Everyone knows how close Bellamy was to Mark Hughes, and how upset he was at the previous manager's depature. But that does not mean that Bellamy's relegation to the bench today is the result of a deepening rift. While this is ultimately unknowable, I am not sure that Hughes himself would have started Bellamy today. We know that Bellamy cannot play games with only 48 hours rest between, and so realistically he could only have started one of the Stoke and Wolves games. And if Bellamy was only to start one game this week then Wolves is the obvious choice, not only because of his strengths (hitting teams on the break), but because Robinho is much better suited to a game like today's, which involved breaking down a team who were likely to get men behind the ball."Bellamy is my friend," Mancini said. "There is no problem. I spoke with him two days ago.
"We have two games in three days and I need all the players at 100%...
Mancini added: "He understood when I told him he wasn't starting. Today we played Robinho. It is possible we will play Craig at Wolves on Monday."
I'm sure we'll see Bellamy on Monday night.
1 comment:
Great reception for Bellamy today, and he was well up for it. I'm all for it - a Bellamy at the top of his form has been a superb weapon in our armoury. Long may it continue. Sooner we get Robby firing again the better too. There were encouraging signs there too today. Moves coming off, great positioning, running for lost causes, and a good flick on for Petrov's goal. He skied three - a sign of nerves and trying too hard. Another day they'll all go in. Things definitely looking up.
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