Craig Bellamy has just made up his mind and he will be moving back closer to home in Wales where he will be replacing Rob Page with the national team job there. It will his be first big job as No.1 having been through a few backroom coaching stints such as Anderlecht in Belgium’s Pro League & most recently with Burnley in England whose side will be returning to the Championship for the new season. The timing is looking right now at 45 when he first couldn’t take over the Oxford United job back then while he was not selected for the previous Wales head coach vacancy at the time that all goes back to 2018 but sure he’s learned a lot from someone who’s been there and done that by winning many games and silverware in the past.
Plus, he is someone who is attack minded based on his previous coaching experiences including stints with the Cardiff City and Anderlecht youth teams and also willing to adapt to the modern game off the back of his playing days as a forward in spite of his managerial inexperience. Although it’s not exactly domestic/club level, but at least he will managing with pride for the heart of his country where he’s been there and done that many times as a player while getting to spend more time with family. Not only that, he will have the best squad available to him on occasions throughout the year in the hope of leading Wales towards another World Cup run in 2026 and a return to the Euros come 2028 – even though it will be in the UK/Ireland.
It’s been a wild last 2-3 months when Vincent Kompany left Burnley for Bayern Munich with Craig taking temporary charge of the club before Scott Parker replaced the Belgian for the full-time head coach position a few days ago and even though Scott wanted to keep him as one of his No.2 assistants, Craig wants to still test himself as the leading man in the dugout someday and that time begins now with Wales. Yes, it’s going to be a blow for Scott who wants to keep him around so he can help him get Burnley go straight back to the Premier League after he two promotions there with Fulham and Bournemouth. But there’s always another decent No.2 to replace Craig soon enough if possible as we wish Craig all the best with Wales as a head coach.
