Former Newcastle United star set to begin "dream job" for national team

Former Newcastle United star Craig Bellamy is set to be named as head coach for the Welsh national team.

The appointment comes after the Welsh FA made the decision to dismiss Rob Page due to his failure to qualify for EURO 2024 and a poor run of results following.

The 44-year-old is still at Burnley and looked set to take over their head coach role but it has since been announced that another former Magpie Scott Parker has been appointed as manager at the Clarets.

Now, Bellamy is set to make a move into what he considers as his "dream job"

Bellamy joins other former Newcastle players in national team management.

The Welshman isn't the only former Newcastle man to make the move into national team management.

Temuri Ketsbaia is currently the manager of the Cyprus national team and previously had a spell managing Georgia, his home country.

Michael O'Neill, who had a two-year stint at the club between 1987 and 1989 is the manager of Northern Ireland, he is regarded as one of the best managers in their history after taking them to the knockout stages before being eliminated by Wales.

He left in 2020 but returned in 2022 much to the delight of the Northern Irish FA.

Newcastle legend Kevin Keegan also had a stint as England manager in 1999.

Former Newcastle star Bellamy has eyed the Wales job for years

This isn't the first time Bellamy has been linked with the Wales post. In 2018, he looked set to become manager of the national team before narrowly losing out to Ryan Giggs.

There were talks with several other candidates for the post, including Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, Georgia boss Willy Sagnol, and Oxford United's Des Buckingham.

But it is thought that Bellamy impressed during his interview and will be granted the one thing he has always dreamed of.

Bellamy spent four years at the Magpies, scoring 28 goals in 93 league appearances.