“If I ever write a book, which I won’t, the title will be Don’t Google Me,” Craig Bellamy once said during his playing career, referring to his long and highly publicized litany of controversies and misdemeanors.
Bellamy eventually changed his mind about the book (“Goodfellas: My Autobiography” was published in 2013), but his argument about Google search remains relevant. It doesn’t take much investigative work to find his seemingly endless list of misdeeds, arguments, accusations and antics.
Bellamy’s extraordinary volatility as a player was such that some of these stories have found their way into footballing legend. And for many outsiders, such incidents – particularly the attack on his Liverpool team-mate John Arne Riise with a golf club – are more memorable than his impressive career on the pitch.
Bellamy therefore has a well-deserved reputation as one of football’s great temperamental players. “I admit I have a temper, but who doesn’t?” he said in 2004, with some modesty.
But Bellamy is much more than his colourful past. His fiery demeanour has generated so much smoke that many have failed to see the character within, let alone the thinker within. Now, at 45, he and the Welsh national team are hoping that it is the more reflective team that can finally shine brightest.
Wales take on Turkey in Cardiff on Friday night in the opening match of the Bellamy era. It is his first managerial roleand it is a goal he has been working towards for over a decade. Back in 2013 he declared his intention to become “one of the best coaches who ever lived.”
If Bellamy’s playing career was defined by high-profile turbulence (he represented nine clubs including Newcastle United, Liverpool and Manchester City), then his time as a manager so far has been far more stable.
Unlike his time as a player, Bellamy has largely worked in the background in these early years as a coach. He worked at Cardiff’s academy and then worked at Anderlecht alongside Vincent Kompany. He left Anderlecht in 2021 to deal with his mental health and then rejoined Kompany at Burnley in 2022.
As ever with Bellamy, he has not been entirely discreet. He left Cardiff after the club investigated a bullying complaint against him, and later said he did not realise the impact his words and language could have on young players. For example, he admitted to cheering on a team against England in front of English players. “It’s not right, you can’t do that,” he said earlier this year. “I honestly thought it was just natural for me. I didn’t understand how an 18-year-old Englishman might have felt.”
Bellamy aims to bring about a tactical revolution
But while Bellamy, the manager, has lacked emotional tact off the pitch, he has not lacked tactical ideas on it. He has been thinking deeply about the game for some time and studied players such as Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa while playing. Those who know him say he is far more studious than his reputation suggests.
“I’ve worked hard for this,” Bellamy said Thursday. “I’m going to enjoy it. This isn’t going to make me old very quickly. I’m going to sit back and enjoy it, because I’ve worked hard. If I look back on my (playing) career, I wish I could have enjoyed it more.”
With Wales, Bellamy is looking to impose a more progressive and courageous style of football. He has been appointed as the replacement for Rob Page, who paid the price of failing to qualify for Euro 2024 but had already enjoyed success in guiding Wales to their first World Cup in 64 years.
Bellamy is a passionate player in his job and has not been afraid to change things quickly. Page’s approach was based on defensive solidity and counter-attacking, but Bellamy wants more risks to be taken with the ball.
“He definitely feels different,” Harry Wilson, the Welsh midfielder, said earlier this week. “There’s an obsession with the way he wants to play. The detail he pays attention to is amazing. Even the smallest details, like the shape of his body and the angles when he receives the ball.”
On Thursday, Bellamy spoke about his desire to see the right “habits” in his team. “Your habits have to be good, your body language has to be good,” he said. “When you try to press, do you have your chest over your knee? Are you ready to play? The way I try to play is maybe a little bit different to what they’ve done before.”
Above all, Bellamy said he wants to see “intensity.” Time will tell if his team can show the fire and competitive spirit needed on the field. What is certain, however, is that Bellamy will deliver on the touchline.