Vokes: We all want Coleman to stay with us
Sam Vokes has underlined the Wales squad’s desire for Chris Coleman to stay as manager and put World Cup anguish behind them.
Coleman’s future remains uncertain ahead of friendlies against France in Paris on Friday and at home to Panama four days later.
It remains to be seen whether these two games will mark the end of Coleman’s near six-year reign, with talks between the manager and the Football Association of Wales over a new contract set to resume later this month.
But Wales and Burnley forward Vokes - who confirmed players tried to persuade Coleman to stay on after last month’s defeat to the Republic of the Ireland eliminated the Dragons from the World Cup - said the squad is united behind the former Fulham and Real Sociedad boss.
“The gaffer has been huge for us, personally for me and for the team,” Vokes said.
“He’s brought the country on massively, you saw where we were when we started out and what we achieved last summer (when Wales reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016).
“Although we didn’t qualify for the World Cup we were right in it until the end. We’ve not been used to for a long time.
“We love working with him and I’ve spoken to a few of the lads (about Coleman’s situation). We’ve enjoyed success under the manager so we’d like him to stay.
“There’s a lot said about players who don’t want to play for the manager, but we want to play for ours and that shows on the pitch.”
The squad linked up on Monday ahead of Wales’ first game against France since 1982.