Ryan Giggs ready to have a pop at pundits who criticise his Wales side
Having worked as a boss and behind the cameras, Dragons chief Giggs has seen both sides of the ongoing war
RYAN GIGGS says he will not hold back having a pop at any pundits who criticise his Wales team.
The war of managers v pundits has raged in recent months.
New Dragons boss Giggs, 44, has performed both roles, offering his opinion for ITV after a two-year stint as assistant boss at Manchester United.
He said: “When I was assistant at United I knew exactly how coaches felt because you come in, you have had a difficult result, you switch the telly on and your team is getting criticised.
“It is like players, the adrenalin is still going and it is difficult to take.
“But I have been a pundit, where that is their job to give their views.
“Pundits, ex- players and ex- managers will have views but then coaches are sometimes within their rights to have a pop back.”
Giggs has seen United boss Jose Mourinho clash with his old team-mates Paul Scholes and Gary Neville this season.
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Mourinho hit out at Scholes for criticising Paul Pogba in January and the Red Devils chief also blasted Nev for flopping as boss of Valencia.
And Rio Ferdinand hammered United’s “terrible” performance in their Champions League KO to Sevilla in midweek.
Giggs, who will work for ITV at the World Cup, added: “There is a game every day, that is what makes headlines. An ex-player says such and such. It is what it is.”
He takes charge of Wales for the first time against China in the Far East on Thursday.
Sunderland defender Adam Matthews has been called up to the China Cup squad after Neil Taylor, Tom Lawrence, Joe Ledley and Ethan Ampadu withdrew through injury.