Ayear ago, Soren Gran was a hugely controversial figure in his sport of curling as he removed Tom Brewster from the rink which the Aberdeen-based curler had assembled and replaced him as skip with the two-time Olympic failure Dave Murdoch.

The decision came close to splitting the Royal Caledonian Curling Club which runs the game, as its north-east region threatened to relinquish its membership, so high were feelings running.

Yet Gran was ultimately vindicated when Murdoch's rink took silver at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Britain's greatest success in the sport since Rhona Martin's 'stone of destiny' 12 years earlier.

His position is stronger still since it emerged this year that, in the shake-up that followed the Olympics, it is Brewster - he went to the Olympics as the fifth player - and a new crop of youngsters, rather than Murdoch and the other Olympians, who have ended up being coached by Gran.

It speaks of the professionalism of both men. "People were very anxious about how we treated Tom Brewster after the two silver medals we won at the World Championships but, when I looked deeper into the team, I felt we could make it stronger with Dave Murdoch in it," Gran explains. "It was not necessarily Tom Brewster as a skip who was the weak spot, but I could see weakness in the team and I tried to put the best players together. Then, during the year, we realised Tom didn't really deliver what he had done before. He had been affected and was also feeling the pressure, I think. He never bought into [the decision to overlook him] but maybe he realises it was the best decision at the time."

He notes that Brewster's attitude, when forced into that support role in Sochi, was exemplary. The Aberdonian has continued to be given his senior role in the new set-up which has, somewhat ironically, placed him in charge of an otherwise youthful five-man team, while Murdoch's now more experienced group operate as a traditional quartet.

"Today, we have a five in his new team as well and Tom is very positive in supporting me in the decisions around that now and can even talk about the experience he had, so I have to say Tom has been great under the circumstances," said Gran. "Today we have one four-man team and two five-man teams, but we have put a little bit of pressure on the players that they have to first of all commit so they can perform at the highest level. We won't necessarily take a player away because they played bad for a game or so, we're more working as a whole squad thing.

"We are trying to create pressure on them a little bit so that they practise more and we are also trying to protect them because a lot of curling teams have a different level in terms of how much they want to put in. We hear that a lot from teams: that one guy didn't do this or didn't do the work. Now we protect the team as well if that happens; they are still a four."

All of which reflects Gran's belief that his sport has to change to adapt to the needs of preparing players who can excel on the world stage. Traditionally, curling has been a case of experienced players emerging as skips who form rinks of players they respect and/or like, but the Swede is pursuing a more scientific approach to forming teams within the GB programme.

He admits to regret at the way he made changes last year and believes lessons have been learned about the need for greater openness, but remains firm in his view of how the bigger picture should look.

"I'm a big believer in a coach-led programme," he says, adding that he believes that the coaches who work with players in practice and competition should be the same, which has generally not been the case until now. "I understand that players need to have a say in certain things but I think the leadership has to be stronger. If the sport is going to develop, someone has to drive it and I don't think players are the best ones to do that in any sport."

He acknowledged, though, that players must not become reliant on coaches in their decision-making, particularly on the ice. "The ownership from the players has to be there, but in curling what is stopping them from moving forward is that they are very settled in the position they are in, so it has to be a push from the coach," Gran adds. "I call it inspiring them. I want to inspire the players to take ownership of their own careers, but don't stop moving forward."

He also strongly believes that lessons learned in each Olympic cycle must be taken into the next one, which is why two largely youthful five man teams have now been created, generating internal competition and peer pressure.

"This year we were very open with them and told them that, 'Hey, if you don't commit to this we have no problems, we will kick you out'," he says. "It doesn't work like that really, but we said exactly these words to them and they realised that if they are not showing up and don't do the practise at the same time as the others they could be out of the team."

A new Olympic cycle effectively begins today as Dave Edwards' amateur rink - they shocked the full-time professionals in the play-downs last month - represents Scotland at the European Championships in Champerey, Switzerland.

Meanwhile, a restructuring of the coaching set-up is to be announced under new head of performance Graeme Thompson, who was appointed in the summer.

Gran is optimistic that the changes will reflect his outlook. "I am interested in developing the programme," he says. "My perfect position is to be head coach and then coach the coaches, but very much involved with the players still developing technique, strategy, team dynamic, tactics. These are the things we want to develop."

Socially it may remain a sport for all ages but, at the top level, with men like Gran calling the shots, it seems that musty old curling has joined the modern world.