John Toshack to resign?

Maybe he has resigned, maybe he's going to resign, maybe it's just the media stirring things up as usual. John Toshack wasn't happy with the defeat to Montenegro - but neither was I and there's no chance I'm going to dump Wales and support England instead. He is said to have visited the Welsh FA today - but he's the Wales manager, there could be loads of reasons why he's going there. If anyone's going to visit the Welsh FA, isn't it most likely to be a manager of one of the Welsh teams?

John Toshack's Wikipedia page suggests has resigned but at the time of writing, there seem to be no other references to this quote on the Internet. Not even on the Wales FA site. Some reports state that he has gone already; others say only that he is about to offer his resignation. It's difficult to know which version to believe.

I don't really want him to go. However, if you feel you can take a team no further, there is often an advantage in getting out as soon as you can. If Tosh decides he has to go, it is probably better he leaves now while Wales still have some hope - it will be more difficult attracting a new manager if Wales lose to Bulgaria too. It will be difficult for a new Wales manager to get things ready for the October matches but if a new manager is appointed after that, Wales would be almost halfway through their fixtures, with a visit from England next on the list.

Anyway, several candidates have been suggested, including Sir Alex Ferguson and Martin O'Neill. Maybe I'm being racist but I'm not comfortable with the idea of a non-Welshman in charge. He doesn't have to be completely Welsh: if a manager is eligible to play for Wales, I would be more than happy for him to manage Wales. But all these other names: they are great managers but I'd almost rather we lost every match with a Welshman than won every match with a Scotsman in charge. Helping the team to win matches is a very important part of being a national team manager but does it really help to create a national identity?

Ryan Giggs has also been named as a potential candiate but I have reservations here too. Ryan is a great guy and his presence on the Wales training ground will be inspirational but he has no experience as a coach and arguably already has a full-time job playing for Manchester United. Ryan is working on his coaching badges and he might well be a good assistant coach but it would be a risk appointing someone so inexperienced and so busy into such a challenging role as coaching the Welsh football team.

Brian Flynn is another who has been suggested, and I have no doubt that he would be a wonderful coach. In many ways, he is the perfect candidate. He has done very well with the under-21s and, of course, he will have worked with almost all the players already. However, I would hesitate to choose him because the Wales under-21 team has been doing extremely well. They have a good chance of progressing to the play-offs as group winner. It would be unfair to them to lose their manager, even if Euro 2012 is arguably a lot more important, and potentially reducing the Wales under-21 players' chances won't necessarily help the senior Wales team. We'll know in just after 14 hours whether the under-21s are through to the next stage. If they succeed, the best thing is for Brian to stay where he is and help them progress still further. If they fail, the clamours for Brian to be the next Wales manager will probably decrease in volume slightly.

So for me, it's between Chris Coleman, Tony Pulis and Kenny Jackett. Tony Pulis has said he has a job to do at Stoke City and the job is unfinished. Fair enough, it's Wales' loss but loyalty is a qualifty I admire in managers (and that's not a dig at Tosh, he has stuck with Wales through some very difficult times). It would be a shame for Kenny Jackett to leave Millwall when he's just taken them up into the Championship - where they are doing very well (plus my dad would not be happy if Kenny left Millwall and his Welsh daughter is the one who will suffer for it, in the absence of any more senior Wales representatives). He is, however, a great manager and although he's not Welsh, he did play for Wales.

So that leaves Chris Coleman and if Tosh decides he has to go, Chris would be a very able replacement. He has mostly done well as a manager and considering the number of big clubs that have gone down to League One, even a 19th-place finish with Coventry wasn't too awful. Chris with Ryan as his assistant, maybe even an assistant player-manager... I could live with that.

But whoever is managing Wales against Bulgaria, I'm going to support him. I suppose even Alex Ferguson won't seem quite so repulsive if he's trying to help Wales win.