February 9 – Sparky Takes The Reigns

FOLLOWING a doomed dual-manager set-up with the walrus of goalkeeping Neville Southall, Mark Hughes was given the keys to the Welsh national side job, picking his first squad today in 2000.

Sparky enjoyed his first taste of solo management by calling up Ryan Giggs for his first friendly call-up in nine years as the Dragons packed their sandals and sunglasses for a trip to the desert to face Qatar.

Prior to Hughes’ arrival Wales had been struggling under Bobby Gould and the former Manchester United and Chelsea frontman took over a side ranked 100th in the Fifa rankings.

Qatar were hardly the most ferocious opponents, but combine a team low on confidence with the old ‘there’s no easy games in international football’ cliche, and you had a tricky first game.

Taking place at the Al Arabi Stadium in Doha, the clash saw Hughes get all experimental on our asses, opting for a 3-6-1 formation as he obviously fancied himself as a Valeriy Lobanovskyi-esque figure of experimentation.

With Giggs having predictably dropped out between being announced in the squad and the match taking place, it was up to the likes of Gary Speed, John Robinson and Leeds United’s debutant Matthew Jones to offer support from a packed midfield to lone striker Nathan Blake.

It was Charlton Athletic midfielder Robinson that broke the deadlock, scoring with a half-volley after ten minutes. Wales held the anaemic Qatar attack at bay for the rest of the game, jetting out with a 1-0 win under their belts and Sparky’s rebuilding project was underway.

A rebuild he did, as Wales began to move up the rankings at a rapid pace and by the time that the Euro 2004 qualification was in full swing Welshmen across the valleys dared to dream that they might be appearing in their first major tournament since the days of John Charles, when Brazil ditched them out of the 1958 World Cup.

A victory over Italy in that qualification campaign proved to be the zenith of Hughes’ reign, but they would ultimately lose out to Russia in a controversial play-off, as the Russian’s went unpunished after Yegor Titov tested positive for a banned substance following the first leg.

Since then Hughes went on to cement his reputation as one of British football’s leading young managers with a four-year spell at Blackburn Rovers, before denting said reputation by looking increasingly out of his depth at Manchester City, a club that seems to be operating outside the usual parameters of common sense.

Just how long will Sparky keep the Eastlands hotseat? We’re afraid we can’t tell you that, but we can tell you what else was going on today here and show you one of Hughes’ best moments on the pitch for his country.