“I had not inherited a strong executive leadership, one which understood the game, had experienced the game, had a passion for the game. There had to be changes on the performance side and while I didn't necessarily think that people such as David Felgate or Jeremy Bates would leave, Roger Draper said it was needed. We had to have the right people.
“The governing body has always had a choice in the way it spends its money. Occasionally it had spent it less wisely than we did supporting our only top player. It was something different and, yes, it was expensive and radical. I don't regret it at all. We had one flower in our garden [Andy Murray]. Brad [Gilbert] formed what was a vital part in Andy's spectacular journey.
“As for the other foreign coaches, there were no obvious British candidates who hadn't been tried. The reputation of the sport is paramount because the better it is, the more we are able to encourage investment.
“That reputation was damaged because we had not been producing winners, we hadn't done enough in schools, we had allowed park courts to fall into disrepair but now I believe the mechanisms are in place to properly support those schemes we consider relevant to the future. But it was vital we got Andy's situation right first.” -- Stuart Smith, former head of the LTA
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