WALES boss Chris Coleman saw his showdown talks with popular (with the players) coach Raymond Verheijen postponed on Friday as Britain typically ground to halt because of the snow… but he has a far more pressing issue.

His name is Craig Bellamy, whose “hero and role model”, was the late Gary Speed and who, most worryingly, is talking about retirement from international football.

As it transpires, that isn’t all Bellamy is talking about. He has used these tragic circumstances to reach his own ‘Eureka’ moment of personal discovery and it should be enough to warm the heart of any Wales supporter.

Bellamy did the press rounds to promote a fantastic documentary on his amazing work in Sierra Leone where he has donated £1.2 million of his own money to set up football academies. He revealed he has been seeing a shrink and the penny has dropped in a massive way for a player arguably in the form of his life.

“People say ‘if you take the anger out of Craig Bellamy, he wouldn’t be half the player’. It’s b*******. You know what, I’d be a better player. I would be actually thinking more rationally… It’s responsible for my form at the moment. It has had a huge impact. Did you see the celebration after I scored against City? I didn’t go mad. I just wanted to work my socks off. And if I win, I win.

“I have been in a lot of semi-finals. But I have been injured in a lot of them. In the play-offs last year, I pulled my hamstring after 15 minutes of the first game. I believe it was because of the tension. I went into those games worrying about things I can’t control. I went into those games thinking, ‘I can’t lose, if I lose, I’m a failure’.

“How can you go into a game and do well if you are putting that pressure on yourself? No wonder I pulled my hamstring.”

That is what you call evolving.

Bellamy has always been engaging, interesting and hugely talented and now he has grown up too.

Wales’ young guns need his guidance, his experience and, most of all, his talents.

If Bellamy is set on retirement, Coleman needs to ensure a charm offensive changes his mind.

Otherwise he is already losing the battle of getting off on the right foot.