Joe Ledley believes Craig Bellamy would be an ideal choice for Celtic’s next manager and well worth being patient for…
The former Celtic forward – who made an influential impact during his loan spell in 2005 – has emerged as a potential contender to take over from Brendan Rodgers, who stepped down last Monday.
Adding to the complexity is that the 46-year-old currently manages the Wales national team, who are pushing for a place at next summer’s World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico and have two qualifying matches scheduled this month.
Bellamy has long emphasised his commitment to an open, attacking brand of football that builds from the back. His approach could align well with Celtic’s philosophy – a view shared by his compatriot.
Speaking via Daily Record, Ledley said: “There have been a lot of links down here with Craig Bellamy. He’s had a fantastic start to his managerial career at Wales. There’s a lot of hype around him. The way Wales are playing has been fantastic – really attacking minded, always on the front foot. He’d be a perfect option for Celtic.”
“Whether it’s too early for him, and maybe Craig wants to continue with Wales and get to a World Cup, we’ll see. There’s an international break this month and then hopefully they will be in the playoffs in March.”
Ledley added: “I’ve told people up there he’d be a fantastic candidate for the Celtic job because of the way he plays. He’s always attacking-minded, enthusiastic, and lives and breathes football. He’s a fanatic. He loves it. He obviously had a short spell playing at Celtic before too – that’s one I’d definitely look at.”
It’s evident that if Celtic choose the former Liverpool and Manchester City striker as their preferred candidate, they might need to be patient before securing his services.
Ledley maintains that waiting wouldn’t be an issue, particularly with Martin O’Neill currently overseeing the team on a temporary basis.
“The way they’re doing it with Martin coming in is the right way,” the Welshman outlined. “You can’t really rush into big decisions like these.”
“But I think for Craig, he’d almost definitely want to see if he can get this Welsh team into the World Cup before deciding, and it’s whether Celtic would agree to that. We just don’t know.”
Ledley continued: “There’s so many options out there. Ange Postecoglou was fantastic. The board has a lot of time to reflect on what they need to do going forward. There’s great options for Celtic at the moment with managers.”
“And not just that, Martin O’Neill has stepped up and done fantastic as well, so I don’t think you can rush into these decisions at the moment.”
Yesterday we reported that the Head of the Welsh FA does not envisage Craig Bellamy leaving his post to take up a post in club management.
Welsh FA chief executive Noel Mooney commented on the reports linking his national team manager with a move back to Celtic but insisted that Bellamy was going nowhere and is instead fully focused on getting Wales through to the World Cup finals in Canada, USA and Mexico next summer.
Wales, North Macedonia and Belgium are currently fighting it out for the automatic qualification spot and also the place in the play-offs. Mooney said: “He’s a year and a bit into the job of a four-year contract and we’re completely focused on going to the World Cup next year.”
Conor Spence
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