A little later than planned and a lot to get through this morning, so let’s dive right into this morning’s Welsh football notes…
The Netherlands snatched a point out of Wales’ grasp in a dramatic finale in Rotterdam last night. (Philip Marsh/BBC Sport Wales)
NOTES: The League A Group 4 table paints a rather harsh picture with Wales propping up the table with a return of just one point from four matches. However, for a truer understanding of their Nations League campaign, it needs to appreciated just how misfortunate the team have been in conceding late goals, notably against the Dutch, who have claimed two ‘smash and grab’ style victories over Wales inside in a week, in addition to conceding a late goal to finish empty-handed away to Poland .
Robert Page has also had to utilise his squad to get through a heavy schedule of games, not least with the priority and pressure of the Ukraine game. Clearly there is work to be done to ensure the team are able to see games out unscathed, but the very fact that Wales are able to use their squad and still remain relatively competitive against top tier European teams speaks volumes for where our national team are right now – and this is what ultimately needs to be taken from this testing run.
Ethan Ampadu continues his impressive end of season form and is named as Wales’ star man in these player ratings. (Mathew Davies / Wales Online)
Gareth Bale insists the Welsh team will address the harsh lessons they’ve learnt in their recent games ahead of the World Cup. (Ian Mitchelmore / Wales Online)
Notes: Bale is again demonstrating his leadership qualities in fronting up and acknowledging the team’s short-comings of late and as he rightly points out, now is the ideal time to identify and work on their defensive issues, prior to the World Cup. I think back to Chris Coleman, who used to talk a lot about ensuring the team was ‘street-wise’ to see out and manage games. The team would certainly benefit from gaining a more ruthless and steely edge, like they showed against Ukraine, to aid them.
The Under-21s completed their U21 European Championship Qualification campaign with a win over Group E whipping boys Gibraltar. Dundalk’s Joe Adams opened the scoring after only 30 seconds before Nottingham Forest midfielder Oliver Hammond sealed a comfortable win in the second-half. Wales finish fourth in the group, but some way off runaway group leaders the Netherlands and Switzerland. (FAW)
The New Saints, Bala Town and Newtown were all handed difficult draws in the UEFA Champions League and Europa Conference League first qualifying round. (Cymru Football)
NOTES: The draw has not been particularly kind to the Cymru Premier clubs despite two of the three being seeded. That said, there are no ‘easy draws’ at this level for Welsh clubs and it will take big performances across both games from each team if they are to progress, with the first-legs being played in just three weeks.
The New Saints and Bala Town will both face Northern Irish and Irish opposition respectively whilst Newtown will make a difficult trip to Northern Europe.
Saints will at least have the added security net of knowing they’ll drop into the Conference League second qualifying round should they fail to progress past Northern Ireland’s Linfield in the Champions League first qualifying round.
Bala were particularly unfortunate in drawing Sligo Rovers, despite being seeded. They will also play the first-leg at the home (to be played at Park Hall) in the Conference League qualifiers, whilst Newtown face HB Torshavn of the Faroe Islands (first-leg away).
The draw for the second rounds will be made by UEFA today, so the teams will know their future opponents should they advance. That said, it would be quite an accomplishment were all three clubs to progress. Fingers crossed!
Pontypridd Town have announced they are rebranding themselves as Pontypridd United prior to their debut season in the Cymru Premier. (Official club site)
UPDATE! Haverfordwest County have announced the shock departure of manager Nicky Hayen, who will return to Belgium to manage Clube Brugge’s U23 team. (Official club site)
NOTES: A statement released by County says chairman Rob Edwards appreciates the reasons behind Hayen’s exit, however I can’t help but feel disappointed for the club who would have been supporting and planning Hayen’s first full season in Welsh football. If I were associated with Haverfordwest, I would be sorely disappointed in Hayen’s loyalty, or rather lack of, considering he only joined the club six months ago.
If his departure was to join a first-team role then I would be more sympathetic to his decision, but leaving a club where he has been backed and only made the decision to commit last December leaves a bad taste.
County now find themselves thrust into a deeply frustrating situation that forces them into making a managerial appointment with a sense of urgency. The club do state that a release clause was met to allow Hayen to depart so they will at least have some sort of financial remuneration, but that is the only positive I can draw from a pretty dire set of circumstances for the club.
Hayen was a left-field appointment which ticked a lot of boxes for ambitious County and it’ll be interesting to see what route they go down with his successor. His time in Welsh football will be considered a successful although very brief spell.
Welsh football never ceases to surprise you!
The Welsh Football Notebook 