Managing Craig Bellamy was once compared to juggling a live firework. Intense, combustible, and volatile, the opening chapter of the Wales manager’s autobiography is titled, “The Human Snarl”. A summary of how he was viewed as a player, the old perceptions are now being re-evaluated by his approach to football management.
In his book, Bellamy wound the clock back to a weekend break in Donegal with Celtic team-mates during a six-month loan spell in 2005 when he stumbled upon a bar to watch the FA Cup semi-final between parent club Newcastle and Manchester United. A 4-1 defeat was followed by Magpies legend Alan Shearer using a television interview to throw defensive team-mates under a bus. Bellamy felt the England legend should have shouldered more of the responsibility and took out his mobile phone to tell him so. In blunt, strident terms. Shearer responded by threatening to knock him out.
