Celtic next manager candidate is perfect fit for them after 'leaving room with mind blown'

And the club’s former midfielder has admitted he is becoming increasingly concerned that his compatriot Bellamy will leave his role at Welsh national team - and that the lure of Celtic could be strong.

Bellamy and Wales suffered World Cup heartache last week when they lost their play-off semi-final to Bosnia & Herzegovina on penalties. The defeat has cast fresh doubt over the coach’s long-term future in Cardiff, especially as he is one of the frontrunners to become the next Celtic boss.

Ledley, who spent four years at Celtic Park between 2010 and 2014, knows Bellamy well and believes that the 46-year-old - who himself had a brief loan spell as a player with Celtic - could be lured north of the border. He also stated that the ex-striker is vying for the role alongside Motherwell head coach Jens Berthel Askou, who has been quoted as one of the principal candidates.

“I’ve said it before and I still feel the same now - Craig Bellamy is a perfect fit for Celtic,” said Ledley. “They’ll almost definitely be looking for a new manager in the summer, unless Martin O’Neill wins the league and considers staying on for another year.

“And in Craig, you’ve got someone who studies absolutely everything in detail, he likes to play on the front foot, it’s all about possession and being attack-minded. But he also knows what it means for that club, having played there. He knows what the fans want and expect. He’s young, he’s hungry. I just think he’s perfect for that job.

“I know a lot of people up in Scotland like the look of the Motherwell manager [Jens Berthel Askou], so I’d say those two names are the ones who’ll be on the club’s radar… but for me, Craig is perfect.

“The big question is whether Wales will be able to keep hold of Craig Bellamy, because I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of speculation around him coming up in the near future. He’s someone I keep in touch with quite a lot, because we played for the national team together. And I’m sure he’ll have been reflecting a lot over the last few days on what his next move might be.

“There’s no getting around it; he’ll be heartbroken that he hasn’t managed to get Wales to a World Cup, and I’m sure a few people inside the FAW are thinking it’ll be difficult to keep hold of him because of the job he’s done. Hopefully we can keep him – I’m just not sure we’re going to be able to.

“This has been his first position as a manager, and he’s dealt with some huge tests, and under a lot of pressure. He will have learned a lot from all of that. And, you know, the way he studies the game… he’s obsessive. He loves being around the training ground, doing all of the analysis, and that’s why I could see him going into club football pretty soon, to be honest.

“I was actually in the building when he got the Wales job, so I popped my head in just to congratulate him and ended up spending an hour and a half with him, where he was telling me about his plans, the structure of the team, how he wanted them to play, and I left the room with my mind blown – I was so excited to see what he was going to bring to the job.”

Ledley feels Bellamy will be hankering for the hustle and bustle of a club job after spending part of his formative coaching career with Cardiff City and Anderlecht.

“From finishing second ahead of North Macedonia, to last week’s game against Bosnia, that’s such a big period of time where, as a manager, you’re just waiting around and you want to get stuck in,” told Ladbrokes at the launch of Ladisfaction. “We had so much momentum after beating North Macedonia, you just want to carry on playing – and that’s where club football is different, and why I can see Craig getting into it very soon.

“He’s learned a lot from Vincent Kompany, who is doing incredible things with Bayern Munich, and he’s got a great group of coaches around him… time will tell and big decisions are going to have to be made. It’s hard because I really do believe Craig will want to take Wales to a major tournament, but at the same time I can just see so many clubs being interested in him.”

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