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Former Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy has revealed that he came very close to joining Manchester United back in 2002.

The 35-year-old recently retired from football after a stellar career that saw him represent clubs like Newcastle United and Liverpool. However, he would have had the ultimate glory of playing for United and winning numerous titles as Sir Alex Ferguson himself was interested in signing him. Bellamy has revealed that Ferguson approached his agent in 2002 and asked if a potential transfer to United was possible. However, Bellamy rejected the opportunity since he had to undergo any operation at that time.

Further, Newcastle were a buoyant club back then with aspirations of qualifying for the Champions League on a regular basis under the management of Bryan Robson. After failing to secure a move to such a high-profile club, Bellamy moved away from Newcastle three years later to Blackburn. He has since played for several clubs like Liverpool, Manchester City, and West Ham before recently retiring after representing his boyhood club Cardiff City. The striker played his last game for West Ham in the 2-1 loss against archrivals Chelsea and he revealed that Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho remarked that he was a champion after the match.

“Fergie met with my agent in 2002 and said: ‘Can you get him out of Newcastle?’ The honest truth is my knee. I had just had an operation. I knew that if I went to Man United I would have to hit the ground running and with my knee that would have been impossible. He [Mourinho] just gave me a hug and said: ‘You are a champion’,” said the former striker. Bellamy is currently looking to enter into the world of football coaching and he is taking his UEFA licenses. He is targeting becoming a club manager by the age of 40.

Cardiff City was well on their way on defeating Charlton Athletic on March 7 as Federico Macheda had given his team a lead at the 56th minute with a close range right-footed shot which turned the scoreboard 1-0.

It seemed like Cardiff City had the game under their control as they had the upper hand in possession and launched over 15 shots at their opponents which is significantly higher than what Charlton Athletic was able to do as they only fired a total of 4 shots throughout the entire match but somehow it was still enough as it was Charlton which came out with the victory.

The first half was fairly quiet as neither side could find the back of the net or manage to score a single goal but the match really kicked off in the 2nd half with Federico Macheda scoring the opening goal of the entire game with a goal that Cardiff City deserved to have scored as they had created the better chances.

The match was tied up at the 74th minute when Anthony Watt was left unmarked in the penalty spot and a simple finish was needed to tie the game up 1-1 but Charlton Athletic sneaked up with the late victory after the defender Morrison challenged Simon Church inside the penalty box and Yoni Buyens made no mistake in firing it home.

It was a disappointing result for Cardiff City as they enjoyed having the better half of possession and simply appeared to be the better team but it still wasn’t enough as the team of Russell Slade lost the match and failed to secure a single point.

The coach of Cardiff City, Rusell Slade revealed his disappointment about the result of the match as English manager said:
“It’s frustrating to say the least. We dominated for 75% of the game, got ourselves in front and should have put the three points to bed.Charlton weren’t coming back into the game but we failed to get tight, failed to stop the cross and failed to clear the danger.’’

“And then it’s a penalty and it’s not necessary the player has his back to goal, he’s going nowhere and you can’t do it.It’s a kick in the teeth and we have got to manage games better because we ended up mugged a little bit today.’’

Craig Bellamy has experimented going through and playing on a number of different clubs throughout his career which includes: Norwich City, Newcastle United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Cardiff City. Those are just some of the clubs and teams that the retired Welsh footballer has joined and performed in but now that the Welsh has decided to hang up his boots and stop playing at a competitive stage, there are rumors and reports claiming that he is going to become the next coach of Cardiff City.

Malky Mackay was sacked from the managerial position at Cardiff City on December 27 of 2013 and Craig Bellamy was asked if he would want to coach one of his former clubs but the Welsh retired footballer responded by saying that it would not had been a good choice for Cardiff City and turned down the coaching option.

“I’m not right for the club at this present moment, they need to go a different direction and the club’s not right for me at this present moment. I wouldn’t be a good enough manager, it deserves better than me at the present moment.” Craig Bellamy said as he turned down the choice of coaching Cardiff City.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was selected as the successor of Malky Mackay but Gunnar Solskjaer only lasted 9 months in the managerial position after a series of disappointing results saw Cardiff City getting relegated and left the team fighting in the lower spots of the Championship League.

Cardiff City is going through a tough time trying to select the appropriate man to take charge of the squad and guide them to success and Craig Bellamy was being viewed and still is being taken into consideration for this coaching position in the club but Bellamy stated that he needs time to just relax after he announced and completed his retirement at the end of the previous season.

“I do realize if I do go into management, that’s why it’s not going to be for a few years. I want this time and I need this time to relax and enjoy things, take a step back, but I do know the intensity I’ll need to work at as a manager will be 20 hours a day. So I need this period, I need a couple of years to relax.” Craig Bellamy added on.

Gareth Bale will undoubtedly be the man to watch from the Welsh perspective when they take on Belgium in a Euro 2016 qualifying match.

The Real Madrid superstar currently holds the tag as the world’s most expensive player after his £ 85 million move to the Spanish club. He has been very much responsible for the upturn in Wales’ fortunes over the last few months. Manager Chris Coleman was reportedly on the verge of losing his job after going several matches without a win. The current Welsh team, though, stand with a real chance of qualifying for the Euro 2016 after making a great start to the qualifying campaign.

They are undefeated in the three qualifying matches which even involved matches against top teams like Bosnia. Former Wales striker Craig Bellamy reckons that Bale will definitely be an important player for Wales against Belgium, but he also says that Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen will also have a huge say in how Bale performs against Belgium. Bale has shown in recent years that he is very much capable of creating his own opportunities, but the help from his teammates can only makes him better. Ramsey and Allen have not been in the best of form of late, but Bellamy expects them to step up against Belgium.

“Gareth Bale is exceptional.From my time watching and playing over the years, I think he’s the best Welsh player I have seen playing in a Welsh shirt.I’ve not seen a player as good as what Bale has given to a Welsh football team at this present moment – but he’s backed up by an outstanding player in Ramsey. He’s huge and Joe Allen is a real top player.Wales are not a one-man team – how can they be when you have the likes of Ramsey and Allen,” said Bellamy.

The chairman of Swansea City, Huw Jenkins a few months ago revealed to the public that the club is looking for ways to increase their commercial income as they are ‘’miles behind’’ most of their rivals in the Premier League.
Swansea City are currently competing in the top tier English League, the Premier League and have been doing so for the past few years but there is a financial gap that exists between certain clubs that can affect how well a squad performs as well as make a difference in the amount of high profile players which are performing in a club.
Jenkins unveiled details concerning the financial situation of Swansea City and how they are working on increasing their income.
“At the moment, the income levels we have are basically just linked to the football side of things television revenue and that sort of thing. The only other way we have got to bring money in is trading players. They are the only tools we can use to make money, so the commercial aspect is something we have to look at’’

“We have to find ways of bringing in extra income. It’s difficult for a club like us down in south Wales to do that, but we have got to find a way of attracting big money and big sponsors from around the world.” Jenkins told reporters.

It is believed that Swansea City are currently going through a series of discussions and meeting with wealthy individuals from around the world with the possibility of attracting investors into the club that could buy shares and bring in more cash to the club that wants to continue competing in the Premier League and not fall behind to other teams in England.

There are even rumors of the head officials of Swansea thinking about building their own stadium as this can create another option or source of income and not have to rely solely on television money or transfers from selling players.

Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood has claimed that he does not expect his former team to reach the top four in the coming campaign. Sherwood was relieved of his duties after just over six months in charge of the team. He was replaced by Mauricio Pochettino, who had done extremely well on a limited budget at Southampton. The season started in an extremely positive manner for Tottenham after winning the opening two matches. They also comfortably qualified for the Europa league group stages after going through the qualification stage.

However, the weaknesses in the squad were exposed quite badly during a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday. This was the second consecutive heavy home defeat that they have suffered against Liverpool. A 5-0 defeat against the Merseyside club proved to be the last match for Andre Villas-Boas, while Sherwood fared only little better when he took his Tottenham team to Anfield where they lost 4-0. He has revealed his interest in returning to management with clubs like Crystal Palace having shown an interest in him. However, for the moment, he has been doing punditry work and Sherwood believes that Tottenham’s squad is nowhere near enough to be competing against the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea.

“I’ve been encouraged with the start, obviously Daniel Levy’s backed a manager again. Say what you want about Daniel Levy but he backs them in the transfer market and makes sure they get the players, and he’s gone out there and signed six players. I don’t know much about Stambouli, the boy from Montpellier. I think that’s what they need, they need some cover there at centre-half just in case Younes gets injured and I would say they’re probably one short of a striker to really challenge for top four,” said Sherwood.

The former Tottenham winger, Cliff Jones, has said that the Football Association of Wales should give some kind of coaching responsibility to the recently retired player Craig Bellamy.

Bellamy featured for the last time in club football in May this year for Cardiff City against Chelsea.

He called it a day saying that taking the pressure of professional football was not possible for him anymore.

He had already quit international football last year. So, that was technically the last game of the playing career of Bellamy.
Bellamy has said a few times in his interviews that he would not mind trying his luck in the field of coaching/ management once his playing days are over and Jones reckons that the 34-year old can really turn out to be a good coach.

Speaking about Bellamy yesterday, Jones who has been a league winner with the Spurs said, “He’s a terrific lad. I have always liked him as a player. His intensity might be a little low in some matches, but, he was a match winning player and I truly believe that he can make a lot of difference as coach too.”

“Craig is also a proud son of his country. So, if he is asked, he would be more than happy to do the Welsh job.”
In his 15-year long international career, Bellamy played for two teams i.e. Wales and Great Britain.

He represented Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics after being included in the squad as one of the three veterans along with Ryan Giggs.

For Wales, Bellamy made a total of 78 appearances and found the back of the net 19 times.

Bellamy played for the top clubs like Liverpool and Manchester City in the latter parts of his career. It was Liverpool from where he had taken transfer to Cardiff City in 2012.

Former Wales international Craig Bellamy has announced his retirement from all forms of football, saying that his body couldn’t take the rigors of training day in and day out anymore.

The 34 year old Cardiff City striker played the last match of his professional career in the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in the last game of the Premier League season which confirmed the team’s relegation to the Championship.

Bellamy, a former Wales skipper, made 78 international appearances for the Dragons before retiring from international
football in 2013.

Speaking to a Welsh news website, the Cardiff born forward said that he had to listen to his body. Bellamy has had a long and successful run in the Premier League where he played for seven different clubs including Liverpool, Newcastle United and Manchester City before retiring with home town club Cardiff City.

Craig Bellamy has said that he now plans to take some time off and spend it with his family before trying to chalk out a career in management and added that managing Wales one day is his biggest ambition now.

Bellamy also said that this is a not a decision he took lightly and has contemplated retirement for some time now. He mentioned that he had become accustomed to playing through pain and injuries but for the last few years, he has been on anti-inflammatory pills for every single day.

The Newcastle United legend went on to add that it wasn’t a wise decision to make and his body might rebel against it in the future but according to Craig Bellamy that is what kept him playing these last few years.

But he thinks that he has had enough of that and it was time to hang up his boots and spend some time with his young family.

Cardiff city manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says that striker Craig Bellamy will decide upon his future in the next few weeks. The club were relegated to the championship after finishing bottom of the Premier league table. Bellamy, who has been one of the top strikers from Wales in the last few decades, has been a major reason towards the club coming close to staying up in the division. Even though they finished bottom of the table, it was only in the last few weeks of the campaign that relegation was confirmed. Bellamy is out of contract at the end of the season.

At 34 years of age and with his persistent injury problems, it was heavily speculated that he will announce his retirement. Bellamy also had a wonderful send off after scoring in the 2-1 defeat against Chelsea. This could yet prove to be his final match, but Solskjaer says that the club will be a allowing the player some more time in order to decide on his future. Cardiff city became one of the first clubs to receive more than £ 60 million as part of the television money despite finishing bottom of the table.

The new Premier league deal has given the club a huge boost ahead of their preparation to return to the Premier league.
“We’ve had chats and he’s going to think about what he wants to do in the future. Not at the moment no. For everyone at the club it’s been a long trying and testing period and people need time to reflect and think about where you want to go and what you want to do. We’ve got to keep the core of this group. We’re going to try to keep the most important ones, of course, and add and strengthen with a few different types of players that I think we need,” said the manager.