Goodall slams LTA as mentor Lundgren is sent on leave

Count Zero · Tennis legend

whats going on at the lta?

Count Zero · Tennis legend

i posted thsi breify in the boggo match thread, but it sees bigger, just b4 josh cam out to play he was told peter was fired! i knoe also peter and boggo got on really well, we have seen the huge imporvment in alex recently. this isnt good at all.

john · Top national player

God only knows. What a time for the LTA to make a complete hash of everything. So the guy slurred a few words at a stupid bleeding conference thing that if the guy had any sense he'd just say "**** off" i don't want to go to your stupid LTA **** anyway.

If the guy was pissed at a match fair enough but if this is all about him having a few drinks at a conference then it's a disgrace. Josh has every right to be pissed off. More likely someone at the LTA didn't like his laid back attitude and wanted him out. They prefer the uptight stiffs who usually coach our players, which is why our game's history is littered with such great names that have come through the LTA system. Tossers, they should be shining Lundgren's boots for him and begging him to come back. Knows more about coaching than the entire LTA system put together.

john · Top national player

I actually heard some things a few weeks ago that made me wonder what on earth was going on between Josh and Peter, but if the LTA were going to deal with it then this was the worst possible time to do so. If there was an issue, it should have been left until after Wimbledon

Shhh · Challenger level

john wrote:

God only knows. What a time for the LTA to make a complete hash of everything. So the guy slurred a few words at a stupid bleeding conference thing that if the guy had any sense he'd just say "**** off" i don't want to go to your stupid LTA **** anyway.

If the guy was pissed at a match fair enough but if this is all about him having a few drinks at a conference then it's a disgrace. Josh has every right to be pissed off. More likely someone at the LTA didn't like his laid back attitude and wanted him out. They prefer the uptight stiffs who usually coach our players, which is why our game's history is littered with such great names that have come through the LTA system. Tossers, they should be shining Lundgren's boots for him and begging him to come back. Knows more about coaching than the entire LTA system put together.

John, are you seriously saying that coaches, who we are paying a fortune to, should treat our govening body anyway they like? With hundreds of coaches arriving from all over the country to hear your speech.....so what if you've been drinking to the point your speech is slurred? The LTA should "shine his shoes" and put him out in front of those who have come to follow his example? Get real for Christ's sake. To me, your attitude is typical of why we dont succeed in this country at tennis. To many people expecting the LTA to be the answer to everything, and not looking at themselves is as much a reason as to why we continue to fail as the LTA are for their muck ups. The lets just blame the LTA, everyone is else is innocent attitude, is actually part of the problem.

If Peter has these problems, they are real problems, and certainly he needs time away to work through these issues. The fact that its been done in public is sad but who's to blame? The press get wind, Josh brings it into his post match interview, the LTA when asked try to keep the situation private but aren't prepared to take the stick from Josh. All very messy. Messy on all sides though, not just the one.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

i think the whole situation could have been handleled better, action had to be taken against peter but you do question the timing. aparently peter is of quite a nervous disposition which is what may have led to his indescrestion, perhaps he really doesnt like public speaking? dont know.

I dont think josh should blame the loss wholely on peters absecne and unfortunaly by going so public with it it causes a problem as the lta have to come out and defend their postion, and unfortunalty i dont think josh is a role model tennis player. The draw has been out since last week, he should have had his tactics in place 10 mins b4 the match, yes the coach will be there for a few last minute settlers/buzz words, but nothing more. At the end of that day all tennis players go out on the court alone, save dc, you cant spend a whole set worrying about the coach or anyhting else.

Alex talks about it breifly in his post match interview but catergoricaly states thats not the reason he lost and is confiendt they will get the relationship back on track soon.

RobC · All-time great

hmm - I'd have thought it was Peter's responsibility to tell Josh he wasn't going to turn up: politeness, common decency and all that.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

from what i can gather peter didnt know untill he turned up at wimby and was refused entry?

RobC · All-time great

If that is the case (and now we're veering off into hypotheticals), then either he didn't pick up his voicemails, or we've got horrendously bad management going on: He should have been taken aside at the meeting when his boss (Annacone? Hutchins?) saw the problem, and then phoned up as soon as the decision was taken - which should have been as soon as boss & Draper could talk to each other.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

RobC wrote:

or we've got horrendously bad management going on:

would this suprise you? unfortunalty it wouldnt suprise me.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

a further thought, it must have been obvious lundi was in bad shape b4 he went on stage, why did no one just say hang a sec this isn't going to go down well. lets just say lundi has been taken sick and get him out of the speech session, gilbert and annacone where there so its not like lundi was the star, things could have then been dealt with and handled internally.

Bladetiger · Pro player

I heard about this yesterday from someone who was at the conference.

Apparently Lundgren was supposed to be making a speech, but arrived in no fit state to do so.

It was said that he works well in a 1 to 1 situation but doesnt like big group presentations, no reason why he should and it doesnt make him a worse coach because he doesnt like speaking to hundreds of people.

Apparently they then did a Q & A with Brad and Peter, which was the time when he was a least bit pissed, and clearly the LTA were unhappy with that.

Whether that mreans that he wouldnt have continued to be a good coach to Boggo and Josh is a matter for individuals, but it sounds a bit like he could have been being asked to do something that really was outside his comfort zone.

Clearly if he handles that by getting hammered that signifies a different problem and I dont know anything about that, but it's difficult to say too much without knowing the facts.

Josh has got a big mouth and a hot temper, and I fear he could come to regret biting the hand that feeds him particularly with the recent comments from Draper in mind.

He is right to be angry if Peter was sacked without telling him, but some of the other stuff about the LTA funding is a bit rich, seems like he has had more support this year than ever before, and hasnt really done a lot with it.

john · Top national player

Shhh wrote:

john wrote:

God only knows. What a time for the LTA to make a complete hash of everything. So the guy slurred a few words at a stupid bleeding conference thing that if the guy had any sense he'd just say "**** off" i don't want to go to your stupid LTA **** anyway.

If the guy was pissed at a match fair enough but if this is all about him having a few drinks at a conference then it's a disgrace. Josh has every right to be pissed off. More likely someone at the LTA didn't like his laid back attitude and wanted him out. They prefer the uptight stiffs who usually coach our players, which is why our game's history is littered with such great names that have come through the LTA system. Tossers, they should be shining Lundgren's boots for him and begging him to come back. Knows more about coaching than the entire LTA system put together.

John, are you seriously saying that coaches, who we are paying a fortune to, should treat our govening body anyway they like? With hundreds of coaches arriving from all over the country to hear your speech.....so what if you've been drinking to the point your speech is slurred? The LTA should "shine his shoes" and put him out in front of those who have come to follow his example? Get real for Christ's sake. To me, your attitude is typical of why we dont succeed in this country at tennis. To many people expecting the LTA to be the answer to everything, and not looking at themselves is as much a reason as to why we continue to fail as the LTA are for their muck ups. The lets just blame the LTA, everyone is else is innocent attitude, is actually part of the problem.

If Peter has these problems, they are real problems, and certainly he needs time away to work through these issues. The fact that its been done in public is sad but who's to blame? The press get wind, Josh brings it into his post match interview, the LTA when asked try to keep the situation private but aren't prepared to take the stick from Josh. All very messy. Messy on all sides though, not just the one.

I didn't realise Roger Draper had signed up. Welcome to the site, Rodge.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Goodall slams LTA as mentor Lundgren is sent on leave

by Paul Newman

The Lawn Tennis Association has been on the front foot ever since Roger Draper's arrival as chief executive last year, but the British game's governing body was forced into a rearguard action yesterday. Peter Lundgren, one of the high-profile coaches appointed by Draper, was given leave of absence after allegations about his behaviour at a conference, which provoked a savage attack on the LTA by Josh Goodall, the British No 5.

The controversy followed reports that Lundgren, a former coach of Roger Federer and Marat Safin, had been slurring his words at a conference last weekend at the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton. Paul Hutchins, the LTA's head of men's tennis, refused to elaborate on what had happened but confirmed that Lundgren would be taking a month off for "personal reasons". He is expected to return to work in time for Britain's Davis Cup tie against Croatia in September.

Lundgren, initially recruited by John Lloyd, Britain's Davis Cup captain, to work as his assistant, has been coaching several of the country's leading players, including Goodall and Alex Bogdanovic. He has been a popular figure, with Bogdanovic in particular giving the Swede much of the credit for his improvement.

Goodall was fuming after being told the news 10 minutes before his three-set defeat against Feliciano Lopez. "I've been working with Peter for the last year and I've got a great relationship with him," Goodall said. "For the first set my mind was completely elsewhere. I couldn't even think straight. I was so disappointed and angry that the LTA had done this before the biggest match in my career. The timing of it was absolutely disgraceful. I had different coaches coming up to me, telling me different tactics to what I'd been working on with Peter. It was just too much. You can't walk on to a court against one of the best players in the world with this sort of news. "I'm an emotional person and Peter is not just a coach, he is a great friend, so I was upset. I spoke to some friends who watched it on TV and they said: 'You didn't look right in that match, why weren't you fighting?' That's how it looked, that I wasn't grateful for my wild card. That's not what I'm about. I'm a great fighter but I just couldn't just show it."

Hutchins agreed that the timing was unfortunate, but said he was sick of players blaming the LTA for everything. "From that point of view I do feel sorry for Josh," he said. "However, it was Josh who didn't go to see Peter at all during Queen's when Peter wanted him to practise and train. It's not only Josh, but we can't start blaming other things for defeats. There is this blame culture going around British tennis, certain people who just love to blame the LTA. I'm getting pretty tired of it. People expect the LTA to be their lifeblood, to pay for too many things."

Lundgren was one of the first appointments made by Draper, who has also brought in Brad Gilbert, Paul Annacone and Carl Maes. The episode will be a blow to Lloyd, who works closely with Lundgren for Davis Cup matches.

* I suppose it's easy for a rank outsider like me to say this on the basis of the facts as reported by the media, but if you're a professional sportsman/woman, you surely do your best not to let external matters get to you, put them out of your mind until such time as you can worry about them & concentrate on the job in hand: that's surely the best way of sticking up two fingers to the rest of the world! I'm still struggling to make sense of the whole sorry business... confused

john · Top national player

Fair point stircrazy, but let's not forget Roger Federer a few weeks ago. Lost in straight sets to Filippo Volandri and afterwards split with his coach and said that a large part of his defeat was because he was thinking about his problems with his coach during the match.

If problems with a coach can affect the Fed, then I'm sure Josh is perfectly entitled to be affected when his coach is given 'leave of absence' ten minutes before his match