Craig Bellamy, a former Wales international, played for various clubs including Newcastle United, Cardiff, Norwich City, and Manchester City with his small but combative style of play and high decision-making ability.
The striker, who was also selected for the English national team organized for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, retired in 2014 and is now an assistant coach at Burnley, supporting coach Vincent Kompany.
In the summer of 2006, he made the step up from Blackburn to Liverpool. The former Wales forward told the backstory of his move at that time, and it seems that the then Blackburn manager Mark Hughes was not positive about him playing at Anfield.
“[I had a] Liverpool poster on my bedroom wall every single year. That poster you got from Toys R Us? Yeah, that was there.”
“To get the privilege of being able to play for them [Liverpool] was like ‘I have to do this’, even though I was very happy at Blackburn at the time. I spoke to Mark Hughes who was not that happy for me – he said something that was very interesting; ‘I know who you are, I know how Liverpool play and I know this is not a good move for you’. He said I wouldn’t enjoy it. I really didn’t – very rigid.”
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His tenure with the club from 2007 to 2009 included a clash with Norwegian defender Jon Arne Riise, and he returned to Liverpool in 2011, playing for one year and scoring 18 goals and 13 assists in 79 games for the Anfield club.
Now in a position to lead players, will he be able to make his career as a coach and manager a great success?