Bellamy on Newcastle fans, Sir Bobby and why he would never return.

Posted on August 7th, 2011 | 43 Comments |

Craig Bellamy: Controversial as ever.
Craig Bellamy: Controversial as ever.
Newcastle United old boy, Craig Bellamy, has a long and insightful interview on American site ‘EPL Talk.’

Given while Bellamy was in Orlando, Florida last month, coaching the youngsters at the 2011 Disney Soccer Academy, it covers quite a few topics from Bellamy’s time in the game. This included recollections of his five years at Newcastle (including a spell at Celtic on loan), and working with then manager, Sir Bobby Robson. This section has been transcribed for your reading pleasure below. As usual, Bellamy pulls no punches, accusing the Newcastle United fans for playing a big part in the Sir Bobby’s exit from the club, and saying that there is “no chance” he would ever play for Newcastle again because “there is no one else to play for up there”.

EPL Talk: “Lets talk about Newcastle United. What was was your greatest memory of playing there?”

Craig Bellamy: “My greatest memory there was Bobby Robson, playing for Bobby Robson, so you know that was it really. I was lucky he signed me and just to be involved with him, because he understood the club and you know he knew what the club was, he knew what the people were, which I think was key to going into a new club. You have to understand who you represent and who you are trying to play for, and he made it clear to us. we had a good team, we had a really good team, we were young, alot of athletes and we finished third, fourth and fifth. The year we finished fifth I could just sense it wasn’t, a few of the fans were expecting more they were expecting league titles. Newcastle united win league titles? I don’t think so! And I just thought they expected and things started to turn alittle bit and I just felt we didn’t start the season well particularly like we didn’t start any season well to be honest but we always came back with a late run you know, and just got there. We didn’t start one season too well and I can just remember, alot of fans were turning and booing and Skysports would be outside the ground and Newcastle fans would be moaning about this and that, and it just led to the manager getting sacked, which was just a complete shock and was embarrassing really when I look back on it now, how he can get the sack, but I also thought the crowd played a big part of in that as well, and for me I’ve had options to go back up there since and I wont! no chance! because I played for him and there is no one else to play for up there.”

EPL: “Yeah, there is no one else to play for once you’ve played for Sir Bobby maybe. Period.”

Craig Bellamy: “Well there is, but not at Newcastle!”

So I don’t think that was a come and get me to Pardew then?

When I think back to those seasons mentioned, my recollection is of the crowd getting upset was not because expectations were too high, but more than that we had a very talented bunch of players who were acting like spoilt kids and not fulfilling anywhere near the potential which we had witnessed in previous seasons. Players like Bellamy, Dyer, Jenas, Bramble, Bowyer, Carr to name a few were all either brought in by Sir Bobby or championed by him and had received massive contracts at the club. They should have sweat blood for the man! Bobby Robson getting sacked falls squarely on the shoulders of these players in my opinion (and Freddy Shepherd for his treatment of him should never be forgotten) but for Bellamy to call Newcastle fans just goes to show how out of touch the modern day footballer is when he can ramble on and quite happily forget he was a major factor in his own and Bobby’s downfall at NUFC.

NUFCBlog Author: geordiedug geordiedug has written 8 articles on this blog.

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43 Responses

  1. Was this the same Craig Bellamy that was begging to come back to Newcastle after Sounness sold him the little prick I actually thought he would be good coming back because he used to have a bit fire on the pitch even though he was a crap goal scorer. It was all down to players like him that Robson got the sack I seem to recall him fighting with John Carver, Dyer refusing to play on the wing and all the players disrespecting Robson. One things for sure I bet he wouldn’t be welcome in Newcastle city centre any more and if he does play in the premier league imagine the reception he will get at St James’s

  2. Haha, sour grapes from Bellamy, he have been boo’ed with a vengance every time he has played us since he left and it seems that it has hurt the little fella.

  3. What a hypocrite. What got Sir Bobby sacked was his young stars going out getting smashed every night and refusing to play where he told them to. Suddenly it was all the fans fault? Not good enough Craig.

    Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t the fans stage a sit in at the training ground to try and stop Sir Bobby from leaving after he’d been sacked?

    I think this is a case of a bitter, angry man unhappy that his career didn’t kick on the way he expected it to. He thought he’d go from strength to strength, but he went from struggling to get a game at Liverpool, being unable to get a game at City, and was at various points reduced to turning out for such massive clubs like West Ham and Cardiff.

    Complaining about your time at Newcastle isn’t going to change the fact that it was the only time in your career you were an important part of a Champions League team. A washed up failure running his mouth doesn’t make an impact on me.

  4. lualua says:
    August 7, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    “It was all down to players like him that Robson got the sack I seem to recall him fighting with John Carver, Dyer refusing to play on the wing and all the players disrespecting Robson.”

    lualua, one of the worst things you can do in Football, and quite a few other fields I suppose, is announce that you will not be renewing the manager’s contract in public, which caused chaos when Freddy Shepherd foolishly did that with Robson. It isn’t just a Newcastle thing though, even Alex Ferguson made a similar mistake when he started making noises about retiring at the end of a season some time ago, and even he started to get problems in the dressing room.

  5. Agree with evrything youse geordy boyz say tell him to come up woar way nd spout some of that shite hed get a glass clean in his chops ,scummy welsh c*** !

  6. Bellers or bell end as your better known just think back and remember how you tried to undermine Bobby Robson when we made a bid for Wayne Rooney live on Sky sports after a game. Slipped your mind that part did it you little cock. You were an injury prone faggot who thought he was world class.

  7. why would we want him anyway, he couldn’t score in brothel, i was glad to see the back off him, feckin sheep sh@gger

  8. Can’t wait, I can just see Shearers thumb poised above the key pad of his phone …. Sending Bellendamy a txt simply saying “Your legs have gone”.

    On another note … Dyer has reflected on his time under Sir Bobby with remoarse stating that he wished he didn’t act like a fool etc. Bellendamy should have a long hard look at his self in the mirror.

    Things like slapping girls down the Quay side (alledgedly) and getting locked up, drinking in the hotspots with team mates, alligations of rape (not Bellendamy however), Faking injuries, fighting with coaching staff, Dyer picking up our captains armband and throwing it to a team mate like its a soiled nappy etc is the real reason the great man was sacked!

  9. How can he say, “they were expecting league titles. Newcastle United win league titles? I don’t think so! ”

    We got sell outs every week, we were in the top 5 turnovers in Europe. (Though I want to point out a turnover does not mean any club have any devine right to anything.)

    10 year ago, just before the age of financial doping with benefactors, when he played for us, we were second to Man Utd on turnover. We were just ahead of Arsenal (Arsne Wenger eventually took care of that though). We were paying a lot in wages. Not long before that we were even the world record holder for paying a transfer fee.

    So is he saying that players after accepting top Champions league/Premiership wages are under no obligations to have title aspirations that match their fucking wages? Because thats what that looks like to me. Is he trying to get the money but a free pass card on achievement? He is isn’t he.

    Is he also saying a player has no obligation to allow his clubs jump the final hurdle? Because thats what that look like to me.

    IMO every season ticket holder in that period, should be disappointed here, that they, quite a lot of them normal working men, paid his wages and here is is with his f*** the winning mentality that is would also be of disappointment to Sir Bobby, his team mates at the time and the fans of the club he played for in that period.

    I’m seriously disappointed.

  10. Whilst he does sound bitter, there is some truth in what he says. I wonder if anyone could dig up the comments from Eds blog the month before bobby was sacked. Lots of whining fans saying he’d lost the dressing room, had gone soft and was too old. Sometimes you don’t realise what you have until it’s gone. Bobby was out best manager by far, and such a gentleman. However, done fans seem to have very short memories and are very fickle.

  11. a good few years back a few pals and myself somehow ended up at a party held at the malmaison hotel newcastle in the penthouse suite….the host was a short arsed lad about 5’7″ tall and his party trick was going into the bedroom with a prostitute….shagging her then running back through to where we were .. opening the room safe then taking out a bag of cocaine and snorting a line before running back into the bedroom and shagging the prostitute again….

    …from what i recall he repeated this about 8 times.

    if i’m not mistaken i’m sure he said he was from wales and that he played football for a living.

  12. There are a lot of different views on sir bobby’ time at sjp. I for one respected the guy. What needed to be done back then wasn’t I.e. dismissing players who were involved in certain sexual allegations. A lot of factors played there part in the dismissal of sir bob and yes the fans were one. Losing the dressing room maybe another. But sir bobby in my opinion is a victim in all the not only as a person, a knight, a gentleman, a father and a top bloke all round. How can a person of the calibre of sir bobby care about a club who promotes and protects people like Titus Bramble etc? Players involved should have been instantly dismissed. But Titus wasn’t convicted of rape, maybe not. But how can a guy like sir bob manage a club who has protected a guy who has just entered the changing room after group sex with a 17 year old child? Rape or not it was a disgusting act. And should not be the responsibility of a gentleman like sir bob to have to make excuses for. In my opinion sir bob should have walked out in disgust. Having to walk into a workplace who knowingly protects these type of people is hard enough without it being a football club. Newcastle united as a whole should not have expected a man like sir bob to tolerate just foul behavior. Full stop.

  13. “lualua, one of the worst things you can do in Football, and quite a few other fields I suppose, is announce that you will not be renewing the manager’s contract in public, which caused chaos when Freddy Shepherd foolishly did that with Robson. It isn’t just a Newcastle thing though, even Alex Ferguson made a similar mistake when he started making noises about retiring at the end of a season some time ago, and even he started to get problems in the dressing room.”

    Totally agree workey mate there were numerous factors that lead to Robson getting the sack. Think it’s funny how Bellamy tries to put all blame on the fans though just like a certain Sam Allardyce, Graeme Sounness and Joe Kinnear. They blame everyone else for their own shortcomings.

  14. Aye well said Darren. Supporters have been guilty of revisionism regarding the SBR era – this article is a case in point. I think those players you mentioned did perform close to their best for SBR – have any of them gone on to greater performances elsewhere? Not really, and Carr barely played two games before SBR was sacked,, fail to see what he had to do with it.

    Belles is a bigmouth who spouts the first thing that pops into his head – but then again broken clocks tell the right time twice a day. That team was cocky which didn’t sit well with supporters but it was packed full of swagger, talent and youth.

    Let’s be honest, the feeling at the time was he’d lost the dressing room and was getting too old. Looking back we should have let wor Bobby pick his own retirement date, but we didn’t know Souness was on his way to decimate the club again.

  15. well i for one thought that Bobby Robson took us as far as he could and i was in favour of him being replaced but not sacked he should have been made an instant ambassador for the club like Bobby Charlton at man u and should have be treated with far more respect from certain fans and a certain freddy shepherd! he also should have hand picked his successor! and i bet it wouldn’t have been souness!

    i will always despise the likes of bellamy,dyer,jenas,bowyer,bramble,carr,cort,and the likes for taking the massive wages and never repaying the faith Bobby put into them!

  16. Anybody fault except himself, That’s the man he is. No way on hell we want him back. He’s no place to go now, because he’s shite even in CCC league.

  17. At that time i was using Ed’s blog and there WAS fans who wanted Bobby out, but they were very clearly outnumbered by fans who wanted him to stay… In regards to the club, it could still have worked even then, but it needed to be the right man who came through the door, and well the rest is history. There will always be a good portion of idiots around, and we as with everyone else had our share in both fans and players. Unfortunately the biggest of them all was sitting at the top with the power to actually do the dreaded deed.

  18. Hmm, i was pretty sure that was the blog i used… The one i used before then was the evening chronicle one before they changed it. I was thinking the same as you, that Ed’s started later, but then i thought i remembered him writing stories from when we sold Woodgate… Not sure where it was then, but does it really matter in this context?

  19. Not at all, I was just interested. Woodgate was sold in 2004 (we only had him for a season, didn’t we?) which would make sense.

    As for Bellamy though – good. He’s a petulant child although in fairness who would come to Newcastle with our current regime?

  20. Thump… 1½ i think, we bought him in Jan with his first game against chelsea if i remember correctly. I cant stop thinking bout what blog it was then, i was sure there was pictures which rules out the evening chron… Anyone else used that btw? I even remember a poster from it, black budha. He was the stardust of that time hehe ;)

  21. Bellamy is a first class tosser hated by all and sundry, hence, the number of clubs he has had. Pity he doesnt stay in America

  22. Yah… they could put him in a maximum security prison on account of his dangerous medusa look… I am sure he would do really well as a prison bitch over there lol

  23. he might be right,i think we are being paid back tenfold for the sins of the past.there was a lot of fans calling for his head,maybe in ashley we have the owner we deserve.
    karma is a powerful thing.

  24. His talent, intellect and people skills remind me very much of his neck. None existent! Small Man Syndrome personified.

  25. is this the same craig bellamy that feigned injury (and bragged about it to a team mate before a game) rather than play the game he is paid to play !

    arrogant little tosser, rewriting history to suit himself, little fish in a little pond in wales, couldnt handle big time, its sad we have mad e hime so rich the deluded squirt

  26. Bellamy’s talk makes sense and non -sense too, Sir Bobby or any other manager who did’n perform got booed here, then finally sacked, We dont have a system here, sell our best players then run around mid table for the next few seasons …..then once we see a good team developing, we sack the manager, sell the players, Robert benard jenas bellamy solano dyer all victims of new managers ……… these last 7yrs have been just frustrating, Sir Bobby Miss YOU….

  27. I’m not Bellamy’s biggest fan although I enjoyed watching him while he played for us but I have to agree with him 100% on the issue of “fickle” fans.

    SBR was undoubtedly the most “qualified” manager we had at the Toon in my lifetime (including KK). He had all the attributes of a modern tactician while working with some of the most “high maintenance” players around at the time including Bellamy, Dyer, Bramble and the rest of the “roasting” team.

    Yet at the end of the home campaign in 2004 with a home draw against Wolves and only three days after the semi-final of a European Cup competition and with a top four league place up for grabs, Newcastle were bbooed by a section of their own supporters and then handed a colossal vote of no confidence in the manager and players by a collective walkout at the final whistle.

    If you were there and you were one of those who threw your toys out of the pram you’ll alwyas have to live with the fact that your petulance and impatience with the great man earned us Souness, Roeder, Allardyce and now this twattt.

    Jeez how feckin stupid can some fans be ?

  28. As much as I hate to say it, I agree with the Arsehole… they fans were booing and moaning, that doesnt help the team to perform, when were playing bad we need to get behind the players and lift the team, the Fans didnt !!

    Freddy Shep can see fans booing the team off the pitch, the team Bobby built, it doesnt bode well for the manager, needless to say we do this with most managers…

    Sam Allerdyce was honest said he has a 5year plan for the club, fans didnt want to wait 5 years for a trophy and called for his head, he is a manager who could have built something in time… look what he done for Bolton !! look what was happening at Blackburn last season and soon as Sam was sacked Rover slid down the table to relegation battle,

    To be honest I hate the Majority of Newcastle fan, I am a Newcastle fan myself but the way some of us go on is a joke completely deluded and expecting miracles… where a long way off challenging for European spot and its time we faced facts,

    I am a fan an Im fully behind the current regime solely because i want the team to do well, an i hope to see a few more signings, an hopefully we can kick on an finish top 7 nexts season

  29. Johnnygg I agree with you to a point. Fans do tend to slag off managers and players quickly which is not good for team or fan morale.

    However if the club brought in top quality managers and players (by that I mean managers or players who have either reached the top or, in our current circumstances), are likely to reach the top because of their talent) then I wonder if there’d be such a clamour to lambast these people so quickly ?

    For example, SBR was at this club for five seasons yet no manager since has lasted half that time since his departure. Why ? Because they were all shlte and we all knew they were even KK second time around.

    The lesson here (one of so many) for the Fatman, if he wants the troublesome fans off his back, is to bring in a quality (even lower league) coach/manager and then give him freedom to pick and choose his own players – within an agreed budget.

    Its the job of the Board to provide the club with top class management in all fields and, as SAF has so often said, no man is more important to a club than a manager. I dont trust Pardwho, therefore I dont trust his signings and I really dont trust him to get the best out of a squad when he couldnt manage more than 3 wins from 18 games as we ground to a halt last season.

    So surely Brendan Rogers, Gus Poyet, Paul Lambert or maybe Emery in Spain would do a better job than the current incumbent who has yet to learn how to manage people properly and get the best out of them (Tevez/Mascherano/Enrique/Barton/Jonas etc etc) and show us all how to win convincingly despite all his years in the managers hot seat :)

  30. The same Bellamy that I witnessed calling Bobby Robson a daft old c*nt prompting Carver to go for him on the team coach? I’d take him back in a heartbeat for the player he is but he used to be a dreadful human

  31. was a good player! not now, part of being a good player is learning to control what u do off the pitch aswell, slagging newcastle just proves my point. anyway not good enough for a club the size of nufc

  32. Bellamy was and always will be a gobshite. When he played for Norwich, the players would lock him in the bus toilet to get him to stfu.