Wales boss Craig Bellamy's former Liverpool team-mate has spoken out about the manager's future and what he's really like behind the scenes

Charlie Adam has tipped Craig Bellamy to become an elite manager and praised his success while in charge of the Wales national team. After a storied 18-year playing career, which saw him play for the likes of Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester City and bag a total of 169 goals, Bellamy hung up his boots in 2014 aged 34.

Since then, he has worked with Cardiff's academy and assisted Vincent Kompany at both Anderlecht and Burnley - where he was briefly named acting head coach before taking up his current position with Wales. Bellamy enjoyed an unprecedented start to his Cymru tenure, avoiding defeat in his first six matches and went on to orchestrate a brilliant Nations League promotion into League A in 2024.

He suffered heartbreak after securing a World Cup qualifying play-off berth, losing on penalties following a 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina. His record as Wales manager stands at nine wins, seven draws and eight losses.

The former striker's success on the international scene saw him tentatively linked with taking charge at Burnley and Celtic over the summer. Adam, who played with Bellamy at Liverpool and worked with him at Burnley, says that the boss goes underappreciated and the 47-year-old will soon become one of Europe's elite coaches, which would inevitably put top clubs on alert.

Make sure you never miss the biggest news in Welsh sport by making Wales Online one of your Google preferred sources.

Adam said, speaking on In The Mixer: "We always see Craig Bellamy as the player. We don't see Craig Bellamy as the coach. But I've seen it. For me, it's elite, top-level coaching that he does.

"People only judge him off his playing career. But when you actually see him on the grass and see him work, he's very, very good and I can see why Wales have had such a successful time in terms of the results that they've had.

"He'll become, for me anyway, eventually, a top manager with how he is. He was a character on the pitch and a character in the dressing room."

The Scot, who only played one season as Bellamy's team-mate at Anfield, also recalled an incident that summed up the Welshman's attitude as a fiery player.

You can listen to brand new episodes of In The Mixer on and Apple Podcasts

"One of the best stories that I had at Liverpool during my time with him was that he used to go back and play FIFA. He used to play on his computer," said Adam.

"I remember one time he'd spent a lot of money and one day he got scammed by some lads online and they took all his points and all his best players and he was absolutely raging.

"But he was… Until you actually get to know somebody, you have this perception of a player. I saw it as a personality in the dressing room, but I've seen him as a coach and it's totally different.

"Calm, authoritative, really good detail in his game. But they're two different people. He was a very good player, both feet. But again, they are the experiences he draws on."