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Craig Bellamy was booted out of Man City training ‘just for asking a question’
Craig Bellamy’s Manchester City career started to unravel when he simply asked a question, according to his former team-mate.
Bellamy left City in 2010 after being exiled from the first-team squad by manager Roberto Mancini.
But it was weeks before when the pair first clashed – and it all started when the Welsh frontman asked a question during a training drill.
Mancini would suspend Bellamy as a show of authority and the striker would not play for the club again, despite being widely renowned as one of their top talents at the time.
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Speaking at the launch of Clubhouse 5, a new state-of-the-art sports bar located just off London’s Leicester Square, ex-City defender Wayne Bridge recalled playing under Mancini. He said: “I just don’t get how when you’re in training and you’re coming up against mannequins, we’re going to do this, this and this.
“I remember one time Bellamy asked him a question and Bellamy was our best player at the time – and he sent him home. And that was Bellamy done!
“He basically said something like ‘what happens if the centre-back goes this way?’ Something like that. And he just told him to shut up and do what he is told.
“He just asked about what would happen if something happened and he wouldn’t answer it. He thought Bellamy was disrespecting him, but he wasn’t.
“He was one of the best trainers, he was great with the kids and I think he got a bit misunderstood sometimes.
“He would work his arse off for you and I think Mancini saw it as disrespect but it wasn’t at all. Bellamy loves the game and would put his heart and soul into it.”
Bellamy was a divisive figure in his own right. Many former Premier League referees have said that he would be the worst player to officiate. But Bridge believes he is misunderstood.
“Bellamy lives in the moment, he says what he’s got to say,” Bridge said. “Maybe some refs can’t handle the truth!
“I like Bellamy, he gives you everything. I’ve seen fans give him s*** and he would say something back.
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“Don’t get me wrong, he can give people a hard time but if you are doing your job right, he probably isn’t going to give you a hard time.
“He was great with the kids at City. He would take 10 minutes with the right-back at the end of a training session and tell him ‘if I’m doing this, you need to do this’.
“He was really, really good. He gets more stick than he deserves.”
Bridge arrived at City in the middle of a transformative era. They had just come under Arab ownership and ambitions were high.
He came into the team just a few months after Robinho rocked up at the club on Transfer Deadline Day, with City fans unsure of what the future would truly hold.
“I can only compare it to Chelsea, they got taken over and I ended up going there,” Bridge said. “Sometimes things don’t happen overnight, it is always going to take time. We were still waiting for people to really gel.
“It was a bit different for me because at Chelsea, whoever played in front of me like Joe Cole, David Dunn, Arjen Robben, if I was overlapping, they had that work ethic that they would cover me no matter what and you know when to overlap.
“But when I went and played with Robinho, if I went and overlapped then I had to go and get my arse back, because he was not going to go backwards.
“Brazilian players go out like they are playing on the playground. They go out, they are good at it and they like to have a good time. Brazilians like to go and have fun no matter where they are. Sometimes I wish I was Brazilian!
“It’s the beautiful side of football. They can work hard; if you watch the Brazil team, they chase the ball and they don’t all just go for a good time.
“Robinho was one of them players, a bit like Matt Le Tissier when I was at Southampton, he might only go forwards but he would do something magical and put it in the back of the net.”
The 2009/10 City squad was full of mavericks – the likes of Stephen Ireland, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nigel De Jong – but there was perhaps nobody more loved than Carlos Tevez.
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“What can you not love about him? He didn’t speak much English but he was always smiling,” Bridge said. “I loved a night out with him. You would go out some nights with my mates and you’d see him and you’d love to see him. He’s a great lad.
“He didn’t speak English but he had this thing where you just liked him.
“In training he always did alright but matchdays he was just let off a leash. He would work his arse off. You want to take him to the trenches with you.
“I get asked sometimes to do like a top five, or all-time XI and I sometimes forget him, and I’m like ‘how have I forgotten him?’ He was one of the best going, so so good.”
Clubhouse 5 is London’s newest and hottest premium sports bar, located just off Leicester Square (5 Lisle St, London WC2H 7BF). Book your space at Clubhouse 5 on the We Love Sport app or head to Clubhouse5.co.uk or @clubhouse5bars on Instagram.
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