We know they didn’t always get on and that he could be very volatile and controversial at times, but it’s been great to hear Alan Shearer talk so fondly about his partnership with Craig Bellamy.
I think Bellamy was always entertaining and when he played he always put a shift in and seemed to care about the club and the shirt. If anything, one of his faults was a good one. At times he cared too much and the emotion boiled over.
Here’s what Shearer’s had to say about their time together on Tyneside:
“Towards the end of my career it was a little bit different.
“I wouldn’t say I couldn’t run but I had lost a yard or two of pace.
“Craig Bellamy was brilliant for me in terms of his pace.
“He was a bit of a nuisance and defenders hated playing against him.”
“Because he was loud, he was rude at times, but in terms of what he did for the team and for me, he helped me get another year or two out of my career.”
When you think that Bellamy had injury problems of his own and was never far away from controversy, it’s a testament to his talent that someone like Shearer says this about him.
Bellamy was signed by Sir Bobby Robson and seems to agree with Shearer. He formed a productive strike partnership with Shearer; the pair scored 41 goals between them during his first year. Bellamy remarked that his pace and creativity complemented Shearer’s game.
So, what happened? Well, along came Graeme Souness when Sir Bobby was wrongly sacked and the pair clashed almost straight away and Souness managed to get the situation into a state where he publicly commented that Bellamy would never play for Newcastle again.
He was shipped off to Celtic on loan and when the Scottish giants couldn’t afford his wages or Newcastle’s asking fee, Blackburn stepped in and away he went. Such a shame really as I think that Sir Bobby showed with the right man management what an asset Craig Bellamy was.
Follow us on Twitter (@NUFCBlogcouk) and on Facebook HERE
