As we move into 2006,
we find ourselves just beyond the halfway point of the
present season, giving us a point both to reflect and
look ahead.
It is also a little over a year into
John Toshack’s tenure as the head of the Welsh management
team. I am sure that all interested parties certainly
hoped for more progress than what seems apparent to
this point; in fact I suspect that some Welsh followers
are extremely sceptical of any future significant successes.
I, however, beg to differ at least somewhat, with that
train of thought, believing in fact, that there is light
at the end of the tunnel. The inclusion of some of the
young players in some senior matches gives invaluable
experience toward possible appearances in the seasons
ahead. The key, being the need, for them to continue
to improve, converting youthful potential into commanding
club displays at Premiership or Championship levels,
making the transition to international competition a
little less demanding. It must be said that a judgement
of results for the senior team leaves only a very little
positive encouragement. However, the admission of some
harsh lessons learnt, gives some reinforcement to the
belief that John Toshack’s considerable experience will
eventually mould a competent Welsh squad. The aftermath
of the play-off loss to Russia and the eventual disenchantment
of some of the players has led to a little more difficult
transition period. Those that have remained seem to
have a strong commitment to the manager’s ability and
methods. A successful Wales team will need to capitalise
to the maximum on it’s own strengths, as well as attempt
to exploit the weaknesses of, certainly it’s tougher,
opponents. This puts the onus very much on John Toshack
and his staff to assess and develop a system which
the players at his disposal can translate into a winning
match preformance on a consistent basis.
Moving on to a discussion
of what may be the biggest single factor as to whether
Toshack will eventually be lauded by Welsh fans, is
that he must have enough quality players. His own recognition
of the need to include some of the younger players in
the team and help them adjust to the rigours of international
football as quickly as possible has already been publicised.
It does seem to me that he may be in a little more favourable
position than many previous Welsh managers in this regard.
There may possibly be a good bit larger than normal
number of young players getting established at first
team club level at the moment, with the added expert
opinions that their talents can be successful at even
higher levels. Taking the greatest possible advantage
of these resources to mould in with his established
stars will no doubt require careful planning and organisation.
My pre-season article,
Young Welsh players, focused on some of the rising talent
to keep an eye on, so I will provide a half term report
on my predictions. My top two nominations, James Collins
and David Vaughan have both warranted their places.
Although Collins endured early season injuries, leaving
him mostly on the outside looking in, as West Ham have
had a very good first half of the season, he has recently
had more involvement and could significantly increase
his first team appearances as the weeks go along. This
can only be of benefit, the two of them are now an important
part of the Wales senior squad. Richard Duffy and Joe
Ledley have also vindicated my selection of them in
the next two places. They seem to be comfortably coping
with Champioship level football and have already performed
adequately when called into the senior team. Lewis Price
is another to have achieved plaudits, to be honest he
has in fact matured into a first team choice for Ipswich
and seemingly Wales in quicker time than I had envisioned
a few months ago. David Cotterill has also continued
to provide Bristol City fans with some uplifting moments,
in what has so far been a trying season for them. He
obviously deserved a placing in my list and I apologise
for not doing so, my reasoning being some question regarding
his dual qualification status at that time. Now, of
course, he has been capped by Wales in a competetive
senior match, this is no longer an issue and I do believe
that neither he or Wales will regret his commitment
decision. Craig Davies has raised some concern with
the reports of being unsettled at Oxford. He obviously
has ability as he continues to be involved in first
team matches and has also caught enough attention
to forecast that he can take his game to higher levels.
One hopes that he has, or will soon, put this potential
distraction into the correct perspective. As in life
in general, the great majority of proffesional sportsmen
have to learn to cope with ups and downs, be they fair
or not, keeping the ambition to strive to be as good
as possible as the main focus. Craig Morgan has been
an ever present for the M. K. Dons this season, regular
first team football being an indication he is making
steady progress. I have to admit that I do not know
whether his displays are attracting the attention
of the higher division clubs, as has been indicated
he has shown such potential in the past. Peter Gilbert
and Arron Davies are the other two players from my one
through nine list and they have not had the season they
would have wished for thus far. Maybe they are going
through those almost inevitable hiccups and will again
be in the forefront of names put forward in similar
future writings. One very noteable omission from my
list was Andrew Crofts. Although I was familiar with
his elevation as a regular member of the Gillingham
team I did not realise his displays were climbing to
anywhere near such levels that eventually gained him
a senior cap. Another name who only had a brief mention
but likely warranted more is Mark Jones. He has continued
impressing Wrexham fans, in fact raising his game lately
to a level that has a number of respected pundits predicitng
a very bright future for him. Now I will move on to
new names that will almost surely be in prominence in
any subsequent discussions of Welsh players likely to
be senior internationals. Owain Tudur-Jones has certainly
made quite an impression at Swansea City, becoming an
important member of a League One promotion challenging
side a few months after joining from Bangor City. Lewin
Nayatanga has secured what seems to be a regular first
team spot in the Derby County side in the last few weeks
and considering that he is only a few months past his
seventeenth birthday, is a noteable achievement. Two
more players who I have only become aware of their eligibility
since the start of the season are Callum Hart at Bournemouth
and Nicky Adams at Bury. Both have a good number of
appearances for their respective first teams and so
could become welcomed additions to the under 21 squad.
Added to this is Lewis Guy, a player I knew had gained
schoolboy honours with Wales, but had subsequently been
invloved with England at youth level. He may now possibly
be willing to put his lot back with Wales and is also
gaining football league experience at Doncaster. We
can also add Matt Crowell who seems to be overcoming
various injuries that have hampered his progress at
Wrexham over the past season and a half. David Edwards
at Shrewsbury is another with a similar history. They
were both highly thought of as schoolboys and youths
and can hopefully regain such praise in the months ahead.
Adam Birchall is a regular in the Mansfield first team,
whilst Simon Spender, Mike Williams and Levi Mackin
at Wrexham, Adam Gross at Barnet and Alex Lawless at
Torquay are all making occasional first team appearances.
Having followed Welsh
football closely for many years, I believe that these
players provide the strongest pool that has ever been
available for u-21 selection. Of course Collins, Vaughan,
Gilbert and also Lee Beevers are no longer eligible
for future u-21 competitions, never the less, it still
leaves quite an array of talent available. As success
for the senior team is obviously the main priority,
then as has already happened, a promotion to that squad
before the end of their u-21 status is almost certain
for some of them. Others will benefit from continued
international u-21 competition and hopefully eventually
graduate to senior involvement. This leads me into one
aspect of my reason for the choice of title I used for
this article. There is somewhat of a conflict, needing
John Toshack and Brian Flynn to decide on the most immediate
priority. The new EUFA u-21 competition requires Welsh
pre-qualification for the 2006/7 version. Should Wales
field it’s strongest possible side to attempt to qualify?
The answer would seem to be yes. The need to gain experience
versus better class opposition is an important part
of the learning curve. This may however remove the availabilty
of some players for the senior international friendlies
during the second half of this season. A bit of a quandry,
but I am sure they will deal with it wisely.
Gaining experience
as quickly as possible to be ready for the European
Championship qualifiers is also extremely important.
Although a realistic expectation that qualifying for
the finals in 2008 is a little ambitious, I am sure
the coaching staff will be anxious to build a competent
and confident squad. Confidence is a result of a winning
habit and so there is a need to avoid any surprise results,
except positive ones, along with knowledge of being
able to give even the strongest European nations a tough
match. This needs to be achieved prior to the start
of the 2010 World Cup qualification period in order
to make the success of a Welsh appearance in those finals
reasonably viable.
Lastly, some comments
I recently saw, expressing a concern about Welsh youngsters
having to compete with even greater odds, as the premier
clubs extend their search for new talent to assimilate
into their youth ranks, onto a world wide basis these
days. This is a little disconcerting, however, I am
hoping the FAW pay heed to important opinions voiced
in some regularity. There is an urgent need to greatly
improve the grass roots set up for their young players.
A good national scheme with a sensible budget, would
surely have the potential for a high dividend return
on their investment, by helping produce international
class players and a successful national team. I can
cite French football as an example, for many, many years
considered mostly under achievers, until they developed
their national scheme. Such ultimate results as the
French may be an extremely lofty goal when comparing
population constraints, but regular qualification for
championship finals would provide ongoing revenue to
fund it. It would surely be quite a legacy for any forward
thinking FAW officials to promote and help establish.
Well I certainly have
ended up with a very long disertation, hopefully if
you have ploughed through this far, you have found it
of some interest. Any comments, positive or negative
will always be much welcomed, my e-mail address is j3207456@ev1.net
I will leave you with my optimistic belief that
Wales have a number of up and coming young players who
can help John Toshack fulfill his promise to gain Welsh
qualification for the 2010 World Cup finals. There does
also seem to be quite a number of talents in the Welsh
youth ranks, which, with continued improvement, will
almost certainly supplement the present u-21 squad in
the future. You can read about the progress of such
youngsters in Owain’s weekly Young Guns column,
an exellent way to keep up with this topic of interest.
Wishing everyone happy
and prosperous 2006 are my final words for now.-
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