Chris Coleman quit Wales and took the Sunderland job this week.
Wales defender Ashley Williams has told Wales Online that a lot of his international team-mates were angry with how Chris Coleman’s situation was handled by the country’s governing body.
The newly-appointed Sunderland boss moved back into club football this week after contractual disagreements saw him walk away from Wales’ national team after five years in the job.
The 47-year-old lost his first game in charge of Sunderland – a 2-1 defeat away to Aston Villa on Tuesday – but there were still positive signs to be taken and the Everton centre-back can’t speak highly enough about him, describing him as a “leader of men”.
He told Wales Online: “We were all shocked. We knew the talks were going on; I’d spoken to the gaffer during the week so we knew there was a risk he could go, but we never thought it would come to it because I knew deep-down he wanted to stay.
“When the news came we were obviously disappointed and, being honest, a lot of the lads were quite angry. Obviously, we don’t know the full situation of what happened and how it played out, so it might well be that it’s misplaced, but that was the initial feeling.
“He was a leader of men and the closeness we had was down to him and a big factor in what we achieved. We are all used to managers going but it feels a lot more personal because of those relationships and experiences.”
Coleman led Wales to a quarter-final spot in Euro 2016 but the new Sunderland manager failed to qualify his country for the 2018 World Cup, after defeat by the Republic of Ireland last month put paid to their hopes of nabbing a playoff spot.
The Black Cats, who sit bottom of the Championship, visit Burton Albion on Saturday in a huge clash which could show Sunderland fans whether he is the right man for the job.
If they do stay up then this is the sort of game that they simply have to win.
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