Sir Dave Brailsford’s ‘marginal gains’ thesis has become a much-used term in sports psychology and performance thanks to the record-breaking and medal-laden exploits of his British Cycling team.
The concept of marginal gains is said to be about small incremental improvements adding up to a significant one overall, once they are all added together.
In Brailsford’s world, this included painting floors pristine white in order to spot any impurities, such as dust, which was said to be undermining bike maintenance. He asked his team to regularly use anti-bacterial gel to prevent hand infections and redesigned the team bus to improve comfort and aid recuperation.
The results were impressive. Team GB was once derided in international cycling but are now world leaders – the best performers at the last two Olympic Games. Of course, Brailsford’s track maintenance and bus makeovers weren’t the main reasons for this about-turn in performance. Great athletes, brilliant facilities and excellent coaching played the significant roles. But Brailsford – and others – are convinced the smaller details, the marginal gains, helped increase their chances. It’s fair to say the results don’t lie.
As such, marginal gains is now a mantra by which many sportspeople and teams look to implement. Which brings us to football.
In League Two, Notts County have created headlines with the refurbishment of the home dressing room. And it’s important to point out that it is indeed just the home dressing room that has had a makeover to make Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen proud. For visiting teams, things have actually got worse.
Chairman Alan Hardy, who is investing heavily in revamping Meadow Lane, believes he has funded an overhaul that has given his players a “dressing room befitting a Premier League club”. His manager, former top-flight star Kevin Nolan, adds “It’s the best dressing room I’ve ever been in”.
Now, at Notts, there are two dressing rooms. The main one, for matchday, is only for those who are selected in the squad. It’s created a feeling that all week the players have to strive to take their place in the state-of-the-art dressing room. Each player has a designated area, with their picture underneath their own locker. There is mood lighting, which Nolan can flick between based on his mood at team-talk time, it’s open-plan with ‘rain showers’ and rolling Sky Sports News on the screens, as well as numerous fridges for players to grab isotonic drinks, water and food.
Nolan complained to Hardy that, having won as player-manager while with Leyton Orient at Meadow Lane, he felt it was far too comfortable for away teams. With Hardy being the owner of interiors company Paragon, Nolan couldn’t have asked for a better person to make the changes he felt necessary.
👏 | @Bigalanh5 talks us through his decision to invest in a new dressing room at Meadow Lane. pic.twitter.com/Vw5OkMOpBS
— Notts County FC (@Official_NCFC) August 11, 2017
Not so now, and this has already piqued the anger of one visitor. Accrington Town’s John Coleman let rip in his post-match press conference following a recent 2-2 draw between the sides, saying his side had been “forced to get changed in a corridor”. Coleman, a visitor on numerous occasions to Meadow Lane in recent seasons, stated Notts had “built a whole room inside a room and made the changing room a corridor”.
Time will tell what difference it will make at Meadow Lane. But before Nolan’s arrival the Magpies had won just three games at home in a year. So far this season, they are unbeaten on their own patch.
Being a keen traveller and football fanatic, I’ve visited several stadiums across Europe on tours. The dressing rooms at Ajax’s Amsterdam Arena, Barcelona’s Nou Camp and Manchester United’s Old Trafford don’t hold a candle to the revamped design at Notts. Of course, it doesn’t mean the Magpies are set to challenge Europe’s elite!
Peculiarly, the only comparable dressing room is at the San Siro, where I visited both Inter Milan and AC Milan dressing rooms. While Inter’s is extremely basic, 100 yards down the corridor is a flash, extravagant interior that was paid for by the riches of former Milan owner and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The contrast couldn’t be vaster. And given Milan have historically won more than Inter; is there something in it?
Clearly the key for Nolan and his team is what they do once they leave the comforts of the dressing room. But the former Newcastle and West Ham star is hoping that comfort and the extra professionalism of their new surroundings will translate to greater pride in the Magpies’ on-pitch performances. A marginal gain that could lead to long-term success.
