Wales head coach Craig Bellamy has said it is important that he shows he is not a “lunatic” after his side’s successful start in the UEFA Nations League.
The former Liverpool and Manchester City forward had a controversial playing career, known for his hot-headed temperament alongside his footballing talent.
But, the newly appointed Wales coach has been calm and collected on the sidelines, leading his team to Nations League promotion that saw a six game unbeaten run ending in a 4-1 thrashing of Iceland.
“I probably feel it was important to show people I am not a lunatic — I’m quite sane,” Bellamy said. “People thought I was going to be running on the pitch and pushing the ref and stuff, getting sent off.
“I probably felt more pushed into management to show I am not like that. People used to bring temperament up. ‘Oh yeah, but his temperament.’ I was like: ‘Really?’ Now you get to see this side of me.”
Bellamy, a former Wales captain, was booked during Tuesday’s clash with Iceland but is yet to see the red card he was shown more than once during his playing career.
“You’ll [the media] see me even calmer and kinder when it goes wrong,” Bellamy said. “Now is the worst period you can get me in because my emotions are everywhere. Trust me, you get nowhere being that way.
“I’m not naive enough to know those moments aren’t coming. I don’t know when but it’s going to happen. I feel like some are waiting for it happen. I know that and I have to stay calm with that.”
Despite his unbeaten record in charge of Wales, Bellamy has said that there is still a long way to go for his side in reaching their goals of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
“We’ve still got a long way to go. It’s six games. We’ve had good periods,” he said. “I could easily sit here and be ecstatic with the draw [against Turkey, last Saturday] and it’s turned out to be quite a good draw but I believe there is more for them [the Wales players].
“I believe they can play. I believe they can pass the ball. People might say you can’t but I do.
“We want to go to a World Cup — we’ve got to get that ticked off. If we get there, we want to compete. These players deserve to be there.”