CONCERTS DELAY GIGGS HOMECOMING
RYAN GIGGS faces the prospect of having to wait until September before enjoying a Cardiff homecoming as Wales manager. Wales look unable to play at home in June because Welsh band the Stereophonics are performing at Cardiff City Stadium and the Principality Stadium is being used for a series of Ed Sheeran concerts and a monster truck event. It means Giggs will only make his bow as an international manager in Wales when the Nations League begins in eight months. His first matches will take place in China in March when Wales play in a friendly competition involving the host nation, Uruguay and Czech Republic. It had been thought Wales would play at least one pre-World Cup friendly in Cardiff this summer but it is understood they have accepted that trying to schedule a home fixture will be too difficult. The Stereophonics show on June 9 rules out the side’s usual Cardiff City Stadium venue while dates at the Principality Stadium also appear impossible. The Monster Jam event on May 19 will leave the pitch in need of repair and then the venue has to have time to set up for the Ed Sheeran concerts, which take place in June. A game at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium is not thought to be on the agenda so it seems likely that Wales will go on the road to provide a test for teams qualified for the World Cup in Russia. Giggs, who is eager to start his tenure in earnest as soon as possible, will attend the Nations League draw in Switzerland on Wednesday.
MICHAEL O’NEILL held talks with Scotland for the first time yesterday as his future as manager of Northern Ireland hangs in the balance. The Scottish and Irish FA have agreed a compensation figure of £500,000 for O’Neill, who lives in Edinburgh. Scotland have offered him a four-year contract worth £500,000-a-year plus bonuses to succeed Gordon Strachan. However, the IFA have countered with the offer of a six-year deal worth £600,000-a-year in a bid to keep the man who led Northern Ireland to Euro 2016.