Craig Bellamy faces growing pressure to deliver as Wales manager, with fans and critics alike expecting immediate results. After a flawless start to his tenure, Bellamy must prove he can inspire his squad and turn potential into success on the international stage.
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00:00Now, Welsh football has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent months, with a strong
00:08emphasis on youth development, tactical evolution and a renewed sense of identity. Since stepping
00:14into management, Craig Bellamy has played a key role in driving these positive changes.
00:19His no-nonsense approach, deep tactical understanding and commitment to nurturing young talent have
00:25helped shape a more disciplined and competitive Welsh set-up. Under his guidance, teams have
00:31adopted a more aggressive, high-intensity playing style, with a new generation of Welsh
00:37players that have been given the platform to thrive. I spoke to football writer Rich
00:42Fay to get his thoughts on the current set-up and where they could end up in the future.
00:48So Rich, just looking at Welsh football and the current situation there now, Craig Bellamy
00:52has obviously come in with these huge ambitions. Just firstly on his sort of biggest changes
00:57since coming in, I mean, he's seemingly, you know, come into a side and refreshed them
01:02in such a short space of time, got his ideas across. It will obviously really be tested
01:07in the World Cup qualification stages. Those are the matches that you need to really knuckle
01:12down and show the world what you're all about. And I mean, you know, away from the pitch
01:17as well, it just seems like Welsh football is now in a really good place. And it's only
01:21took, you know, a year from failing to sort of qualify for the last Euros under Rob Page
01:27and how sort of, you know, disappointing that was. And now it looks like that the future
01:31is very, very bright.
01:33Yeah, I suppose that Wales is basically victims of their own success on the football side.
01:40The qualification for major tournaments is now kind of an expectation or certainly something
01:46that has to be considered every single campaign. You've got to put up a good fight. You've
01:50got to be at least getting to those playoff positions, really. Wales have gone up in terms
01:54of proceedings. They're a team where, you know, the second strongest really in the qualification
01:58group and you expect that to finish second at the very least. And Bellamy's given them
02:05that fresh impetus and desire. And, you know, you're always going to get that with a managerial
02:09change. Obviously, at international level, you don't get as much of a managerial bounce
02:13because the camps are so far apart. The manager's not actually got boots on the ground every
02:18single day with these players. But Bellamy's influence has gone far beyond the national
02:22team. You know, he's going to Welsh Premier matches. He's going to the Welsh Cup. He's
02:26checking out every level of the sport, really. And that was a criticism of Rob Page that
02:31he only really went to watch Cardiff and Swansea when it suited him and he wasn't going to
02:35these grassroots occasions. Bellamy's done that. He's playing an attractive brand of
02:39football. You know, we've had six games under him, three wins, three draws. The wins have
02:45been spectacular, very free-flowing and exciting. The draws have been concerning, particularly
02:50the one against Iceland where we were 2-0 up, so nearly three of that were won away.
02:55Really, we were fortunate to get anything from that game. There's been two resolute
02:59performances against Turkey who were very, very good out for themselves. And there is
03:03hope now going into this qualification campaign. But ultimately, Nations League matches don't
03:08matter. We had a very good Nations League campaign. But, you know, if you're talking
03:12about a World Cup qualifier heritage, Kazakhstan at home and North Macedonia away, that really
03:20does set out your stall early on. That can make or break your entire campaign. That can
03:25kill it. You know, if you don't win both those games, you know, you can maybe get away
03:29with four points. But if you were to lose one of those games, that could be qualification
03:34over already after two matches. And you look back to that 2016 European Championship, Chris
03:39Coleman would have got sacked if we hadn't have beaten Andorra. We were losing 1-0 with
03:4320 minutes left. Win the game 2-1, everything changes. And you might have those sort of
03:49small margin moments in this qualification campaign as well. Bellamy's got a lot of goodwill.
03:54The fans are on his side. He's got that backing. It's not as toxic an environment as it felt
03:59with the fan base towards the end of Paige's tenure. And yeah, it's a fresh start, a fresh
04:04chance for players to have an opportunity now to get their names in the team. A few
04:11injuries are going to be an issue, obviously, for Wales who have some key players for those
04:16upcoming fixtures. But there is a rejuvenation at the moment and there's that fresh impetus
04:21and belief that's been lacking for a few years now. But ultimately, Bellamy's not taking
04:26over a team who are down on their luck and feel sorry for themselves. He's taking over
04:30a team who expect to qualify for a major tournament again. And for as much goodwill
04:35as he has with the fans now, and as much as they're behind him, as much as they loved
04:39him as a player, if you don't deliver as a manager, it can tarnish your reputation.