Bellamy speaks to 5 live

Craig Bellamy did a revealing and personal interview on BBC Radio 5 live, and had some interesting things to say about his time at City.

Chronologically:

- Spurs agreed a fee with West Ham before we did, and when we matched the offer Gianluca Nani orchestrated an auction between us and Spurs, in the knowledge that we would pay above the odds for him.

- When he arrived at City he had a special fitness coach, Raymond Verheijen, who kept him fit. This was very important to Bellamy, who said that at City he 'just felt free': free from fear of injuries, and free to play football for the first time in years. 'Everthing about me felt immense'.

- Nothing was said about Mark Hughes' sacking, which was a shame. But he said that when Roberto Mancini came in his got promises from Garry Cook, Brian Marwood and even Khaldoon that he could stick to his personal fitness plan.

- But then Mancini brought in his double-sessions, which were so much of a strain on Bellamy's knees that they would limit his ability to perform on weekends. This led to the famous argument when Mancini told him to 'go home for the rest of the season'. He did not sound too bitter about this, saying that Mancini 'was always going to do it his own way.'

- Then this summer. He sounded put out (understandably) at being cut from the squad and asked to train with the reserves. He said City proposed he go to Wolfsburg as part of an Edin Dzeko deal but he only had two preferences: Champions League or Cardiff City. Garry Cook told him that someone above him (Bellamy suggested Sheikh Mansour himself) blocked his move to Spurs, and Bellamy implied United were in for him but the prospect of a move was never realistic.

Bellamy leaves for Cardiff

And so one of the most dramatic careers of a recent Manchester City player has blown out like a fuse. Craig Bellamy may only be on loan to Cardiff City but the circumstances under which he plays for MCFC in 2011/12 are remote to say the least. At the very least, it would require the replacement of Roberto Mancini as boss by someone more amenable to Bellamy. And it would also require Bellamy's conduct not to have wholly alienated Garry Cook, Brian Marwood, Khaldoon al-Mubarak and even Sheikh Mansour. He's finished.

It could only have ended this way, really. Bellamy's career has been defined by moments of acrimony and discord, and so it makes sense for him to be thrown out of the club by a storm largely of his own making. His limited use in pre-season hinted at problems, and when Mancini said he wasn't in the squad for the FC Timişoara games it was clear he was out. His critical interview, Mancini excluding him from the EPL squad and then banning him from training were just the final steps in the dance.

It is a shame to see him go, but it has been inevitable for a while. In fact, the forces that drew him to City made his departure in these new circumstances likely. Because if there is one fact that you must learn about Bellamy, one fact that explains his eighteen month epic at MCFC, it is this: he has a relationship with and loyalty to Mark Hughes, Mark Bowen et al which is unlikely almost every other such relationship in English football. (This, and not the drop in division, is why his move to Cardiff City is so surprising.) I was not worried about his conduct when he signed for City, not because I thought he was misunderstood, but because I recognised the claim that he had caused problems at every team he'd ever played for was untrue. Rather, he had caused problems at every team - other than those managed by Marks Hughes and Bowen. As such, I was fairly confident he would realise the extent of his talent at City, proving a crucial addition on and off the pitch.

And he was. It is easy to forget just how bad a mess we were in that Christmas of 2008. On 20 December we were on 18 points after 17 games, and it was a surprise that Hughes was even allowed to stay to spend ADUG money in January. Bellamy joined along with Wayne Bridge, Nigel de Jong and Shay Given as Hughes added experience and muscle to a team that was weak, sloppy and divided. He had an instant impact. He scored on his debut, the second goal in our 2-1 home win over Newcastle United. He then scored the only goal in our next home game, a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough. Those wins might look trivial now but they were crucial in dragging us towards mid-table. In February he scored a goal in the 1-1 at Anfield (bizarrely credited against Álvaro Arbeloa) before scoring both goals as we beat F.C. København in the UEFA Cup last 32 second left at Eastlands. He won Player of the Month, before injury curtailed his season. Only four credited goals - two in the league - but important in dragging the team to where it ought to have been. A big part of this was his off the pitch role. As someone so wholly loyal to the management, he was not just Hughes' eyes and ears in the dressing room but his mouth as well - infamously castigating Elano and Robinho after their pathetic no-show at Fratton Park.

But no-one expected him to play much of a role the following season. We signed Carlos Tévez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz that summer. But Bellamy started the season at another old haunt - Ewood Park - and didn't let go. On the left of Hughes' counter-attacking 4-2-4 (the tactical switch that started the decline of Stephen Ireland) he kept Robinho out of the side and was crucial to the team: harrying opposition full-backs, breaking at pace, cutting in from the flank to score with his right. That was how he scored his first of the season, putting us 2-1 ahead in that famous 4-2 defeat of Arsenal. The next week was his best performance in blue, in the infamous 4-3 defeat to United. He scored two thrilling equalisers, the first arrowed into the far top corner, the second in the 90th minute, tearing past Rio Ferdinand and fooling Ben Foster. It was the greatest individual performance from a City player in an Old Trafford derby I can remember. It won him Player of the Month for September. He scored the equaliser cutting in from the left at Villa Park in October and then again in that 3-3 with Burnley. In that confident autumn he was our best player and our talisman: the man who, despite not being as talented as his teammates, was dragging them all up to their potential levels. If we were going to make the Champions League last year, it would have been thanks to the leadership of Bellamy and Carlos Tévez.

But all this excellence, this leadership and this bravery was predicated on his personal loyalty to Mark Hughes. And when Hughes was sacked in December everything collapsed. There were rumours of a protest and of a transfer request. He continued to play, but there was always a sense that he wasn't the same player any more. There were a few decent performances but that fire that made him such a compelling player had gone out. He reminded us of his potential with two counter-attacking goals at Stamford Bridge. But even his celebrations looked wistful. There were two more goals that season but just as prominent were dark rumours of discord with Mancini. Arguing over training, whispers of sedition in the tunnel against Everton, and then the infamous high five with Harry Redknapp. It was a bad way for his City career to end, particularly ten minutes after he bottled a tackle with Younes Kaboul, allowing Peter Crouch to score.

Ultimately, everything that made him so good under Mark Hughes made him problematic under Mancini: his intense loyalty to Hughes and Bowen, his fiery personal disagreements, his brazen straight-talking. And that was the problem. He was, always, a Mark Hughes man, a 2009 man. A new decade, a new manager and he just didn't fit in the same way any more. His departure was inevitable and probably necessary. But I am so grateful for what he did, for where he found us and where he left us, and for this he will always be important to us.

Craig Bellamy. MCFC 2009-10. 41 starts, 15 goal.

Bellamy on the brink

Craig Bellamy's Manchester City career is over, after news that Roberto Mancini has barred him from Carrington after a series of clashes following the news he will not be in our 25 man squad. Daniel Taylor reports:

Bellamy has been told he will not be welcome at City's practice ground when the players resume training tomorrow and ordered to stay away until a deal has been arranged to find him a new club.

It follows several clashes with Mancini and other senior employees over the past few days. Bellamy has been outraged by the way City have marginalised him and has made his feelings clear to the manager and other players. He was told to train with the reserves on Friday but his attitude was perceived to be so "disruptive" the club have told him he is no longer welcome.

Clearly we will see a deal for him in the next week or so. He is finished as a Manchester City player.

Hughes joins Fulham

Former City boss Mark Hughes was appointed Fulham manager last night.

It's pleasing news. I was very disappointed for Mark Hughes when he was sacked. Roberto Mancini has done better than I thought he would, and so my reaction looks fairly hysterical in retrospect. But I still think, seven months on, that Hughes was unfairly dismissed and that the club acted quite improperly towards him.

Looking back on it, his reign was only ever promising rather than successful. He will not go down as one of the great Manchester City managers, or even one of the better ones of modern times. But he brought us through some turbulence and gave us glimpses of the meaningful moments that define a successful club. And so I'm sympathetic to him, and pleased to see him back in management.

I think he'll do very well in Fulham. It is - and I don't mean this condescendingly - back in his comfort zone, or at least closer to it than ADUG-era Manchester City was. A traditional club, operating on a budget, with few pretensions of style but the ability to play discomfiting hosts in their Archibald Leitch stadium. He will, along with loyal lieutenants Eddie Niedzwicki, Mark Bowen and Kevin Hitchcock, have a smooth transition. They should be able to better last season's twelfth place finish.

They might do even better than that if they sign Craig Bellamy. That is the rumour in today's papers. I can just about see this one happening. I'm sure he's on his way out of City, but I do think we might be unenthusiastic about selling to rivals as direct as Spurs. A move to Fulham wouldn't have the Champions League football available at White Hart Lane, but you can never underestimate the personal bond between Bellamy and Hughes. It's the reason Bellamy was so good for us in 2009, and so problematic in 2010. Re-united with Hughes and Bowen he would be a serious asset for Fulham.

Stephen Ireland is also possible. His place in our 25 man squad is not certain. And while he will attract attention from most of the Premier League, I don't think becoming a squad player at a top six club would be good for him. He is clearly a player who needs the team built round him (in 4-2-3-1 or similar), and who needs the constant emotional support of a manager. I had thought Steve Bruce's Sunderland was the best such platform for him but Mark Hughes' Fulham - with the manager who brought the best from him - would be just as good if not better. He'd have to leave Alderley Edge though.

And then there's Roque Santa Cruz, who had his best game in blue at the Cottage last March. Technically he's in a different league from Bobby Zamora but he's so unreliable I can't see Mohammad al Fayed shelling out on him.

I'm very sympathetic to Fulham and always have been, and so having Hughes and some former MCFC players there will only make me even more so. I wish them the best of luck.

The clearout

Where there is creation there must also be destruction. City are still inhaling the thrilling vapours of the transfer window but soon we must exhale, and expel all the used and unnecessary players from the lungs of the club.

And stories are emerging this week of the club's plans. There seems to have been a concerted briefing of journalists, and the headline name on his way out is Craig Bellamy. Daniel Taylor reports in The Guardian today that Bellamy is allowed to leave if we find a buyer:

That leaves Bellamy facing a decision about whether to stay and fight for his place, having effectively won a similar battle with Robinho, or leave a club where he is not expected to feature prominently. If the latter is the case, he might also have to consider taking a pay cut to help engineer a move. Bellamy, who turned 31 this week, earns £95,000 a week and when the Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp, was asked about his admiration for the Wales international he suggested it would be out of his club's price range. "City bought him for £12m and the player must be on considerably high wages," he said. "I just don't see it happening."

While this is big news in the sense that Bellamy was one of our best players last season, it's no real surprise. Yes, he was the icon and talisman of Mark Hughes' Manchester City, but it is for precisely that reason he should go. Everything that made him so good under his compatriot: his personal loyalty to Hughes and Bowen, his questioning his team-mates' work ethic, his rage and fire against those around him - makes him destructive under Roberto Mancini. After their repeated clashes last season a departure is likely if Spurs, Everton or Villa can find the money.

Some of the other names likely to go are obvious. Taylor mentions Roque Santa Cruz, Robinho and Stephen Ireland. James Ducker tweeted two days ago that Jô, Nedum Onuoha, Felipe Caicedo and Javi Garrido were also allowed to leave.

One area of disagreement is Micah Richards. He was included on Ducker's list but today both the Guardian and The Sun said that the club were keen on keeping him. This is a surprise, given the arrival of Jérôme Boateng. (There is literally nothing that Richards can do on a football pitch that Boateng cannot.) Mancini clearly likes Zabaleta so I can't see Richards playing too much football this year. But then he has only just turned 22 and so we still might hope for some more development out of him yet.

Ireland and Onuoha are both 24, though, and at the age where we can't hang on to them for much longer. The decline of Ireland over the past year has been very sad but a move is right for him. Onuoha has never quite looked established in the side and this move could well have come at any time last summer or the summer before.

It's sad to see players to whom I am attached depart, and the Academy players certainly are part of that. (I don't desperately care where Jô or Santa Cruz play their football to be frank.) But then I'd rather see Ireland and Onuoha have successful careers elsewhere than play for our reserves and further stagnate. It's all part of the natural processes of a club.

Spurs linked with Bellamy, Richards

More transfer rumours in today's Times: interest from Tottenham Hotspur in both Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards:

Bellamy has three years left on his £80,000-a-week contract at City but Redknapp hopes to capitalise on what could be a summer of upheaval at their Champions League rivals and is closely monitoring Richards as a potential solution to his problems at right back.

Like Bellamy, the England Under-21 defender, who can also play at centre back, has three years left on his contract and City would not let him leave cheaply, but Redknapp is thought to be hopeful an agreement could be reached.

The Bellamy story has been heard before. I think it's plausible. It's known that Harry Redknapp is a fan of his, and that Bellamy is no fan of Roberto Mancini. Throw in the fact that Spurs might offer Champions League football next season and it all adds up. (It ought to be said, though, that if Spurs do offer Champions League football next season then Mancini is unlikely to be in charge at City and so one of Bellamy's push factors is absent.)

The Micah Richards one is new. Spurs bid £5million for him a few summers ago (2006?), but I don't think he has been linked with them since. A move away for him is not impossible, given that he has still not secured a regular place in the side and we are likely to spend big on a new right back this summer. While Pablo Zabaleta is a reliable utility man who is likely to stay and play by virtue of his proficiency in at least three positions, Micah Richards is not trusted half as much by Mancini, and nor was he by Mark Hughes.

So both of these are fairly plausible. We're all so focussed on the race for fourth place that no-one has quite realised that this might just be yet another summer of drama, controversy and exorbitant transfer spending. Managerial changes, £60million bids and brutal overhauls are all possible if not likely. Whatever happens in our next three games, one can safely predict that when the final whistle goes at the Boleyn Ground on May 9, the forces of chaos, destruction and creation, all armed with sacks of gold are going to be unleashed again upon the natural order of things, by Manchester City for another summer.

Mail: Bellamy might leave

Worrying story in the Daily Mail today - a report from Ian Ladyman that Craig Bellamy could well leave City in the summer if Roberto Mancini stays:

City were never able to prove that Bellamy made the comments and let the matter rest. But it is understood that Mancini and the Welsh striker have spoken briefly about the issue and have subsequently declared what has been described as an 'uneasy truce'.

Bellamy has continued to feature regularly in City's first team and few could ever question his dedication and commitment to his club's cause. But it is no coincidence that the quality of Bellamy's football has dropped in recent weeks and some people at City now believe that the striker's relationship with Mancini cannot realistically be expected to survive beyond the summer.

If City were to qualify for the Champions League next season, Bellamy would clearly face a huge decision about his future. As it stands now, however, he would seriously consider any offers he considers attractive, and would even consider a move abroad.

That Bellamy has tense relationship with Mancini is an open secret. We shouldn't be surprised. When we signed him I was relaxed on the grounds that he has only caused problems at teams not managed by Mark Hughes. But as soon as Hughes was replaced with Mancini last December then problems were on the horizon. There was the argument over training, the argument in the tunnel and the argument over wages. Like all City fans I love Bellamy and find him compelling when he's on song but there is mounting evidence of discord behind the scenes.

If we don't make the Champions League, but Harry Redknapp's Spurs or even Mark Hughes' Celtic do and make Bellamy an offer then I would not be too surprised to see him leave.

Javi reaches fifty starts

Our greatest ever Basque player has now started fifty games for City and is pleased:

“I always try to do my best and like everyone else at the club, I’d love to play every week, but the fact is we have some great players here and any number who can play at left-back,” he said.

“I train hard and when the manager needs me, I’m always ready. It was really nice to make my 50^th start in a game where we played so well as a team.

“We are in a great position and there is a fantastic spirit within the squad. We have a tough run-in, but we have plenty of confidence and are in great shape to end the season on a real high.”

I would do a 'Garrido's five greatest MCFC moments' but I wouldn't get any further than the free-kick against Liverpool and the free-kick against Wolves. He does have nice things to say about our forwards, too:

“We have so much quality up front that I really enjoy playing behind our front four,” said the Spaniard.

“As a defender, the best thing for me is that they don’t only attack – they defend, too, which is very important for us as a team. Ade and Tevez defend from the front and never give the opposition a moment’s peace and that sets the tone for us...

“Bellamy is more direct in his style while Johnson likes to cut inside more, but they are both very skilful, quick and have a lot of quality on the ball... Shaun Wright-Phillips is another very skilful, hard-working player I enjoy working with."

Players back Mancini

Well, two of them have - former Hughes loyalists Nigel de Jong and Vincent Kompany have defended Mancini after Wednesday's evening's unpleasantness:

"Everyone at this club is passionate and wants to bring success so there will be times when emotion takes over," said Kompany.

"The boss showed how much he cares and I don't see a problem with what he did.

"We were losing and he wanted to get the ball back in play - that was all there was to it. I think too much has been made of it already."

Nigel de Jong, as usual, agreed with his former HSV teammate:

"It was a very emotional game, you could see that at the end with the gaffer," he said.

"Everybody knows I am not the easiest player in these kind of games.

"You have to set a tone - you are 1-0 behind and if the referee continues making disappointing decisions you know it is going to be an emotional game."

It seems that not all Hughes loyalists were singing from exactly the same hymn-sheet though.

'Outside-in'

There's a good article by Jacob Steinberg on WSC.co.uk about the growth of the 'inside-out' winger, exemplified by Mancini's deployment of Adam Johnson from the right hand side:

Wingers operating on the opposite side of the pitch to their favoured foot may not be a new phenomenon, but it is one that managers in England are increasingly embracing. Last Sunday, Adam Johnson provided a stunning vignette of what the inside-out winger offers. With Manchester City trailing Sunderland by a goal in the last minute, a corner was cleared to the right side of the penalty area where Johnson was waiting. Attacking on the outside would have been futile as he would have led himself on to his right foot. Instead he rolled inside before curling the ball into the top corner with his left.

The thinking behind the tactic is not complicated. By attacking on the inside, a winger is able to target a full-back’s weaker foot, leaving them in a position in which they are less likely to risk a tackle, for fear of committing a clumsy foul. On his first start for City, Johnson won a penalty after a teasing run induced enough panic in Bolton’s Paul Robinson that he eventually tripped the winger.

It's certainly been a notable feature of our play this season. Shaun Wright-Phillips is the only one of our wide players who has consistently featured on his natural side. Craig Bellamy and Robinho have both played from the right, understandably given that they are converted centre and inside forwards respectively, both more comfortable and more damaging with a shot than a cross. This has been the case under both managers this season.

But there has been a development under Mancini: the use of conventional wingers Martin Petrov and Adam Johnson from their weaker sides. Petrov is a very traditional outside left; before the rise of Luis Antonio Valencia he was arguably the division's best old-fashioned winger. And so to play him inside-out (although I think 'outside-in' is a better term) doesn't always work so well. Johnson is different, though, as Steinberg points out. As Robben and Messi show, the key to effective outside-in play is audacity - the willingness to drive inside the full-back, to take the shot on, to worry the defence and push them back. And while I'm not claiming AJ is anywhere near those two, he does noticeably have a touch of magic about him, in a way that, say, Stewart Downing or even Ashley Young does not. Which is why he might just be an effective left footed right-winger himself.

NdJ praises Tévez

Our second best player this season has taken time out to praise our very best:

"Sometimes you need that spark to give you something extra, and it was good to have Carlos back against Chelsea to give us that," said de Jong...

"If you see the results from the last couple of games, it is a fact that Carlos is the spark we need in the squad. With his attitude and attacking skills he gives us an edge in difficult games. We have a lot of quality players, but he gives us an extra boost sometimes...

"Off the pitch he is one of the boys - he doesn't see himself as a superstar at all. He loves football, and has that South American temper in him which everyone loves," said De Jong, who was at Eastlands meeting schoolchildren in his role as the club's enterprise ambassador encouraging pupils to learn about business.

"I identify with that side of Carlos, because I am a fighter as well, so I love to see him play."

People often talk about the lack of experience of finishing fourth or above in the squads of City, Spurs and Aston Villa - and they're right. (Of course, we have Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Adebayor and Patrick Vieira but I'm not sure any of them would get into my first choice City side.)

But something that makes me more confident is the characters of our key players. While 'passion' and 'commitment' are often asked to bear more explanatory weight than they ought to in analyses of football, there's no doubt that de Jong and Tévez, as well as our third most important outfield player, Craig Bellamy, are exactly the sort of characters we need in the position we're in. They're brave, determined, and completely single-minded about success. They're warriors and exactly the sort of characters we need if we're actually going to finish fourth. And I look at the most important players at Spurs and Villa - with all due respect to some really excellent players - I don't necessarily think they've all got that attitude de Jong, Bellamy and Tévez possess.

Bellamy's Wales future in doubt

News that makes surprising column inches today given it's inevitability - Craig Bellamy is due to cut down on his international commitments:

When asked whether Bellamy was still a big part of his plans, Toshack said: "Well, I don't know yet. Not if he's injured he won't be. He's played five of the last 12 competitive games and missed the last three friendlies. That's 10 out of 15 that he's missed. We wouldn't want to be in a position where we have to rely too heavily on him. So the more games that other players get, the better we will be."

I'm sure Bellamy has said before that if we got into Europe he would scale down his commitments to Wales and it looks like we've got a good shot at making the Europa League 2010/11. His knees make it difficult for him to play twice a week and he has said he doesn't forsee himself playing more than another two or three years of professional football. So a Ryan Giggs scenario, where he stops playing for Wales in order to prolong his club career looks very likely. Which is a shame for Wales fans but only good news for MCFC.

The Mancini/Bellamy spat

The main story around the club this morning is an alleged 'bust-up' between Roberto Mancini and Craig Bellamy over the latter's training schedule. It broke overnight in the form of a Neil Custis article in Friday's Sun, describing it as an 'astonishing bust-up.' It came down to the issue of the extent of Mancini's regulation of Bellamy's training, which differs from the rest of the squad due to his long standing knee injuries:

A stunned insider said: "The manager was yelling 'Why are you always questioning me? Why won't you do as you are told? Why are you always questioning everything at training and in games?'.

"Bellamy argued back that he only wanted what was best for the club.

"But Mancini snapped 'I want you to leave now. And do not come back for three months'."

Unsurprisingly this was brought up in today's press conference. Mancini said of it:

“These things (an argument) can happen in a job. I don’t have problems with Craig.

“I spoke with him in the office and read that I shouted at him. But I didn’t. We just spoke face-to-face.

“He is having treatment at the training ground and if the knee is okay, he will be available for Sunday.”

Which seems to put a lid on it. It should not be much of a shock that a disagreement would take place between Mancini and Bellamy over training. Bellamy was reportedly given real flexibility by Mark Hughes and Mark Bowen to train as best accorded with his fitness, but it is entirely understandable that a new manager would want to keep individual's training schedules under his own watch, if not his control.

And it is no surprise that any argument between the two should become heated, either. I love Craig Bellamy, and I think he has matured since coming to City, but it is still true to say that he is no stranger to frank exchanges of differing opinions. The good news is that the 'three month exile' claim seems to have nothing to it, and we could well see him running at Jamie Carragher on Sunday. Which could be fairly entertaining.

Tévez to miss Tuesday night

As I've said before, our attacking play in recent months has become very dependant on Carlos Tévez, and his ability to make things out of nowhere. When the rest of the team aren't performing, Tévez will often make things happen.

Which is fine. Lots of teams rely on one attacking player to make things happen. Take Wayne Rooney out of this year's Manchster United side and they would be a good side but not one with that much chance of winning the Premier League or the Champions League. It's not inherently a bad thing.

But we have now reached that point: Tévez has returned to Argentina, due to a family issue. We looked blunt without him yesterday, and this is only worsened by the absence of Craig Bellamy. On Tuesday night Adam Johnson will return (playing behind an Adebayor/Santa Cruz pairing?), but Bellamy will not. I'd love a point on Tuesday but I'm not too hopeful. It's Liverpool on Sunday, and the Cup game at Stoke, which matter most. And we really need Tévez, Bellamy and Johnson (for Liverpool) for those three.

I will give my all

MCFC's innovative marketing campaign continues this month with a new Craig Bellamy video advertising the Liverpool game (and the fact the Bellamy is awesome.)

It looks like a fashion or aftershave advert, which is really saying something given how few clubs produce this sort of online promotional video content.

Mancini praises Bellamy

Good news from Daniel Taylor's blogpost on the game last night:

Mancini was equally effusive about a player he joked was "not my friend" but who seems to have adapted seamlessly to the Italian's new tactics. "I think Craig is a strong character, a good player and a good man and, for me, it's good that he stays with us," Mancini said. "I'm happy to have difficult players. I played for 20 years and I know very well the way big players work. I don't have a problem with that. If the player has technical quality, is strong and a good character, these are the most important things."

It seems pretty clear that the rumoured Bellamy/Mancini rupture has not happened and will not happen. Which is great news for us.

Bellamy staying

Very good news from Craig Bellamy, in an interview in the Mirror today - he says that he wants to stay at City:

"I want to stay and I am going to stay," Bellamy said. "I am committed to that. I am committed to Man City. I have bought into the idea of where Man City is going to go and I am a huge part of where it is at this stage.

"I have no problem with Mancini. None at all. It's not his problem he's here. What happened to Mark Hughes has got nothing to do with him.

"He put it very well at his press conference when he said he won all those trophies at Inter and still got sacked. That is the game. It's what the game is.

"There is no resentment towards him from me. Every player at the club is exactly the same. If you want to be part of this club, you have got to start playing.

This is just a delight and a relief to read. Like all City fans I love Bellamy, and I was worried that his apparent anger at the dismissal of his mentor would lead him to leave City. The point is, though, that leaving City is something that many players will be quite loath to do now. I'm not saying this is the only reason, but Bellamy does have a well paid contract which lasts until the end of the 2012/13 season. He would probably struggle to get a similar deal elsewhere. When you add the fact that when we buy some decent defenders we'll get better, and that we've got a decent shot at Champions League football within the next few years you can see why staying at City has its attractions.

Bellamy does talk very candidly about the sacking of Hughes:

"I went to see him in his room after we had been told he was fired. I wasn't yelling about what I was going to do or anything. I just wanted to thank him.

"When I got there, I didn't know what to say. What do you say to a man who you highly respect and who has just lost his job?

"He said to me: 'You have been incredible this season. Just carry on. You are on the best stage you could ever have. Carry on playing the way you are. This is the perfect platform for you'.

And about his own injuries:

"Do I think I am going to be here in two or three years lifting trophies? No I don't. I don't think I will be able to sustain the level of play necessary. I think fitness will be a problem. My body has taken a toll.

"I'd love to be here long enough to win a title but I haven't thought too much about it. People thought I would be shipped out when the big signings came in in the summer but I thought of that as an opportunity on the big stage.

As ever with a Bellamy interview, it's honest and interesting. Do read it all.

Mancini: 'Bellamy is my friend'

Good news for all us Bellamy-lovers - Mancini has denied any reports of a rift with fans' favourite Craig Bellamy:

"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."

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.

I'm sure we'll see Bellamy on Monday night.

Burt: Bellamy transfer request

A worrying report coming out this lunchtime - Craig Bellamy, to whom Mark Hughes was close to a father figure - is so upset at his departure that he has issued a transfer request:

Bellamy is understood to have delivered his request although it’s not known whether its verbal or written, and informed City that he is so angry by what happened that he would prefer not to play for the club again. Mancini’s first game in charge is the Boxing Day fixture against Stoke City.

We should get confirmation of this one way or the other soon. I'd be gutted if he went, he's one of my favourites. And if Mancini starts Robinho ahead of him on Saturday I will not be very impressed.

Bowen praises arguing

Mark Bowen has spoken out about the famously candid team meeting after the Hull game - saying that it was responsible for the improved performances that brought wins against Arsenal and Chelsea:

"When we came into the club there seemed to be apathy around the place and in the standards among the group," Bowen told the Manchester Evening News. "If we lost a game it was almost as if players tended to accept it of each other. It was a horrible feeling to come into the dressing room and accept that.

"We were delighted to see the reaction after the Hull game. Things were said by management and staff as well. We are all very demanding of each other.

You don't need to be particularly well-informed to guess that Craig Bellamy was at the heart of this: his standards, his candour and his fearlesness in exactly these situations are some of the main reasons why he is so popular with Mark Hughes and Mark Bowen. It's often said that players like Bellamy are the 'eyes and ears' of the management in the dressing room, and while that is true, he plays the role of their mouth as well. Remember his famous argument with Elano and Robinho after the shameful performance at Fratton Park last season: well this sounds like a re-run.

And given its success, it's yet another confirmation that Craig Bellamy has been one of Mark Hughes' better buys as City boss. When we signed him some anti-MCFC voices in the media said that he would upset and disrupt the dressing room. But that was precisely the point.