Speed refutes Spurs bust-up over Bale

Gary Speed has played down talk of a falling out with Tottenham after Gareth Bale was ruled out of Saturday’s clash with England.

Wales had been relying on Bale to provide a real threat to their British counterparts, but a hamstring injury has put a stop to that.

There had been conflicting reports as to when Bale picked up the injury, with some claiming that Saturday’s 0-0 draw with West Ham had caused it, whilst others reported that it came in Tuesday’s Wales training session.

Wales assistant manager Raymond Verheijen had written about ‘incompetent amateurs’ on his Twitter page, and it was assumed he was referring to Tottenham.

The Dutchman has since cleared up those statements and Speed claims that relations with Spurs are still good.

“I think there was a bit of confusion there, because I think what was being reported was that Gareth had pulled his hamstring in training yesterday.

“But obviously that reporting wasn’t correct because he didn’t train yesterday. We do take a lot of time and effort into making sure our players are right.

“So when something is reported like that, it is not right.

“I can understand how it might be portrayed the way it was. But I think the fact that it was reported that Gareth had done his hamstring in training yesterday when didn’t train, that is the incompetent bit.

“It is (disappointing) because we have taken so much time in building those relationships (with clubs), this unfortunate thing is a total misunderstanding.

“You don’t put any blame on Spurs at all, because he played 90 minutes on Saturday and he got through 90 minutes.

“He has come to us and we have assessed him. Maybe, if we hadn’t been so thorough in our looking at him, perhaps he would be training and he would have played.

“But what we don’t want is him to play and break down. The players’ welfare is of paramount importance and that is what has happened.”

Related Topics