Paul Trollope will be the new Wales assistant manager after Chris Coleman identified the Cardiff City head coach as the man to take over from Kit Symons and help to maintain their pursuit of a place in next summer’s European Championship finals.
Trollope, the former Bristol Rovers manager, is close to finalising a contract with the Football Association of Wales that will allow him to combine his duties at Cardiff with working with the national team on a part-time basis.
Symons stood down from his role following the impressive 1-0 victory over Belgium a fortnight ago after deciding that he needed to focus all his attention on managing Fulham. He had been working as Coleman’s assistant since January 2012 but no longer felt able to commit to both jobs.
Trollope is highly regarded as a coach and won nine Wales caps as a player between 1997-2003, when he featured alongside Coleman. He went on to take charge of Bristol Rovers for five years and more recently has coached under Chris Hughton at Norwich City and Birmingham City. The 43-year-old took up his post at Cardiff in February and has impressed the players with his work on the training ground.
It is understood that a deal in principle has been agreed between Trollope and the FAW – with Cardiff’s backing – and that an announcement will be made shortly.
Coleman intimated after the Belgium match that an appointment was close. “I cannot tell you who it is but I have got him,” the Wales manager said. “I have agreed with the person and his club. It has been sorted, but until he puts pen to paper we cannot make it official. He is in work at a club, he will do the same as Kit, he will be part-time.”
Working alongside Coleman and Osian Roberts, the coach and FAW technical director, Trollope is joining the Wales set up at a time when qualification for a first major tournament since 1958 is within touching distance. Wales sit top of Group B, unbeaten in six matches and five points clear of third-placed Israel with four games remaining.
They travel to Cyprus on 3 September and host Israel three days later, with an away fixture in Bosnia-Herzegovina and a home game against Andorra the following month.
