Football: Posters urge Gould sacking

BOBBY GOULD could be forgiven for feeling paranoid this morning - it seems that "they" are out to get him.

Gould faces a test of his Wales side's Euro 2000 credentials with a visit to Copenhagen tomorrow to play Denmark, followed by a home game against Belarus at Ninian Park, Cardiff, on Wednesday. And although the current campaign is only one game old - Wales having lost 2-0 to Italy at Anfield last month - the knives are being sharpened. A poster campaign organised by disgruntled fans sprang up around Cardiff and Swansea overnight, demanding: "Sack Bobby Gould".

At the same time it was revealed that Vinnie Jones has made a thinly veiled play to fill Gould's position at some stage in the future - even though the Wales manager is still clinging to the job at the moment.

Jones, in his new autobiography, entitled Vinnie, accepts his international playing career is over under Gould, the man who first turned him into a big-name player with Wimbledon. But he adds: "I could still end up as Wales manager and believe that one day I probably will."

The bilingual poster campaign sprang up around the streets of Cardiff and Swansea overnight after another shambolic Wales press conference on Wednesday, when Gould paraded his squad in front of a handful of journalists to show a "united front". He then refused to answer any questions that did not concern the coming matches or the last game against Italy.

"We are sick and tired of Gould's antics. He is an embarrassment to Welsh soccer and to Wales," said Mike Davies, a supporter who works in Cardiff and was unvolved in the poster campaign. "Five wins from 20 games is hardly a good record and a sackable offence for any other manager."

Ceri Stennett, a spokesperson for the Football Association of Wales, said: "Everybody at the FAW, including Bobby Gould, is working very hard to do the best thing for Welsh football."

Robbie Savage has declared his wish to return to the Welsh side. The Leicester midfielder's international future looked doubtful after a television interview in which he threw an Italy shirt away, and was sent home by Gould for his behaviour.