A stunned John Toshack admitted that his current Welsh squad is not up to the task of qualifying for the World Cup finals.
The 2-0 home defeat by Finland on Saturday all but ended any hopes of reaching the finals in South Africa next year, and left boss Toshack scrutinising his young squad and the rest of Wales' limited resources.
Such was his mood of despair, and with a two-year contract extension just signed, he even implied that this crop of youngsters may not be ready even for a crack at the European finals of
2012.
Toshack said: ‘The teams from Wales' past didn't win groups either. And it makes you realise how difficult it is and how difficult it will be with this crop of players.
‘Eventually this team will do well and mature together. But it will probably not be me who gets the benefit, to be honest. However, this is the only way forward with youngsters.
‘Sooner or later other countries will go through the (rebuilding) process we are going through, and we will be able to do to them what is happening to us at the moment.
‘But it just shows that this current crop is not ready. It hurts a bit but that is the truth of it.’
Toshack has forced through a batch of young talent that at times have shown real aptitude and promise of better things to come.
But that well is almost dry now, with the under-21s stripped down to the extent that their coach is using 17 and 18-year-olds now, and young players are notoriously erratic.
The cracks have been showing for some while, promise is one thing but experience quite another, and they have won only three times from nine tough games in nine months.
Toshack can only point to the fact that several of his best youngsters are not getting regular first-team action at their clubs - Chris Gunter, Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Ched Evans in particular.
That is affecting their fitness levels in the later part of vital games against the sort of seasoned professionals Finland had on show.
The spine of Finland's side - Jussi Jaaskelainen, Sami Hyypia, Jari Litmanen, Mikael Forssell and Jonathan Johansson - have amassed 137 years between them, and the experience shone through against Wales.
Toshack also revealed his genuine discomfort as he watched a painful second period.
He said: ‘For much of the first half we were shading it. And then we conceded a bad goal.
‘But in the second half I felt it was tough going and I started to feel a bit uncomfortable about things.
‘I couldn't see a way through for us, I sent Earnie (Robert Earnshaw) on to help Craig (Bellamy)and that is a partnership I am not entirely happy with.
‘I could see 'legs' failing in the midfield area and I tried to freshen that up.
‘At full-back it was not working. Bale didn't get into the danger areas anywhere near as often as the first half.
‘James Collins was looking over to us as if he was feeling tired after his first full game in five weeks, and honestly we found it difficult in that second half. The players did and so did I, maybe some of the belief had gone."
And Toshack addressed the potential fall-out from Bellamy's TV outburst, minutes after the final whistle had ended a very public humiliation.
Toshack said: ‘Craig's media conference on Friday showed him full of confidence and spirit. That showed the real Craig Bellamy.
‘What he said after the game was a reaction you would expect from any disappointed player. We know how much he cares and we know how disappointed he is.
‘We also know how much of a perfectionist he is. When he sits down and analyses his own performance, if he is being honest, he will say it wasn't much better than some of the others.
‘I would expect him to be OK for Wednesday against Germany, although that was the first 90 minutes he has had for some time. But I had a few out there like that.
‘We do not have that much experience, and there is not much else around because we have limited resources.
‘If anything happens to Craig, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. People ask me about (getting) Ryan Giggs (back), and that he has done well this season.
‘But that's not on. His Manchester United form might be because he has not been involved with us and has had more time to rest over the last 12 months.
‘Craig may be looking at that, but maybe a few others are too. But I cannot afford to worry about things that may never happen. It is a hypothetical question.
‘It is not going to happen for us this time, even if we win our final five games.’
