs to be underpinned by an understanding of the domain (or acknowledgement of your limitations).
markposts.bsky.social mark thompson @markposts.bsky.social · 10d
"It's easy to get carried away with data itself, but data is just a representation of football. So there are 3 things to understand: 1) football itself 2) the manner in which the data represents football 3) the statistical techniques of working with data."

www.getgoalsideanalytics.com/square-one/
Square one
Some thoughts on where to start if you're interested in football stats with a bit of an analytics mindset. And links, of course.
www.getgoalsideanalytics.com

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

markposts.bsky.social
mark thompson @markposts.bsky.social · 10d
"It's easy to get carried away with data itself, but data is just a representation of football. So there are 3 things to understand: 1) football itself 2) the manner in which the data represents football 3) the statistical techniques of working with data."

www.getgoalsideanalytics.com/square-one/
Square one
Some thoughts on where to start if you're interested in football stats with a bit of an analytics mindset. And links, of course.
www.getgoalsideanalytics.com

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 11d
These god damn nerds hate big strapping lads like Jorgen and I.
michaelcaley.bsky.social Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 11d
what the fuck is the deal with everyone in football and Jorgen Strand Larsen
fabrizioromano.yopro20.com Fabrizio Romano (MIRROR) @fabrizioromano.yopro20.com · 11d
🚨❤️💙 Crystal Palace agree deal to sign Jørgen Strand Larsen from Wolves, here we go! Transfer fee will be £45m plus £5m add-ons. Story revealed this morning on bid improved now confirmed, all agreed club to club. Jorge Mendes negotiated the deal, now agreed in principle.

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

michaelcaley.bsky.social
Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 11d
what the fuck is the deal with everyone in football and Jorgen Strand Larsen
fabrizioromano.yopro20.com Fabrizio Romano (MIRROR) @fabrizioromano.yopro20.com · 11d
🚨❤️💙 Crystal Palace agree deal to sign Jørgen Strand Larsen from Wolves, here we go! Transfer fee will be £45m plus £5m add-ons. Story revealed this morning on bid improved now confirmed, all agreed club to club. Jorge Mendes negotiated the deal, now agreed in principle.
Image uploaded from tweet

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 11d
Eating during the broadcast is absolutely outrageous behaviour. I'd rather them play Lee Dixon's commentary highlights than listen to that.

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

futi.live
futi @futi.live · 12d
How do you add tactical context to football data?

For futi, it starts with a phase of play model.
Introducing phases of play
Context is everything
futiapp.substack.com

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

ozerthinking.bsky.social
Adam L. Ozer @ozerthinking.bsky.social · 12d
New blog post: Did MPs who performed better in the 2024 UK election discuss the election more often in their e-newsletters? In a brief exploratory look, I find that they do, though that relationship is more complex than simply asking "who won the race?". #polisky

adamlozer.github.io/blog/posts/2...
Adam L. Ozer, Ph.D. - Elections Are for Winners! MP Inbox Trends, Part 1
adamlozer.github.io

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

michaelcaley.bsky.social
Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 15d
Arsenal - Manchester United match analysis

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

rwohan.bsky.social
Ryan O'Hanlon @rwohan.bsky.social · 16d
I came up with a new, simple power-rating system for the Premier League. It had West Ham ahead of Sunderland and therefore is perfect: www.espn.com/soccer/story...
Premier League Power Rankings: Rating all 20 teams on performances, not results
In the debut of ESPN's Premier League Power Rankings, a look at all 20 teams, including why Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham are better than the table suggests.
www.espn.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Reece Jones, Kim L. Scheppele , and 31 more

margaret.bsky.social
Margaret Killjoy @margaret.bsky.social · 18d
I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 19d
Don't worry some of us are just doing shit and infrequent work so we're not going anywhere

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 19d
So bummed by the fbref news I haven't checked on the real news. Something to look forward to tomorrow, I'm sure it's going great.

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 19d
Just to reiterate: Fuck Opta.
graceonfootball.com Grace Robertson 🏳️‍⚧️ @graceonfootball.com · 19d
Opta's position seems to be "FBRef bad, FIFA and gambling companies good". Interesting.

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 19d
Damn. This sucks. Fuck Opta, but thanks to everyone at FBref for all the amazing work they've done over the years to get good quality data out in the open. Think the conversation around the sport has been much better for their efforts, and will suffer massively now.
jdnalton.bsky.social James Nalton @jdnalton.bsky.social · 19d
Down with this sort of thing 👎
"FBref & Stathead Data Update Posted by sean on January 20, 2026 "At Sports Reference we have taken great pride in the role FBref has played over the last seven years as an expansive source for soccer fans all over the world. Unfortunately, last week the provider of our advanced soccer data sent us a letter terminating our access to their data feeds and requiring the deletion of their data from the site immediately. As a result, we have removed the provider's data from FBref and Stathead in compliance with their demand. The data provider has asserted that our use of the data violated our agreement. Their demand came unexpectedly despite our long-standing and good-faith operation of FBref and Stathead. We have operated the sites in a consistent manner from their creation (well before the signing of this agreement) through today, and we have always welcomed open and frank discussions about how the sites operate. Any effort to retain access to this advanced data would have been costly and uncertain. Under the circumstances, we have decided to comply with the termination notice. This creates a significant gap in the stats offered on FBref and Stathead. We are heartbroken both for our users who have come to rely upon this product and for our team that has spent thousands of hours bringing these stats to life and supporting our users. We are especially upset by the massive step back this creates in access for women's advanced soccer data. Data Democratization is a core Sports Reference value and the removal of this data is a sad day for all of us. We will take time to assess possible paths forward. FBref will continue to present the deep historic basic data we have for over one hundred competitions, but if we present advanced data in the future it will certainly have a dramatically smaller scale. Please do not send requests for data or access to a product that no longer exists. The advanced data has been deleted and cannot be provided."

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

graceonfootball.com
Grace Robertson 🏳️‍⚧️ @graceonfootball.com · 19d
Opta's position seems to be "FBRef bad, FIFA and gambling companies good". Interesting.

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

jdnalton.bsky.social
James Nalton @jdnalton.bsky.social · 19d
Feels like public access to interesting and useful soccer football data is getting worse rather than better. It probably peaked when FBref had Statsbomb data, other sites had Opta data, Soccerway existed in its original form, and WyScout was more accessible.

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

jdnalton.bsky.social
James Nalton @jdnalton.bsky.social · 19d
Down with this sort of thing 👎
"FBref & Stathead Data Update Posted by sean on January 20, 2026 "At Sports Reference we have taken great pride in the role FBref has played over the last seven years as an expansive source for soccer fans all over the world. Unfortunately, last week the provider of our advanced soccer data sent us a letter terminating our access to their data feeds and requiring the deletion of their data from the site immediately. As a result, we have removed the provider's data from FBref and Stathead in compliance with their demand. The data provider has asserted that our use of the data violated our agreement. Their demand came unexpectedly despite our long-standing and good-faith operation of FBref and Stathead. We have operated the sites in a consistent manner from their creation (well before the signing of this agreement) through today, and we have always welcomed open and frank discussions about how the sites operate. Any effort to retain access to this advanced data would have been costly and uncertain. Under the circumstances, we have decided to comply with the termination notice. This creates a significant gap in the stats offered on FBref and Stathead. We are heartbroken both for our users who have come to rely upon this product and for our team that has spent thousands of hours bringing these stats to life and supporting our users. We are especially upset by the massive step back this creates in access for women's advanced soccer data. Data Democratization is a core Sports Reference value and the removal of this data is a sad day for all of us. We will take time to assess possible paths forward. FBref will continue to present the deep historic basic data we have for over one hundred competitions, but if we present advanced data in the future it will certainly have a dramatically smaller scale. Please do not send requests for data or access to a product that no longer exists. The advanced data has been deleted and cannot be provided."

Reposted by Paul E. Johnson

danny.page
Danny Page @danny.page · 19d
Like you can get even more granular than FBRef ever did on FotMob.

Basic xG totals was against the agreement? What?
FotMob shot map with expected goals for each shot

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · 20d
Sure seems like a good time to reconsider that Palantir deal...
stephenkb.bsky.social Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 20d
So many British people are clearly unaware of the downside risks and consequences of the Greenland crisis, including, many people whose job it is to inform the country about it:
Britain is underprepared for this crisis
Keir Starmer needs to make clear the stakes over Greenland
www.ft.com

Reposted by Will Jennings, Paul E. Johnson, Paul Nightingale

stephenkb.bsky.social
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 20d
So many British people are clearly unaware of the downside risks and consequences of the Greenland crisis, including, many people whose job it is to inform the country about it:
Britain is underprepared for this crisis
Keir Starmer needs to make clear the stakes over Greenland
www.ft.com

Reposted by Andrew Scott, Martin Paul Eve, Lesley A. Hall , and 3 more

viviane49.bsky.social
LaindonFeminist: Labour led by Keir for me @viviane49.bsky.social · 29d
I wonder what Londoners know that the rest of the country don’t?

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · Jan 7
This shit is wild. As a (quite large) straight, white man, I get to enjoy a safety that others are not afforded, but even so I notice a difference between London and Southampton. It's so rare to get any grief in London. But I still get people from elsewhere telling me how unsafe London is!
zoecrowther.bsky.social Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · Dec 11
The "London = most dangerous place on the planet" discourse is still going strong on Twitter

I've actually been surprised by how little I've felt threatened as a woman in London (having lived in Tooting and Peckham)

I loved growing up in Nottingham, but I had much, much worse experiences there tbh

paulrjohnson.net
Paul Johnson @paulrjohnson.net · Jan 6
Just slid around on the very icy front step to my house and I am certain I just escaped death.