Don't Take Me Home

@DNZY No pressure then ...

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A game that again could have gone either way. We had our moments as did the South Koreans. We learnt a lot from our opponents at the World Cup. Both of us missing our talismen so a game that could have easily changed with these guys playing.



Stats say it all ... what could have been. However take the draw, take the momentum. Next stop is Russia and the World Cup.

Couple of withdrawal's from Welsh duty, not that either in contention to be in a Wale squad soon. Ovenden has fallen from grace after being released by Watford. Samuel was once a bright prospect and plying his trade with struggling Stevenage. But not players to lose sleep over.

Davies decision to withdraw himself is the weirdest of the lot. Just been capped recently and was looking like he was going to go to the World Cup, all be it as the third choice, but still.

The other two were going to be considered, didn't make the previous friendly squads because of injury. Thompson was set to have a role with us. There were others that decided to withdraw, but no one that important. Quite worrying on the eve of a World Cup that our pool of players gets less.

Another set of job offers .... all declined



Could do us a job ... great to have convinced him considering the amount of players turning their backs on us.



The 30 man squad selected ... biggest shock will be that of Neil Taylor. Found it hard to include him, only offers us something down the left with Ben Davies being able to do that then a slot for him was going to be tough to find for him.

The cut to 23 is going to be hard, going to have to think long and hard how I want the makeup of the squad to look like.

The lads that are going to represent us at the World Cup in Russia. Huws and Williams can consider themselves unlucky, felt with the formations I am going to play they might not feature much. Couldn't decide between Wilson and George Williams, ultimately went with Williams. Happy with the squad that is going to Russia, let's see what we can do there.



One last huzzah for a Welsh great, could easily have missed out for Hendry.



40-1 ... short holiday then ...



Away from the World Cup ... hopefully we can start to build for the next World Cup with this campaign.

World Cup warm up games and we almost came unstuck against Albania. Bradders off the bench bailed us out. The Woods assisted twice to ensure we walked away with the win.



Woodburn MOTM, some decent performances.



Dominating win and we have good momentum going into the World Cup.

Good luck in the World Cup!

@alec6247 Cheers man, going to need some luck!

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Well ... that escalated quickly. To go 2-1 down in 12 mins and then to produce one of 'THE' greatest comebacks ever seen ... just wow. Only couple of months earlier we had played and drawn against each other. I wasn't expecting much. Then this happened. Gunter's equalizing goal in the 33 min started the comeback of all ages. Possession wise we sat back allowed South Korea to pass it about in the second half but they couldn't deal with the counter, the pace of the likes of Bale and Bradshaw up top caused havoc to the South Korean back four.



Gunter, Ramsey and Bale delivered.



Apparently I was under pressure ... and had to restore the faith ... I called Bon Jovi.



Cheers Ben!

Well ... hello there. 5-1 ... a hiding at best. Did they deserve it? Absolutely not. But do I care? No. Woodburn will get the headline for scoring 3 ... but really the headline should be all geared towards Henners. The guy was simply on fire, pulled the most incredible saves and ensured we didn't concede more than one goal. A potential turning point was Isla's sending off. At the end of the day, we have put ourselves in a real strong position and we are pulling some punches.



The stats ... look good.



The journey continues! #DontTakeMeHome

No comment ...



Spain were bang average.



No duh .....



Not being funny ... a tie that we could actually win ... big stuff here.

Like a repeat of the game against Spain ... stats show we didn't deserve it. But somehow we won, against all the odds ... it is like Euro 2016 all over again.



Bale simply amazing!



Oh dear ...

Thanks for coming

Controversial 92 min goal chalked off for Brazil ... have to admit I thought it was a goal. Cue some ugly scenes on the touchline and down the tunnel at full time. Brazil out ... Wales in. Who would have thought it? Who would have?



Don't think many covered themselves in glory ... we were lucky to get the win in this game.



Fantastic servant for Wales, incredible scenes. Pity he still plies his trade in the Championship.



Uruguay up next in the Semi's ... tough ask with Cavani and Suarez.

Incredible victory ... the scenes ... Final ... who would have thought?



The stats ... Hennessey was a superstar ... you can now see why he is attracting interest from Man City, Chelsea and Man United. We deserve to win it.



What a time to be asked ... right before the Final ... Turkey trying to throw me off my A-Game, and working undercover for Germany. Silly, very silly because I am really going to leave Wales for Turkey.



Next post ... tomorrow ... will be the Final ...

It is tomorrow, where is the next post?

Maybe best to change penalty takers before the game also.

@bashuijsmans The time is now ...

@VP. True ... one day it will cost us ... one day ... but is that day now?

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Urm ...

One of those games you just knew after we scored that the Germans were going to lay siege on our goal. They came after us and they couldn't finish their dinner. 27 shots and no goals, they dominated possession ... but in the wrong area. Despite me instructing the players to work out of defence, we seemingly followed the Tony Pulis mode of football ... hit long balls up, as a result we lost possession. Gareth Bale's goals was ultimately the difference, however some will argue Germany did not deserve to win as they didn't truly score a goal of their own, rather an own goal gave them their goal.



Ampadu at the tender age of 17 was a rock, Ashley Williams hadn't fully recovered from the Semi Final, so was thrust into action. Bradshaw was given the nod over Sam Vokes and proved a tough opponent for the back four. Plenty of positives, now need to focus on the next set of games.



We gave the fans a journey to remember, our latter knockout games were by no means classics. We tried to attack but ended up sitting back and absorbing the pressure for some of the games. A huge and successful campaign, but the focus will not turn to the Euro's and blooding a squad that will fit into the system. Ashley Williams won't be making the next World Cup, and so a successor at the back must be found. Lots rest on the young shoulders of Ampadu.



Massive servant, loyalty and tremendous squad man. Wish him the very best in retirement. One of the good guys.



The time was right, I can't begrudge him. Be interesting to see how far he will continue his career. Been captain fantastic.

Quality, @Cymro! Euros and World Cup double on the horizon?

And what a post it is! Congratulations with the World cup win! What is your plan for this career?

Pretty amazing that you won the world cup but surely gonna make the rest your time in charge a little underwhelming as nothing will match that?

@r96Skinner That is the challenge now ... World Cup defence and can we go and do the Euro Double.

@bashuijsmans Plan is to develop the nation and see if we can go back to back World Cup. There is some talent about.

@VP. In a sense yes, was hoping that this momentum that I have heard of in the FM18 wasn't true, I was extremely lucky. Job now is to go back and do it again, some of these players will be even more experienced and some of the youngsters coming through look exciting. Will a World Cup boom help?

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So, with the retirement of a few and some players ageing ... in four years time I will need to look for new players to have been blooded through.



Right winger Kristian Tolland could be of promise. Chelsea have gone after him, there is some talent there. How fast can we get him in? Our system currently doesn't accommodate him. Mind need a re-shuffle in the future.



Ian Gwyn Hughes could be the striker we need that will replace Sam Vokes. The one thing that does worry me is at times unless the superstar's are firing we are struggling for goals. I doubt he will be with Cardiff for much longer.



Jason Lock has entered the Man City academy and looks again like a player who could have a future for us, in particular in an area where quality is limited outside of Allen and Ramsey.



Geroge Woods, the man who we stole from under the noses of England. Highly rated and highly regarded. This boy has some future, expect him to be involved with the first team in the near future.



Stephen Ward ... could be the future defensive partner of Ethan Ampady. Who knows. West Ham like him.

Post World Cup squad ... pretty similar but the re-build and future for Wales start now. Want to start these Nation League games off strongly, if we can overcome Northern Ireland and Ukraine then some of the youngsters above might get involved.



Ben Woodburn bails us out. Not a game for our fans, we scrapped through. Thoroughly disappointed, looks like the boys were still in Russia!



Nothing to write home about stats wise, we weren't at the races.



Disappointing to say the least. But you can't have them all. We should have done better, looks like some players are about to earn a few home truths.



Stats are there, we had our chances. Roll on.

Here we go again, some older names return to the fray. Hopefully get to see more of David Brooks and Emyr Huws in action. Also a return for Wayne Hennessey who has just signed for Koln in Germany. His position is under fire, if he doesn't play more we could in trouble. None of our keepers are playing regularly or at the highest level. Arguably the position I am most concerned by.



Vokes out ... Bradshaw in.



Comprehensive win and Woodburn back with a brace, Brooks with a goal and we were the better side. Will take this.



Concern as Bale was taken off injured. A chance potentially for George Williams to make a name for himself.



Bradshaw was pure class, Woodburn again with a brace but it was down to the man from Barnsley to produce the goods. Looked strong and building for the future.



The Faso took a battering from us, again pleasing for us to get things going in the right direction. Woodburn with the hat-trick and things looked great for us.



Woods now capped ... expect more in the future.



Not the way to end the year ... we are bound to lose a game. Time for the players to recover and look to the future.

Quite the group ... Russia and Switzerland are going to be the biggest challenge. Israel could cause us hassle too. Looking forward to kicking off the Euro Campaign.

West Ham back in and seemingly desperate for me ... not now.



The best eleven ... looks strong.

Bale is out for the long haul with a hip injury and Ampadu is still not fit. Hoping to have these back soon. Harry Wilson has a potential chance to impress.



Apparently winning a World Cup means nothing!

Tom Lawrence to the rescue, Ramsey was superb but Lawrence coming off the bench made the huge difference. Back 5 still iffy, might have a to change formation soon.



Stats are telling, some individually good players.



Vokes with a superb hat-trick and Robson-Kanu with a double. Chris Gunter at the back was incredible too. Played some good football, but at the end of the day, this victory was against a side that we should be dismantling. Still more needed.



Vokes and Gunter's stats are impressive.

Ampadu returns to the fold, and I am excited for his future in the game. George Williams got a call up this time, lots of pressure in the media and I have relented to it.



Lady luck on our side, got away with a draw and walking away from Moscow with a vital point. Woodburn is a god amognst men.



Not the strongest performance, bar from Woodburn and the ever present Gunter.



How we didn't score more goals is beyond me? Very disappointing. Not how I wanted to end this round of fixtures.



Woodburn ... unreal talent. David Brooks came to the fore here and if he can perform well for his club Sheffield United, he could well feature more regularly for us.