Murray's new coach

Sheddie · administrator

RE: Murray's new coach

The Turbanator · Junior player

UltimateSlabbaFan wrote:

Murray confirmed to BBC Sport. "We've come up with a short-list of guys I'd like to work with, my manager will make contact and see if they're up for it and I'll make the decision myself."

Reading this quote made me think of the Apprentice !!!

Are these conversations which could have occured during the last couple of weeks in a Monte Carlo/Rome/Hamburg boardroom ?:

Murray to Petchey: I'm sorry Mark but you're decision-making over the last couple of months just hasn't been good enough. You are lightweight, you're fired !!

Murray to Bollitteri: I did think that you were my man, Nick. But then you told me that you could only be with me for 10 weeks of the year and you've gone from anchor to w*nker. I've got to say, you're fired !!!

Murray to Stefanki: To be quite frank Larry, I don't know whether you're not just a complete bloody nutter, trying to persuade me to take the pace of my serve. You're fired !!!

Stefanki becomes the 3rd casualty of the boardroom, 9 now remain fighting it out for the chance to become....The Coach !!!

-- Edited by The Turbanator at 17:38, 2006-05-16

Sheddie · administrator

Looks like Wayne Ferreira might be chosen:

Go to: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5205-2194611,00.html

for "Ferreira to join forces with Murray"

stagger · Club Coach

Freckles Ferreira eh? not sure what to make of this. I wasn't even sure he'd retired from the tour (although I haven't seen him around for ages). Has he had any previous coaching success??

edit; i just read the article and the answer is no.

-- Edited by stagger at 14:36, 2006-05-24

johnnylad · Tennis legend

I read the Times this morning.

The idea is for Wayne to help Andy out during the grass season. I tihnk its a pretty good idea, but still second to finding a full time coach.

For Roland Garros his old mucker Leon Smith is travelling with him.

Peace out

Drew · May 25, 2006

johnnylad wrote:

I read the Times this morning. The idea is for Wayne to help Andy out during the grass season. I tihnk its a pretty good idea, but still second to finding a full time coach. For Roland Garros his old mucker Leon Smith is travelling with him. Peace out

Who is Leon Smith ???

Sheddie · administrator

He's an LTA coach, apparently he and Andy have worked together before.

He trains several of the top 20 Brits [can't remember who] in one of the LTA squads.

mkkreuk · Admin:Moderator + ATP qualifying

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/5023012.stm

Murray wants coach by Wimbledon

Andy Murray has admitted he is finding life difficult without a coach and hopes to appoint one before Wimbledon.

The 19-year-old is working with former coach Leon Best at the French Open after sacking Mark Petchey in April.

"I must admit that since splitting with Mark it has been tough not having someone to talk to," he told the Sun.

"Leon is a big help. If I don't have a new coach for Wimbledon - and there's a chance I'll have someone in place by then - I might ask Leon to come back."

Best coached Murray for six years until the Scot turned 17 and is working with the teenager again on a temporary basis.

"I need someone to be with me, to feed me balls on the practice court and to discuss things," said Murray.

"I get on well with Leon but I do not expect him to be alongside me after the French."

Murray opens his first French Open campaign against fellow teenager Gael Monfils of France.

Sheddie · administrator

From the Guardian:
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/tennis/theobserver/story/0,,1784873,00.html

Murray: Petchey had to go:

Disagreements with his coach two months ago persuaded Andy Murray 'to stop while we were both ahead' - in other words, give Mark Petchey the boot, the surprise move that suddenly made sacking fashionable in British tennis and means the young Scot goes into his first French Open bereft of a professional mentor.

'It got to a stage where we were disagreeing over some things,' says Murray in his first public utterance on why he ditched Petchey, the plain-speaking Englishman who seemed as much a mate as a coach when the two teamed up last summer. They parted last month, two days before Easter. A kind of Good Friday disagreement, if you like.

We had a few problems in the week before Miami [in March] and obviously I didn't have a great tournament in Australia,' says Murray in a reference to the year's first grand slam in Melbourne in January when, as he sank to a one-sided first-round defeat by Juan Ignacio Chela, of Argentina, he cried out: 'This isn't me!' Or, to put another way: 'I'm playing the sort of step-in-there-and-mix-it tennis that Petchey wants me to and it ain't working.'

'I thought it was better to stop while we were both ahead,' adds Murray in the interview with British Eurosport to be broadcast today. Little did he know he would start a culture of sacking, with the LTA clearing out several top personnel this month, including the performance director, David Felgate. 'Mark worked very well for me. He spent probably the best six months of my life with me and it was a really difficult decision that had to be made. I didn't want to let it drag on for a couple of months.'

Murray makes fun of the British press for trying to guess who his next coach will be, although he does confirm that Observer Sport's report - that he had been talking to Tim Henman's former coach Larry Stefanki - was correct. Stefanki, who also worked with John McEnroe, among others, declined the chance to help Murray because he could not commit to the travelling.

'I'm looking for a coach who has worked with a grand-slam winner or who has been number one in the world, who has a lot of experience working with youngish guys and bringing them through,' Murray says, adding that he would be disappointed if he did not have someone in place by 7 August, when the first Masters event of the North American hard-court season starts.

'I want to find a new coach now who can teach me how to come into the net, how to hit big serves and just complete my game, really. I think I'll make the right decision,' Murray says.

Murray, whose record this year before parting with Petchey was 10 wins in 18 matches and since then is two wins in six, attempts to win his first grand-slam singles match on clay this week when he takes on his good buddy Gael Monfils, of France. Monfils is one of the two Murray has beaten in his coachless state, on clay in Hamburg 12 days ago. Not too much should be read into that result because Monfils was coming down off the high of reaching the semi-finals in Monte Carlo the week before and did not look engaged.

Frew McMillan, the former Wimbledon doubles champion, has said that he rates Monfils, with the backing of the French crowd, good enough to give the title-holder, Rafael Nadal, a run for his euros in Paris. If Murray and Nadal do meet, it will be in the quarter-finals.

stagger · Club Coach

Gilbert in talks to coach Murray
By Jonathan Overend
BBC Five Live tennis correspondent in Paris

Brad Gilbert
Gilbert is a former coach of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick
American Brad Gilbert could become Andy Murray's new coach after holding talks with the British number two and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

Gilbert, who used to coach Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, met Murray's agent Patricio Apey and LTA boss Roger Draper in a Paris hotel on Wednesday morning.

Murray, 19, needs a new coach after parting with Mark Petchey in April.

The LTA also needs someone to head its performance programme after sacking David Felgate last month.

The three-way meeting has fuelled speculation that a possible joint arrangement, for the benefit of both the LTA and Murray, has been discussed.

Murray ideally needs a full-time advisor, but the chance of getting help from Gilbert, one of the most successful and respected coaches on the tour, would be appealing.

After his successful partnership with Agassi, Gilbert linked up with Roddick in June 2003 and coached him to the US Open title and the world number one ranking.

Likewise, the LTA is looking to build a team of coaches to take British tennis forward.

Andy Murray
Murray parted company with coach Mark Petchey in April

The one stumbling block could be money.

Gilbert was one of the highest paid coaches in the world and now has a lucrative contract with the TV network ESPN.

Draper has said he is willing to pay what it takes to get the best coaches in the world, but Murray may not be able to afford the salary required to tempt Gilbert back on the tour full-time.

After Wimbledon, the LTA will review the funding of all its leading players, including Murray, and Draper might decide to invest heavily in Britain's one world-class prospect for the long-term benefit of British tennis.

A joint arrangement would spread the cost, although there is no suggestion that an offer has been made at this stage.

The LTA says Gilbert is one of many figures in world tennis to have met Draper as the new chief executive searches for the right structure to take the sport forward.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

If Murray can work with Brad Gilbert, I think this would be great. My worry is whetehr Andy can work with anyone.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

"After Wimbledon, the LTA will review the funding of all its leading players, including Murray, and Draper might decide to invest heavily in Britain's one world-class prospect for the long-term benefit of British tennis."

maybe there a chnace boggo will get some funding back, most of the players dropped by the lta havent gone far (kasari nowdays?) but hes improved.

Drew · Jun 9, 2006

johnnylad wrote:

If Murray can work with Brad Gilbert, I think this would be great. My worry is whetehr Andy can work with anyone.

Im sure Andy could and would work with Gilbert....such a top rated coach....Andy would have no option but to 'learn'

Really hope it is Gilbert.....not sure about him involved with the LTA at the same time...cant see that ?

Draper is currently speaking to both Greg and Tim about their possible roles in the future when the decide to quit the tour....he really sees this as a positive and important step. This is fact. Got it from the horses mouth so to speak.

Andymonium · Satellite level

please not brad gilbert!!!

after listing to plenty of espn match comentary by him...lets just say ive heard enough. Hes is irratateing to every degree.....im not a fan.

mjd · Challenger qualifying

Andymonium wrote:

please not brad gilbert!!!after listing to plenty of espn match comentary by him...lets just say ive heard enough. Hes is irratateing to every degree.....im not a fan.

Dont worry! (or worry if you dont like him!) He's going to stick with ESPN :-

"I know my name has been linked with coaching him [Andy], but I feel very loyal to ESPN, the American cable television company, and although they know I will be back coaching some time in the future, I am very happy doing what I am doing."

I bet they pay well!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5205-2221541,00.html