JOHN TOSHACK yesterday stood down as Wales manager with a heavy heart after telling his bosses he wanted to continue in the post.
The 61-year-old has officially had his employment with the Football Association of Wales terminated by mutual consent.
Toshack’s position had been the subject of considerable speculation since Wales were beaten in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier by Montenegro last Friday.
Reports appeared over the weekend claiming that Toshack was poised to resign and his departure, announced at an FAW press conference yesterday, came as no surprise. It became apparent, however, Toshack wanted to carry on, at least until after next month’s games against Bulgaria and Switzerland, if only to shoulder the blame for any more failures.
Toshack revealed he had agreed with the FAW earlier this year to review his position after those games anyway. He said: “It might not sound a very positive thing to say – but if results were to go against Wales I would have preferred that to happen with me still in charge.”
Carlos Queiroz, meanwhile, has been sacked as coach of the Portuguese national side. The Portuguese Football Federation confirmed the news yesterday just two days after the national team suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at the hands of Norway in the latest round of Euro 2012 qualifiers.
Queiroz is currently serving a six-month ban for his alleged misbehaviour during an anti-doping testing session at a training camp in the run-up to the World Cup, and was not on the bench for Tuesday’s defeat. Portugal were also held to a 4-4 draw with Cyprus in their opening qualifier last week.
Tottenham have been dealt another injury blow resulting from one of their players being on England duty as striker Jermain Defoe has been ruled out for six weeks with an ankle injury.
Defoe could be seen on crutches and wearing a protective boot on his right foot at Spurs’ training ground yesterday. “Even if it’s a bad sprain, you’re still talking about six weeks or so, because it’s a nasty one,” Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said.
Defoe was hurt in England’s 3-1 victory over Switzerland on Tuesday, just days after Tottenham team-mate Michael Dawson suffered a knee injury in the England win over Bulgaria that will rule him out for eight weeks.
Arsenal have confirmed winger Theo Walcott will be sidelined for up to six weeks with an ankle injury he sustained on Tuesday night with England. West Ham captain Scott Parker (29) has ended speculation about his future by signing a new contract until the end of the 2013-14 season.
