I doubted Chris Coleman before Wales not only qualified for Euro 2016 but made it to the semi finals so I'm willing to give Giggs a chance, he's got to win over the fans though as I feel a lot of them are still annoyed by his casual approach to his international playing career.
Coleman actually managed teams though - Fulham, Coventry, Real Sociedad... It didn't entirely go his own way, but Fulham sold players from under him, Coventry were on a slide and he didn't get on with Sociedad's owners.
Giggs managed four games that didn't matter at Manchester United after Moyes was sacked. One of those included a 1-0 home defeat by Sunderland (14th), with a draw against Southampton (8th) and home wins against Hull (16th) and Norwich (18th, relegated). He managed to equal David Moyes' 50% win ratio (2 from 4, to 17 from 34).
It's not an appointment that makes any sense. Mind you, FAW also reportedly considered Craig Bellamy...
*knuckle crack*
Okay, time for my
dau ceiniog on the appointment and comments on the frequent talking points.
He won't manage the team for friendlies
Yes. We've heard that one already.
Giggs, of course, could have managed England
And that one.
The players better watch their wives and sisters
Come on, give it a rest already.
He is unpopular with Wales fans
True. His 64 caps for Wales is hardly the figure of a part-time player but it's well known that he was not available for games considered of less importance than his upcoming club commitments for Manchester United. It's often said that Ryan Giggs is the greatest Welsh player but not the greatest
Wales player. I'd also say that Billy Meredith and John Charles are greater candidates for best Welsh player of all time but that's a different argument.
He has to win some of the fans over. I honestly do not doubt his commitment and his pride but I would be lying if I wasn't one of those fans who has an ever so slight grimace when Giggs and Wales are mentioned. The media hardly help; the BBC helpfully plastered him and Craig Bellamy in their Team GB kit when it was initially announced that the two were being interviewed.
He is media savvy
I would argue that he is media
friendly more than media savvy. He has many friends working for the rags and has appeared many times on television in roles as an analyst.
But he can use that to his advantage just as much as his predecessor did. Chris Coleman always took the media spotlight not out of egotism but to take the focus away from the players. He expertly dealt with interviews and press conferences and Giggs has the potential to do likeiwse; his announcement interviews with both English and Welsh language media were very good.
He will turn Wales into an Old Salfordians club
This is a big worry of mine. Wales' coaching setup for the past 15 years has been the brainchild of Osian Roberts. He has been a critical component of John Toshack, Gary Speed and Chris Coleman's senior sides and Brian Flynn and Robert Page's U21 sides.
I do not want any Nevilles or Butts or Solskjaers entering the Wales setup and the media circus to play up some kind of bizarro '
Dosbarth 92' reunion.
He has no managerial experience
He doesn't. He hasn't been a number one and like many top players I hypothesise that he is too proud to take a job in the lower leagues and earn your stripes and not your coaching badges. Coaching badges which, ironically enough, are issued by the FAW on a world-class basis.
He has less experience than Carl Robinson, manager of Toronto since 2013, who was my choice for the role.
But he was a number two at Manchester United
For what, 24 months? And at a a bad Manchester United side, as every United fan seems to say about Louis van Gaal's reign.
Hardly a glowing endorsement.
But he has international experience
Meaningless. It's almost rule number two in football (after 'play to the whistle') that great players don't automatically make great managers. Ask John Barnes, Paul Gascoigne, Gary Neville, Paul Merson, Lothar Matthäus, Alan Shearer, Diego Maradona and Tony Adams.
As mentioned above, Osian Roberts has been the brains behind Wales for some time. What's his background? He was a semi-pro at Bangor City with a Wales 'B' cap to his name. He quit playing somewhat early and began his coaching career as the football in the community officer for the regional Anglesey FA. And he's risen to the very top of the coaching world so "international experience" is not a prerequisite.
He's about on the same level as Hughes, Speed and Coleman
Apparently, Chris Coleman was a joke before he became Wales manager. But as
@Famine has pointed out already, he did an excellent job with a Fulham side losing money and having players sold without his consent. You try losing Edwin van der Sar, Louis Saha, Steed Malbranque, Tomasz Radzinski and Luis Boa Morte and stay in the Premier League for your entire 4 year spell. Well, he did. Additionally, no manager has been able to address Coventry's slide which has been going on since
2001 and every Sociadad manager will have trouble in keeping to the Basque-only policy.
Gary Speed had an unremarkable 8 months at Sheffield United but he had at least had a job at a lower division club and didn't walk directly into the Wales job.
Mark Hughes is about right though. He became Wales manager in 1999 whilst still actively playing club football, not retiring until 2001, and stayed as manager for 5 years.
He's a box ticker
Definitely. He's a media-friendly box ticker to please the bigwigs at the FAW. This could be a Staunton experiement; Steve "Oi'm da gaffehr" Staunton was a top player for Ireland and walked into the top job as his first appointment as an FAI favourite. It didn't go so well.
Hazardous.
He'll bring in income as a big name
Wales made money under Chris Coleman. The Cardiff City Stadium was regularly sold out and the buzz about the team certainly bloated the FAW coffers.
Ryan Giggs might bring in more corporate types but that's not necessarily a good thing.
Summary
It was almost resignated expectation. You knew it was going to be him. But judgement must be reserved.
If the key coaching staff who already know the players and current tactics are retained, or at least given a chance to prove their worth to a new manager, I think it could work. I cannot think what new dimension Ryan Giggs can bring to the team at the moment and I'll be intrigued to find out. I wouldn't want the current 3-5-2 system to go away but if it does, and we perform well, then I can only be pleased with it. But hindsight is 20/20.
No I'm not overly optimistic, but I seldom am. At least we have some games in March to play and see how it goes.
But of course, you have to support a new appointment. I can't sit like a sour lemon for 4 long years until his contract expires in 2022. Ryan Giggs is one of Wales' greatest gifts to football. We've had one fairytale already. I'm looking forward to another one.
We've
been invited qualified for the China Cup in March.
And honestly, I don't care about it. I care about the quality of the performances but I couldn't give a flying 🤬 about the actual results.
---
16th January -
Chris Lucketti (Bury, sacked)
League One
Sacked: 18
Resigned: 2
Demoted: 1
Total: 21
For what it's worth, at this point last season there had been 31 managerial changes. Ten fewer this season is good news for under-the-kosh managers.