So Robbie Savage finally got his way. After years of petty character assassination, some of it deserved, but most of it simply out of the frustration we all feel, John Toshack has finally decided to jack it in. Now the big man can go back to his hacienda in Spain, put those giant feet up, watch ‘Sexy Beast’ and periodically appear on the telly as an expert on La Liga when Sid Lowe is busy. A fine player in his day, even if it was for the despised red Scousers for a while, he had a decent record as a Manager in Spain and is getting a bit long in tooth to have to defend himself and his team from Crazy Robbie’s jibes on the radio.

The rumour mills are all ablaze with chitchat about Ryan Giggs stepping in and taking over. The bookies are quoting odds of 11/4 according to what I read this morning. For his sake and mine–as both a Manchester United and Wales supporter–he must not say yes. At least not now. Along with Ivor Allchurch and

‘The Big Brilliant’ himself, John Charles, he is surely the greatest Welsh football player ever. If Allchurch and Charles were smart enough to not accept the manager’s job, no matter how often it was offered, Giggs ought to be, too.

I will not use the’ poisoned chalice’ excuse here. The young squad Wales have been fielding quite an array of talent next to Craig Bellamy, Joe Ledley and Wayne Hennessey. Left without much choice, El Tosh went young. Youthful saplings like Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale are already blooming and the likes of Jack Collison, Chris Gunter, Lewis Nyatanga and Adam Matthews are knocking hard at the door. Juggling a mixture of callow youth and the monomaniacal narcissism of Craig Bellamy was never going to be anything less than constant aggravation for an old-school warrior like Tosh. Managing this young squad ought to be a pleasure for a young, forward-thinking manager; yet, clearly the lads are not going to come good for at least a couple of years yet. and the Welsh F.A.. ought to be more understanding.

If Ryan Giggs were to take on this job, the odds are that such a decision would put him at odds with the Gaffer. Nobody would want that. Having seen Sir Alex Ferguson fall out with the likes of Paul McGrath, Brian Kidd, Paul Ince, Roy Keane, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Carlos Tevez, to name but a few, I can say that the only winners have been United’s opponents. Ryan Giggs has played 591 games for the greatest club in the world and a celebration of 600 looms large. Anybody who doesn’t know what Ryan Giggs has won doesn’t know a thing about football. Go to Wikipedia if need be and see that over more than twenty years as a professional the Welsh Wizard has won everything but a World Cup winner’s medal. Unless something catastrophic happens between now and June, Giggsy will surely want to see this season through and play in one last Champions Cup campaign.

So, why the fuss? What’s so urgent? Well, already, both John Toshack and Robbie Savage have said that Giggsy is the best man for the job. As this is the one and only thing these two have in common and Welsh football is a very small world, this already ratchets up the pressure on Our Ryan! Surely all the bigwigs at the Welsh F.A.. will be whispering sweet-nothings and sending adoring text-mesages nonstop to his cell. The fact is that England will be playing Wales in Cardiff in March and the Welsh F.A.., aside from its desperate desire to win, wants to hear those sounds of clicking cash registers. In a Taffy Hollywood scenario–one that I, too, would love–Wales, led by their brilliant player-manager, would defeat England and set off a celebration of it as a new Brazil that could last a year.

Back down to earth, however, as a member of a club who will be competing for the highest honours, Ryan Giggs is not superman! The stress of competing for five trophies and managing Wales would mean something had to give. In the first place, I would prefer that the job be given to the coach who deserves it the most, Brian Flynn. He knows all the youth players well and deserves a chance. A second choice, preferably as a caretaker, would be Chris Coleman. He’s not the brightest spoon in the cutlery draw, but he does have a modicum of experience and is still young enough to be able to communicate with the kids. Offering Craig Bellamy a chance to be Player-Manager is an alternative, too. Realistically, it will never happen, but beyond his obsessive-compulsive behavior and natural obstreperous personality, is a genuinely bright guy with leadership qualities. Putting him in charge might actually force him to finally conquer some demons and grow up.

At any rate, a year from now, I believe Giggs will be either coaching at United(It’s a fair bet Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be taking over somewhere soon), stepping in to take over from Mike Phelan, or working as an assistant elsewhere. Managing Wales did a lot to help set Mark Hughes on a successful path to premiership management, but the expectations with this set of young players will surely be much higher for Giggs than it was for Sparky. Take your time, Giggsy!

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