Thursday 12 October 2017

Chris Coleman

I agree with just about everybody that Chris Coleman should remain as Wales soccer manager through to the next European cup campaign. There is no obvious successor, given that the Welsh FA does not have the sort of money on  offer to prise successful club managers away from the top European leagues.

The only doubt I have is that he is too nice. His obvious concern for his group of players makes for good team spirit, but it also means that he will find it difficult to drop players from the current core squad when their performances decline. I can think of one senior player last Monday who failed to come up to the mark after Joe Allen was so cruelly invalided off.

On that point, a Mourinho or a Ferguson would have used his pre-match press conference to demand that the referee be strong in the face of an Ireland team which has a record of making up for its lack of skill with physical harassment.

But the qualification campaign was largely lost early on, when Wales conceded - or struggled to achieve - draws against teams they needed to beat. More ruthlessness on part of both manager and players is needed if we are to see another glorious European Cup campaign.


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