Chris Coleman not a ‘figurehead’ as he takes over with Wales

Published on Friday 20 January 2012 01:57

NEW Wales manager Chris Coleman has vowed to continue the legacy left by his close friend Gary Speed but has warned players and staff: “I am the boss”.

Coleman, 41, was yesterday confirmed as the successor to Speed, who died in November at the age of 42 after guiding Wales on a run of four wins in five games which had taken them into the world’s top 50.

While the Football Association of Wales maintained a dignified silence during their search for a new manager, captain Aaron Ramsey, winger Gareth Bale and assistant manager Raymond Verheijen all chose to voice their desire for Speed’s backroom team to be left intact.

Dutchman Verheijen was particularly outspoken, calling for the FAW bring in a “figurehead”, allowing himself and Osian Roberts to remain responsible for hands-on coaching.

Coleman’s contract will take him up to the end of the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, and he has been tipped to bring in his former Wales and Fulham team-mate Kit Symons as his assistant.

The former Fulham, Real Sociedad, Coventry and Larissa manager says he will speak to the staff who served under Speed before deciding on his own backroom team, but he was adamant that he is no figurehead appointment, and the tone of his comments suggest that Verheijen may have no place in his set-up.

He said: “I’ve seen some of the comments. If you need a figurehead, why not get an actor and tell him to be a manager? You either are or you aren’t. You’re either a number one or a number two. You can’t have someone in here either acting, or pretending, to be the manager while someone else is doing everything.

“In fairness, Raymond has done a lot of the coaching and the players have responded. But, I know football. And I know footballers. They have done very well for one man who isn’t here any more. And I think some people have forgotten that it was Gary Speed.”

He added: “I’ve not had the chance to speak to many of the staff.

“We have got other things running parallel at the moment but there are certain people I need to talk with, not just Raymond. I have never met Raymond, he is clearly an opinionated guy but I need to sit down and speak with him at length.

“I have a very close friendship with Kit. He’s doing a great job at Fulham with their under-18s. He’s very highly thought of there.

“Like any manager, every job I’ve taken I’m not going in with a big axe, sacking people but at the same time I like to take in faces I know. But for me to say I am going to bring this guy or that guy in is disrespectful to the staff already there.”

While Coleman insisted he empathised with Ramsey’s comments, believing them to be a sign of the Arsenal midfielder’s desire for Wales to be successful, he says any key decision will be made by him and not the players.

Coleman, who has already spoken to Ramsey, Craig Bellamy, Ashley Williams and Robert Earnshaw, said: “There can only be one boss.

“You can’t do it any other way. I don’t go around like a headmaster, we have a lot of good players playing in the Premier League with good managers.

“But I have never worked in a situation where I have let the players boss me.”

But Coleman, whose first game is against Costa Rica in Cardiff on 29 February, is keen to continue with the passing style that proved so successful in the latter stages of Speed’s tenure. He also has the World Cup qualifying campaign on the horizon, where Wales will joust with Craig Levein’s Scotland as well as Serbia, Croatia, Belgium and Macedonia.

Speed also introduced a stronger emphasis on analysis and sports science and Coleman has no desire to wipe out all the good work done by his predecessor, although he admitted taking charge of his country was “bittersweet” in the circumstances.

He added: “I’m not Gary Speed. I didn’t have the career he had. Although we were close friends, we were different personalities, but I’m not here to disrupt anything, I’m here to build on it.

“I’d be a fool to come in here and start again because that’s not what it needs. I’ve got no intention of doing that.

“I love this philosophy of playing. I love what’s been happening at Swansea City and I’ve tried to implement the same in Greece with Larissa.

“At the same time, the tail cannot wag the dog. It has to be the other way around. I’m not going to change everything, but I’m my own man and, if something does need to change, then it will be changed. But, from the outside, looking in, I don’t think a lot needs to be changed.”

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