Topic: Raymond Verheijen resigns as Wales coach

[Juan Loco]

Raymond Verheijen has announced he has resigned with immediate effect as Wales assistant coach.

The Dutchman revealed his intention on Twitter  that he was quitting, citing "political and destructive games" as his reason.

Verheijen had been due to be part of the managerial team taking charge of Wales in the Gary Speed Memorial game against Costa Rica on 29 February.

"Earlier today I have informed the FAW I will resign," he tweeted.

"Have enough of the political and destructive games. Very sad day."

Later he tweeted: "Very proud to be part of FIFA's most improved team [Wales] in 2011. Would like to thank the players and fans for an amazing journey."

The FAW confirmed Verheijen had tendered his resignation and said he would not be replaced.

Manager Chris Coleman and assistants Kit Symons and Osian Roberts would be the coaching team for the game at Cardiff City Stadium, according to the Welsh FA.

Verheijen's resignation could affect Craig Bellamy's future with Wales.

Bellamy, who is close to Verheijen, had committed to playing against Costa Rica but said his international future was uncertain after that .

There had been doubts over Verheijen's future ever since Speed death in November.

And Verheijen had accused the FAW of being "very disrespectful" for not inviting a former member of staff to Gary Speed's memorial match.
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Wales assistant coach Verheijen has claimed team operations manager Adrian Davies had been "sacked" and "will not be at" Wales' game with Costa Rica.

But the Football Association of Wales insist Davies was employed on a match-to-match basis by Speed.

Since Speed's death the Dutchman had openly admitted he wanted to be part of Coleman's backroom staff.

But Coleman had admitted nothing was definite.

Coleman has had a "positive meeting" with Verheijen in London but the Dutch coach, who has worked at World Cups with the Netherlands, Russia, South Korea and Australia, was never confirmed in the post.

Roberts and Verheijen were due to take charge of team affairs for the Gary Speed Memorial Match against Costa Rica at the Cardiff City Stadium on 29 February.

But Verheijen has always courted controversy on Twitter.

And on Monday night Verheijen tweeted  : "Very surprised to hear from journalists I will be in charge of Wales vs Costa Rica game next week. Nobody of FAW [Football Association of Wales] has informed me about this."

Coleman had had "very positive talks" with Verheijen about his Wales future.

"We had a very good conversation for three hours, it was very positive," Coleman had told BBC Sport.

"We need to do this game for Gary and it is almost like everything is on standby as we all need to pay our respects to Gary.

"After that we can sit down and see where we are going forward."

Wales' Costa Rica friendly is not just a memorial match but the start of Coleman's preparations ahead of their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign in which Wales start at home to Belgium on 7 September .

The Welsh then have further friendlies against Mexico in New York on 27 May and against Bosnia-Herzegovina at home on 15 August.
Wales fixtures in 2012

    v Costa Rica (Cardiff, 29 February)
    v Mexico (New York, 27 May)
    v Bosnia-Herzegovina (home, 15 August)
    v Belgium (home, 7 September)
    v Serbia (away, 11 September
    v Scotland (home, 12 October)
    v Croatia (away, 16 October)

Players including Wales captain Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale had said publicly they wanted Roberts and Verheijen to remain in their coaching roles.

Wales win four of their last five games with Speed at the helm, rising to 42 in the latest Fifa rankings having started 2011 ranked 113th in the world.

Roberts believes that the new blend in the Coleman era is a recipe for further success and is looking forward to working with Fulham academy boss Symons.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17161182

Back to international obscurity - if they ever climbed out of it - it is. From his first press conference Coleman sounded pretty touchy on the subject, and Verheijen in general seems to lack a bit of tact, but the players seem to love him.

Think this means Bellamy will be retiring, if he wasn't already.

[Enders]

Verheijen does sound like a bit of a nob if you ask me.

[Juan Loco]

Verheijen does sound like a bit of a nob if you ask me

He does. But the noises out of most of the Wales players, especially the ones that matter, suggest he's very good at his job. The results bear it out as well.

[On Axis]

Verheijen does sound like a bit of a nob if you ask me.

He's a very good fitness coach though. He's kept Bellamy's knees in tact for the past few yearsn

[liverpoolfcmike]

Verheijen just sounds like a Dutch person; not afraid to speak his mind. They generally don't mince their words, the Dutch. If there was political BS happening behind the scenes then fair enough for attempting to expose it, but Twitter probably wasn't the most tactful place to reveal it. Big loss for Wales.

... Now let's hire him.

[geoffstrong 1937-2013 RIP]

He wanted the main job he didn't get it, and perhaps doesn't fit in Coleman's plans,  so he has moved on, it happens all the time in club football.

Personally we have a good group of young players coming through and there are a few coaches we can call on and Coleman will know who he wants.

[momomo]

Hmmmm....

“@raymondverheije: At Yerevan airport on my way to the UK for tomorrow's meeting with PL club to discuss position as their new Director of Performance.”

A quick search led me to a Cardiff City forum where, amongst other things, they mention he'd recently been in the US working with baseball teams...

[SMD]

So he'll be off to Spurs then.