Page hits back at Bulut
NO BREAKDOWN IN COMMUNICATION OVER RAMSEY, SAYS WALES BOSS
WALES boss Robert Page has responded with a staunch defence after Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut demanded more communication regarding the fitness of Aaron Ramsey.
Ramsey has endured a rotten season with injuries, with the Wales captain missing almost five months earlier in the campaign before he suffered another setback last month.
Page named Ramsey in the Wales squad for tonight’s Euro 2024 play-off semi-final against Finland before the playmaker returned to action for his club last week in the South Wales derby defeat by Swansea.
Bulut said he expected Page to be in touch before naming him in the Wales squad, before advising the national team boss “to have better communication with us”.
But Page has hit back by saying he has a number of lines of communication and said he didn’t know “what all the fuss is about”.
Speaking ahead of the crucial Finland play-off, Page said: “We are in constant communication. I trust my medical team. I don’t need to have a conversation with the (Cardiff ) manager.
“I know their medical team. Their head of medical was my physio when I was manager at Port Vale. Their club doctor is our U21s doctor.
“There has never been a better relationship. I don’t know what all the fuss is about to be honest. We just want the player fit, both Cardiff and ourselves.
“If there is a breakdown in communication it’s between their manager and their medical team. There has been no problem.
“The diagnosis of his initial problem was nowhere near as bad as what they first said. So if I have got an opportunity to get Aaron into the squad I am going to take it. “He is not match fit, of course he is not, but he can have an impact. Even in training, he can have an impact.
“For me, it’s worked. I trust my medical team, they have got him fit and he’s in the squad.”
Ramsey looks unlikely to start against Finland, having had only 20 minutes off the bench in the Bluebirds’ game with Swansea last weekend, but Page believes he is “spoilt for choice” at the top end of the pitch at the moment, with Daniel James, Harry Wilson, Kieffer Moore, Brennan Johnson and David Brooks all trying to get their names on the team sheet.
“We are spoilt for choice with different profiles of player and different strengths, and all of them might be needed in the game on Thursday night It’s a good problem to have,” Page added.
“People like Aaron, who’s still got the ability he’s got, he may not have the legs he used to have, but his footballing brain and intelligence hasn’t faded at all.
“To have someone of his quality in the squad is great. It’s great for the younger players, he’s a calming influence around the place. His experience throughout the years at the level he’s played at will have an influence on the group as well.
“It’s quite a relaxed environment and that’s not because we’re blase about it or taking things for granted. We’re in good form at this moment in time, most of the squad are out playing football for their clubs, training has been excellent.
“We have gone through similar experiences with the pressure of the play-off situations against Austria and Ukraine, and the difficulty surrounding that.
“We are all quite relaxed but not underestimating the challenge. There’s everything to play for but we’re fully prepared for it.”