The next DC captain ... (update: JL has now resigned)

LadyTigress · County player

RE: The next DC captain ...

scottie1 · Futures level

sorry but I think Greg would be great the captain needs some respect from the players I think that Lloyd has lost that. Tim has the best record as a player than greg but does that really count? i find Tim irritating as a commentator at Wimbledon in fact bland comes to mind greg is equally as boring as a commentator but I think he could motivate the players more than Tim. Andy should not be in the equation until we get promoted up the ranks otherwise it is Team Andy Murray and not GB.

indiana · Tennis legend

Tim may be a good potential captain, though Greg more impresses me with the clear interest he has shown in other players' development. But I just so hope that keeping Andy sweet and not having someone perceived as too outspoken counts against Greg, and they feel somehow Tim as some sort of "safe" option.

Andy is a player, not a Davis Cup captain selecter. We want someone that holds respect and JL didn't help himself by being seen to be so beholden to Andy.

-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 9th of March 2010 08:39:23 PM

philwrig · Hall of fame

Anyone noticed that Greg has been as quiet as a mouse on twitter since the speculation started Monday morning.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

i'd prefer it if it was someone we had never heard of, but was just the best man for the job.
GB always seem hung up on 'names'

LadyTigress · County player

I don't choose Tim and Petchey because of Andy, btw, despite what some people say about Andy's issues with Greg. I'm not interested in that. Andy's just one man, and frankly in the face of the team, sacrifices have to be made. It's not as if Andy is involved at the moment anyways, so it's a non-issue.

Greg has made too many fatuous comments if you ask me - assumptions which then turn out to be completely wrong! I feel dubious about his ability to read the situation and his ability to unify the team.

steven · Tennis legend

philwrig wrote:

Anyone noticed that Greg has been as quiet as a mouse on twitter since the speculation started Monday morning.

Yes, I'd noticed that too. I was a bit surprised he was being so outspoken about it during the tie too, not that what he wasn't saying wasn't obvious.

If Andy is the issue here, I think the LTA should tell him that if he wants to pick the team, he's welcome to captain it and turn up for every tie, otherwise he should allow them to select the best man for the job and treat the appointee with respect.

-- Edited by steven on Tuesday 9th of March 2010 09:23:57 PM

steven · Tennis legend

LadyTigress wrote:
Greg has made too many fatuous comments if you ask me - assumptions which then turn out to be completely wrong! I feel dubious about his ability to read the situation and his ability to unify the team.

Greg does have the 'ability' to open his mouth and let his stomach rumble at times, but all commentators do (look at Castle!) and Tim has been known do that as well, he just doesn't commentate as frequently. Petch seems to better than both of them in that respect, but might be too close to Andy, I'm not sure.

However, the vast majority of 'insider' comments I've seen/heard about Greg (i.e. both those published in the media and those I've heard for myself) suggest that he's extremely good with the lower-ranked Brits and at instilling a very professional attitude into those he works with) whereas Tim, while by all accounts a great guy who was popular with a lot of the top players, can be a bit aloof.

LadyTigress · County player

You may well be right - each candidate has their merits, and disadvantages, certainly. *groans* I just have visions of Greg opening that big mouth of his...

So, out of curiosity may I just ask, is John Lloyd now considered totally out of the question and incompetent for team captain? Or was there credible reason why he was appointed captain in the first place?

philwrig · Hall of fame

Why are we so certain Andy dislikes Greg. I know he made that one comment but that was on the spur of the moment and probably a knee-jerk reaction to a question raised at a post match press conference.

clayfan · Lower Club Player

I was thinking that as well. A few years back when Andy was organising the Scotland v England exhibition series in Aberdeen, it was Greg whom he got to come up and play against him. Andy does make off the cuff comments that are not diplomatic at times, so we should not read much into that. But Greg and Andy both have strong wills and I don't see them gelling in the heat of battle. I wonder if the LTA will ask Andy for his opinions before they choose a successor.

We are jumping the Gun, lady T, because JL has not gone yet. He was Britain's best player in the 70s and early 80s and one of the very few who have done anything since Fred Perry. He should have made an excellent DC captain. But........

LadyTigress · County player

Thanks. I've gotten to be cautious over the years of not just overhyping but overly condemning... sometimes it's just fishy if everyone is totally slaughtering a person and you almost wonder if a culture has built up of doing it just because everyone else is doing it, of exaggerating what are legitimate flaws into total condemnation which is not really deserved. I don't think John Lloyd is a terrible person, or that he is entirely incompetent, so I think it's worth my taking into consideration his merits as captain rather than just dismissing him without question.

zarrafak · Lower Club Player

Greg for DC captain?

Yah Dauffnitly! wink

- First thing he'd have to do though is get Boggo on board for these lower level Euro/African groups ties. Boggo and the LTA will have to kiss and make up.
Keeping all your best players on board and available is part of being a good captain/manager in any international sport.

Josh · Challenger level

Just shows what sort of captain JL is though, seeing as apparently he has gone off to Indian Wells this week when we had over 20 players in the main draw of Tipton. I don't even see any point of him going there anyway, since Murray clearly won't play against Turkey and surely Flemski are the only definites in the team so Hutch isn't needed anyway.

Also the Mail were suggesting that Miles Maclagan was one of the front runners for the job, but that could just be the typical rubbish that makes up most of their tennis reporting.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, whether Andy is liable or not to play in any Davis Cup tie in the near future, I don't quite see that JL has to assess whether he is worth picking

From what I read elsewhere someone was saying that he does seem to have a poor knowledge about many of the lower ranked players and as you say Tipton would be helpful in this. Or is that slumming it too much for him ??

Does anyone know how often he has been known to appear at futures events and even challengers to see players in competition and talk to them whilst in a competition envoronment ? I was really surprised to hear about his apparent lack of knowledge of lower ranked players if true and I would expect a selector ( especially a main / sole selector ) in any sport to actually go to watch folk live in competition.

I hear what LT says about potentially overcondemning and the pack culture. But so many of us individually and collectively have pointed to so many different things that JL does not appear to do well, and actually struggle to find those things he does do well. Even JL seems to other than "Folk don't see what I do behind the scenes". Well, I had hoped behind the scenes he travelled about to watch how players were getting on.

I am sure too that he is not a terrible person, folk have indeed said that he is a nice guy. Other than that I seem to have missed out on anyone telling of his practical merits as a captain.

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 10th of March 2010 12:28:10 AM