The only comment I have is that watching Bates talking to Alex at the changeovers just looked all wrong. i got the impression that all Alex wanted was a couple of minutes of quiet to get his thoughts together so that he could address the next game. Instead there was this constant chat into his right ear. Hopefully I'm wrong, and Bates' input was what Alex wanted and needed at that point, but from Boggo's body language (and Bates' - who looked as if he felt he was being ignored), I'm not sure.

Sometimes, the best way to coach someone is to know when to shut up.

Has it been confirmed the tie will be played on clay, unless its indoor clay.

Read Lloyd's comments. got to say i think he has overstepped the mark! I don't think he undertands how the modern game actually works! Ok though Andy is way above all the Brits doesnt mean all the other young players has to follow the same route as him. Andy progressed differently to others, he got wildcards when he needed them and played a few challengers. Players such as Baker and Goodall are coming along at a steady pace, they play challengers and futures here and there so it going to take time to get some Brits in the top 100 in order to create a good DC team.

Personally, Delgado worked he socks off and tried his best, for bates, what else can you do besides being positive than negative. He said that GB are at a low after the defeat by Israel, why don't to try to be andy's age and play tennis and see what the game is like today instead of talking F**K ALL!! [apologies]

Shame really! Well at least he was always positive! A Davis Cup coach needs patience and commitment which Bates had. I don't know whether encouragement would be an issue, because its the players who are doing the job for their country not the captain!

Hmmm.... who's next, though Lloyd would not be the ideal captain because he always negative i think if Henman or Greg do not have a good hardcourt season, then i think it will be one of them. But then who else can do it, are you able to appoint a foreign captain?

I'm am not sure what is behind Bates' decision to quit. who would like to stand up and say they could have done a better job than him at this tie?  Perhaps this has been planned for a while, all part of Roger Draper's changes.  We are not going to start winning until we get some better players, who is captain is only a very small part of the equation.  There is talk of John Lloyd becoming captain, is he perhaps too old to hit it off with our guys?  I think either Tim or Greg would be great captains, but I'm sure Tim doesn't want the job, and Greg probably wants to concentrate on his own matches if he is going to continue his involvement with the DC.

Does anybody have any idea how much a DC captain gets paid?   And what would the job spec. be?

bit out of time here as its from sunday buts heres some quotes from alex's coach mike, who also works with mackin and delgado now.

(link to the full article http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2094-2281570,00.html 

However, Mike Raphael, the coach who came to Bogdanovic’s aid when he was shown the door by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) but is now so revered by the rank-and-file British players that he is also mentor to Mackin and Delgado, begged to differ. Clearly Raphael would have a vested interest in any of his three players being picked, but he was insistent that Bogdanovic should be given the nod.

Bogdanovic insisted there were positives to come out of Friday’s defeat. He maintained that his performance was far improved on his effort in Israel. Raphael agreed: “It was a little bit of a breakthrough. Yes, it’s not the standard we are used to seeing from him in tournaments, but the key is acknowledge there has been some development in his game at Davis Cup.

“He is facing these demons, but is strong enough to overcome these problems. Alex needs to put himself on the line. The more he faces these sort of issues, the better he will become at beating them. Let’s be honest, there is a fear of playing Davis Cup, but you cannot run away from this sort of thing. You have to face up.”

Two years ago it was Bates, along with former director of performance David Felgate and Mark Petchey, then manager of Men’s National Tennis, who told Bogdanovic his commitment was so unsatisfactory that funding was being withdrawn by the LTA.

Last year it was Bates who was forced to commiserate with Bogdanovic after the most disappointing of displays saw the Serbian-born left-hander lose to Okun in three emphatic sets. Just a few months ago Bates listened again as Bogdanovic spelt out the reasons why he felt mentally unable to figure in the British team that hosted Serbia & Montenegro in Glasgow.

Bates has opted to include players’ personal coaches in the Davis Cup set-up, so Raphael and his colleague Aubrey Barrett have been integral to the preparations since Bogdanovic returned from reaching the quarter-finals of last week’s Hall of Fame tournament in Newport, Rhode Island. Ultimately the captain will make the decision, but Raphael urged him: “Alex wants to play the fifth rubber. I had a conversation with him before the tie and he told me if he had the choice he would much prefer to play a decisive fifth rubber than a first. If he is fit, there just is not an issue of Alex not wanting to play. He is very up for the task.”