By Graham Thomas
Craig Bellamy swears he’s a reformed character these days, but the new Wales boss has urged young coaches to mind their manners.
The former Burnley assistant manager is so fluent in both the language of modern football and old-school passionate positivity that the FA of Wales wasted little time in making him their successor to Rob Page.
But Bellamy’s road to international management has not been without the odd wrong turn – most notably a spell at Cardiff City in charge of their U18s.
The former Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle striker left the Bluebirds under a cloud following investigations into allegations of bullying five years ago.
No coaches were named in a club report and no disciplinary action was taken, but Bellamy admits it made him reflect on his behaviour and he has words of advice for others.
“The message for every young coach who goes into youth coaching, is ‘please, be mindful. Please,’” he says.
Craig Bellamy Out To Convince The Doubters He Can Avoid The Scrapes As Wales Boss
“Really do your homework and the levels you’re going into and what you allow.
“I wasn’t dealing with 12, 13 or 14-year-olds. These were 17 and 18-year-olds.
“If you’re in school, then obviously you don’t swear. But I thought, after school, maybe, you know, in that environment, I could turn a blind eye to it.
“But you can’t do that. I reflected on what happened, I reflect on everything.”
After Bellamy retired from playing, Welsh players at Euro 2016 were famously filmed manically celebrating England’s shock defeat to Iceland.
But the former No.2 to Vincent Kompany at both Anderlecht at Burnley says coaches in charge of youngsters have to be more aware of their actions.
“I trusted the disciplinary process and respected it,” says Bellamy.
“I understood, as well, there’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know – like cheering against England in a game in front of people from England. It’s not correct. You can’t do that.
“I didn’t know that. I honestly thought it was just nature for me. I didn’t understand how a young 18-year-old English boy might have felt.
“I didn’t understand, so I apologised for that. So, there’s a lot a lot of things like that which actually could be a deal and I didn’t realise.”
After leaving Cardiff, Bellamy rebuilt his reputation in Belgium and then at Turf Moor, where Kompany described his work with young players as inspirational.
Now, Wales are hopeful their new boss can nurture raw talent in the manner of Manchester City star Jeremy Doku, who Bellamy coached at Anderlecht as a teenager.
“I went to Anderlecht and had an opportunity again to work with U18s. But the amount of relationships I still have with a lot of players from those (Cardiff City) moments – that’s hugely important to me as well.”
Happy birthday, Craig Bellamy
Here he is scoring the goal to send Liverpool through to the League Cup final in 2012
That atmosphere pic.twitter.com/hninRcdSAy
— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) July 13, 2024
“I believe that if a young player is good enough, they are old enough. They can often be fearless. Look at what Spain are doing now.
“I had Jeremy Doku, at 17 years of age. He was so good, I had to apologise to the opposition managers.”
Bellamy’s appointment has been mostly warmly welcomed by fans and former internationals, following the country’s failure under Page to make it to three successive Euro tournament finals.
The first test of his credentials will come in September when Wales face Euro 2024 quarter-finalists Turkey in the Nations League.