‘CRAIG’S A GOOD FIT FOR WALES’
EVERYONE has a view on who should be the next Wales manager. There is no one candidate that has the popular vote, with a wealth of names linked with the vacant post in recent weeks.
My opinion was, and still is, that Wales already had the best man for the job in situ.
Chris Coleman, lest we forget, picked Welsh football up off the floor and somehow led them to the later stages of a tournament. An ultimately disappointing campaign may have followed, but only if you’ve been following Wales for the last few years. He more than merited another campaign.
Having only lost only one game, it was far from a disaster.
A post-Euros hangover cost them, or unnecessary negativity if you belong to the anti-Coleman brigade, neglecting the fact that it was the same plan that has proved so successful in recent years.
I also disagree that it was a relatively-easy group. There was no superpower, but with four very evenlymatched teams, it was always going to be a tricky task.
The likelihood is that Coleman’s replacement will be one of Ryan Giggs, Tony Pulis or Craig Bellamy. In many respects, everyone’s a winner, but all have strings attached.
Where to start with Giggs. The darling of Welsh football, as far as those within the corridors of power at the Welsh FA are concerned. He will surely get the job at some point, but it may well split the fan base.
There are those that will always feel that Giggs never put Wales first, like Gareth Bale does now, resent that he retired too soon and then returned to represent Team GB at the Olympics.
The alternate reading would be that he is undoubtedly one of the best-ever Welsh players and may prove to be a great manager too. As long as he remains untried, it could go either way. He could emulate the great Gary Speed, but he could also emulate Dean Saunders.
If you subscribe to the theory that international football should be the best of theirs versus the best of ours, then Pulis IS the best Welsh manager. No question.
He has managed in the Premier League for a decade and is very good at what he does.
Whether what Pulis does would work in international football or with this particular group of players is another matter. The potential style clash has been well documented, but as Ireland have recently discovered; brute force and one dimension will only ever get you so far.
On the one hand, Wales would be very lucky to have a manager of Pulis’ calibre, but it would be a massive culture shock.
Which brings us on to the third candidate; Bellamy, who may well be the happy medium between Giggs and Pulis. He may not be as decorated as Giggs, but Bellamy spent the vast majority of his playing career in the top flight. He has worked under a wide array of excellent managers and is respected in the football world.
More importantly, Bellamy would have the respect of this current Welsh set-up.
He was a prominent figure during the tragic period following his close friend Speed’s death, a loss which hit him harder than most. He was there at the genesis of this side’s upward trajectory and you would expect that to give him greater gravitas than Giggs, whose achievements probably predate the careers of most of this squad.
Like Giggs, it seems inevitable that Bellamy will manage Wales at some point, but at present he has his hands full overseeing Cardiff City’s academy. Long may that continue because he may be a great fit for the national side, but I feel like Cardiff need him more right now.
Under the tutelage of Neil Warnock, Bellamy, a Dragon Park coaching graduate schooled in ‘The Welsh Way,’ is receiving an invaluable education for the next stage of his career at his hometown club.
You also get the impression that Bellamy is being groomed to succeed Warnock when he eventually steps down. That will be sooner rather than later and may be sooner than you think, if Cardiff get promoted and Warnock opts against managing in the Premier League.
As a Cardiff fan, it is a thrill to see the club finally moving in the right direction after several years littered with errors of judgement and self-destruction. Bellamy jumping ship wouldn’t capsize the boat, but would certainly give it a hefty rock.
Bellamy may well be the best fit to be the next Wales manager and his time will surely come. Just hopefully no time soon.