WALES WALES

Kicker Conspiracy

By Mike Hughes

Last time out I said I'd use this issue to look at some of the things you may have missed along the way in the last campaign; however, that plan has been rather overshadowed by the fact that Wales actually ended their campaign with a victory. The effect of that victory has been interesting to say the least. 
Firstly, Wales didn't finish bottom of the group. Secondly, the campaign ended with just the sort of result that helps convince people that there's some cause for optimism next time out. Thirdly, we now appear to have fared no worse than previous excursions in such competitions and done so with the gentle introduction of new management and some new players. Fourthly, Mark Hughes' future was no longer deemed newsworthy. You'll already know that the last one is of particular interest to me. All I can say is that it's interesting how every negative head disappears very rapidly when there isn't anything left that backs up their opinions. In a season when league managers with teams in the top half of the table are losing their jobs, I hope those people keep their opinions to themselves until they have an opinion which has at least some basis in fact.

THE GREAT GIG(GS) IN THE SKY

Ryan Giggs - Are Wales any good without him?

Perhaps even more interesting has been the slight change in the perception of Wales as an international team and, again, there's some evidence that it all comes down to nothing more than whether the media deem something newsworthy. For a long time, you could have been forgiven for thinking that Wales were basically one player - Giggs (did I need to spell that out?) - although Chris Coleman's car crash was probably more shocking for the fact that the media now knew that Wales actually had two players. Of course, he was 'vital' and our hopes were dashed without him. Hmm, that was right, wasn't it? Now, the moment that there appeared to be no club-versus-country conflict (and Chris is on the long road to recovery), look what happens!

Apparently, our manager was under threat - oops, we won a game - bang goes that angle. So, what do we have now? 

Well, it would appear that we actually have a team of recognised talents. I doubt very much if most media people haven't clued into Jones, Speed, Delaney, Hartson and Bellamy. Whether we rate them is another issue - the key point is that having Giggs play for us every game has totally altered the perception of the Welsh football team and it can only be for the better.

THE FUTURE'S SO BRIGHT I GOTTA WEAR SHADES

So, what of the future? Well, talking of Bellamy I must confess to being in shock. He's not only not injured or suspended, he's playing and scoring goals and gathering praise wherever he goes. His career is finally gathering momentum and that can only be good for Wales. The fact that he plays at a club where one of the key midfielders is a Welsh international can only help.

Big John appears to have found his passport and dried it out sufficiently to be allowed into Scotland. I have mixed feelings about this (as I'm sure Scotland does) but if Martin O'Neill can make Chris Sutton a hero against Juventus then anything is possible! Defensively, we appear to have at least realised that sleepy is not good and aggression might be. We may be a little misguided on occasions and we are desperately lacking one good, inspirational defender who can organise (you can't really rely on the man who organises Southampton's defence, now can you!), but on the whole, things are getting better. We defend as a unit far more than we used to and while we still abdicate responsibility as a unit with admirable panache on occasions, you have to admit things have improved.

You know my feelings on the Under-21s but regardless of the perpetual desire for results, can anyone really argue that the three Wrexham players who have been regularly involved (Walsh, Thomas and Roberts) have not benefited immensely? Again, results ain't the thing. So, a little quiet before the next round of fixtures. All well and good. For what it's worth I suspect we may well flatter to deceive in our next qualifying tournament before settling for a similar position to this time around. The tournament after that though…!