🔴 Readers of a certain disposition please look away now. Fulham player Luke Harris has pulled out of the Wales squad this morning. Somewhat surprisingly after being offered a golden opportunity with Wales at the World Cup even though feelings that he had been offered his place ahead of several others was a poor choice.
To be perfectly honest this whole situation has been a complete fiasco and has been totally mishandled since the so called ‘working class’ announcement of the Wales squad on Wednesday evening in Tylerstown. Instead of it being a celebration of what may well be, and indeed despite the whole process being tarnished by a ridiculous squad announcement on Wednesday. That announcement came and went without any fanfare before anyone could blink, now we have the replacement situation raising its head over three days.
In the first place, Page having seen Luke Harris train for a few days earlier this year then to select the seventeen year old ahead of a midfielder in Ollie Cooper who has scored goals, created goals and dominated in a number of games this season was flawed at best. Harris has never played for Wales at any level above under 19. Now he has withdrawn for personal reasons, and if those reasons are Wales are beneath him and he fancies the country of his birth instead then it makes another joke of this whole process.
I mean he is just a kid at seventeen, yes he is a talent but the differing messages on this subject are easy to take apart, and there have been a few. Why would he be named ? Did Page not speak to him as he didn’t speak to Ollie Cooper or Russell Martin ? Is this another insight in to a Wales manager who doesn’t have the capacity to actually ‘manage’ ? Surely he spoke with Harris ? Really ?
Sometimes it’s hard to stick or twist when writing points of view such as this, but Harris should never been picked in the first place, it has caused division that wasn’t needed in the national sides club rivalry on social media. Hundreds of exchanges have taken place, that were also unnecessary and are hardly representative of ‘Together Stronger’ or whatever that means. When it suits of course it does. But the concentration of everything in the south east corner of this small country and the belief that is appropriate time and time again is even more laughable. The north never gets a look in and that area of Wales has a huge national team support, I’ve seen it and witnessed it first hand.
With all due respects one person taking six ‘Cardiff City’ flags to a game not only causes excess baggage on any flight, it displays excess baggage mentally as well. Is that what we are dealing with here this week ? Swansea City have put academy players into the heart of the Wales national side. Connor Roberts, Joe Rodon, Joe Allen, Ben Cabango and product Dan James all travel to Qatar for this World Cup. When a national side doesn’t take all its best players to a competition then you can always expect questions to be asked. Ryan Hedges at Blackburn Rovers is a prime example. Why he isn’t included is incredibly questionable, well when I say questionable I mean we all know it is so John Williams a league two player at Swindon can go of course. When Rabi Mantodo who has been in the Welsh set up for a few years now is excluded, and he has played ten Glasgow Rangers games this season so another league two player in Chris Gunter can go is not clever management.
It’s giving your mates a holiday, Gunter and Williams could easily have been included as replacements and also travelled, is Page really thinking about playing these two ? One plays for a club in AFC Wimbledon who are closer to non league than the football league ! As long as the manager states he was always was going to take these two for reward purposes and then doesn’t take Mantodo who also contributed to qualification you have to smile. If you didn’t you would think someone somewhere was taking the proverbial.
The ( FAW) ‘football association of Wales’ ( change your name please it’s Cymru in these fluid times ) FAC is the new moniker. Just add ALL to that and we are complete. Answers on a postcard as to what that means. They as an organisation have to be having a debrief on the way this week has developed, once the back slapping stops of course. Yes we want Wales to play in a successful World Cup irrespective of the choice of location, and this website will always support the national side irrespective of who is involved, that’s never in doubt. But come on, all that many are asking is did it really have to pan out in this way ? We are pretty certain it wouldn’t have If the slightest amount of forethought had been included in a week when it was needed most.