John Lloyd: Andy Murray needs help if he is to achieve his potential

By Malcolm Folley Last updated at 2:08 AM on 27th March 2011

Troubled tennis star Andy Murray was urged by former Davis Cup captain John Lloyd last night to add an experienced coach to his back-up team or risk failing to fulfil his potential.

After Murray's latest setback, a humiliating defeat at the hands of American journeyman Alex Bogomolov Jnr in Miami on Friday night, Lloyd said Murray should consider appointing a coach from a shortlist of Australians Darren Cahill and Bob Brett, Sweden's former world No 1 Mats Wilander or American superstar Jimmy Connors.

Lloyd said: 'Cahill and Brett are proven coaches, having between them masterminded success for Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt and Goran Ivanisevic.

In need of help: Andy Murray's form has been woeful

'Wilander and Connors are great champions with undeniable knowledge of what it takes to win majors.

'Andy has to ask himself how badly he wants to fulfil his dream. If he is as determined to win a Grand Slam as we believe him to be, then he has to hire a coach with experience and maturity to ensure that his undoubted talent is rewarded.

'Men like Cahill, Brett, Wilander and Connors come with a price-tag, but with Andy's income running into millions, surely he can see the positive benefits of spending $400,000 a year on a coach. He has to be bold and make someone an offer he cannot refuse.

'He clearly needs someone around him to drive him. Of course, Andy is his own boss but, from the outside, you can't see how his camp is right.'

During his alarming decline since he appeared in the Australian Open final two months ago, Murray has been reliant on coaching advice from his friend, Dani Vallverdu, who has no experience in the cauldron of professional tennis, and Spaniard Alex Corretja, a runner-up twice in the French Open who works with Murray part-time.

Humiliated: Murray was left with plenty to ponder after losing to Alex Bogmolov Jnr (right)

Murray's defeat was his third pitiful performance since he left Melbourne. If he does not treat it as an alarm call for change, he risks being accused of being blind to the mounting evidence of a looming crisis.

He has now lost nine sets in a row, being beaten in succession by Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final, Marcos Baghdatis and two American qualifiers, Donald Young and Bogomolov, on the hard courts he likes the most.

Last week, he hailed the return of Vallverdu, who played collegiate tennis in America and Davis Cup for Venezuela, after five weeks away from him, as the panacea to his problems.

'It's important to have a constant figure who is there all the time,' said Murray.

Tim Henman, who carried the expectations of the British public before Murray, said last week: 'I feel Andy needs support, but should he get a full-time coach? It's horses for courses. With Andy's personality, there's no point employing a coach just for the hell of it if he's not going to listen.'

Lloyd added: 'Andy needs to think hard about his future as we know he has the talent.'

View the original article here

Scotland 0-2 Brazil | International friendly match report

As Brazil began their farewells to a former hero, further proof that a new star has been born arrived in London.

Comparisons between Ronaldo and Neymar begin and end at the fact both are Brazilian and both know exactly where the goal is. The recently retired Ronaldo appeared on the Emirates pitch before kick-off to take a bow before followers who still adore him. The 34-year-old was never famed for being lean during his career but unlearned observers would now take some convincing to believe he was the best player in the world not so long ago.

Neymar, conversely, has a frame so slight and face so boyish that you could fear for his safety against rugged Scottish defenders. He is the epitome of appearances being deceptive, as was illustrated for the latest occasion here.

The 19-year-old, already courted by at least Chelsea and Real Madrid, will generate a serious amount of money when he is eventually coaxed away from Santos. From a position on the left side of Brazil's front three, Neymar proved Scotland's tormentor-in-chief by scoring the goals which endorsed the dominance of the Brazilians.

Elements of Scotland's support understandably over-indulge with alcohol as a means to forget about defeat. Those who stayed sober for this friendly should have only appreciated the skill of someone who is only just old enough to imbibe.

Afterwards, Neymar's national manager was posed with what will become ever-more frequent questions regarding where the player's future will lie. Far from discourage Neymar regarding a life-changing move to England, the Brazil manager Mano Menezes virtually advocated such a transfer.

"I think that could only be good for Neymar," said Menezes when asked directly about the prospect of Chelsea acquiring the youngster's services. "Going to England would give him more physical strength, to enable him to escape strong marking. If he got that, he would be a more complete player to of course it would be good for him.

"Of course, if young players leave Brazilian football when they are young then it is bad for us. It deprives us of the opportunity to watch them play but I understand the personal ambitions of each one of them and the financial benefits available to them."

Brazil's football federation benefitted in monetary terms from the latest round of their world tour. This could be regarded, then, as the perfect exercise with Scotland essentially unable to trouble their illustrious opposition.

Craig Levein and his players, in fact, readily discovered that Brazilians have little trouble indulging in the less glamorous side of the game at which the Scots have been forced to master.

For long periods, it looked as if those in blue and white were being restricted to one touch per minute.

Neymar was eventually withdrawn 60 seconds before the end of stoppage time, allowing the forward to earn the ovation he deserved from one half of the ground at least. Menezes could reasonably have substituted his star man on humanitarian grounds a lot earlier.

The opening goal is worthy of more credit than some may give it. Albeit Scotland - and Scott Brown, bizarrely given he had spent the preceding minutes arguing with the Brazil midfielder - were slack in allowing Andre Santos to cavort down his left flank, Neymar's finish was exquisite. A curling but not fierce shot ended up in virtually the one corner of the goal where the Scotland goalkeeper Allan McGregor had no chance of covering.

There rarely seemed much likelihood of Scotland recovering. Their sole striker, Kenny Miller, was so marginal he had cause to place a Lonely Hearts advert.

Neymar clipped McGregor's crossbar with an effort within seconds of the second-half getting underway. It was from the penalty spot, though, that he rightly emphasised Brazil's superiority.

Charlie Adam found himself on the wrong side of Neymar inside the area, with a tired - and illegal, in the view of the referee Howard Webb - challenge following. The moment rather summed up the afternoon of Adam, for whom high hopes are now routinely held.

"Charlie told me afterwards that he was disappointed with the way he played," said Levein. "I told him that shows how far he has come in the last year, that he has that disappointment. It was refreshing to hear him speak like that; some people had spoken before the game about Charlie being as good as anyone on the pitch."

There was never any doubt that Neymar would dispatch from 12 yards. McGregor, who had kept the scoreline respectable with a string of smart saves, was left feeling as helpless as his team-mates. The Scots can take solace from the fact they won't be the last team to suffer on account of a fresh-faced kid from Sao Paulo.

View the original article here

Usain Bolt storms to impressive 200 metre victory in Jamaica

Usain Bolt clocked a time of 19.56 in the 200 metres sprint in Jamaica. Competing in front of 30,000 home fans at the Jamaica International Invitational in Kingston on Saturday, Bolt was in ominous form as he raced away from his rivals to cross the line in 19.56 seconds – 0.4sec ahead of second-placed American Wallace Spearmon.

"I felt good, the race was a good one and I am on target to have a good season," said the triple Olympic champion and double world record-holder. "My training has been going well and I am pleased with my performance.”

 Related ArticlesGay confident he can challenge BoltEngland commit to Commonwealth GamesI have missed out on a great marathon experienceOur team's marathon effortFlat tyres end Weir's title hopesWorld Athletics: Usain Bolt breaks 200 metres world record in 19.19 seconds

Bolt’s display was all the more impressive because the race was run into a 0.8 metres per second headwind. Running from lane five, he was ahead by 60 metres and, by the finish, had a 10-metre advantage over Spearmon, the world bronze medallist.

His winning time has been bettered only three times before – twice by Bolt himself with his world record records of 19.19sec at last year’s World Championships in Berlin and 19.30sec at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Michael Johnson holds the third quickest time with his old world mark of 19.32sec.

Bolt insists he has no interest in chasing world records this year but such a brilliant performance so early in season suggests it is time to heed his oft-quoted mantra: “Anything is possible”.

Last year, Bolt managed to smash his own 100m and 200m world records on the back of a late start to his winter training that was further delayed by injuries he sustained in a car accident.

With a trouble-free winter behind him this year, more great things surely lie ahead for the giant Jamaican, who will run his first 100m of the season in Daegu, Korea, on May 19 before making his Diamond League debut over 200m in Shanghai on May 23.

American Tyson Gay, the world’s second fastest man, was also in action in Kingston but avoided an early confrontation with his rival by opting to compete in the 400m. He won comfortably in 45.05sec.

Meanwhile, 19 year-old Chris Thompson leapt to third on the all-time British 10,000m list behind Jon Brown and Eamonn Martin after clocking 27min 29.61sec at a meeting at Stanford University in the United States. His time qualifies him for this summer’s European Championships in Barcelona.

View the Original article

Higgins: My conscience is clear

John Higgins has insisted he would never fix a snooker match and declared his conscience was "100% clear" following the newspaper allegations that he agreed to throw frames in return for money.

Commenting for the first time since the allegations emerged in the News of the World, 34-year-old Higgins claimed he only said he would participate in the deal so he could get out of a potentially threatening situation.

He said in a statement read out on BBC2 prior to the World Championship final: "Can I say I have never been involved in any form of snooker match-fixing. In my 18 years playing professional snooker I have never deliberately missed a shot never mind intentionally lost a frame or a match."

He explained: "Those who know me are aware of my love for snooker and that I would never do anything to damage the integrity of the sport I love. My conscience is 100% clear."

Higgins, the sport's new world number one, was suspended by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, and his manager Pat Mooney resigned from the WPBSA board.

Both men were secretly videoed by an undercover reporter who was posing as a businessman at a meeting which the News of the World say took place in the days following Higgins' World Championship second-round defeat to Steve Davis.

"In all honesty I became very worried at the way the conversation developed in Kiev," Higgins said in his statement.

"When it was suggested that I throw frames in return for large sums of money, I was really spooked, I just wanted to get out of the hotel and onto the plane home.

"I didn't know if this was the Russian mafia or who we were dealing with. At that stage I felt the best course of action was just to play along with these guys and get out of Russia."

View the Original article

Wednesday suffer relegation heartache

Sheffield Wednesday were relegated from the Coca-Cola Championship after a dramatic match at Hillsborough against Crystal Palace.

Only victory over the visitors would ensure survival, but they could only manage a 2-2 draw. Alan Lee put Palace ahead in the first half, only for Leon Clarke to level matters just before the break. Palace went ahead again thanks to a second half Darren Ambrose goal, but the Owls fought back with a Darren Purse shot with just three minutes of normal time remaining.

Five minutes of injury time ensured a nervous end to the game but Palace, who had 10 points deducted this season for going into administration, managed to hang on.

At the other end of the table Blackpool celebrated securing a play-off place with a 1-1 draw at home to Bristol City.

Nicky Maynard gave City a surprise first-half lead with a wonderful opportunist strike, but Brett Ormerod levelled nine minutes after the break to earn the hosts a share of the spoils.

That draw meant a victory for Swansea over Doncaster at the Liberty Stadium would mean the south Wales side made the play-offs at the Seasiders' expense.

But they could only manage a goalless draw and to make matters worse had a Lee Trundle strike disallowed in the dying seconds.

Champions Newcastle finished their season on a high with a 1-0 victory at QPR. Peter Lovenkrands' 71st-minute strike ensured they signed off their brief stint outside the top flight with a win.

West Brom - already guaranteed second place and like Newcastle a quick return to the Barclays Premier League - scored a late equaliser to deny Barnsley the three points. Hugo Colace put the visitors in front with an hour on the clock, but West Brom's player of the season Graham Dorrans popped up with a stoppage-time equaliser.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest ended the season third in the table with a 2-2 draw at Scunthorpe, while Leicester beat Middlesbrough 2-0. Cardiff went down 2-0 at Derby. Forest will take on Blackpool in the play-offs, while Leicester will meet Cardiff.

View the Original article