Ryan Giggs is set to be confirmed as the new Wales manager on a four-year contract. The former Manchester United player will be formally presented as Chris Coleman’s replacement at a press conference in Cardiff on Monday after the 44-year-old emerged as the Football Association of Wales’s preferred choice ahead of Osian Roberts, Craig Bellamy and Mark Bowen.
The FAW interviewed all four candidates last Thursday but Giggs was always believed to be the frontrunner for a position that has been vacant since Coleman left to join Sunderland in November. Giggs won 64 caps for Wales and recently described managing his country as “one of the top jobs”.
Although his experience is limited outside of his playing career, he had a brief spell as interim manager at United and also worked as Louis van Gaal’s assistant at Old Trafford for a couple of seasons before departing in 2016. Giggs was interviewed for the Swansea City job later that year but overlooked after the Premier League club opted to appoint Bob Bradley ahead of him.
With Wales missing out on qualification for the World Cup this summer, Giggs’s first major assignment will be to lead his country to the 2020 European Championship finals.
The big question is whether Roberts, who has been such an influential figure in Welsh football’s resurgence and remains the FAW’s technical director, will work alongside Giggs. Roberts was previously employed as Coleman’s No 2 and had hoped he would be given the opportunity to take over as manager.
Source:theguardian
