Long gone are the days when Newcastle United had a PFA Young Player of the Year in their team, but in 2003 the Magpies has back to back winners in their squad in Craig Bellamy and Jermaine Jenas. Now the former Tottenham Hotspur man has shed some light on the influence of Bellamy in the dressing room and reckons that Steve McClaren could do with a player of the Welshman’s nature now.
Craig Bellamy was a figure who was simultaneously loved and hated at Newcastle. He wound players up on both the opposition and his own team and I’m sure a few managers have torn their hair out over the years due to his behaviour. However, on the pitch he always gave 100% and helped to bring up the level of the players around him.
One of those players was Jenas. Now retired and spending his time doing media work and even appearing on political show Question Time, Jenas has been speaking fondly about the influence Bellamy had on him as a player. The former Newcastle midfielder spoke about his ex-teammate before the game against Stoke and said…
“I can’t tell you the influence that man had on our team at Newcastle United. He’s was loved by some and hated by a lot of them as well. But in terms of him wanting to get the best out of you individually and the best for his team, I’ve never come across a player like it. It was so invaluable really and it was a skill within itself what he had.”
No guesses for one of those players that hated Bellamy being Alan Shearer, but while they may not have got on off the pitch, on it they had a great partnership and there’s no doubting that the Welshman helped Big Al continue to fire in the goals at the back end of his career.
Right now McClaren needs someone like Bellamy, someone to fire up the team, tell a few home truths and get the squad fighting for survival. As it is, you’d be best advised to use your Betfair sports promo code on teams playing against the Magpies. Is there anyone who can do that? Daryl Janmaat maybe, but you can be sure that Newcastle fans would love to have a divisive character like Bellamy in their battle against the drop.
