Joe Ledley names the perfect man for the Celtic vacancy

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·31 Maret 2026

Joe Ledley names the perfect man for the Celtic vacancy

Charlie Mulgrew was last week talking about a conversation he’d had with former Celtic midfielder Joe Ledley who had been talking up the Wales manager Craig Bellamy for the Celtic job should Wales fail to reach the World Cup Finals via the play-off…

It was heartache for the Welsh national side, losing on penalties to Bosnia & Herzegovina in a match that they should have won. Having watched that game, rather than the Ireland one on at the same time, in order to have a closer look at the style of football Bellamy has his side playing, I have to say that I was impressed and the style of football on show would be more than acceptable, should Bellamy get the Celtic job.

Joe Ledley has returned to his subject today and the former Welsh International makes a strong case for Bellamy returning to the club this time as manager.

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“Craig Bellamy is a perfect fit for Celtic,” Ledley said as reported by Daily Record. “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.”

Even if Martin O’Neill does win the Scottish Premiership and adds a Scottish Cup to the trophy cabinet at Celtic Park to sit alongside, it’s still extremely unlikely that he’d be asked at 74 to take on the responsibility of a huge summer rebuild at the club.

It’s going to be a new manager and a new era at the football club but how that will look has got so many unknowns at the moment, it would be crazy to speculate.

So there will be a new manager, that is a given.

Joe Ledley continued with his Bellamy pitch: “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.

Craig Bellamy, Head Coach of Wales speaks to the media during a press conference at Wembley Stadium on October 08, 2025. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

“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.

“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.

“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.

Craig Bellamy, Head Coach of Wales, reacts during the Group J FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Wales and Belgium at Cardiff City Stadium on October 13, 2025 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“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.”

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2024 Dermot Desmond on the 18th tee during the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2024 on the Old Course at St. Andrews Golf CLub, Fife, . 06/10/2024. Picture Fran Caffrey / Golffile.ie

As a sales pitch you have to say it’s fairly convincing. Bellamy, alongside Robbie Keane is a name that’s reportedly on Dermot Desmond’s radar and the Irish billionaire, who controls the club is likely to be the man making the final call on this one.

Having listened to Paul Tisdale and Michael Nicholson on their recommendations for Wilfried Nancy, surely Desmond cannot afford to get this appointment wrong? Time will tell if it’s going to be Craig Bellamy or not. I’ve certainly heard worse suggestions.

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