Notts County dressing room: "Marginal Gains And Dressing Room Rows"

[Joe Jones]

A very insightful article has been published by Paul Smith on The Sportsman about marginal gains in sport, and uses Notts County's home dressing room revamp as a new case study.

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.

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.

Do you agree?

[Chris Website URL Visit Site 𝕏 fmcj10 Instagram fmcj10]

Well we have to get the balance between professionalism and 'pampered'.

A few seasons ago there was a lot of comments when we trained where the national team did, and I know players like Dean Leacock would complain about training on in a perfect surrounding - only to play on Meadow Lane (which at the time had those egg chasers on it).

I think we have the right balance at the moment, it should help encourage players to sign and to improve. The gyms will be key because previously the club spent fees on sending players out, now everything is pretty much available at ML. The point I'm trying to make is all about respect and balance, which I am sure exists currently. I think previous examples was based on the club rushing and trying to jump steps, whereas now we are building foundations.