Data Analysis: Using data to identify young midfielders in the Scottish Championship

There are several young players who have moved on to a higher level after performing well in the Scottish Championship in recent seasons.

Players, such as Kevin Nisbet, signed by Hibernian from Dunfermline Athletic in the summer of 2020, have gone on to become key performers for teams in better quality leagues, and even gained international recognition.

Other recent examples include former Raith Rovers midfield pair Regan Hendry and Dylan Tait. Hendry has helped Forest Green Rovers secure automatic promotion to EFL League One this season, while Hibernian returned to the league to sign Tait last summer who was enjoying a successful loan spell back at Rovers, and then from January at Kilmarnock before injury curtailed his 21/22 season.

A highly competitive league, Scotland’s second tier offers a good platform for young talent to develop their game.

With the 21/22 season now finished, I’ve picked out three young midfielders who have made an impact this year, and who may have the potential to make the step up to a higher level.

In the data analysis, I have included midfielders who have played a minimum of 800 minutes, mostly at CDM, CM OR CAM, in this season’s Scottish Championship.

All the data is retrieved from Wyscout, and Python is used to convert the per 90 numbers into percentile ranks. The percentile ranks are then presented in a pizza chart to visualise their performance across several key metrics.

#1 Reegan Mimnaugh (20-years-old)  Hamilton Academical  Scottish

The first player I have picked out is Reegan Mimnaugh. A product of Hamilton Academical’s acclaimed academy, producers of midfield talents such as James McCarthy and James McArthur, Mimnaugh has had an impressive season despite Hamilton’s mid-table form.

Relegated from the Premiership last season, the Lanarkshire side have had an indifferent season, rarely ever threatening to challenge for a promotion play-off spot. Despite this, Mimnaugh has still shown the attributes which have previously seen him linked with English Premier League sides Leeds United and Tottenham.

Technica