September 2012: Wales are humiliated in Serbia, losing 6-1 with Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey playing 90 minutes.

September 2013: Chris Coleman is embarrassed as he misses a flight to Macedonia for another World Cup qualifier because he’s lost his passport.

September 2014: Bale saves Coleman’s blushes and very possibly his job with two goals to help Wales come from a goal down to win 2-1 in Andorra at the start of qualifying for Euro 2016.

For the first two years of Coleman’s reign the prospect of Wales qualifying for a major tournament seemed as far-fetched as Leicester City winning the Premier League.

After the Serbia debacle I questioned whether he was the right man to get the best out of Bale, Ramsey and the rest.

I certainly wasn’t alone in doubting the former Fulham and Coventry City boss.

A few years ago the idea of him signing a new deal to take him through to the 2018 World Cup campaign, as he did yesterday, would have been met with widespread scepticism at best and, in some quarters, outright hostility.

September 2015: Wales take four points from crucial qualifiers in Cyprus and at home to Israel to move to the brink of qualifying for a first major tournament since 1958.

That coveted spot at Euro 2016 was confirmed the following month and Coleman is now a national hero having proved all his critics wrong.

To his credit, Coleman has never used that as a stick to beat anyone with.

Many managers, such as Louis Van Gaal, would have revelled in sticking it to hostile media outlets but he’s always approachable, always happy to answer questions.

And always realistic enough to know that his stock can go down just as quickly as it has gone up in the last 18 months.

This new two-year deal is a major boost – removing the threat of a Premier League or continental club swooping for his services and taking distracting talk about his future off the table going into the Euros.

Now all he and we have to worry about is Real Madrid star Bale getting through Saturday’s Champions’ League final in one piece.

The fact that it’s a Madrid derby against Atletico, no strangers to robust challenges, makes that no simple task.

But if the boy from Whitchurch can lift the club game’s top prize for a second time in three years and come through unscathed that will provide Wales with another fillip.

I was a little surprised to see Graeme Souness disparaging Bale in print over the weekend.

Writing in the Sunday Times, the former Scotland star said: “Even the most avid fan of Bale would not say he has fulfilled his potential yet at Real.

“Having regularly done some special things in our football, I see that only sporadically in Spain.

“I don’t buy that he’s struggling in Ronaldo’s shadow.

“He should be his own man now and not a boy –determined to do the best for himself and his team and not worried about being overshadowed by anyone.”

The tag of the world’s most expensive player obviously means Bale has to cope with great expectations but his record of 47 goals in 75 starts doesn’t look too bad to me.

He hasn’t matched the exploits of Ronaldo, Messi or Luis Suarez but there is more to his game than hitting the net.

And, if he does win a second Champions’ League medal this weekend, he’ll go down as one of Britain’s best exports in the history of the game.

And he has been a talismanic figure for his country during this qualifying campaign in particular.

Like Wayne Hennessey, Ashley Williams, Chris Gunter, Neil Taylor, Ben Davies, Joe Ledley and Hal Robson-Kanu he seems to produce his best performances for the national team.

Many members of Coleman’s squad have enjoyed successful seasons for their clubs. Hennessey was an FA Cup finalist with Crystal Palace, Joe Allen a Europa League runner-up with Liverpool, Ramsey a Premier League runner-up with Arsenal and Andy King the most unlikely of champions with Leicester.

But most seem to play above themselves in a Welsh shirt – a welcome reverse of the days of Ryan Giggs and teammates failing to replicate their club form on the international stage.

And, watching the English defence struggle against Turkey on Sunday, there will be many members of the Wales squad relishing the chance to run at Gary Cahill, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose in Lens on June 16.

But whatever happens in France, Coleman has done more than enough to earn the right for a crack at the World Cup in Russia.

That will almost certainly prove a far more difficult task than qualifying for France but with this current squad anything is possible.