Interesting move for him.
Craig Bellamy is in talks about becoming Oxford United’s manager, according to the BBC. The former Liverpool, Wales and Celtic forward has yet to manage a senior team, but he has been working as a player development manager at Cardiff City, as well as doing some punditry work for Sky Sports.
The 38-year-old is reportedly the front runner for the position at Oxford, and could be in charge for this weekend’s trip to Northampton Town. Oxford are currently 15th in League One, and have been without a manager since sacking Pep Clotet last month.
Bellamy interviewed for the Wales job earlier this year, but missed out on the role to his former international teammate Ryan Giggs. The former Cardiff, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City striker retired from playing in 2014, and is understood to be keen to try his hand at management.
Ahead of Manchester United’s Champions League tie with Sevilla, Jose Mourinho took a dig at former footballers who have opted to become pundits rather than managers.
“Montella is Italian, and Italian coaches know how to organise their teams from a defensive point of view,” he said about Sevilla manager Vincenzo Montella, before taking a pop at the “generation of experts” in England.
“I see that the distances between the wingers and fullbacks are a lot shorter. Not like in England, because some experts who never sit on the bench say defenders should never defend, midfielders should always attack, that’s only in England with this generation of experts.”
Mourinho didn’t mention any “expert” in particular, but he clearly wasn’t speaking about Bellamy, a former Premier League player who looks set to start his managerial career in League One, rather than wait for a top-flight job.
