BELLAMY : THIS CITY TEAM IS BETTER BUT

Bluebirds legend Bellamy says Malky Mackay factor was key to Premier League dream... but reckons Paul Trollope appointment has improved the team

Sunday August 30th

By Terry Phillips


Craig Bellamy has kept a low profile since hanging up his boots. But he met up with our man Terry Phillips at a McDonald’s & FAW Community Football Day in Newport.

Here are his always interesting views on Cardiff City, their arch-rivals Swansea... and why Gareth Bale eclipses Ryan Giggs as the best Welsh footballer he has seen.


Wales’ crack at Euro 2016

I have said for a time that I expect this side to qualify for the finals. This was the best group of players I was involved in and that includes the Mark Hughes era.

The talented players are there in numbers, which is rare, and I expect them to quality and then go from strength to strength

I do feel we can keep possession of the ball way better than we have done.

I was speaking to Vincent Kompany in detail after Wales beat Belgium game and he said they had to remind themselves to focus on qualifying. Belgium have a lot of quality players, but they have to do the basic things needed to pick up points.

They hadn’t qualified for 10 or 15 years. Wales haven’t done it in more than 50 years.

Once they do, and I have full belief they will, this squad will get better.

It won’t be a one-off. Wales will be a really good team for next 10 years.



On quitting before the golden moment

I am asked a lot whether I am frustrated at not being involved, but I had my time playing for my national team. Playing for Wales is the best and nobody can take that away from me.

Would I have liked to play in major finals? Of course, but I wasn’t in a team good enough to qualify. I wasn’t good enough to qualify.

There was no shame in that and if this team do it, as I expect, it will make me just as happy. I still speak to players involved so there really is good satisfaction for me off the back of it as well.

Maybe I could feel if I had held on for a couple more years and wonder? But it was clear I couldn’t. I was coming to the end of where I was as a player.

I wouldn’t have been any use to this team. They are way better off without me.



Gareth Bale

This campaign has been about Gareth. A lot of everything achieved has been about Bale. He has been the most impressive Welsh player I have seen. And I mean in history.

To control games as he has and win some single-handedly is outstanding. I have not witnessed a Welsh player in a Welsh shirt as good as him.

Gareth has been remarkable and I mean no disrespect to the others. But what he has done at times has single-handedly won us games.

There are a lot of other qualify players, too. Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey and more. Aaron is a huge star and one of my favourite players.

Wales have been a little defensive, looking to counter, and have done that to devastating effect at times. They have used the pace of a great player in Gareth to full capacity and given him the chance to use his ability.


Swansea’s success

I always speak well of them. I like to see football played in the right way and I think Swansea have nailed it. I really do. They are an incredible example to other clubs.

Not many could do what they have done and full credit to them. They have kept to their philosophy and have kept increasing the quality, year in year out.

One or two players brought in this season, Andre Ayew for instance, have been excellent signings. He is outstanding. I thought he had signed a new contract at Marseille, but I had it wrong.


I was looking to Liverpool, Arsenal or one of the top five or so to see where he may go. For Swansea to capture a player of his ability is fantastic.

Jefferson Montero, too, has been a revelation. He nearly signed for Cardiff when I was involved. I thought we were waiting for him to come through the door and then something else happened.

He has pace to be a really big threat in the Premier League.

Whether Swansea can do more I’m not sure, but if they sustain what they are doing at the moment it will have been an incredible time for them.


Whether he rates Russell Slade’s Cardiff?

People said Russell Slade and his team would struggle early on and I can understand why they night have felt that.

Yes, it’s harsh, but this is the football world and I could understand it after the way last season ended.

But you don’t know what might happen in the Championship. Every team can go into a Championship season with a chance. You can be a team tipped for relegation, as Burnley were by some a couple of years ago, and look what happened to them.

You just don’t know how it will pan out. If you gain momentum in the Championship you become hard to beat.

If you can get through the first 12 games or so in decent shape it usually leads onto a good season.

I honestly haven’t watched a game since I left. I haven’t gone down there. I don’t know Slade and when I talk to players I don’t ask about the manager because that’s not fair.


Paul Trollope has made a difference and they seem to work well together. That looks, to me, looks good management.

Slade must have identified he needed a coach to do something on the pitch and City have picked up since they have worked together.

Cardiff have a better squad today than the one I was in when we earned promotion to the Premier League.

We had a better team spirit, huge work ethic and those factors were enhanced by a manager (Malky Mackay) who said ‘This is how we go about things and this is what we do.’

In that team everybody had to look after each other and if anybody was having a bad game others helped them. We knew our jobs and responsibilities, worked hard for each other.

That’s what I felt got us promoted. The Cardiff team today, though, has more quality.


The lack of Academy players coming through

There are always different aspects to that. Do we lose youngsters from a certain age because of where they are from?

Are we not coaching to the levels we need to reach? Are young players not being exposed to first team football quickly enough?

There are loads of areas to look at and we talk about them the whole time when I am there.

Perhaps it can be down to a youngster’s environment and they can give in to peer pressure in some areas of Wales.

You have to dedicate yourself to make the grade. I don’t feel a lot of them understand that.

Yes, that’s Cardiff City’s responsibility as well and the staff, the coaches, there are trying to work on everything.

What we do know is that there is so much talent in the Cardiff Academy. There have to be more top players coming through over the next couple of years.

There are one or two there who have real quality. I’ve been at West Ham, Manchester City and seen top youngsters come through. Well there are a couple of young players at Cardiff who are probably the best youngsters I’ve seen.

Were there others like them and we’ve lost them? Is that because they didn’t progress? Is it down to the Academy or the player?

What I do see if that Cardiff must get it right. To be fair to the people in the Academy they know what has to be done and are working to improve it.


His Cardiff management dream

I am interested in and motivated by management and coaching. I love to be involved.

Cardiff, of course, would be a dream job in the future. I’m from the area. You don’t have to be local, but it gives me a bit of a head start.

The Wales job, too, would be really special to me. Maybe in the future. We’ll see.

I am, though, also realistic and if it has to be somewhere else then so be it.

I am not in a rush. It has to be the right job, but provided I am working with the right people who understand what you are trying to do and how you are trying to progress the football club, then I’d enjoy it.

My dream is to be a first team manager plucking from the club’s Academy the whole time. Maybe that’s wishful thinking or a dream, but I believe youngsters in the Academy would be my first responsibility.

Instead of looking to buy a player I would have to look into the Academy first and know who we have there.

If there is someone who is going to be a star, a 17-year-old left-back for instance, and I need one then he is a priority,

When ready he would go in.

That, I believe, would be my way.

He is going to be a great manager in my opinion and he has got good ideas.

Fair play to him he talks a lot of sense.

Interesting to read that he rates the current squad as better than Malky's.

The academy part also makes an interesting read. Really hope at the talented kids are given the chance to succeed. Nothing greater than seeing talented local kids in the team.

He does talk a lot of sense, but.......?

He says he hasn't watched or been down since he finished, but thinks that Trollope has made a difference

He does talk a lot of sense, but.......?

He says he hasn't watched or been down since he finished, but thinks that Trollope has made a difference

I would guess he still speaks to the players given that he coaches at the academy. Sad that he hasn't watched us but imagine if he turned up. This board would be full of speculation about him replacing slade.

That's quite a challenge to Slade.

Saying that the squad has more quality is suggesting that it should therefore be able to exceed what Malky's team acheived - provided of course that the current manager can emulate what Malky did.

I'm not sure that Bellamy feels Slade is up to the job.

He does talk a lot of sense, but.......?

He says he hasn't watched or been down since he finished, but thinks that Trollope has made a difference

Would guess he knows him in football circle's! After alll Trollope is well known generally!

I would put him in charge of the whole youth set-up at city with a mandate to work with tyem first team setup in order to get the best academy players into the develppment and first team squad.

He does talk a lot of sense, but.......?

He says he hasn't watched or been down since he finished, but thinks that Trollope has made a difference

And? I don't watch Manure but I know Van Gaal isn't doing as well as Fergie. Look at Slade's record in the games played before Trollope's appointment compared to after.

A future City manager in the making (post-VT)

I would say he's pretty good at edging his bets.. He contradicts himself on a few occasions.

Got to say I was impressed in what he had to say and TBF I lost a lot of respect for Bellers in his final season with us.

He's right though, it is a better squad now. We just need the organisation and togetherness that gets you promoted in this league, something Malky gave us an abundance of....

That's quite a challenge to Slade.

Saying that the squad has more quality is suggesting that it should therefore be able to exceed what Malky's team acheived - provided of course that the current manager can emulate what Malky did.

I'm not sure that Bellamy feels Slade is up to the job.

Funny what we wanna see in a post.It was Slade that brought in Trollop and Bellamy seem to acknowledge that with a compliment.Also, you've got to admire him for not making a direct comment about Slade as he's never met him and doesn't know him,I respect this because he's in a better position to comment than I will ever be.He is without doubt the type of bloke who says it as it is and if he thought Slade was a bad manager for CCFC he would have said so.

Don't know if i'd call him a legend

Don't know if i'd call him a legend

I would! The guy was brilliant for Wales over the years and lets face it you will never have a sense of euphoria like we did when Bellers signed for us. Never seen anything like it down here to have somebody of that calibre. Work rate and passion for me I got all time in world for. Yeah he got a gob on him but for me you need somebody like that in your dressing room

Don't know if i'd call him a legend

I would! The guy was brilliant for Wales over the years and lets face it you will never have a sense of euphoria like we did when Bellers signed for us. Never seen anything like it down here to have somebody of that calibre. Work rate and passion for me I got all time in world for. Yeah he got a gob on him but for me you need somebody like that in your dressing room

Yes I remember the euphoria when he came here. And I also remember him giving every person in the stadium the wankers sign when he scored. That ain't a legend in my books. Who is a legend ? Rob Earnshaw, Graham Kavanah, Phil Dwyer, they are legends in my book. Bellers could of been but he ended up being a Bellend.