Craig Bellamy

Vincent Kompany’s assistant at Burnley, Craig Bellamy, is being lorded for his role, surprise surprise on the standing Cilla. So has Bellamy slayed his demons to have matured like a bad smelling wine, in company we trust? As a player the Welshman had a spikiness who in on mindset would not suffer fools, but became that character himself and left an unsavoury taste during his career, a talented energetic player with not a likeable character tag attached.

During Craig’s spell at Newcastle United in 2005, he had a physical altercation with the toon manager Graeme Souness for refusing to play, stating that he was being played out of position and criticised Souness in a television interview, chairman Freddy Shephard quote “It’s not about money, it’s about a player thinking he is bigger than the club”. Bellamy was fined two weeks wages and was shown the exit door.

Bellamy was not immune to having altercations with teammates being involved in a training session spat with John Arne Riise while at Liverpool during the club’s preparation for a Champions League match. Later Bellamy entered Riise’s hotel room and slapped the Norwegian with a golf club and became known as the ‘nutter with a putter’. An opportunity was spurned with the blue half of Merseyside during the 1978-79 season with the Welshman pulling out of a move to Everton at he last minute, manager David Moyes described Bellamy as being hostile and tense. Bellamy also courted controversy with the Welsh national team. Manager Mark Hughes issued a warning regarding his behaviour following on from an altercation in a Cardiff night club using foul and abusive language. It was at Cardiff Football Club where the reputation became even more tarnished, while employed as the under 18’s coach, and having to step down under a cloud of bullying claims, intimidation, xenophobic behaviour alongside anti English gestures, remarks and insults, the parents of a youth team player made complaints, exit Bellamy.

In 2007 Craig invested 1.4 million pounds into a Sierra Leone football academy, the ‘Craig Bellamy Foundation’, the academy closed in 2016 due to financial problems, so is Bellamy misunderstood? As for any Burnley players refusing to play, Craig would not be one’s port of call, two’s company, three’s a crowd.

(Bellamy has been declared bankrupt, owing 1.45 million pounds to HMRC)

To Amplify

The premiership, creed and power, should we accept, we like the package, the ballpark of match play, are we powerless pawns? No, we have proven that, without the supporters there’s no oxygen, no life, an emptiness, that’s for sure. To play in empty shells, the stadiums, that deal don’t work, Increased merchandise prices alongside season tickets, don’t pay, don’t’ go, is that an option? It should not be, to shoot yourself in the foot and deny yourself, but some do to walk around with a hole in their shoe, to feel the need to make their stand.

Manchester FC and the City of Liverpool football clubs, what’s the connection? Two clubs built on former supporters of Manchester United and Liverpool FC who became fed up with their clubs, a small pin in the sky reaching stadia, a feeling of no connection anymore, the loss of their love for their clubs, it happens. Standing together, having an agenda, organisation, the football bus never dies, it can be reflamed, to amplify.

The Blackout Rule

Football’s blackout rule of no live matches to be screened at 3pm on a Saturday, football’s former ritual day is under threat with the broadcasting vultures endeavouring to increase their size of the cake to televise live matches at the given day Saturday 3pm. The present rule set in place is to protect the lower leagues with supporters in the main attaching themselves to their local club at the lower league level, as opposed to watching a Premiership match in the comforts of one’s lounge lizard under the non Sky and BT Sports, terrestrial TV to prevail? Beyond the Premiership attendances have increased to indicate a mind of change. The sport streaming service of DAZN (Da Zoom, Da Zone) have put 200 million pounds on the table to stream live to televise football league matches, a tempting carrot, the downside being to affect attendances and away supporters travel. The Nation’s television blackout rule was set in place in 1960 with the Premiership ruling out a BBC live Match of The Day at the 3pm kick off Saturday, to be trusted?

The Crazed Sack Race

The Premiership’s pandemonium came into the crazed focus with two managers being sacked on the same day, just missing out on April Fools Day, but this was no joke, enter April 2^nd, sack day for Chelsea’s Graham Potter and Leicester’s Brendon Rodgers, a week earlier on March 26^th Antonio Conte’s tenure came to an end to complete a quick fire hattrick of sackings.

The Chelsea owner Todd Boehly could smell the sack rat coming on March 4^th following on from the Londoner’s tepid one to nil win v Leeds United, quote Boehly “It’s a result”. Smell the pipes and head to North London at Tottenham Hotspurs, where Antonio Conte’s Southampton post match rant sealed the deal blaming all and sundry and absolving himself of being at fault with team performances, mamma mia get me to Italy, send me the money, I want out, will the departure on the termed garbage ‘mutual consent’ suffice, arrivederci, more fill in the Conte money bags. At Leicester the fox entered the hen house, no chickens to bear, just Brendon Rodgers staring into the abyss, of the opinion that Rodgers want out three months prior expecting the bullet, it was not forthcoming, bloody hell Brendon, the spark has gone, spark out.

Graham Potter at Chelsea was slated for his body demeanour lacking passion and emotion, that’s Graham’s way, the arraignment is unjust. Chelsea’s closet rivals Fulham went off the rails v Manchester United with the manager Marco Silva losing control with his players following his bad behaviour patterns causing an en masse altercation on the pitch, resulting in Aleksandar Mitrovic being sent off for pushing the referee, an eight game ban is the punishment. Silva for his sins was also shown the red card, a two game touchline ban alongside a £40,000 fine. Silva has been behaving like a loon tune for a long time, hence the player’s meltdown. At Manchester City, Pep Guardiola celebrated a City goal in the face of Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas and escaped any charges, consistency is not the norm with the football authorities, they should hit the managers harder with their disruptive behaviour.

The manager’s pay off syndrome needs to be addressed, to be highlighted with the travesty, the parody to English football with a reported 13 million pounds compensation package wrapped with blue ribbons. The length of the contract over 5 years guaranteed Potter’s purpose to oneself come rain or shine, gross bad management on owner Todd Boehly’s watch. To add some mustard to one’s egg Frank Lampard has returned on a caretaker basis, too hot for Frank to handle? The crazed Premiership.

To suggest that managers should operate on a revolving one year contract basis, to be reactivated with the inserted clause if another one year contract is the desired option, this in turn would stop managers pocketing millions of pounds for abject failure (link to The Manero Blueprint article Jan 2023). The managers road map from one club to another on a regular basis would become obsolete. The biggest dinosaured out heist merchants of Allardyce, Pardew, Benitez, Moyes, McClaren would be no more, handcuffed to the one year contract, time to take the brutality out of the payouts and to become brutal, this is how it should be, the football managers game changer.