A secret algorithm brought English Premier League success to Brighton & Hove Albion. It told them to hire ex-Socceroo Dario Vidosic [Video]

The best way to sum up Brighton & Hove Albion’s novel approach to data and analytics-driven recruitment is that not even Dario Vidosic is sure why they hired him. He can take a guess, but the details are a closely guarded secret. That’s how protective Brighton’s owner and chairman, Tony Bloom, is of the algorithm that has turned the club into a Premier League mainstay.

A professional gambler-turned-sports betting entrepreneur, Bloom uses the same mathematical skills and insights that made him his fortune – predominantly in poker – to help him pick out hidden bargains on the transfer market and find coaches whose ideas neatly fit the club’s ethos.

Vidosic, the 37-year-old former Socceroo, is the latest such example to have been plucked from relative anonymity and parachuted into a crucial posting at Brighton. He was appointed five months ago as head coach …