The Wales head coach has been linked with the vacant position at Parkhead
Craig Bellamy, head coach of Wales(Image: Alex Livesey – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Reports in Scotland state Wales boss Craig Bellamy has been identified by Celtic chiefs as one of their leading targets to replace Brendan Rodgers.
The Northern Irishman left his post at Parkhead earlier on this week after a poor start to the season and discontent behind the scenes.
The 3-1 defeat to surprise SPL leaders Hearts at the weekend appears to have been the last straw, with the former Swansea City manager resigning.
He was sent on his was with a brutal statement from the club’s largest shareholder Dermot Desmond, accusing him of being “divisive, misleading, and self-serving”.
The Hoops are now on the hunt for Rodgers’ successor, with bookmakers placing Bellamy – who spent a short loan spell with the club during his time at Newcastle United – among the runners and riders.
But our colleagues north of the border now state the club’s head of football operations Paul Tisdale, who is drawing up a list of replacements for Rodgers, has placed Bellamy’s name high up in the pecking order, with the Record labelling the Welsh head coach a “person of considerable interest”.
The head coach of Ipswich Town Kieran McKenna has also been earmarked as a frontrunner, but it is reported that it would take a fee of around £5million to prise him away from Portman Road.
Bellamy, they state, is seen as a more affordable prospect for the chiefs at Parkhead, even with three years left on his deal with the Welsh FA.
But with Wales’ attempt to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals in America, Canada and Mexico still very much alive, with the prospect of a play-off next year, it is seen as problematic to land him.
Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney have been installed as an interim management team to hold the fort on a short-term basis. Bellamy would have to effectively walk away from his Wales position, they state, to land the job on the green side of Glasgow.
When asked if he would stay on beyond his interim spell, O’Neill responded: “That’s never been discussed.
“I would say no I think I’ll just go into the sunset.
“That’s not been discussed and I wouldn’t imagine it.”
Other names in the frame include Robbie Keane and Ange Postecoglou.