On Friday, Craig Bellamy completed his free transfer from Liverpool to hometown club Cardiff City.
The move sees the Welsh forward drop a division to the Championship and take a significant cut in wages. We discuss the controversial character who is Craig Bellamy and whether or not the move is right for both parties.
Craig Bellamy is 33 years of age and has sure been around a bit. After starting his career at Norwich City and four years at the East Anglian club, Bellamy would play for a further seven clubs before joining Cardiff City on a season-long loan at the start of the 2010-11 season. After this loan, he joined Liverpool for the second time on his career, after Manchester City agreed to let him leave on a free – a year on, Bellamy is back at the Cardiff City Stadium, this time on a two-year deal.
When Bellamy re-joined Liverpool at the end of last summer, many thought it was a case of unfinished business after he had left the Merseysiders in 2007 after a disappointing single season with the club. But it turned out to be more of a case of history repeating itself as Bellamy netted six goals in 27 Premier League appearances – one less than he managed from exactly the same amount of appearances during the 2006-07 season.
One of the journeymen of British football and for one reason or another, has never been able to settle at a club. It is only his first club, Norwich and later Newcastle United, where Bellamy really made his name, where he has stayed for longer than two years.
Every club he’s been at, Bellamy has been involved in some sort of controversy, with most of which splitting the dressing-room. During his time at St. James’ Park, the fiery Welshman managed to fall out with managers and coaches but perhaps the final nail in his Newcastle coffin came when he allegedly sent abusive text messages to club captain and Geordie hero, Alan Shearer – something the fans were never going to forgive him for.
The most infamous incident involving Bellamy though, came in 2007, during his first spell at Liverpool. At a club training session in Portugal, he apparently attacked team-mate John Arne Riise with a golf club whilst drunk. After both players were fined two weeks wages, the matter was resolved and “The Nutter with the Putter” would later celebrate a Champions League equaliser against Barcelona in the Nou Camp with a golf swing.
Bellamy’s second spell at Anfield passed without incident and although he didn’t set the world alight, he scored and made some important goals in the club’s run to both domestic cup finals. He enjoyed a great period half way through the season, scoring seven goals in seven starts. The season also saw Bellamy score his 150th goal in English football.
During his time with the Team GB football squad at the London games, where he scored in the 1-1 draw with Senegal, it was clear to see Bellamy really had turned a corner – he had finally grown up. Being one of the three senior players in Stuart Pearce’s squad, he was a real example to the younger players as his fiery nature and pure passion for the cause, did not have the negative effect it had done so many times in the past.
The way Bellamy spoke with the media during the Olympic tournament showed he had matured. Before the game against Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium, where he was captain, Bellamy spoke of his disgust at National Anthems being booed and how he hoped “God Save the Queen” would not be by the hardened Welshmen in the crowd. The anthem was respected, perhaps showing the respect Bellamy has earned from his fello countrymen over the years.
So just as Bellamy has learnt to use his emotions for the good, Liverpool are letting him go. They should have fought to keep him as they have a lot of young players to whom he could be some what of a role-model for. Then there’s Stewart Downing; Bellamy can also be used as a winger and showed how effective he can be out wide whilst playing for Team GB – Bellamy or Downing? It’s a no-brainer, surely.
You can’t deny Bellamy a move back to his boyhood club Cardiff, but there would have been a number of Premier League clubs who would have been keen for his signature so maybe he should of waited a few more seasons before going home.
image: © joncandy
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