Bellamy
Latest
Speaking live on Sky Sports News Craig
Bellamy has effectively called Graeme Souness a liar.
"I've kept my nose clean when I've been asked to to play
out of position and I've done it.
"I've rose above it and tried to do as best as I can for this
club.
"It seems I am not particularly wanted by a certain person and
the only way he can be seen to do it is to turn the fans against
me.
"I've got belief that the Newcastle fans know how much I want
to play for them.
"It's going to be tough now. I think coming on here hasn't helped
me in that sense but I believe that I had to do this just for
myself, to have a look at myself and say I've been honest, put
both arms in the air and you can't demand any more from yourself.
"The situation has probably gone a bit too far.
"I've got two-and-a-half years left on my contract and, when
I signed it, it was to be here for that length of time.
"I'd never ask to leave because this club means too much to
me.
"I've not really thought about it to be honest. I just want
to come across and say I never once refused to play out of position.
"Why would I decide that after 20-odd games, at Arsenal, against
the best players, the one team you want to play against because
they are the best. It frightens me that people will even think
about it."
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More From Souness
Staggering quotes if true from Graeme
Souness published in this evening's Chronicle regarding the Craig
Bellamy fall out.
"After Friday's press conference at St James' Park I arrived at
the training ground to find Craig Bellamy in the dressing room and
with his boots off.
"He told me he felt his hamstring was a bit tight. But my first-team
coach Dean Saunders informed me that Bellamy had told other players
in the dressing room he was going to feign an injury.
"I took him to see the chairman on Friday afternoon at St James' Park
and he admitted to both of us that this was true. I asked him in front
of the chairman if he had feigned an injury and he said `yes'.
"I told Bellamy that he had to apologise to the rest of the players,
but I then found out later that he had not done so.
"That was on Friday tea-time and that's when I decided he wasn't going
to be in my team at Arsenal.
"If he had apologised he would have been in the team.
"The Newcastle United management team were suspicious of what happened
at Liverpool when Bellamy stood down after what he said was a back
injury after warming up, yet he managed to train the following day.
"And last week he didn't turn up for training on Friday, saying that
he had a stomach bug but he still played against Southampton the following
day.
"Bellamy said in front of Babayaro and Boumsong that this was a rubbish
club with a rubbish manager.
"I asked him what all this was about and he told me he was upset about
the speculation he was going to be sold or used as a makeweight in
an incoming transfer.
"But I told him that if this was the case he would have heard it first
from me and why hadn't he come to see me?
"I told him on Friday that I wanted him here but on my terms. And
these terms are that everyone is pulling together and not acting in
a confrontational manner and sniping away all the time. There has
to be a boss and at the moment that's me. We are talking about other
things here.
"The only thing I am interested in is the cause and that cause is
Newcastle United."
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Toon History - It Happened On This Day: 1972
33 years ago to this day Non-League
Hereford United held Newcastle to a 2-2 draw at the Old Gallowgate
in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup in front of 39,381 Toon supporters.
Heavy snow and torrential rain had stopped the game going ahead the
previous week but on a cold Tuesday evening the game finally got underway
and it was Hereford, arriving with a reputation as giant killers,
who drew first blood with all 4 goals coming in the first half. Macdonald
with a penalty and Tudor grabbing the Toon's goals, taking the game
to a replay.
Atrocious weather once again caused havoc with the fixture but after
several postponements the replay went ahead on February the 15th at
Hereford's Edgar Street stadium where 14,313 fans along with the BBC's
cameras turned up to watch a giant killing and a giant killing they
got. Newcastle were famously dumped out of the FA Cup with Ronnie
Radford's 35-yard blockbuster being replayed year after year after
year when FA Cup time came around.
The season had started oh so brightly too. In pre-season United beat
the glamorous Portuguese Champions Benfica 1-0 who had the mercurial
Eusebio up front and in the League a new Toon No. 9 hero emerged -
"Supermac" the Geordies chanted as Malcolm Macdonald grabbed himself
a hat-trick on his St. James' Park debut in a thrilling 3-2 win over
Liverpool. 3 of 26 goals he would score in total that season.
United eventually finished in 11th place in the 1st Division on 41
points but with Supermac flying through the centre, Moncur marshaling
the defence, Hibbitt and Green on the wings and Tudor and Barrowclough
pulling the strings, things looked promising... for a while.
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Only
19 But Puts Others To Shame
One player who could be forgiving for feeling sorry for himself
after yesterday's defeat at Highbury is Steven Taylor, booked
and hauled off at half-time... all this on his 19th birthday.
But Taylor even at such a young age has shown his true professionalism
- backing Souness' decision to replace him at the break. Taylor
said:
"The gaffer did the right thing to take me off.
"I got the booking midway through the first half, and after
that I think the referee was looking to send me off if I did
anything else.
"Against a team like Arsenal with world-class players all over
the park, you cannot afford to mistime a challenge or you're
down to 10 men.
"It was a tough game for us, and had it not been for Shay the
scoreline could have been a lot worse for us.
"We didn't create a lot of chances over the course of the 90
minutes, though we could still have pinched a point near the
end when Lee Bowyer had that chance.
"We've had a good little run since the New Year, and hopefully
we can get that going again starting against Coventry on Saturday."
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Shearer
Backing Souness
Shearer quotes: "Craig declared himself
injured on Friday dinner time and then was fit on Saturday morning.
"The manager - like everyone at Newcastle United - only wants
players who want to play for the club, whether it's in the position
they want to play in or not.
"We all want to go in the same direction, we all want success
for Newcastle United, and if anyone doesn't want that, the manager
will replace them with other players.
"I think the manager has done a good job. You never get a job
when things are going right at a football club.
"Graeme came to Newcastle and knew about one or two problems
and he is trying his hardest to sort them out. If anyone can
do it, he can."
Trouble
In Toon
What do we make of yesterday's televised
pre and post match freak show involving Graeme Souness and Craig
Bellamy?
Souness when asked by a Sky reporter for the real reason
why Bellamy did not feature against the Gunners, said:
"We have tried to keep this business behind closed doors,
but it seems somebody has spoken out of turn and we can no longer
hope to do that.
"There was an incident on Friday in which Craig expressed his
displeasure at the position we have asked him to play. He walked
out of training on Friday and claimed he was injured, but then
said he was fit again on the Saturday.
"The supporters at Newcastle are only interested in 11 players
who will give everything to the cause, they are not interested
in petulant individuals. They want to see players running their
socks off for the cause. We're trying to build a team spirit
at Newcastle United.
"There was a meeting between the player, the chairman and myself,
but I will not reveal what was said at that meeting. It is a
matter we will address in the week. All I will say is that Craig
is still contracted to Newcastle."
Bellamy went onto contradict his manager's claims, saying:
"I've been reading all the Press and I've been told to do
a job for the team and that's what I've tried to do.
"I don't feel I'm doing myself justice in that position, but
I try to do as well as I can. Then we get linked with centre-forwards
and I'm playing out of position when I want to go up front,
which is selfish probably.
"I expressed that to the manager and chairman and they said
they weren't getting a forward in and I said okay, 'no problem'
and we went from there.
"I put my views across because I'm not doing myself justice
if I am out of position. I feel for the midfield boys who have
to sweep up because I'm so attack-minded.
"I got left out today and there have been one or two reports,
but I am fully fit and I want to play. I've played out of position
in 20-odd games this season because I want to play for Newcastle.
"I've tried to keep silent, but it's been a long day for me
and it's been a tough one. I walked off the training ground,
which I don't want to go into.
"I went to speak to the manager and thought I'd got results.
I came in as normal and came here today. I knew I wasn't playing
and found out I wasn't even on the bench. I was the only one
who wasn't.
"It disappoints me that my integrity is being called into question.
I'm training as hard as I can. The fans know that because they
see me playing out of position and trying to do my best for
the club."
So who is lying? Who is telling the truth? Sky Sports News,
reporting of the events with grins on their smug faces as wide
as the Tyne seem to believe that Bellamy did indeed feign injury
and refused to play for Newcastle, according to a 'source close
to the club' of course as do most of today's press - local and
national.
Either way this is yet another kick in the teeth for us lot
who having endured Kieron Dire refusing to play on top of other
equally hurtful events this season, will now feel pretty low
this morning. I know I do and frankly I'm sick of the lot of
them.
What now for Bellamy? What now for Souness? If our gobby Welshman
did indeed feign injury/refuse to play for the club he is a
disgrace to the shirt and should be booted out along with the
other wasters as soon as possible without his arse touching
the ground because nobody is bigger than the club, nobody and
if our manager only does one thing at United, getting rid of
all the prima donnas at the club, he will have done a damn fine
job. |
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