Toshack adds to the Anfield connection

Jul 2 2007 by Mark Currie, Liverpool Daily Post

John Toshack, former Liverpool FC player, now Welsh football team manager _320

NEWLY-APPOINTED Wales coach Dean Saunders last night promised to try and get the best out of manager John Toshack’s youthful squad of players.

The 43-year-old former Liverpool and Wales striker has taken up the role vacated by the departure of Spanish coach Salva Iriarte, who is joining Chris Coleman in the task of running Real Sociedad.

Toshack had hoped that Iriarte would be able to combine his Welsh role with that of his new job as sporting director of the San Sebastian club, but following Sociedad’s relegation from the top flight this season, their matches will coincide with international dates.

Saunders, who won 75 caps for Wales in an international career spanning 15 years, has recently completed his Uefa pro-licence coaching badge and has worked at both Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.

His appointment means he will be working alongside Toshack’s No 2, former Liverpool manager Roy Evans, a familiar figure from his own spell at Anfield.

And Saunders is looking forward to a reunion with the Wales manager, who gave him his league debut at Swansea City in 1983.

“There’s a Liverpool thread that unites us all and when I was at Blackburn and Newcastle I worked with Graeme Souness and Terry McDermott, so all my connections have Anfield in common,” he said.

“Roy was coaching at Liverpool during my time there and between him and John they have won more championships than you can count so I’m in no doubt there’s a great deal I can learn from them. But I’d like to think I have something different to bring to the table and I’ve got some ideas that I will be discussing with John when we meet up for the friendly game against Bulgaria next month.”

Saunders said he was looking forward to working with the Wales players, some of whom were just breaking into the under-21 side as his international career was drawing to a close.

“I’m really looking forward to the job,” he added.

“Football has changed a lot over the past few years and players today are not necessarily the same as they were in the past.

“I’m a bit closer to their age group now than John or Roy and I’ve had access to a lot of the new coaching ideas and systems that are around nowadays.