http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ten...icle2866628.ece

Does this suprise anyone?After all there are not too many coaches more qualified than Gilbert,but maybe Murray's game needs a different look,or maybe he's just a difficult little so and so to work with.
Come to think of it so is Gilbert. :D

Im not surprised.Andy is still a brat and needs to grow up really! And Brad has enough of his own kids I think to put up with a big baby on tour!

I am a little surprised, but at the same time I also think Murray's game has a lot more to offer than the ball bashing that Gilbert was encouraging, maybe Murray thought that too. :shrug:

Excellent news. An unexpected one certainly from my side but a good one.

Lundgren with his more positive approach should be next as he is on the LTA payroll.

This isn't actually confirmed yet - it's only The Times that is running with it, every other news source is quoting The Times report :shrug:

Chances are it's true, but as story in The Times points out - Murray doesn't pay Gilbert's wages, the LTA does, so I expect that there'll be some interesting discussions going on in the background. :unsure:

A base of £900 000/year plus a cut of Murray's earning is way too much for this big mouth.

Good point :ok: There is most likely more to it than people think. And as Jo says the LTA pay Gilbert's huge wages, so maybe there is a problem with the cost, or mayeb Gilbert has had a row with the LTA? Let's not blame Murrray and say he si hard to work with - many players are (look what Safin's coahces say!) and Gilbert hardly comes accross as a pushover.

:o

they can't pay Gilbert that much surely??
Jesus.. surely the LTA won't have to pay for Andy's next coach now? He is earning enough by now to pay for his own I would imagine? The £900k would be well served elsewhere for juniors by the LTA

This is what I read at the time. But further search show a £500k one, so it must have been $$900k.

Anyhow, that's a lot of money and I agree that the money shoudl be used to pay local coaches to train as many children as possible. It seems they are coming to that now as I read a letter recently offering help to clubs but not sure.

according to The Times article above, Gilbert gets £750k a year :o

The Telegraph is reporting that the LTA are expected to make a statement at some point today

Lundgren being Murray's new coach? He is also on over £500k with the LTA I believe.

Too much money in their hands this organisation. Though I think Lundgren woudl be a better choice for Murray imo.

is Lundgren still on "personal leave"? Not heard anything about that since Wimbledon. :shrug:

EDIT: just checked, he returned before the Davis Cup in September :)

another article from The Times today:

Andy Murray starts search for new guiding light
Neil Harman

John McEnroe spoke thus - and he knew more about Brad Gilbert than most: “Eeyore had nothing on Brad; he had a black cloud over his head from the moment he walked out there and never seemed satisfied until he got you feeling pretty gloomy, too. It almost seemed to be his game plan. He’d look like he was going to commit hara-kiri in the warm-up. Then he did a running commentary while he played, berating himself on every single point [as if people cared] and justifying every mistake he made.”

It would seem that Gilbert was the perfect man to try to encourage from Andy Murray – one of the young masters of the dark arts of how to succeed at becoming a tennis great – the full range of what was required to reach the summit of the sport. Murray is also a berater, of himself, of those around him and, increasingly, of the coach he said would make him the best he could be. Gilbert’s all-black garb seemed entirely appropriate.

Whenever you saw the peak-capped American in recent televised close-ups, the enduring image was of him shaking his head as the British No 1 delivered yet another withering look or a few choice words. Gilbert said he did not mind it, that he was a sponge and that if it meant Murray achieving, then who was he to argue.

But the indications that the pair have parted company after a brief period together leaves the British game at a worrying standpoint. British tennis without Murray firing on all cylinders is not worth much. Perhaps he will turn to Louis Cayer, the Canadian brought in to help to shepherd Andy’s elder brother, Jamie, through his doubles career, to see him over the apparent loss of Gilbert. It was after a recent three-day training session with Cayer that Andy said he had never spent a better time on the practice court.

The arrival of Leon Smith – a fellow Scot, erstwhile junior coach and at present head of boys’ under16 coaching at the LTA – at the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid recently indicated that Murray wanted more people around him with whom he felt truly comfortable. Smith may be inclined to help out his friend on a semi-permanent basis.

Would Murray’s next choice be high profile or low? One is reminded of the words of Mark Petchey, the coach he took on a couple of summers ago when he was making that oft-painful transition between successful junior player and wannabe tour success, and who willingly stepped aside when the player wanted to better himself. He said: “You’re right when you say that there will be people who will say, ‘OK, he [Petchey] reached 80 in the world. Does he have enough to tell Andy what to do when he’s out on the Arthur Ashe Stadium Court in the semi-finals of a grand-slam?’

“Ultimately, I’m not going to be afraid to fail with Andy. It’s a business at the end of the day and Andy’s got to make business decisions. If I end up in six months, 12 months, not being the right guy, it’s not going to be personal. I’m certainly not going to stand in his way if he turns round and says, ‘Petch, look, there’s this other guy I want to go to.’ That’s fine.”

Remember that McEnroe took a six-month break from the game from late 1985, when Gilbert beat him in New York in the old Nabisco Masters, having said during the match: “Gilbert, you don’t deserve to be on the same court with me. You are the f***ing worst!” That is not how it is seen now.

“Brad’s style is really pretty simple,” Andy Roddick said when the pair were at the height of their success together, which culminated in the 2003 US Open triumph. “We go to dinner. We have a lot of fun. We talk some strategy about players’ weaknesses and how to take advantage of them.”

Where does this portentous decision leave the LTA? It wanted Gilbert, it paid big bucks for him because it was prepared to mint for Murray and now, with his apparent departure, it has to try to persuade those who have seen their contributions cut that it was the right thing to do for British tennis.

Will they pick up the tab for his next coach?

What do the likes of Djokovic and Gasquet do for their coaches? Are they subsidised by their home associations?

I would think that at this stage they are earning enough topay them. :shrug:

I could be completely wrong here (it's be known to happen) but i'm sure Tenez has mentioned that Gasquet is in some way subsidised by the French Tennis Association :shrug:

Andy has confirmed the split on his website, and the fans on their are overwhelmingly shocked and not to pleased.

I thought it was a 3 year contract, but hey maybe it was never meant to be long term and just a kick start for Andy. Seems a surprise to me, but what with the rumours that they dont get get on too well, it could have been Andy or Brad who instigated the split and not, as I first thought the LTA. I was always 'bothered' about the money being paid to Brad...and I am a Brad Gilbert fan.

The BBC report:

Murray splits with coach Gilbert


British number one Andy Murray has parted company with coach Brad Gilbert after 16 months working together.

Murray teamed up with Gilbert in July 2006 and rose from 36 in the world rankings to a high of eight.

In a groundbreaking deal, the Lawn Tennis Association paid Gilbert's salary, reportedly around £750,000.

The American signed a three-year contract as a performance director and, alongside being Murray's coach, had a wider role within the LTA.

Murray said: "Despite being injured for almost four months this year, I am pleased with my 2007 results and am very grateful for the help that the LTA have given me by providing Brad Gilbert as a coach.

"But the time has come to move on to the next stage of my career.

"I am ranked 11 in the world and can now afford to pay my own way and so will now hire a team of experts each to fulfil a specified role in the development of my tennis and fitness."

Gilbert's role with the LTA included taking training camps both in the UK and abroad and "helping to raise the playing and coaching standards in the UK".

Whether he will continue with this lower-profile work having split with Murray is uncertain.

Roger Draper, chief executive of the LTA, said: "Andy has had another great year and despite a serious injury has demonstrated that he is a truly world class player.

"Whilst working with Brad he has broken into the top 10, won two ATP titles and reached three finals.

"Andy's success is vital for British tennis and he has become an inspirational figure for followers of the sport.

"It is essential that he has a team around him that will allow him to fulfil his potential. We are currently reviewing the situation in relation to Brad and will look to make a decision in the near future."

The fact that the governing body of tennis in the UK was paying a very large salary to the coach of one of its players was controversial - as was the size of the salary.

But Gilbert came with a CV that included working with former world number ones Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.

By the end of 2006 he had guided Murray to 17 in the world and the Scot reached a career high of eight in June.

And despite missing three months of this year through injury, Murray was still just one victory from securing a place in the Masters Cup - currently under way in Shanghai - for the world's best eight players.

I am actually not sure how it works for professionals like Gasquet but I am sure that they pay a chunk of their revenue to them and since they (the players) choose those coaches (and not the FFT), they have no help.

The FFT on the other hand pays (finance partly for sure) the local coaches so when you join a club in France as a youngster, you join classes of coaching included in the club membership fee (usually very low like £35/year). So all tennis players at a young age get coaching lessons. Here for that money one gets only the right to use the courts. That I think is the main difference.

On whether Murray shoudl pay for his coach or the LTA pay -

Yes the LTA should be spending on other new talent also, and obviously Murray now earns money so should contribute. But I think the LTA did make the right decision to fund a qulaity coach for Murray - he was the only British hope, Tim was about to retire, and it was good that they committed to ensuring our only great prospect got the best possible start. If he'd had paid for hsi own crap coach I'm sure everyone would be complaingin that LTA shoudl have donen more. There may have been cheaper ways but I'm gald they did nto leave things to chance and risk Murray's progress. :ok:

Hmm - one helluva lot of well-paid chiefs at the LTA, but it's the indians that worry me.

It's interesting that the BBC correspondant Jonathan Overend is suggesting that Louis Cayer, Jamie's coach, is the front runner. I can certainly see that happen as Cayer had a very prominent role at the Davis Cup in September and he hardly left Judy's side at Wimbledon. Looking back, I also thought it was strange that he was sitting with Judy at the Paris Masters supporting Andy.

There's no doubt that Cayer is probably the best doubles coach around at the mo but will he be able to transfer it to singles and what happens to Jamie?

I'd never heard of Cayer. He has certainly done an excellent job with Jamie though, I think Jamie si great and can only get better.They do need to ensure that the coach i ssuitable for singles and also ensure that Jamie doesn't lose out.

I'm pretty upset by this news. I thought that Andy needed a firm hand and brad seemed to be doing a good job. It will be a shame if things go downhill because of this.
I don't think the LTA should have been funding it though when basically Brad was only with Andy all the time. I'm sure other players pay for their own coaches.

Hey WA :)

I read on BBC that ANdy is having a team rather than a coach and that that should work better for him. Brad si a very intense coach and mayeb that is too much after a while? Anyway he certainyl got ahuge fee. I can see why we put our money into out best prospect though. Petchey was sayign that Murray has a brillaint tactical awareness already and needs peopel to focus on motivation and the likes instead. Just hope he gets the right people.

"I am ranked 11 in the world and can now afford to pay my own way and so will now hire a team of experts each to fulfil a specified role in the development of my tennis and fitness."

Sadly, usually this means a lot of people get paid to do a job that considerably less people got paid far less to do......

I have this feeling that Andy may regret this a lot.....hope i'm wrong.

Well with Gilbert's 750k pa fee I reckon he coudl get a really good team.

But that was the price the LTA paid, will Andy be willing to pay that much out of his OWN pocket?

I have a bad feeling too. Hope he doesn't go down the same road as Jamie.