Craig Bellamy’s proposed move to Burnley has now collapsed, eSPORTY understands.
The Wales boss had been in line to become the Championship club’s next manager after Scott Parker left amid their relegation from the Premier League last season.
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Following Wales’ failure to qualify for this summer’s World Cup, Bellamy was in talks about taking the job at Turf Moor.
However, it’s understood that some issues regarding his backroom staff have led to Burnley getting cold feet.
His staff with Wales includes James Rowberry, who will be staying with Stoke, Piet Cremers, who is going to be working with Belgium and Andrew Crofts, who is staying put at Brighton.
And it appears the staff issue has now led to a collapse, with the deal breaking down at the latter stages.
This comes after the FAW, as of Thursday morning, were expecting Bellamy to leave his role as manager for Burnley.
Planning for his successor was even underway, with at least two candidates understood to have been approached already.
They have now been left surprised by the news of the collapse.
Staying put?
It means that former Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester City forward, Bellamy, is now set to stay at Wales.
He earned 78 caps for Wales during a 15-year international career before succeeding Rob Page as head coach three years ago.
The role is the 46-year-old’s first in frontline management, having previously worked alongside his ex-Man City teammate Vincent Kompany with Burnley and Bayern Munich.
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Bellamy’s current Wales contract is set to see him through until the end of the next major tournament, Euro 2028 – which Wales will co-host with England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.
In 20 games as manager, he’s won eight and lost six games.
His side almost made it through to the World Cup, but defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina denied them their dreams in the qualifying play-offs in February.
‘Going to have to deal with criticism’
Bellamy’s former teammate at Blackburn, Brad Friedel, believes if he gets some stick when returning to Wales, he’ll be able to take it.
“I played with Craig. When he signs a contract, he’s all in, whether that’s with Burnley or Wales, he’s that type of guy,” Friedel told eSPORTY.
“Most managers that go into the game, they want to keep going up the ladder, and he would probably take the Burnley job if everything was correct…”
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On how he keeps the fans at Wales on board after trying to leave, he then added: “I think he’ll be grateful for the opportunity.
“But he probably knows that the other one was better. And he’s going to have to deal with the criticism.
“The only person who knows what’s best for his career is himself…he’s the type who will take full responsibility for his actions.”
Onto the next
For Burnley, it means their managerial search will now go on after talks broke down with Bellamy.
It has been reported that Steve Cooper and Rob Edwards are now going to become contenders for the job.
Cooper was most recently in charge of Danish side Brondby, a role he took after being sacked by Leicester last year.
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Meanwhile, Edwards was let go by Wolves in a shock decision in June, so he is also a free agent this summer.
Burnley are looking for a new boss, having been relegated back down to the Championship last season.
They finished 19th in the Premier League and 19 points adrift of safety, going down with Wolves and West Ham.
