Coleman would not consider working for England

Wales manager Chris Coleman is all smiles as he talks to the media at the Complex sportif du Cosec, Dinard, ahead of his sides Euro2016 semi-final with Portugal on Wednesday (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire).

Coleman’s stock has soared as Wales have marched to the semi-finals of Euro 2016, while England’s embarrassment at losing to Iceland and failing to get beyond the last 16 has left them looking for a managerial successor to Roy Hodgson.

The 46-year-old former Fulham boss signed a new two-year deal on the eve of the tournament to take in Wales’ 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

But his current Wales wage, understood to be around £220,000 per year, is minuscule in comparison to the reported £3.5m salary that the Football Association paid Hodgson towards the end of his four-year England reign.

Chief executive Martin Glenn has said the FA will go for “the best person, not necessarily the best Englishman” for the job, but Coleman – in charge of the first British team to reach the last four of a major tournament in 20 years – laughed off suggestions that he could be a candidate to succeed Hodgson.

“It’s not something I think I would get offered, but I would never rule it in to be honest,” said Coleman.

“Roy has lost his job so England will search again, but it’s not something that would ever enter my thinking.

“I’m a Welshman through and through and, at international football, it was only Wales, and it would only ever be Wales.”

As well as managing Fulham and Coventry, Coleman has also worked abroad in Spain and Greece.

He had ill-fated spells at Real Sociedad and Greek club Larissa, but those experiences have not dissuaded him from managing abroad again sometime in the future.

“I think my next job after Wales, whenever that is, will be abroad,” said Coleman.

“I quite fancy the chance of going abroad again, because I think that’s my best chance of managing in the Champions League.

“When you’re talking about Champions League football in the Premier League, you’re talking about the top clubs – the massive clubs.

“It’s not something I think I’d get linked with, so my best chance of managing Champions League football would be abroad. It’s an ambition of mine.

“But to manage another country? No, I wouldn’t. That’s not something I would consider.”

Just five days after beating Belgium, the world’s second-ranked team, 3-1 in the quarter-final, Wales will once more face the biggest game in the country’s football history.

But Coleman insists there is no pressure on his side ahead of their semi-final date with Portugal in Lyon on Wednesday.

Coleman has labelled Portugal favourites and says the pressure is on the big football nations to perform at this tournament.

“The bigger countries have got to get into the quarter-finals, semi-finals, final,” said Coleman.

“We didn’t. We had to come and perform for us, for inside our camp.

“I thought we had a good chance of getting to the quarter-final, but I never came out and said to the players, ‘that is what we can do’.

“Other countries who’ve been there before – the pressure is different for them.

“I’ve not really got any interest in other countries, whether that’s England, Spain or whoever. My interest is Wales and we just take it game by game. We don’t think we’ve got to win this one to get to this stage or that stage three games down the line.”

Coleman says his Wales side will not be distracted by the Gareth Bale-Cristiano Ronaldo sideshow in their Euro 2016 semi-final.

The two Real Madrid team-mates go head-to-head in Lyon on Wednesday. The battle between Bale and Ronaldo will take centre stage, with some pundits even predicting that the victor could land the Ballon D’Or award this year following Real’s Champions League triumph.

But Coleman said he did not think talk of the Ballon D’Or was “in Gareth’s head”, with his only focus being on creating further history for a nation that has never before been this far in a major tournament.

“We can’t affect that – myself, my staff, none of my players can affect what’s said about this game coming up,” Coleman said of the Bale-Ronaldo sub-plot.

“All we can affect is ourselves. If we are letting outsiders make us feel a certain way, that’s our problem. Nobody can make you feel bad about yourself unless you give them permission.

“It’s all about how you feel in yourself, being confident and sticking to your own beliefs.

“All we control is ourselves, our group and how we approach it. Whatever is said outside I’m not too bothered by,” said Coleman, who added club friendships would be put aside with so much at stake.