Former Sheffield Wednesday defender lands surprise international job - it's going to be tough

The 47-year-ol, who spent three seasons with the Owls between 2000 and 2003, has had an interesting time in coaching since retiring from the game, going from a player-manager role at Kettering Town through to his most recent job of head coach at RoundGlass Punjab in the Indian Super League.

Now he's become the new manager of the Afghanistan national team ahead of the start of the group stages of their 2026 World Cup qualification, and he has a big task on his hands considering that it's been reported that most of the side are boycotting their first game against Qatar in protest at what has been described as 'substandard treatment by the country’s football federation'.

Speaking at his unveiling, the ex-Owl said, "I understand players’ concerns or issues, but at the end of the day I’m a coach and I want players who want to play for me and this country. That’s all I need to concentrate on… I will quickly now go into camp in Qatar with 25 players, and I will quickly start to form opinions on the players by how they run, how they run, how they conduct themselves and their attitudes.

"Any players that we feel don’t have the right attitude or the right commitment then they won’t get picked, because that’s the answer to how you deal with players in my eyes. If you don’t have the right attitude or commitment then I won’t pick you."

Westwood was approached to take over from Abdullah Al Mutairi, who was sacked after refusing to sign the match sheet before their qualifier against Mongolia, and it's being reported that he's effectively on a rolling contract with Milli komanda.