Team Sky hire Nygaard?

Superoo

Brian Nygaard is regarded as one of the best press officers in cycling so I think it's a great move for him and for team sky. Team sky's sports manager Scott Sunderland and him are really good mates. I'm not surprised Nygaard makes the move after also Carsten Jeppesen was recruited earlier this year. Jeppesen worked with Sunderland for years at Team CSC as well. The links here are pretty obvious.

calvjones

Team Sky as ex-mid decade CSC hardly inspires confidence. I wonder if DB is relying a bit too much on SS for his inside knowledge?

This reminds me of High Road a bit - when quick wins are needed, you hire who you think will get em quickly and hold your nose....

Superoo

calvjones
You sound like a very negative person. Why throw an air of suspicion over people whose integrity has never been doubted or questionned?
Scott Sunderland was involved in bringing Cervélo Test Team together as well, so that means that you question their successes too? Dave Brailsford is known to pick the right people for the jobs he needs done, that's all there is to it.

moray_gub

calvjones wrote:

Team Sky as ex-mid decade CSC hardly inspires confidence. I wonder if DB is relying a bit too much on SS for his inside knowledge?

This reminds me of High Road a bit - when quick wins are needed, you hire who you think will get em quickly and hold your nose....

You do know its the hiring of press officer/pr man we are discussing here ? He can spin until he is blue in the face but he aint gonna influence a cycle race.

moray_gub

calvjones wrote:

Team Sky as ex-mid decade CSC hardly inspires confidence. I wonder if DB is relying a bit too much on SS for his inside knowledge?

This reminds me of High Road a bit - when quick wins are needed, you hire who you think will get em quickly and hold your nose....

Ive heard they have hired the CSC tea lady as well now she is one lady who had her hand in the cookie jar . DB has got some explaining to do............

iainf72

Moray Gub wrote:

Ive heard they have hired the CSC tea lady as well now she is one lady who had her hand in the cookie jar . DB has got some explaining to do............

Now, I know you've been drinking some of McQuaids "there is no doping problem" Kool Aid but there's no need to take the pee.

Sky claim to be wanting to ride clean. To this end they've hired SS as DS. He's got Basso's win the Giro in his biography. So he either didn'y know he was doping or he did. If he didn't, wouldn't you want to know how he's expected to monitor riders for dubious behaviour now? The management are the first line of defense, surely?

And with hiring a side kick it makes matters worse. 2 people who worked closely with athletes yet were shocked when they got caught up to no good?

Kléber

I wonder if Sunderland was shocked, shocked to find Basso was working with Cecchini and Fuentes?

moray_gub

iainf72 wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

Ive heard they have hired the CSC tea lady as well now she is one lady who had her hand in the cookie jar . DB has got some explaining to do............

Now, I know you've been drinking some of McQuaids "there is no doping problem" Kool Aid but there's no need to take the pee.

?

I am only pointing out how ridiculous you lot getting yourselves into a frenzy over a press officer really is . Now i know that there seems to be some resentment to Team Sky and their stated aims but thats no reason to through logic out of the window and wet your pants over a hack/pr/press officer who worked for CSC.

Kléber

MG, he was the guy who invented the "training plans" excuse used by Frank Schleck and other amusing stories. Sky could have picked anyone else.

It's not the end of the world and doesn't mean that much for Sky. I just think it makes Brailsford look a bit green. He probably doesn't know Nygaard's past too well.

Superoo

Hang on a moment, there are so many accusations thrown around here it's not funny anymore. I wonder why. Do you guys enjoy dragging the sport and the people who try to do a good job through the dirt? I really would like to know the :twisted: reasons behind this behaviour.

If you approach things like you do, every single person in cycling can be tainted with the same brush.
Brailsford himself was in the company of doping cheat David Millar when he got taken in for questionning. David's sister Frances Millar is working for British cyling and Dave Brailsford. She founded Facepartnership, the company which takes care of athletes, amongst whom Mark Cavendish: http://www.markcavendish.com/contact.htm .
So is Mark dirty because he has ties to Frances Millar? You can point a finger there too.

Lots of speculation for you here as well:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2004/ju ... france2004

and even on Wikipedia it spread out, on the David Millar page:

"Millar was eating in a restaurant in Bidart, near Biarritz, on 23 June 2004 when he was approached by three plainclothes policemen of the Paris drug squad[17] at 8.25pm.[11] They took Millar's watch, shoelaces, jewellery, keys and phone.[18] Millar said:

“ "I was shocked, but I didn't think they had anything on me. I thought it was a waste of time - just a publicity stunt. They took me back to the apartment. They went in with a gun first, as if somebody was going to hit them with a back wheel or something. They sat me down and I wasn't allowed to move while they searched the house. They search while you're there. It took them four hours. I said to them: 'Why are you here?' They said: 'You know why - François Migraine.[n 3] Because of the interview with Migraine in L'Équipe.'
They humiliated me and were critiquing my lifestyle, using a classic good cop, bad cop thing. It was psychological warfare. The bad cop literally hated me. He was saying: 'You're not a good person - we know that.' He said: 'You take three paces and I will bring you down like you're resisting arrest.' It was deliberate. I felt completely violated."
”
— David Millar, 2004 [18]

After two and a half hours they found empty phials of Eprex, a brand of the blood-boosting drug EPO, and two used syringes.[11][n 4] Millar said he had been given them as a gift at the Tour of Spain, that he had taken them to Manchester and used them. After that he had kept them as a souvenir.[18] The detectives took Millar to the prison in Biaritz and put him alone in a cell.[18

Kléber

Don't be daft superoo. Just because Brailsford was having lunch with Millar doesn't mean much and nor does Cav being managed by Millar's sister mean anything.

But it's another thing to tell the media that Frank Schleck was buying "training plans" from Eufamio Fuentes, that's a whopper of a porky pie. Nygaard isn't linked to dodginess, he's been involved in some funny things.

Of course, inventing elaborate fibs is one thing - hey, it's PR - and running a doping programme is another.

Like I say, it just suggests Brailsford is a bit green and he doesn't know fully who he is hiring. It's not a big deal.

Superoo

Kléber,
Ever thought of the possibility that Brian Nygaard only told the press what he was told himself? Shame on you for throwing rocks at Nygaard. How do you know Nygaard "invented" the story?? Has he himself told you that he did? You know, just maybe it was true, maybe it was "made up" by someone else, the rider himself maybe... please don't preach about other people possibly making mistakes when you might be making a huge one yourself :oops: Fact is that you are trying to damage Brian Nygaard's excellent reputation.

Kléber

If you want to think Frank Schleck was alone in the "training plan" fairy tale then that's fine but it's clearly a flimsy tale. From your view I'd be concerned Sky have recruited someone who's so naive.

But from my view Nygaard is a very effective media handler and he knows exactly what he's doing.

As for Nygaard's reputation, I'm not trying to damage it. He's well respected by many journalists but many can see he's been trying to polish Riis's turds for years. Like I say, it's not a big deal, a PR man is there to deflect tough questions.

So we can agree to disagree

moray_gub

Kléber wrote:

MG, he was the guy who invented the "training plans" excuse used by Frank Schleck and other amusing stories. Sky could have picked anyone else.

It's not the end of the world and doesn't mean that much for Sky. I just think it makes Brailsford look a bit green. He probably doesn't know Nygaard's past too well.

So they should pick anyone else to appease you just becuase you feel he told whoppers to the press ? But what if he was told it was training plans and he went public with that ...........big deal. Doesnt matter to him if what a whopper he was doing his job and his job was top be a PR man for CSC. To aquaint or link him to with dodgy practices is just ludicrous and as Superoo says you are unfairly trying to drag a mans reputation through the dirt.

Kléber

MG, as I said on the first page his links to doping plans are tenuous. He's just a guy who's been making the excuses. He was paid to do this.

My only concern would be that if a Sky rider was ever caught in a tricky situation he'd lean towards porky pies in order to protect the team and the sponsor. But this might not happen, that's hypothetical. As I say Nygaard was charged with polishing Riis's turnds, he was forced to follow the boss. Hopefully Brailsford will set the bar higher than Riis and aspire for a more honest form of PR.

dave_1

Dave Brailsford has a good record of delivering clean wins like at Olympics. Perhaps we should just trust him?