Gunter denies players lobbied Coleman to stay
Chris Gunter has denied players begged Chris Coleman to stay on Wales manager. A new era under manager Ryan Giggs starts tomorrow when Wales kick off the China Cup against the hosts in Nanning, with the Czech Republic and Uruguay also involved in the four-team tournament.
It is the first time the squad have been together since Coleman, who guided the country to the semi-finals of Euro 2016, chose to end his six-year stay in November and take over at Sunderland.
Gunter was among a group of senior players who reportedly lobbied Coleman to remain, but he said: “It was made out there was a group of players who were knocking his hotel door and begging him to stay. It wasn’t quite like that because players don’t really have an influence on what happens above.
“This group of players wouldn’t think, just because we’ve done well, we deserve the right to make decisions like that. I know that’s been said in the past about this group of players, but it’s not the case.
“Everybody wanted the manager to stay and, as footballers, you buy into what’s happening at the time. We wanted the manager to stay because he was a massive part of Welsh history and everybody loved playing under him. I think we were the last to know what was going on.”
Gunter is now looking forward to working under Giggs, a team-mate at the start of his Wales career and a direct opponent when he was a Tottenham Hotspur youngster.
“My second game for Tottenham was in the cup away to [Manchester] United,” Gunter said. “I came on after about 60 minutes and said
Milestone: Chris Gunter is poised to eclipse Gary Speed’s Wales appearance record something like ‘do me a favour’. Two minutes after I came on – it was 1-1 at the time – Michael Dawson got sent off for a handball, gave away a penalty, and we were 2-1 down with a three-man defence!”
The Reading defender, 28, is set to win his 86th cap against China and set a Wales record for an outfield player, eclipsing the mark of Gary Speed. “It would be quite special to me because of who I would move above,” Gunter said.