Craig Bellamy backed for West Ham job as fascinating 2028 scenario develops | OneFootball

Former West Ham and Wales defender James Collins has tipped former teammate Craig Bellamy for the Hammers job in the future

Former West Ham United defender and Wales international James Collins believes that current Welsh national team boss Craig Bellamy has the credentials to manage a "big club" in the future and would love to see him in charge at the London Stadium.

Bellamy is currently in the midst of his Wales duties over the course of this three-week international break, which sees Cymru battle in League A of the Nations League. It's been a difficult start to the league phase, with his side sitting bottom with no points after two games.

However, things may have been very different this season, as the 47-year-old was the subject of a big managerial saga with Burnley, where he coached alongside Vincent Kompany between 2022 and 2024.

It would have been his first managerial role in club football, after spending the last two years with Wales, but at the eleventh hour, the move collapsed.

James Collins tips Craig Bellamy to one day manage West Ham United

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Bellamy currently seems content with being the man to lead Wales into the home European Championships in the summer of 2028, but as and when he does transition into a club managerial role, his former West Ham and Wales teammate James Collins believes he'll be destined for big things.

Collins made more appearances for West Ham than he did for any other side in his career. He played for the Hammers for 10 years across two spells, and in his first, he shared the pitch very briefly with Bellamy.

Despite Bellamy's short-lived time at Upton Park, though, Collins knows his compatriot enjoyed his time at the club and would love to see him back at West Ham in a managerial sense.

Speaking to talkSPORT, he said, "I’ve known him a long, long time. I think he needed to be that guy when he was playing. I think he said it to get the best out of himself.

"He’s gone into management. I think he speaks brilliantly. He speaks sense; he says the truth. If they haven’t played well, he’ll tell you, and what more do you want from a manager? Like I said, he’s young, he’s keen to learn, and I can see him at a big club.

"I'd love to see him one day — obviously West Ham are doing well — but I know he loves the football club and loved his time at West Ham when I was there with him. Who's to know in the future?"

Craig Bellamy's playing career at West Ham United

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West Ham paida then-club record fee of £7.5 million for Bellamy in 2007 to take him from Liverpool.

He'd just come off a campaign netting 11 in all competitions, including one in a man of the match performance against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League last 16. Liverpool would make the final in a losing effort to AC Milan, but he didn't get off the bench.

The Welshman's time at West Ham was incredibly unlucky. He only played nine times in all competitions in his first and only full season at the club due to injury. He still managed four goals in those games, two of which were in the Premier League.

In the first half of the 2008/09 campaign, Bellamy stayed healthy and netted five in 16 league games for the Hammers before he became one of the first signings under the Sheikh Mansour regime at Manchester City in January 2009, signing for £14 million.

Nuno Espírito Santo doesn't look like leaving West Ham United soon - this tip could be for the future

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Ultimately, any hopes of Bellamy becoming West Ham boss anytime soon are pipe dreams in James Collins' mind. The Hammers are second in the Championship, having scored 22 goals in their opening eight games.

West Ham fans relayed this in response to the talkSPORT piece. "We're 2nd, idiots," one fan wrote on X.

However, it's intriguing to note that Nuno's contract with the Hammers runs out at the same time as Bellamy's with Wales in the summer of 2028. For Bellamy, that will be at the conclusion of the Euros in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

You rarely see club managers see out their contract and part ways at the end of a season that way, but perhaps there could be a world where the Welsh boss naturally progresses into the London Stadium dugout ahead of the 2028/29 campaign?