Former Premier League referee Howard Webb has gone on to reveal that the player with whom he had the biggest problem was ex-Newcastle United attacker Craig Bellamy.
Craig Bellamy was certainly one of the most talented players the Premier League has witnessed and the attacker enjoyed a very fruitful career in the English top flight for the likes of Norwich City, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Manchester City among others.
Bellamy’s talented was most certainly unquestionable but many felt that the former striker’s aggressive attitude harmed his career and got him into unnecessary trouble.
Now ex-Premier League referee Howard Webb has gone on to speak about Bellamy’s character and has branded the former Newcastle United fan favourite as the most difficult player he has had to work with on the pitch.
Webb was quoted saying by the Chronicle, “I think the Premier League player who gave me the most grief would be Craig Bellamy. I struggled to gain a rapport with Craig.
“Again, being balanced, (he was) a great footballer and might be a lovely kid away from the game, but on the pitch he was always quick with an opinion and didn’t really want to listen to yours so much.”
Webb also went on to speak about another ex-Newcastle hothead in the form of Joey Barton and surprisingly stated that he actually enjoyed refereeing the Rangers midfielder.
He continued, “There were other players who you might think would have fallen into that category – people like Joey Barton and Robbie Savage.
“They wore their heart on their sleeve, would give an opinion but actually would enter into a bit of dialogue with you and I found that to be quite healthy and I enjoyed refereeing those types of characters.”