JOHN Toshack enters the final year of his contract this week with his future very much in his own hands and the knowledge that if he wants a new contract, he can have one.
The Wales manager faces his 39th match in command tomorrow and the daunting task of trying to engineer a World Cup qualifying win over Germany in Moenchengladbach. But whatever the result, sources close to the Football Association of Wales hierarch
y insist if Toshack wants to extend his current five-year deal, there would be little, if any, opposition.
Toshack's contract effectively ends – unless Wales qualify for South Africa 2010 – after these current Group Four qualifiers, the last of which is on 14 October, 2009 in Liechtenstein.
An FAW source said: "There is no appetite for a change of management. If Tosh were to ask for another two years to take us up to the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine, he would almost certainly get it."
Toshack, 60 in March, will be allowed to decide, without any pressure from the FAW, whether he wants to keep going as manager.
There is a belief that there is a very strong side in the making, such has been the amount of young talent that has been pushed into the senior squad.
"In four or five years' time, we could have our best squad in decades, and it has all been because of Tosh's determination to bring on the youngsters."
Toshack has constantly said "someone else will benefit from what I have been doing".
But there is now a feeling that if the Wales youngsters continue to progress, Toshack may decide to have one last crack at top-level management with them.
Obvious candidates to take over are not plentiful. Favourite would be current coach Dean Saunders, and it is not felt his move into management at non-league Wrexham would hinder his progress.
Meanwhile, Germany captain Michael Ballack is an injury doubt for the match after sitting out training yesterday.
The Chelsea midfielder picked up a knock to his right calf during Saturday's 2-1 win over Russia, in which he scored the winning goal.
The German FA has stated that Ballack did not take part in training "as a precaution".
The full article contains 382 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
