Speaking Exclusively with BOYLE Sports former Wales Hero James Collins has given his perspective on whether Craig Bellamy is the right man to bring Wales forward, whether he could have his eyes turned by another job and if he can find Wales answer to Troy Parrott!
The defender who started his career with Cardiff City described his former clubs start to the season as "steady", whether they will get promoted firs time of asking and whether appointing Irishman Brian Barry Murphy was the correct decision for the club.
Elsewhere, the Welshman gave his thoughts on the Rise of Wrexham, whether they can get promoted to the Premier League and what sort of impact that will have on the Welsh National Team.
Craig Bellamy
Is Bellamy The Right Man For Wales?
I've known Craig a long, long time. He was my captain at Wales; he also came to West Ham, and we spent a lot of time together there, and I know him well off the pitch, too. He's a great lad, Craig, a very, very passionate man in everything he does in life, not just his football. He's very meticulous in the way he manages. He knows his stats, and he's really into it. You can clearly see he's loving his time with Wales. I think he's going to become a really, really good manager. Hopefully, we can keep him with Wales as long as possible.
Certainly, with no disrespect to the Wales team, it's not full of the names that we used to have, like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, but this team he's got together all work hard, all pull in the same direction, and are doing really well for him. So, as a mate, I'd like to see him there a long time because I think he's going to be a tremendous manager, and hopefully, he can be really successful for us.”
Bellamy’s Commitment To Wales?
He's maybe not such a young man anymore, but he is young in his managerial career. I know he's been working really hard getting his badges, and Craig looks at everything. He's probably the hardest-working manager out there. In the future, he will be looking to become a club manager, I'm sure. That'll probably be in his thoughts, by the way I know him.
He'll be thinking one thing: 'Wales qualify'. If they don't, and if it doesn't go too well, which I don't think it will, I think we'll be more than fine because he'll be looking onto the next one, thinking, 'What can I do better? How can I improve myself? How can I improve the team?' So I'm expecting to see Craig there for a long time, because I know how passionate he is and how much he loves managing the Welsh national team.
Finding The Welsh Parrott
'll take anyone, to be honest. We'll take anyone. Like I said, it's a collective effort with Wales. They're chipping in with goals. I think Kieffer Moore is, certainly, on these big nights. I don't want to do any injustice, but he's a bit of an old-school player. Someone I maybe would have played against when I was playing, a bit rough and ready. And sometimes teams like North Macedonia are not ready for that. So, like I said, any Welsh fan would take anyone scoring a winning goal or winning goals.
As long as they do what they do, like I said, it's a real team effort there with Wales, and they've got the players in there that can produce the moments of magic. So hopefully there's a few of them tonight.”
Cardiff City
"Steady" Cardiff
I think steady is probably the perfect word for Cardiff this season. I still know a lot of Cardiff fans from being in South Wales, and they're pretty disappointed with how it's gone. The last couple of seasons haven't been good enough for a club that was in the Premier League not so long ago. I was playing against them in the Premier League. It's been a little bit of a disaster over the last couple of years.
But, like I said, it's been nice and steady this season. It's not easy. Clubs that go down often have this expectation that they're going to win every game, but we all know it's certainly not that easy. They've done alright, they're there or thereabouts. When a club of that size comes down, everyone else in the league sort of sees it as a cup final; everyone raises their game against Cardiff, and it can be tough. But they've done alright. Like I said, they're there or thereabouts in the playoffs.
After Christmas, they'll be looking to kick on and move into the automatic places, but it's not easy coming back up. Automatic promotion is the dream for all Cardiff City fans, of course, but if they can get around those playoffs with a chance of pushing for the automatic spaces toward the end of the season, it really would be a credit to them. Because, like I said, it is tough coming straight back up.
Momentum
Getting promoted out of any league is brilliant. When you come up, you're full of momentum going into the next season. The position Cardiff is in is not right. They're a better club, a bigger football club than where they are now. With no disrespect to anyone in League One, Cardiff is a big club with a massive, passionate fan base. Like I said, similar to Wales, the priority is getting out of this league.
It won't be easy, but if they can get out and take that momentum into next season, they can try and steady the ship. They've dropped down a little bit, and it certainly hasn't been the club it was in previous years. The talk around Cardiff suggests the fans haven't been too happy. However, a promotion out of any league, as I mentioned, can be massive for a club. So, if they can achieve it, whether through the playoffs or automatic promotion, it could be huge, and we could see them on the up again.
Appointing Brian Barry Murphy
I think that's what it takes sometimes, a fresh manager. You can bring in big-name managers, but it doesn't always work out. We've seen that at many clubs. Why not take a chance on a young man? He's gone in and he's done really well. I know the fans are happy with him. It's about results. It's about winning on a Saturday. It's about being around the playoffs, giving the fans something to shout about. And, as I said, he has done that.
So, it's a big year, it really is, for Cardiff. If they can come straight back up, that will be massive because we've seen it many times. Clubs have gone down, and they've been stagnant for a couple of years and not really done anything. But to come straight back up would be big. And, as I said, the manager's doing well, the players are all behind him. So why not? Why not get straight back up?”
Wrexham AFC
Wexham's Rise
As a football fan in general, it's great to see what Wrexham are doing; it's phenomenal. Their rise has been massive for Welsh football, as for too long, Wrexham was not on the level of Cardiff and Swansea. There's no doubt about that.
To see what they are doing and attracting big, big players to the club is incredible. Obviously, the financial backing helps a little bit. What a journey, what a story. I think everyone in Wrexham is on board. Like I said, everyone's a Wrexham fan up there now. So, it's great for Welsh football, but also for the town of Wrexham, which is a big football town. I started playing when I was getting into the young Welsh teams, and we used to go up to Wrexham and train. There was massive support for us up there.
And like I said, with the club not being at the same level as Cardiff and Swansea for so long, it was a real shame, but to see them back is great. It just looks like every Saturday, they're having a great time. I don't think they can quite believe what's going on, but they're certainly enjoying it. What a magical story.”
Is Premier Promotion Possible?
It's probably the toughest league in the world, the Championship, there's no doubt about it. But they have got the backing. The owners seem like they're really on board. A lot of clubs, we've seen the owners and maybe not as on board or want to get up straight away, you know, and steady the ship in the Championship. But these owners, they're young, they want the best for the football club, they want the best for Wrexham, the area, and why not? They can do it.
Like I said, financially, they've certainly got the backing, and on top of that, they're attracting big players now, big players who know the league and can really do a job. I wouldn't put it past them, maybe not this season, but certainly in the coming future. Why not? Let's see Wrexham in the Premier League.”
Wexham's National Team Impact
The more Welsh teams doing well, the better, really. It sort of filters down the whole of Wales, you know, it just gives everyone a boost. I'd like to see more of the national team, maybe playing or training more up in Wrexham and sort of spreading it out across Wales because there's no doubt it's a fantastic story that everyone sort of jumped on.
The Welsh lads in there, the more we can get in the Premier League or certainly playing at the highest level, they can, will only be good for the Welsh national team. So yeah, it's a great story that everyone in Wales and certainly Wrexham has really jumped on board with.
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