He was part of that fantastic strike partnership alongside Alan Shearer, but Craig Bellamy almost didn’t sign for Newcastle United, with Bobby Robson having other priorities.
Back in the early 2000s, the Newcastle United squad was full of talented players. The Magpies never quite reached the highs they would have hoped, with no silverware coming their way, but it was an exciting time nonetheless.
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Alan Shearer was the main man, of course, but he thrived once Craig Bellamy joined him on Tyneside. The pair were formidable together, complementing each other perfectly.
For some, like Jermaine Jenas, Bellamy was even more impressive than Shearer. Whatever way you look at it, he was a top signing for the Magpies, and now we know how his arrival came about.
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Sir Bobby Robson was a class act
On the latest episode of Beyond the Back Four, former Newcastle scout Paul Montgomery discussed the moment he learned the club were going to sign Bellamy from Coventry, despite him not being the first choice for Bobby Robson.
Montgomery said: “One day, we wanted a striker. We spoke about three strikers and I put two names forward, but Robson signed a different one.
“He actually rang me to say, ‘Son, I’m going to sign this one but your man, we will bring him in next’. That was Bellamy. He said, ‘We’ll bring him in but I’m not going to right now. I’m just explaining to you now why that is.’
“You know that was like brilliant for him to actually speak to me about it. He had no right or reason to give me an explanation why he was deciding to sign X rather than Y or Z. But he did.”
To be fair, Robson had doubts about Alan Shearer when he first took over at the club, too. He didn’t get them all right. But, in the end, this particular decision played out perfectly for the Newcastle United manager.
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Craig Bellamy’s Newcastle United career
After joining from Coventry City in the summer of 2001, Craig Bellamy had an instant impact at Newcastle. He was even named the PFA Young Player of the Year in 2001/02.
The Welsh striker was a bit of a journeyman, but he spent longer at Newcastle than anywhere else during his career. Bellamy registered 43 goals in 128 games and also laid on 23 assists, most of them being for Shearer.
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Obviously, his prowess in front of goal came hand in hand with another element of Bellamy’s game: his attitude. Mark Clattenburg even said Bellamy was difficult to deal with and that he liked to mouth off, but it was that passion that made him a special player.
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