Sky Sports News senior reporter Geraint Hughes explains the impact manager Craig Bellamy is having with Wales and why they must qualify for the 2026 World Cup…
I caught up with the person who hired Craig Bellamy earlier today, FAW chief executive Noel Mooney. I said to him: “It’s going pretty well, better than you’d thought?”
Now it’s hardly the most challenging question I’ve ever asked, but the response to it was most definitely impassioned. Mooney replied: “Even better… he’s (Bellamy) just football-obsessed, his training, his meetings, I think we have a football genius on our hands.”
It was a deadpan response. There were no smiles, it was a genuine response.
Nice things are often said when things are going well and for Mooney and Wales, things are going well. The women’s side are off to Euro 2025 this summer, while the men’s side under Bellamy have not lost a game, been promoted to League A in the Nations League and certainly go into World Cup 2026 qualifying with confidence not an issue.
Genius is a loaded word though, just like legend. Often it is overused and definitely used far too early in any eulogy.
However, what if Craig Bellamy is a British coach who just has those footballing and communication qualities?
He’ll go under the radar to a degree as he’s British and his first job as a manager is with a national side as opposed to a club, but there’s a growing excitement around Bellamy.
That does bring pitfalls though and those falls can be high and harsh.
From Bellamy’s words and body language, I think he’s well aware of the falls in football and I also think he’ll dismiss any hyperbole around him pretty quickly. I don’t think he thinks he’s the next ‘Pep’, ‘Klopp’ or wunderkind. He described himself as a ‘rookie’ once again so he’s no big head, self-deprecating if anything.
Geraint Hughes reflects on a huge win for Wales against Iceland which saw them move into the top tier of the Nations League.
What Bellamy does know is that to get the best from his Wales players so that he does achieve what the chief executive and the FAW Board all want – to qualify for the 2026 World Cup with all the prestige and riches that brings – he needs to be constantly on alert, constantly reinforcing the messaging, constantly across every minute and detail of a game so that if Plan A isn’t the right plan, then Plans B, C, D, E & F are good to go.
He also reminded me of the power of staying calm, something that doesn’t come naturally to most of us in situations that aren’t going to plan or that are stressful.
Listening to Bellamy prior to their first World Cup qualifier, I lost count of the times he mentioned the words ‘calm’ or ‘calmness’. His point was intended to ward against getting carried away with the public (and media) expecting an easy, comprehensive win over Kazakhstan.
It’s what Bellamy wants of course, but his point was to say ‘What if it’s not quite going to plan? No point panicking… stay calm. Do the basics and go again and more often than not, you’ll get the rewards.’
Wales boss Craig Bellamy was visibly emotional at his side’s prospects of reaching a World Cup following a 4-1 victory over Iceland in the Nations League.
In terms of how ready Bellamy feels Wales are for this qualifying campaign, he is grateful for having a full week with the players to prepare, but points out the peculiarities of football and in particular international football.
He said if it was a rugby or cricket campaign, he’d have the players for months in advance, but with football it’s mere days. However, preparation is key and I’m told by several people who are around him day in and day out, that few if any stones are left unturned by Bellamy and his staff.
Calmness he may insist upon, but intensity he demands.
In training, it’s clear no one wastes a second. Team meetings are an information highway and the players have not only bought into Bellamy, but are on a journey of their own.
Captain Ben Davies made it very clear how annoyed he and many players at the 2022 World Cup were by how it panned out for Wales, the feeling of ‘leaving something out there’ grates. So, qualifying for back-to-back World Cups is a huge motivator for the players alone.
Is Bellamy a genius, then?
It’s way too early to tell and it is not fair really to say it, but it’s fun and exciting when someone and something freshens up our thinking.
What it does perhaps show is great faith that the FAW have in Bellamy, faith that he has the tools to take Wales to the World Cup in 2026. And that would be very beneficial for a chief executive, in more ways than one!
The bigger picture plan for Wales is not just to qualify for next year’s World Cup, but to have an impact and that means getting out of the group and perhaps taking a big scalp during the knockout stages, but I’m getting ahead of myself, perhaps I’m not the only one.
Game by game, stay calm.
