Can Dave Brailsford, who boasts 18 Olympic gold medals, lead Man Utd to glory or will he flop like famous predecessor?
IF Sir Dave Brailsford ends up being involved in the day-to-day running of Manchester United, it will represent the biggest – and arguably toughest – job of his professional career.
United are a significant global brand, one of the most recognisable sports teams on the planet, but when it comes to recent football achievements, they are not even the most successful side in their own city these days.
It is going to take one almighty task to turn the club around, drastically change its fortunes, improve the quality of the first team and renovate tiring and dated stadium facilities.
It is being reported that British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to establish a new football committee of himself, Joel Glazer and Brailsford if his deal to acquire 25 per cent of the club is agreed.
As part of the £1.3billion deal for a quarter of the Premier League club, Ratcliffe’s deal would see Brailsford – the Ineos director of sport – parachuted into the Old Trafford hotseat with the main focus being on football operations.
You would have thought that this workaholic, obsessive character – once hailed as ‘Vialli’ by his Westminster Casuals teammates – would consider slowing down as he approaches his 60th birthday next February.
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Especially when you realise he underwent surgery for prostate cancer in September 2019 and then had a heart operation two years later.
But it seems the chance to take on one of the biggest jobs in world football is too good to turn down.
And on the face of it, Brailsford – Derbyshire-born but raised in the Snowdonian mountain village of Deiniolen in Wales – has the CV and credentials to suggest he could turn United into a prosperous sporting venture again.
British Cycling would certainly attest to his acumen and leadership given that they won 18 Olympic gold medals with him in charge at the Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games.
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Sir Chris Hoy, Laura Kenny, Jason Kenny and Victoria Pendleton would vouch for his managerial skills as it was under his programme, during a golden era for British riders, that they flourished on the highest stage.
Yet perhaps Brailsford’s biggest claim to fame is delivering a spell of dominance at the Tour de France with Team Sky, latterly rebranded as Ineos Grenadiers when the petrochemicals manufacturer took over.
Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the famous three-week cycling race when he wore the Yellow Jersey on the Champs-Elysees in that glorious summer of 2012.
His British team-mate Chris Froome did even better than that, winning four of the next five editions on the streets of France, while Geraint Thomas also got involved in the act with his triumph in 2018.
All this historic success on two wheels was underpinned by Brailsford’s ‘marginal-gains’ philosophy.
The idea was to try and improve the smallest components by just one per cent in multiple areas and then the accumulative impact of all that would see a significant increase in overall performance.
It was a philosophy that gained great credibility and celebration at the time, in and out of sport, but has since had its critics, none more so than Wiggins who said in 2017 it was “a load of rubbish”.
There was a time when whatever Brailsford touched seemed to turn to gold and few disapproved when he was knighted in February 2013 and received top coaching honours at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards.
And yet since then, his reputation has taken battering as he has faced controversy and uncomfortable questions over his saddle regime.
In December 2016, a former coach made accusations on social media that Brailsford had been responsible for a climate of “bullying” and “harassment” and “wrongful dismissal of staff” at British Cycling.
That same month, Brailsford was grilled by MPs in Westminster as part of a wider investigation into combatting doping in sport.
Key issues discussed included the use of therapeutic use exemptions and the mysterious contents of a medicinal package – often referred to as the ‘Jiffy bag’ – delivered to Team Sky during the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine that was won by Wiggins.
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee issued a report in March 2018 that claimed Team Sky had crossed an “ethical line” by using permitted medication to “enhance the performance” of Wiggins. This allegation was “strongly refuted” by the cycling outfit.
In a separate matter, Richard Freeman – the former Team Sky and British Cycling chief doctor – was later found guilty by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal of ordering banned testosterone in 2011 “knowing or believing” it was to be given to a rider to improve their athletic performance.
In August, Freeman was slapped with a four-year doping ban for possession of a prohibited substance and twice lying to UK Anti-Doping investigators.
While there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on Brailsford’s part, he faced calls from a British member of parliament to be suspended from his role at Ineos while a full investigation into the Freeman case could be launched.
No doubt these are all questions and topics that will surely be raised and resurfaced if he decides to get involved in the red half of Manchester.
United will bring a whole new level of scrutiny that he has not faced in his career with Olympic sports and bike riding.
Sir Clive Woodward, England’s 2003 rugby World Cup-winning coach, had it to a lesser extent when he took over as performance director of Southampton after a disastrous Lions Tour in 2005.
But his spell in the beautiful game was far from successful and he lasted only one year on the south coast.
Brailsford will hope for better results and he can point to the slow development of Nice, who are second in Ligue 1 in France, as evidence that he understands how to work in football.
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Whatever happens, if indeed Brailsford does take over the reins at United, he will have to make an instant impact in the unforgiving environment of football.
Fans on the Stretford End will have little truck with the marginal-gains approach if results are not quickly forthcoming.