Mindset, meetings, minutiae - how Bellamy changed Wales

Former Wales captain Craig Bellamy won 78 caps for his country, scoring 19 goals World Cup qualifier: Wales v Liechtenstein Venue:Cardiff City StadiumDate:Friday, 6 JuneKick off:19:45 BST Coverage:Live on BBC One Wales, S4C, iPlayer, BBC Radio Wales and Radio Cymru, the BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary. "This could be like holding a firework." An explosive player, a combustible personality. The words of one Football Association of Wales (FAW) official summed up the feeling of many as Craig Bellamy was named his country's new head coach. But few could have anticipated the fire that he has since lit under Welsh football. The 45-year-old is showing the football world there is more composure than curled lip these days. Less than a year on from his appointment, the national side look transformed on the pitch, while subtle and significant changes in the background have helped re-ignite hopes of returning to a major finals. That bid to reach the 2026 World Cup resumes against Liechtenstein on Friday, before Wales travel to Belgium on Monday for what could be a pivotal encounter between the group's top two seeds. As Wales prepare for their sternest challenge yet of the Bellamy era, BBC Sport Wales analyses the changes Bellamy has made - and how the head coach has altered football in his homeland as a result. The first changes started at home. Bellamy was surprised to be told he was the first manager of the national side to live and work in the country after informing officials he would return to his home city of Cardiff to begin his role. But for Bellamy, there was no other way. He felt he had to be on the ground to spread his mission statement on how he wanted the side's identity right the way through age-grade sides, grassroots and even among office staff at the FAW base in the Vale of Glamorgan. "He is very visible," is how one official put it, with no-one in any doubt of the hours being put in and the way Bellamy leads by example. It is not just those on the payroll who will have noticed the difference. Whereas some predecessors were criticised for not being seen outside of international windows, Bellamy is at games, club training grounds, and at numerous events throughout Wales reaching out to supporters - often helping local clubs raise money for facilities. There were countless Ymlaen ('forward' in Welsh) roadshows to discuss his and the FAW's vision. And then there are the hours at Dragon Park, Wales' national development centre on the outskirts of Newport, either working with analysts - it was no joke when he said he had studied eight of his first opponents Turkey's games before his official unveiling - or with age-grade sides. Bellamy had already reeled off a depth chart for all available senior and intermediate players when he was first interviewed for the job. He saw his job as knowing every player coming through, too. It plays into the former forward's obsessive desire for information, for details, for every little advantage that could prove the difference for Wales as a football nation. Bellamy has made the role bigger than just the first team he has under his charge by becoming a figurehead. On the pitch, it took less than a minute for Bellamy to demonstrate how he had transformed Wales. Within seconds of kick-off in his opening game,last September's Nations League match at home to Turkey, it was abundantly clear that things were going to be different. Players were taking up new positions and changing them fluidly, building play from all areas of the field and, whenever possession was lost, they launched into a rapid – but organised, collective – press to win it back as quickly as possible. Turkey, Euro 2024 quarter-finalists just a few months earlier, were outplayed, and fortunate to escape with a goalless draw. Wales fans could scarcely recognise their team from the one which had been held by Gibraltar and thrashed by Slovakia that summer. Bellamy boldly declared afterwards "this is the worst we're going to be", having instigated this transformation with less than a week's training. Players were instantly impressed by the level of detail in Bellamy's team meetings and struck by how different – and meticulous – his tactical approach was to his predecessors. "He's definitely changed the way I see football," says Harry Wilson, Wales' top scorer – and arguably their best player – under Bellamy. "I watch games differently now, the way he sees it." Bellamy presented some of these ideas to coaches studying for their Uefa qualifications with the FAW last month. The enormous, packed conference room at the Celtic Manor hotel was silent as World Cup and Champions League winners hung on his every word. Bellamy is a football obsessive who is in his element when discussing tactical trends or influential coaches and teams of the past. He is a great admirer of Pep Guardiola – but quick to note he is "not a little Pep" – while he often refers to the valuable lessons he learnt while playing under Sir Bobby Robson. The Guardiola effect is illustrated byBellamy's appointment of the Manchester City manager's former analyst, Piet Cremers,as an assistant coach with Wales. Bellamy worked with Cremers as part of Vincent Kompany's staff at Burnley, and he credits the ex-City captain who now manages Bayern Munich as one of the important figures in his coaching career, having also served as his assistant at Anderlecht. Fiercely independent, Bellamy knows his own mind, though his outlook is informed by rich experiences of working with some of the game's brightest thinkers. It is why he rejects talk of being an underdog, or of Wales being a small football nation punching above its weight. Bellamy believes - and wants everyone else to believe - that this is a country that warrants its place at the sport's top table, given the regularity with which the team has qualified for major tournaments in recent years. The head coach and his players set out to win every game, no matter who they are playing, and that ambitious mindset has permeated through the FAW at all levels. Bellamy knows what elite football looks like – during matches, in training, all aspects on and off the field – and he is instilling those standards in his Wales team. This video can not be played Harry Wilson: Wales boss Bellamy's style suits me In those first weeks, Bellamy wasted no time in laying out some of his ground rules. One has hit the headlines in recent weeks with the revelation players are forbidden from swapping shirts. It goes further. Shirts and kit are not only kept but looked after under the demand that 'no badge touches the floor'. There are other off-the-pitch tenets. Some were in place before his arrival, such as no mobile phones at the dinner table and players only ending meal time when the captain calls it, all stretching back to the Together Stronger days that have helped maintain a unity in the Wales camp relatively unique to international football. But there are no rules for the sake of rules. Bellamy – as with his on-field instructions – wants there to be a 'why'. Take the shirt – it is based on the belief that you have worked too hard to give it away, meaning a subtle subconscious reminder to players that they cannot stop pushing themselves. And while it is hard to shake off the image of Bellamy the dictator based on his playing past, many of the introductions have been done with culture in mind, of thinking differently. Importance is placed on timekeeping – whether for training or the many meetings – but, perhaps having learned from the mistakes and experiences of his own career, there is no public dressing-down for those who are late. Bellamy has spoken about being intrigued by elements of Japanese culture, telling those who are early to park their car further away to leave spaces close by for those running behind, to create a sense of consideration. He has enhanced the sense of unity with his squad rotation, consistently changing his team and giving players a chance. Now, they all feel part of this group. Bellamy also places great value on body language, which needs to be "perfect" in his view. Sulking and throwing your arms up in disgust during games will not be tolerated. Those who do not follow the rules will not be berated - but they will not last long in this squad. Bellamy wants his players and staff to enjoy themselves and he has fostered a strong feelgood factor within the squad, though he still has an aura. Everybody knows when Bellamy has entered the room, even in silence. And perhaps more than anything, there is an intensity to everything Wales do. Days are structured, training is full-throttle and every meeting requires total focus. Bellamy has said he wants his team to "resemble who I am" and, so far, he has his wish. Bellamy the coach might surprise those who are more familiar with Bellamy the player. During a stellar career, the former forward represented the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle United. Yet while there were many notable achievements and memorable goals, Bellamy's spiky, confrontational nature meant he was blighted by controversies on and off the field. He seemed to have carried some of those traits into his first coaching role with Cardiff City, as the club investigated a bullying claim made against the ex-captain and he subsequently stepped down from his role as their under-18s coach. Bellamy denied and disputed the allegations and was not the subject of any disciplinary proceedings, but did issue a statement at the time saying he was"truly sorry"if he had offended anyone. Opposition coaches were damning about his aggressive behaviour on the touchline, while FAW sources indicated that Bellamy's fiery temper was one of the reasons why he was overlooked for the Wales job in 2018. When he played for Wales, Bellamy was so intense in his demands for high standards that some of his team-mates have admitted privately that they feared training with him. But Bellamy has learned from his mistakes, and mellowed. He worked with sport psychiatrist Steve Peters towards the end of his playing career, which helped him process his grief following the death of his friend and former team-mate and manager Gary Speed. Bellamy now speaks with the calm clarity of somebody who has spent a significant amount of time analysing himself and his mental health. He got away from the glare of British football to work with Kompany in Belgium, a period he looks back on fondly as giving him "peace". Bellamy talks of his time with Kompany as an "education", and the ex-Belgium centre-back's composure has clearly rubbed off on his former Manchester City team-mate. Bellamy now brings that calmness to his role as Wales head coach. He is more thoughtful, mature. Several people at the FAW have been struck by the change, speaking glowingly about his demeanour with youth players and staff, as well as his considered approach to coaching. Ambitious and restless as he might inherently be, Bellamy seems happy at the moment, and that is clear in his work with the national team. Just as he has changed himself, Bellamy is changing Wales.