Manchester City providing the perfect swan song

When I look at Craig Bellamy, I get a feeling of frustration, not because of his off field antics, not because of his history of falling out with managers, but because of the amount of injuries which have hampered a career that could have been so much more. Potential seen by many managers including the likes of Bobby Robson who was once quoted as saying that Bellamy was more technically gifted than Michael Owen. Many other managers have also admired the player and the striker’s reputation did not detract Rafa Benitez when he signed him  in 2006. What has really taken its toll on the striker is the number of injuries he has sustained throughout his career. Knee injuries particularly have been the bugbear of the Welshman’s time in football, injuries which Bellamy believes will cost him an extra few years in the game:

I know there are not four or five years ahead of me, not with the injuries I’ve had. Maybe I’ve got one or two years at the most. It will be all over before I know it, so I’m just enjoying it.

At the age of 30 now, Bellamy’s time at the top level is not far away to coming to an end, but he is making the most of the time he has got left on the field. He has already scored five goals this season and playing mostly on the left side (vacated by the injured Robinho) he has made the position his own, scoring two fantastic goals in a Manchester derby in the process.

Many were surprised when Bellamy was bought by Mark Hughes for what some would say was an inflated price of an estimated £14million to join the revolution at Eastlands, but under the guise of a manager he knows and trusts, Bellamy has excelled this season and has belied his injuries, with his pace, fitness and desire to succeed in the light blue of City.

Bellamy’s relationship with Hughes is one of the fundamental pillars of his success at the moment; no doubt the two have a special bond and special understanding. An understanding which has translated from their time together at both Wales and Blackburn. The gamble of paying £14m for an injury prone, “trouble maker” was a calculated one for Hughes as he knows what he is getting from the Welsh striker. Bellamy demands a certain level of commitment from himself, and expects the same standard from all his team-mates – a characteristic that Robinho was shocked to find about once during a half-time team talk. It was also then a calculated risk by Hughes in terms of team morale, Bellamy is a character to say the least in the dressing room, and with other big personalities such as Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure and star names such a Robinho, it is a bit of risk of Hughes to put them all in the same claustrophobic space before the start of a match.

Bellamy’s character has been the issue for many managers and players over the years, he had a famous bust-up with Graeme Souness and that infamous golf club incident with John Arne Riise, but with Hughes, things seem to be different. After all the clubs Bellamy has hopped around from, Norwich, Coventry, Newcastle, Blackburn, Liverpool and West Ham, the Welshman may have finally settled down. The Hughes/Bellamy partnership works so well as they know what they are getting from each other. Hughes knows Bellamy will give him effort, pace and finishing ability on the pitch while Bellamy knows Hughes will support him well off the field:

Everything at Manchester City has gone well for me from start to finish. It’s so professional here. The manager is clever – he doesn’t want to give any of the players reason to moan. He makes sure the only thing you have to concentrate on is football.

It’s a no excuses culture to succeed that Bellamy likes the most, and so he has no excuses if he goes off the rails again. The next two years should be the best of his career, that is if he stays fit, circumstances at the club don’t change, and Hughes keeps his job.