there's a certain British number 2 thats free

shame for JB, but to be honest, i dont think DC is what he needs right now, he needs points.

Chris eaton confirmed as bakers replacement - lta

Eaton will probably win it - like he did after getting in as an effective LL to the wimby Q's

I admit I did put in a word foir Chris a little while ago.  But I don't think his current form justifies it.  Indeed, I would have chosen Marray before him. 

But, also, surely this was a perfect opportunity to invite Rusedski.

He appears unhappy about his Davis Cup overtures being rejected for now and Andy had doubts ( so thus John Lloyd expressed doubts. err who runs the Davis Cup team ?  but anyway, moving on... )

Now this would have given Greg a chance to prove himself, or prohably not.  He could have no complaints at that.  And if he did actually prove himself by winning 3 matches then he would have proved he still had something to offer. Indeed, he would be much more reliable in terms of experience and temperament than anyone else if he only proved he had the game.

If he rejected the offer, then again he coiuld have no complaints.

Hmm, so why not ?   Am I missing something herre ?

-- Edited by indiana at 18:28, 2009-02-12

I agree with Indiana - and not only would it have helped to sort out the Greg issue, it would also have given the young players a chance to play against a player who's been near the top of the game and resulted in much increased media interest in the whole exercise, making the pressure just a tiny bit more like that in a real DC tie.

steven wrote:

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I agree with Indiana - and not only would it have helped to sort out the Greg issue, it would also have given the young players a chance to play against a player who's been near the top of the game and resulted in much increased media interest in the whole exercise, making the pressure just a tiny bit more like that in a real DC tie.

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Much as I see the merit of what both you and Indiana have said, I have to completely disagree with you. Having Greg in the play off would be the worst thing ever.

If Greg beat three of our current, young players, the headlines are "Brits can't even beat a retired guy" (OK, so I'm not going to get a career in headline writing). Moreover, picking an unranked player for a Davis Cup match, regardless of whether he was in a play off or not sends another set of negative messages to our ranked players, all of whom suffer enough criticism as it is.

Of course, if Greg lost all his matches, then these issues wouldn't be such a problem but there would still be the issue of the Davis Cup Captain choosing an unranked player above one who is ranked, and that, to my mind, sends all the wrong messages (ones that Lloyd is already sending) to our players.

And anyway, much as I loved Greg as a player, his role in the lta is supposed to be finding and nuturing new, young talent. His desire to play Davis Cup again becuase he believes he could do better than anyone else, isn't exactly nuturing to the players he's got under his wing. If he manages to get wildcards somewhere and to win matches and get back onto the rankings, I'll be the first to want him in the Davis Cup, but he has to prove he can do it first.

i certainly agree that not allowing bloomers a go at the play off was unfair. I can understand the reasoning behind boggo, its obvious he is the next best player at the moment, and would probably win it, but through various reasons hasn't pulled it off on a big stage which must be taken into account.

However Bloomers has never been given a chance at DC, and as MJD has pointed out has always done his best to make himself available if needed. His game suits the court type, and ok maybe he had a slow start to the year but he ended 08 great (i think) so maybe was not feeling 100%

Hopefully bloomers will pick up a decent amount of points over the next week, and combined with boggo beating Stak in Belgrade will be a big embarrassment to JL
Bloomers should also get a mention in the papers as he has made the MD :) who wil lsurely also point out he not allowed to take part in the DC tie