IN a week that will define Chris Coleman's tenure as Wales manager, it seems incredible to me that we are still forced to constantly read between the lines as far as he's concerned.

More contradictory than a political party manifesto (any of them) Coleman continues to bemuse and intrigue in equal measure.

Will he sign a new contract? If he wants.

Is the new contract still on the table? Absolutely.

Did he call James Collins? Yes he did.

Did Collins want to play for Wales? No.

That's the Coleman stance, as clear as day, explained over and over to the press in recent weeks, as certain as it is that he'll then bemoan he never has a fully fit squad to choose from.

But the problem is, while Coleman leads the congregation, the choir are singing from different hymn sheets.

Will he sign a new contract? The FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford has stated it'll depend on results.

Is the new contract still on the table? "Everybody knows that we have been in discussions. There are still two more qualification games to go. There's a friendly game to go - so let's see where it takes us.

"It would be inappropriate for me to go into the details of where we are on things," says Ford. So that's a 'maybe', maybe?

Did he call James Collins? James Collins says no.

Did James Collins want to play for Wales? James Collins says yes.

There are of course other questions, however, that perhaps are more deserving of the headlines Coleman himself has created.

In the last international break we also dealt with his little passport mishap, a situation he compounded ten-fold by being so unapologetic and angry with the press out in Macedonia.

He showed plenty of humility after Wales had been humbled by Serbia, but that's a lot easier and should come naturally to anyone with a modicum of self-awareness.

It was another little sideshow, but the facts are that Wales head into these two games bottom of their qualifying group and with the same old excuses and problems in terms of getting the players to even turn up.

Joe Allen has now gone over a year since playing competitively for Wales and those that are turning up aren't coming close to replicating their club form. Aaron Ramsey is a shining example, the Premier League player of the season so far but anonymous last month when Serbia steamed through the Dragons.

It's not Coleman's fault that Gareth Bale is injured, but it's far from just a Bale issue Wales have going forward when it comes to a desire to represent your country.

Bale, as I've expressed in this column, is arguably now someone Wales can expect to see less of. However, this withdrawal is simply a case of him paying a price for the games played this summer by his old and new club, plus his agents. I watched a fit and firing Bale score a lovely goal in a Spurs draw with Swindon in pre-season, but that was his last involvement, way back on July 16. If you don't do a pre-season, muscle injuries are inevitable. If he'd just got his head down and played amid the speculation, both Wales and Madrid would have been the beneficiaries.

This will be billed as a week where Coleman needs a minimum of three points from two games to save his job, but I think any such statement would be foolish.

Coleman needs more than just a win over Macedonia. He needs a performance.

The last time Coleman was under this much pressure his players responded by beating Scotland twice and we dared to be optimistic for five minutes, a mistake we've all since paid for.

This time he needs his players so show they are in his camp.

If Coleman can't inspire his players to play well on Friday then the writing is on the wall and surely the chances of him staying on will be gone.

The sad truth is Gordon Strachan has improved Scotland rapidly after his predecessor Craig Levein lost an apparent 'loser gets the bullet' showdown with Wales thanks to appalling officiating and Bale's brilliance while Wales have got progressively worse.

In the past two games a change in tactics were necessitated, the 'just give the ball to Gareth' philosophy not effective when Bale is in the stand playing the role of the world's most expensive mascot.

Coleman has failed to find a cohesive style and pattern of play, only deciding that his predecessor's wasn't for him and that he had to find his own way.

Under the aforementioned Gary Speed Wales had developed an identity and philosophy and the personnel were expected to adapt and embrace it.

Comparisons to Speed certainly aren't fair on Coleman but the contrast with Strachan is more reasonable and the fact is that Wales are at their lowest ebb since the John Toshack days and a bad result against Macedonia away from making their 2016 qualifying campaign exceedingly difficult from a rankings point of view.

The fans are staying away, as they have since Mark Hughes was boss and it remains a paradox that Wales is a football nation unless the Wales rugby team OR soccer team are playing.

The Blues and Ospreys can only dream of Cardiff or Swansea City sized crowds, but Wales games could almost be played at Rodney Parade.

It's a sad state and not one that'll be fixed by brash and contradictory statements to the press.

Coleman needs a performance and a victory, at least, in the next two games. The Welsh public demand it and it's imperative we see that the players still believe in his management.