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Men's Football Giggs vows to wins games and silence the doubters

NEW Wales manager Ryan Giggs vowed today to silence his doubters “by winning games.”

Giggs was unveiled as Chris Coleman's successor at a Vale of Glamorgan press conference after agreeing a four-year deal to take in the 2020 European Championship and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

Despite being the most decorated player in English football after an illustrious career at Manchester United, Giggs’s appointment has not been universally welcomed by Wales fans.

Giggs captained Wales and won 64 caps in a career which stretched from 1991 to 2007, but his commitment to his country was regularly questioned as he did not play an international friendly until 2000.

Asked how he would win the sceptics over, Giggs said: “I’ll do that by winning games. As long as we’re winning games, those questions won't come up.

“But I recognise the question, it’s up to me to give it my all and I will.

“I played 64 times for my country — 65 if you count the game against the Basques, when I scored the winner — and I will be same manager as I was a player.

“I will bring professionalism and organisation and have a bit of fun along the way.

“We’ve not qualified for a World Cup since 1958, I want to get this group of players there and to be part of it.”

Giggs spent four games in interim charge of United at the end of the 2013-14 season following the sacking of David Moyes.

Wales represents his first permanent job in management after he missed out on the Swansea post in October 2016.

Giggs said he will speak to Coleman’s assistant Osian Roberts, who was an unsuccessful candidate for the job alongside Craig Bellamy and Mark Bowen, over whether the FAW technical director will be part of his coaching staff.

Giggs’s first game in charge of Wales will be against China in Nanning on March 22.

That will be the first of two matches Wales will play at the China Cup, while Giggs will attend the Uefa Nations League draw in Lausanne on January 24.

That new competition in the autumn will mark Giggs’s first competitive games and, although he revealed he has spoken to his former United manager Alex Ferguson about his new role, he has promised to be his own man.

“I’d be stupid not to speak to Sir Alex,” Giggs said.

“He’s one of the greatest managers, if not the greatest manager, that's ever lived.

“So I’ve spoken to him and I'll speak to him in more depth.

“I’ll take a bit from managers that I’ve worked with at club level and international level, but I’m my own person.

“I want exciting football, to get the fans off their seats, hard-working, aggressive, both in and out of possession, never giving up. A winning team.”

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