Coaching Carousel

It's a coaching merry-go-round! No sooner has the Roginator picked up Paul Annacone to add to his mighty team, but Andy Murray dumps Miles MacLagan, whom he's been with for, like, a thousand years. And I don't know if this is certain or anything, but it sounds like he's about to take up with Brad Gilbert.

I can't decide if Gilbert will be a really great fit for Muzz or a terrible one. I suppose it all depends on whether or not Gilbert believes Murray's game really is 'winning ugly'.

I think Murray could definitely use a change. He's been in a funk since Australia - ain't no one can deny that - and a fresh perspective could re-enliven him. It's exactly the same principle as Federer. Something's not quite right, so bring in a pair of fresh eyes. And I think Murray could really benefit from the mental side of the 'winning ugly' principles - you don't have to be smart or pretty about it if that's not working, you just have to get it done.

And at the end of the day, there's a LOT of players that go through a Brad Gilbert stage.

But what I'd be leery of is someone actually messing with Murray's game. That junkball thing he does is so effective when his head's in the game and he's pretty much got everything down all over the court - you could finesse and you could tweak, but if Gilbert went all Todd Martin/Novak Djokovic on Murray I think we could see some serious badnesses.

In short, Murray doesn't need someone messing with his game. He needs someone to straighten out his mind. Is Gilbert the man for the job? Is he, indeed, the man Murray has hired? Let's wait and see.