Wales begin life under Craig Bellamy this week with Turkey his first opponents in the UEFA Nations League encounter in Cardiff; Bellamy is already having to manage the challenge of withdrawals and injuries from his squad, but building an identity is the first step, writes Geraint Hughes
After three years with Rob Page at the helm, Wales face Turkey in Craig Bellamy’s first game in charge at the Cardiff City Stadium on Friday, before playing Montenegro away three days later.
Sky Sports News senior reporter Geraint Hughes is with the Wales squad as they gear up for their UEFA Nations League campaign…
There is a new look and a new feel. Bellamy has completely redrawn things with his vision and his identity for Wales.
Things are already being done differently. There’s a different time when they train, there’s already a different format, they’re going to have press conferences at a different time. It is a different era now to the one under Rob Page.
You can already sense the differences to previous regimes under Ryan Giggs and Chris Coleman. Bellamy really wants to be his own man and he has got a whole new backroom staff to work with him.
Andrew Crofts – Roberto De Zerbi’s No 2 at Brighton – is here, while James Rowberry is one of the youngest former players to get his UEFA coaching licences at the age of 29.
He is into his 30s now but is an up-and-coming coach who is helping Bellamy. Piet Cremers is someone he knows well from his time with Vincent Kompany at Burnley.
He has come in as an assistant coach alongside Ryland Morgans, who is very experienced having worked with Fulham, Liverpool and Everton.
Martyn Margetson is the goalkeeping coach who has come over from England and is rejoining Wales having worked under Coleman.
How much pressure is on Bellamy in his first management role?
If I was asked this question last week, I would have said he is feeling the pressure. On the day he took the job and was unveiled, he was so intense. You could feel he wanted to start work immediately.
He was talking about how he was going to be in the office every day, but there’s a massive difference between club and international management.
Last week when he announced his first squad and I spoke to him on Sky Sports News, he felt like a completely different person and some of the senior executives here have noticed it as well.
He took about a month to get himself into the role, and to get himself an office at Dragon Park in Newport to go with his office at Hensol just outside Cardiff, at the FAW training headquarters. He’s now getting that balance right.
He said last week he is now starting to enjoy himself. We know he’s passionate and we know he’s intense – he doesn’t hide from that, but in the last few weeks, the last month, he has got the balance right. He doesn’t have to be on the pitch every day, but he needs to get around and meet people.
It is about creating an identity and bonding with the Welsh people and culture. That’s how you ingratiate yourself with the fans, with the team and you gain a better understanding of how you want it to work as well.
He now seems a much more relaxed individual but it is on the training pitch where he will be very intense. This is where he truly wanted to be.
When I asked him what he was looking forward to the most, it wasn’t specifically the first game against Turkey on Friday. It was his first training session, which was on Monday morning. He simply couldn’t wait to get out on the pitch with the boys.
Watching Bellamy in only his second training session, I could see how close up he likes to get to the drills and the players.
Bellamy reveals why he took the Wales job
It was fascinating to watch. You often get managers who are out on the training pitch but they allow their coaches to do the work and they sit back and watch from a distance.
But with Bellamy, as expected, he was right in there even on the drills to warm up. He was 10 yards away, no more than that.
Despite being a forward as a player, he was even going into the short drills among defenders to give them a tap on the arm about positioning. He was having 10-15 second chats with players and was very hands on.
This is where he does the bread-and-butter preparation work, whereas the game will take care of itself. It is where he is happiest.
Will Wales get the new manager bounce?
Bellamy names his squad to face Turkey and Montenegro and also selects Aaron Ramsey to captain the side
He has already been in the job for two months, so it’s not like in club management where things happen very quickly so a set of players can get that instant lift.
The players came in on Sunday evening but I’m not sure the Welsh FA and indeed Bellamy himself will care too much about an initial bounce.
He’s made it very clear that this Nations League campaign, especially the first couple of games – the home game with Turkey in Cardiff on Friday and then the away game against Montenegro on Monday – it is about creating an identity.
Wales have been successful now for over a decade. They’ve got to continue that success but that ultimate aim for Wales is to qualify for the World Cup in 2026.
For the time being, the short-term framework is identity. It is for the public to see how they are going to play, how they are going to take on teams and how Craig Bellamy differs from the previous managers.
I don’t think he is going to budge from that. He has several templates but they all work in the same way where he asks his players to work very, very hard. You can expect a high-pressing side, a side that will be very busy off the ball as much as they are on it.
He will want Aaron Ramsey to show his talent when fit as a playmaker and he will want the other players to free up room for him. That’s the kind of identity Bellamy is going to look for, but he’s not expecting it to be set within the first couple of matches.
He wants some patience but I think he’s eager to show that Wales has an identity which is ingrained within the Craig Bellamy ethos which will probably match what he was like as a player, when he was extremely busy on the pitch.
Now is about performances, but when the World Cup qualification campaign comes around, that is when there will be a greater emphasis placed on results. Wales have to qualify and that’s what Bellamy said he would deliver and that is why he has ultimately been appointed. That is the standard that has been set. Whoever took over this Wales side from Rob Page, they have to qualify for the World Cup in 2026.
What are the early challenges?
In terms of personnel, they are a bit light on the left side given the withdrawals of Dan James and Rabbi Matondo. Leeds midfielder Charlie Crew has been added to the squad.
The 18-year-old made his international debut against Gibraltar in June and has been promoted from Matty Jones’ U21 squad with fitness concerns over Liam Cullen and Matondo.
Cullen missed Swansea’s 1-0 defeat at West Brom with an ankle injury.
Matondo was forced off in the first half of Rangers’ 3-0 defeat at Celtic on Sunday with a hamstring injury and is being assessed by the club’s medical staff.
Wales fixtures
Wales vs Turkey – 06/09/24
Montenegro vs Wales – 09/09/24
Iceland vs Wales – 11/10/24
Wales vs Montenegro – 14/10/24
Turkey vs Wales – 16/11/24
Wales vs Iceland – 19/11/24
