Chris Coleman Wales job on line if failures continue

GORDON Strachan may be embarking on a World Cup campaign with a clean slate as national team coach, but his Wales counterpart, Chris Coleman, admitted last night that his own job is on the line unless his team get good results in their remaining Group A fixtures, starting with Friday night’s clash at Hampden.

Coleman has been handed a contract until the 2014 finals in Brazil, but with only the dramatic 2-1 win over Scotland in Cardiff to show for four qualifiers so far, the former Fulham manager understands he will be judged on the final six matches.

“I’ve been in the job just over a year and I think I have 18 months left on my contract up until the finals,” Coleman told Wales Online.

“I always said I wouldn’t leave between the start or the end of my contract. I haven’t looked at it any differently. In another six or 12 months, if it is obvious we can’t qualify or I feel I can’t affect the situation, then it’s a conversation with the powers that be.

“Of course, it would be interesting to see what happens but, hand on heart, I haven’t thought about it. There is so much distance between the games that, when they come around, you just concentrate on getting the result and performance. What will be down the line, will be – but I won’t even think of Croatia until we have got what we want in Scotland. I can’t afford to.”

Coleman also disagreed with the claim by pundit and former Wales international Robbie Savage that, in the context of the group, where both Scotland and Wales have little chance of qualifying, the Hampden fixture couldn’t be viewed as a big game.

“If you have never been a manager then you can make comments like that,” said Coleman. “Even if you’ve been a manager for a pre-season friendly at a club, then you will want to win the game. For anyone to describe Wales v Scotland as a nothing game is quite surprising. Even if it was a friendly at Hampden Park in June it would be huge and I’m looking forward to it.”