Uncertainty over the head coach – and at the top of FAW – has left team in a strange position as they gear up to face Belgium
Perhaps there is a whiff of irony in that one of Ryan Giggs’s most recent public appearances came at Wembley, the home of England. Less than a fortnight ago he was in the stands watching the Papa John’s Trophy final alongside Gary Neville and Paul Scholes as Salford City, in whom he owns a 10% slice, toasted their first piece of silverware as a Football League club, but Giggs remains the elephant in the room when it comes to Wales, who on Wednesday kick off a World Cup qualifying campaign minus their manager.
By the end of this month Giggs, who is on bail until May having denied allegations of assault and actual bodily harm, will have missed six successive Wales matches and not taken charge of his national side for almost six months. At that point the Football Association of Wales chief executive, Jonathan Ford, the subject of a vote of no confidence last month, will officially depart and the European Championship finals will be little more than two months away. For now Robert Page, the former Port Vale and Northampton manager, will again deputise, together with Albert Stuivenberg, one of Mikel Arteta’s assistants at Arsenal.
