Get the latest Welsh rugby news sent straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Craig Bellamy and Dutch Ray... a Wales management dream team, or the biggest grenade waiting to explode in the 137-year history of our national team?

Football stirs the passion and creates emotion to such an extent that very often you get extreme views, with the truth somewhere in between.

In this case it’s black or white, with no grey area whatsoever.

Bellamy and his fitness mentor Raymond Verheijen would either be sensational and end Wales’ qualifying hoodoo, or court so much controversy they would bring the type of unwanted headlines even poor old beleaguered Welsh football has never seen before.

Neither man does in between. It’s everything or nothing and, to be perfectly frank, I’ve no idea which way it would play out.

This, of course, is utterly speculative, but we may be reaching the stage where the next manager of Wales needs to be debated.

And make no mistake, whether that time is the present or in two years, Bellamy has suddenly become a leading candidate.

It’s hardly ideal for Bellamy to see his name heavily linked with Chris Coleman’s job in the very week he goes into camp desperate to help Wales produce the type of result against Macedonia which may actually keep the manager in situ.

What will Coleman himself think of the speculation? What will the men Bellamy is about to line up next to think about the prospect of him potentially becoming their next boss?

But it’s not Bellamy’s fault this has suddenly cropped up. He shouldn’t be hung out to dry by anyone within the Welsh camp.

The very reason the speculation has begun in earnest is because the FAW, and Coleman himself, have muddied the waters about the future.

Only a few weeks ago, we were assured, a new two-year contract was on the table for Coleman to take Wales into the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

The right decision or not, at least we knew where we were going.

Or so we thought. A month on, some on the FAW appear to have stalled on their offer of the new deal, hinting Coleman needs to be judged on these next two matches against Macedonia and Belgium.

He has only served to muddy the waters further by saying that if FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford thinks so short-term, “then I’m not sure I want to work for anybody like that. I may choose not to sign”.

It is a wholly unsatisfactory state of affairs that lends itself to open house season on what happens next. Or, more pertinently, who comes in should Coleman depart next month, whether through his own volition or via a hefty shove in his back.

I see the two sides to the Coleman debate. Results have not been good enough and the clamour for him to go is understandable.

On the other hand, there is also an argument for saying Coleman should be cut a little slack, given the unique circumstances in which he inherited the job, and get his new deal... provided he brings in a top coach to help bring new impetus, ideas and energy.

Which way will it go? I really don’t know, it’s a 50-50 call, but Coleman and the FAW have done nothing to convince anyone there won’t be change.

Hence speculation starting, with Bellamy’s name being talked about at the weekend.

Sometimes, in football, it’s about timing... and this could be the moment for Bellamy.

He must be thinking about the next stage of his career, given his playing days are coming towards an end. Witness the fact he played no more than a second-half cameo role for Cardiff City in defeat to Newcastle at the weekend.

In many ways, Bellamy fits the bill as the type of figure the FAW have gone for down the years. Fellow legends Gary Speed, Mark Hughes, Terry Yorath and Mike England each made their name in management as young Wales bosses, given their big break by the FAW after hanging up their international boots.

Like them, because he is Welsh Bellamy would not cost the earth. That’s important to the FAW who don’t pay Premier League wages, sometimes not even a Championship salary.

Bellamy’s passion and desire for Wales to succeed burns deep inside him, while his in-depth knowledge of the game from top to bottom here has impressed the FAW hierarchy.

He is fully in tune with the modern game. His demands and enormously high standards are well known and have helped take Cardiff to new heights.

If Bellamy can cajole the best out of the likes of Andrew Taylor and Peter Whittingham, just imagine what he could do with Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey? But where Bellamy differs greatly to those previous rookie Wales managers is that he has always courted far more controversy.

Speed, Hughes, Yorath and England were wonderful diplomats, an essential requirement for a Wales manager who has to be an ambassador for his country.

Bellamy has calmed down an awful lot, but there must be some fears within the FAW that he and Verheijen would cause an international incident with something they said somewhere down the line.

Balancing that potential for controversy with the passion, drive, energy and fresh ideas Bellamy and Dutch Ray could bring to the job is what the FAW hierarchy would have to weigh up, if Coleman does go and the hunt begins for a new manager.

The legend the FAW have always coveted is Ryan Giggs, the poster pin-up they believe would end the divides and bring Welsh football back together.

He is likely to resist any Wales overtures again. Bellamy, on the other hand, may just be ripe for an approach.

Once he has done his damndest to help Wales defeat Macedonia, that is. And at least offered Coleman a fighting chance of keeping his job.