So much for the optimism. All gone on one fateful Friday night in Podgorica against Montenegro. Let's dispense with the usual 'no easy games in International football' guff shall we? Andorra, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg and San Marino are easy games. Montenegro are not in that category, but the truth is if you have any ambition to qualify for tournaments you have to beat them. Or at least not lose to them. Wales did just that. And not only that, looked pretty fragile and uninspiring in the process.
So what next? Even with the excuse that some of those key players were injured (and there is never going to be enough strength in depth) we should be aiming to post a decent performance against Montenegro and come away with something. That we were unable to do that was particularly hard to take in light of England's comfortable, rehabilitating thrashing of Bulgaria in the same group.
It's time for John Toshack to move on. He's never been a popular choice among the fans and he is seen as a divisive figure (ask Robbie Savage!) by many. Maybe he was the right man to make the transition from the Mark Hughes era but the truth is we have been out of the last two qualifying campaigns before they've even got going and now this. It makes it very hard for the nation to get excited about watching the national team. Seven years ago we were outclassing Italy in front of 72,000!
The talent is undoubtedly there, but something is not right. We can't expect to be world beaters but we should be doing better than Northern Ireland and Scotland who can only look on with envy at the players at our disposal. We need a talismanic figure who can motivate and inspire. Step forward Ryan Giggs, your country needs you!
