Bellamy under new fire
Newcastle boss Graeme Souness has reopened his dispute with Craig Bellamy after claiming the Welshman was “not good enough” for the Magpies. Bellamy left Newcastle to join Celtic on loan after a major row with Souness. Souness – who refused to refer to the 25-year-old by name – said Bellamy did not score enough goals “The chap that’s just gone has scored 9.3 goals a season in his time in senior football – half of those weren’t even in the top flight,” said Souness. “That’s not good enough for a striker at a club like this. “We need to have two strikers who are near 20 goals on a regular basis.”
Bellamy turned down a move to Birmingham in favour of joining Celtic after a disagreement about the Welsh international playing out of position quickly escalated. Earlier in the week, Souness had said that he risked losing the confidence of the players and damaging his own reputation if he had not taken a hard line after Bellamy accused him of lying.
“There are certain things you can forgive and forget,” said Souness. “But if I’d been seen to be weak in this case there was no future for me with the players in the dressing room or any job I have after Newcastle.” He could then return to St James’ Park – and he says that he wants to. However, it would seem unlikely he will play for Newcastle again as long as Souness remains in charge.