Forgiven, Not Forgotten?
June 22nd, 2006 by Jonathan Dewart
So, it happens again, Liverpool, my club, sign a player I have openly despised for quite some time. Craig Bellamy, with memories of Paul Ince back in 1997 fresh in my mind, arrives at Anfield with hopes of helping the club clinch the League title for the first time since 1990, and a reputation as a trouble maker.
The comparison with Ince is perhaps unfair on the self-proclaimed ?Guv?nor?, who, although a mouthy so-and-so with a reputation for fall-outs with fans, team-mates and managers, kept his public behaviour under control and his newspaper appearances were largely limited to the back pages rather than the front. Craig Bellamy however, has had a number of brushes with the law, cautioned and fined for assault and threatening behaviour, and his public outbursts have brought the wrath of managers and press alike. So, a comparison with Lee Bowyer (who Liverpool were close to signing a few years ago) would perhaps be more fitting. At the time I was relieved that the Bowyer signing fell through, I wouldn?t have to justify anything to anyone, or try and defend the indefensible, but I will not have that luxury this time.
So, we have our own mouthy criminal at our famous old club! It?s with this that my mind drifts back to one of my favourite footballers of all time, the ?Great Dane? that was Jan Molby. His range of passing and thunderbolt shots made him a hero of all Anfield, but he too fell foul of the law, jailed for three months for drink driving and evading arrest in 1988. Molby returned, Liverpool FC and its fans forgave him, and he stayed at Anfield for another seven years? his battles with weight only adding to the legend. Double standards on my behalf?
We all know that had Liverpool not had the great goal scoring drought at the turn of the year, they would have finished well clear in second place (and challenged Chelsea for the title, maybe, possibly??), and Bellamy found the net 17 times in 32 games last season - form that far outstripped that of all our strikers. He also offers something different to what we have available at the minute, he adds pace and great control when running with the ball to the shear brilliance of Fowler?s finishing and awkwardness of Crouch, which can only be good. So, on the field of play at least he should be a great asset, and at ?6 million probably a bargain compared to some of the other players we’ve been linked with!
It?s off the field, and his relationship with boss and colleagues, that worries me somewhat. Has a spell under the hardman Mark Hughes tamed the beast in a way that another hardman, Graeme Souness, couldn?t? How will Rafa handle this particularly British trait of hard-drinking, hard-living footballer? Frankly, it?s an unknown, but in Rafa we trust!
Still, it could be worse; we could be trying to sign that wee runt Jermaine Pennant?
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June 22nd, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Bellamy is a Liverpool fan, Souness sold his story to the Rag mag, maybe Bellamy just couldn’t be arsed trying to get on with Souness for what he did …Maybe…maybe not but it’s a thought eh
digressing, a great signing regardless of his past, let’s judge him in a red shirt first and foremost
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:13 am
There’s some truth but also some crap to what you wrote. No doubt Bellamy has got quite a character, so to speak and I totally agree with what you said. Hopefully, there would not be any problems with him and the club and Rafa will be able to control his character in the right way. If else, I’m sure he won’t last long under Rafa’s reign. On the other hand, I totally feel you’re talking total bollocks on Jermaine Pennant. We need a Right Winger and I feel he’s totally fit for the club. He’s hard working and terrorises every defence including Liverpool’s from what I saw last season. If he’s with a better club, his game can only get better considering he was with a team that were stuggling with relegation. One important fact as well, he’s CHEAP and we all know Liverpool can’t afford players in the 20-30millon range as some clubs can and Pennant would cost the most around 5 million. If you compare him with any of the premier league Right Wingers, how many can you say are better than him? Shaun Wright Phillips perhaps? Of course, he ONLY cost 20+ million. I think his performance was on par with most of the top club Right Wingers last season. I’m sure you would be one of the same felows that would be praising Pennant if he’s here and start scoring goals…
June 23rd, 2006 at 7:47 am
I’m glad to hear Liverpool took Bellamy because there was a worrying rumour last week that if Pool took Defoe from Spurs then we’d be going after Bellamy to replace him. The very thought sent a cold chill down my spine.
He’s a scumbag and no amount of good attacking link up play and goals can hide the fact. He seems to have got on with Mark hughes for the past season but is it merely the Welsh connection or Bellamy trying to behave himself so as not to lose himself a lucrative move to a bigger club that was the real reason behind his behaviour change?
I have to agree with JD on the Pennant issue as well. Sheer dumb luck is the only thing that separates Jermaine Pennant from someone like Lee Hughes who is serving time for killing someone while driving under the influence. I’m not altogether sure he’s as good as Ian above says either. I will agree that he would be the cheap option but if you’re looking for 2nd place, is cheap the best buying policy or should quality come top of the shopping list?
June 23rd, 2006 at 9:13 am
Don’t get me wrong, I think Pennant is a fantastic player, a player who’s career I have followed with interest since Arsenal signed him as a teenage prodigy from Notts Co. His initial performances for the Arse were fantastic, and its only the man himself that meant he ended up at the Brum. The crux of my article was about Liverpool signing players renowned for their skills on the pitch, not their antics off it (or on the side of it like Diouf!).
Perhaps I’m harking back to a simpler age when football was confined to the back pages, and only made the front for very mojor FOOTBALLING events!
July 12th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
[...] Still, I know little about Liverpool?s signings for the season ahead (aside from Craig Bellamy, who I covered in an earlier article), and the prospect of a 26-year-old Brazilian left-back (Fabio Aurelio) fills me with nothing but fear, and the 20-year-old Gabriel Paletta smacks of Carling Cup third round player only. Although the idea of Mark Gonzales offering wing-play that hasn?t been seen in a Liverpool shirt since McManaman departed these shores excites me no end, I?ve never actually seen him play! [...]