CHRIS COLEMAN: " FUTURE WITH WALES "

CHRIS COLEMAN:

Tuesday 10th October 2017

"There's a chance that I can [stay on], there's a chance that I won't. I can't give you any clear answer.


BY JOHN BREWIN

Wales manager Chris Coleman: We got frustrated after Ireland goal

Wales manager Chris Coleman did not hide the hurt of Ireland ending his team's hopes of reaching the World Cup finals with a 1-0 win in Cardiff.

"We just came out a bit short tonight. We needed that first goal, then we got a bit frustrated, started rushing things," Coleman said of James MCclean's lone goal.

With Gareth Bale sat in the Cardiff City Stadium stands, Wales received another blow when midfielder Joe Allen was forced to leave the field in the first half with concussion after a heavy challenge from Ireland captain David Meyler.

"We missed Joe," he said. "It wasn't enough tonight, in terms of imagination. We didn't create enough. You've got to give [Ireland manager] Martin O'Neill a huge pat on the back. They had a gameplan and I sincerely hope they go to the finals."

Ireland finished second in Group D and go into the playoffs. Wales ended up third behind the Irish and group winners Serbia, who beat Georgia 1-0.

Coleman was meanwhile forced to answer questions about his future. His current Wales contract expires in the summer, after the World Cup takes place.

"You ask any manager after a defeat and they want to be as far away from it as you can," he said. "It's six years I've been in charge, and I can't say right now what my future is. But I genuinely believe if you look at the makeup and age of our squad, this is a good group of players.

"There's a chance that I can [stay on], there's a chance that I won't. I can't give you any clear answer. The FAW have been great, they've left me alone, my contract was running down, there'll be a conversation now, in due course. We'll see. I'm going to take a bit of time with my family and friends, my children, and when the dust settles we'll see where we are."

Coleman said he remained proud of his players' efforts, despite them failing to follow up reaching the seminals of last year's Euros by getting to a first World Cup since 1958.

He said: "I thanked them for their work, their passion, for making the nation proud. It's been a privilege to work with these players. It's been a hell of an effort. It just hasn't been enough. But it's not my first disappointment in life, and it probably won't be my last one."

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Wales boss Chris Coleman undecided on whether he'll quit


By Domic Booth


Chris Coleman declined to give a definitive answer on his future as Wales manager after watching his side's World Cup dream crumble against Republic of Ireland

Wales were stunned by James McClean's second half strike in Cardiff as Ireland claimed a play-off place via a 1-0 counter-attacking victory.

But Coleman, whose contract is due to expire in the summer, isn't stepping down just yet. He revealed he would go away and reflect on Wales' qualifying campaign, before revealing what his future holds.

On the game itself, which saw Wales dominate possession without creating too many clearcut opportunities, Coleman was 'absolutely devastated'.

"We just came up a bit short tonight," he said.

"We needed that first goal and obviously it went to the Republic. Then we got frustrated and started rushing things. We obviously missed Joe Allen, whose pivotal to how we play and that affected us when he came off.

"But it wasn't quite enough tonight, we didn’t create enough.

"I have to give Martin O’Neill a huge pat on the back, Republic of Ireland came with a gameplan and got the result. Good luck to them.

"It's a shame for us and a hard one for us but no complaints. It’s our first defeat in four years here (at Cardiff City Stadium). We didn’t get the little bit of luck and on another night we might have had that. Our players have done brilliant again and they'll learn from the experience.

“I’m absolutely gutted, absolutely devastated.

“But it won’t be the first disappointment of mine and it wont be the last one.”


Wales boss Chris Coleman and Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill react at the final whistle (Image: Propaganda)
Coleman was effusive with his praise of Wales' courageous players, but admitted he 'could not' give an answer on his future at this stage.

He added: "I can't say right now about my future because I'm not thinking about it. I'm thinking how I've got a dressing room of devastated players and staff and the whole nation is mourning because that elusive World Cup has passed us by.

"There’s a chance I can (stay) and there’s a chance I won’t. I can’t give anybody an answer tonight.

"It’s not just a matter of me signing a contract. The FAW have been great with me, they've left me alone when I asked them to leave me alone and they've been brilliant.

"There will be a conversation now, there’s a friendly next month and my contract is until the summer but we'll see. Now I’ll go back to my family and friends and take a bit of time. When the dust settles, we'll see where we're going.

Coleman revealed his final words to the Wales players were to thank them for their efforts in the national shirt over the past few years.

He concluded: "I thanked our players for their work, for their passion and for making a nation proud again. We just didn’t have enough tonight.

"It’s been a privilege to work with these players. It hurts, it’s not nice but I told them to stick their chests out, they should be proud."

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