Wales manager John Toshack is expected to stand down from the post today. The 61-year-old is believed to be preparing his resignation in the wake of Wales' dispiriting defeat in Montenegro in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier on Friday to end six years in charge of the national side. Wales, who are in Group G alongside England, do not have a match this week – their next fixtures are against Bulgaria and Switzerland next month, games that already appear pivotal to their hopes of qualification for Ukraine/Poland.
Toshack's departure will not be as abrupt as that of his first spell in charge of Wales, when he resigned after 41 days in 1994, but one game into a qualifying campaign it still comes as a surprise. Toshack is thought to have become disillusioned with a number of issues surrounding the national team and believes he has taken the side as far as he can. He was also said to be upset with the amount of criticism he received following Friday's defeat and that cemented his decision.
The former Liverpool striker, who took his first managerial job with Swansea in 1978, is expected to offer to stay in charge until a successor is found, which means he may well send out the side to play Bulgaria in Cardiff and Switzerland in Basel on 8 and 12 October respectively. There will certainly be a new man at the helm by next March when England come to Cardiff, with Toshack reported to be touting Ryan Giggs as his replacement.
Toshack succeeded Mark Hughes after the former Manchester United striker had taken his first steps into management in charge of Wales. Hughes took on the role in 1999 while still a player, but whether Giggs would be prepared to follow in his one-time team-mate's footsteps at this stage of his career remains to be seen. He told the Independent on Sunday a year ago that he would like to be manager of Wales one day, but only after leaving Old Trafford and that does not appear imminent. Sir Alex Ferguson once combined the Scotland job with managing Aberdeen, although it would seem unlikely he would be happy with one of his players taking on a dual role.
The out-of-work Chris Coleman and Brian Flynn, the Under-21 coach, are other contenders, as is Dean Saunders, currently Wrexham manager and one of Toshack's assistants.
There were calls for Toshack, a former manager of Real Madrid who has never been a universally popular figure in the Welsh dugout, to stand down in the wake of Friday's defeat in Podgorica. Montenegro are regarded as the weakest side in the group, although their world ranking of 73 is actually 11 better than Wales. Robbie Savage, a long-time critic of the manager, said that "it is time John Toshack left Wales."
"I think we need a fresh start, fresh impetus. We need to get the crowds back and I think Toshack has to go," asserted Bellamy.
Toshack replaced Hughes in November 2004 and has 21 wins from his 53 games in charge, as well as 24 defeats. He signed a two-year extension to his contract last year and there was some optimism around the Welsh game with the emergence on to the international stage of promising young players, such as Tottenham's Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal, two of the Premier League's brightest talents.
Bale played in Montenegro, in a team captained by Craig Bellamy, but they were outmanoeuvred for much of the match in the Montenegrin capital by their unheralded opponents and that appears to have been enough for Toshack, who cut an increasingly glum figure as the match took its course.
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