Just browsing through Teamtalk and had a look on Coventry's bit to see what they thought about Bellamy

Wouldn't you know it, these are two comments from them:

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you surprised at all with how well Bellamy is doing for us at Newcastle? His work rate is top class and he has easily been our most dangerous player this season. Once he practices his shooting and learns to keep his mouth shut he will be nearer the complete article. Is it a case of him performing in a better side (no disrespect) or has he just increased his ability 1000% since last season?

Name: Justin Town/City: Newcastle At: Oct 28, 2001, 11:21 PM

Slightly surprised although his finishing still looks woeful at times. I wouldn't say better side I would say a more confident side. When he was at City all the pressure was on him to score and he couldn't handle it, but at Newcastle he doesn't have that as Shearer, Robert and co weigh in with their fair share. GG --------------------------------------------------------------------

Newcastle fans think Bellamy is doing better now he is with them- Sky blues are not the least surprised that OUR team are doing better since the man left us - complete with his apparent lack of abilty to keep his mouth shut. We have a good squad here at Coventry and I reckon Roly is just the man to do the job in hand.

Name: Alan Town/City: Coventry At: Oct 29, 2001, 12:01 PM

I think Coventry did well to get their money back on Bellamy. I hardly see him as a world class talent. GG ---------------------------------------------------------------------

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001

Answers

So this bloke thinks that Newcastle aren't any better than Coventry, just more "confident"?

Aye, of course we are, any team that is confident can easily beat Man Utd.

I think that Justin bloke is right about being in a good team - Bellamy really works off Shearer's link up play - especially against Villa. Coventry simply don't have Shearer, nowt to do with confidence. Oh well, 10 goals for us in 19 matches, 8 goals for them in 37, I think the rest of the team MIGHT have something to do with it.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001

So they think they got their money back do they!!!

Nationwide Fools!!!!!!

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Craig Bellamy is younger than Peter Beardsley was when he first played for us in the second division.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Bellamy reminds a little of the incomparable Tony Green - the original, not our TGJnr!

He's certainly not as good as Tony yet, but I can't possibly pay him higher praise than that.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Gan Canny Clarkie! Ah you sayin ahm fat, liyk?

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

still wondering about whether or not he was worth the price??? He's easily going to be top scorer for us this year....

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

I still like the "not a better side, just more confident"

Any Coventry fan who thinks they are equally technically talented as us is really kidding themselves.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Sparxx, Bellamy needs police protection or he'll be having my babies :-)

The fact that we made him what he is though is incontrovertible. He came to us with zero confidence and has been managed in a way that has seen him improve beyond all expectation (except Jacko who knew him from his Norwich days and had no doubts). The facts at the point of transfer, however, were:

1) He didn't have the confidence to hit a barn door.
2) He was loathed by the Coventry fans to the point that he couldn't have been picked.
3) He had been prevented from playing for Wales and consequently said the sort of things to the powers at CCFC which he regularly says to referees.
4) He could only have been priced at 6mil (going rate for unproven British player with potential) if his awful record at CCFC had been down to playing out of position or whilst injured: neither case was true.

This was like selling a wrecked VW Beetle to someone who does them up at the cost he would sell it on for after rebuilding the thing. Coventry have basically charged us for putting him right again. Now, if it turns out to be true that we really only paid half with the rest dependent on him coming good, then there is no problem at all, but that wasn't the story at the time and hence the justified anger at seemingly being made to pay for their mistake.

Obviously he's already worth 8mil now and that figure will just keep rising. We now have 3 players on the books who average a goal every other game. This can't hurt, can it?

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Looking at some of Bellamy's missed one-on-one's yesterday, and some of his previous efforts, he doesn't seem to be very good at bending the ball, even just slightly, around the keeper, as the top finishers would. Perhaps it's just me, but has anyone else noticed this? If he could just improve this part of his game and if he continues to get the chances he's getting now, we would be scoring hatfuls.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Actually, I think the lad's doing just fine. He had perhaps 5 chances yesterday and put two away - not too shabby. His 'achilles heel' is the 1-on-1 with the keeper, and I feel the fact he is invariably running absolutely flat out in these situations contributes to this problem. Most teams would be getting their fair share of penalties from these situations, but the defenders just can't bloody catch him!

He must be encouraged to continue getting into these situations, while doing lots of work on the training ground to improve his technique. I suspect he may need to just take the foot off the gas when he gets into these situations to improve his control, and enable him to look up and assess the keeper's position - it's very, very difficult to do this running flat out AND keeping the ball under tight control.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Nothing to do with his finishing/technique.

Confidence.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

His finishing will improve over time, I'm sure of it.

Training ground practice (one on ones with the reserve 'keepers as someone said on here (can't remember who :) )) will help massively.

Since Wales are out of the qualifying stages now, he can do specific training during the international breaks. Schmeichel isn't exactly the easiest goalie in the world to beat though.

One thing I have noticed is he has a fantastic first touch, better than even England's finest Michael Owen. If he can work on his shooting we'll be in with a real chance of beating the vast majority of teams.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Clarky/Pete , read your posts with interests, I wrote two weeks ago that the coaching staff must concentrate on this aspect of his game as its obvious he is going to find himself in `one to one`s` on a pretty regular basis. He was played out wide I believe for Norwich and then Coventry so the first thing to do is admire him for actually getting into these positions so early in the season, it proves he can read the line correctly , and correct me if I am wrong (Softie) but he does not appear to be caught offside much. I agree he does not bend the ball and as Clarky has pointed out travelling at speed makes it difficult to open out your body and put it too the keepers right. Eventually keepers will wise up to this, knowing there is only one way to go for a right footed player. He is learning at a great pace ,well done,but I would like to see him add the following to his play, (1) He never dips a shoulder when confronted in these situations , against keepers like Smeichel you need plenty of strings to your bow. (2)Improve his ability to take in the field of play(vision) when on his gallops, and finally never be afraid to go round the keeper , take a penalty from Al for the team. Not worried about his mouthing off,no big deal, shows he has attitude , he has the pundits talking, other players talking and most importantly us the fans talking , that`s what it was all about, this kid is not going to to be the 3 match instant hero we put up on a pedestal, he is working his socks off for the team.

Pit Bull, disagree with you and Sewpah Ally, best goal , Marenellis first for the smoggies

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Pretty much word for word what I was saying on Saturday. We're not used to seeing so many 1-on-1's cos it's so long since we've had a forward with the pace to generate them. Admittedly, Schmeichel is probably the hardest possible test of a striker's one-on-one technique, but nevertheless... young Craig needs to watch a couple of those Michael Owen Soccer Skills vids...

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

I was having the Owen - Bellamy conversation with a mate yesterday, both he and I agreed Bellamy is a better all round player than Owen , although Owen / Fowler are probably two of the best one on one finishers in the world. If CB just concentrates on his finishing he Im sure will collect all scoring records at St. James. I was one of the people who thought "Jesus Dont buy him hes sh1t" and now I think he's one of the best players ive seen in a B& W shirt . Ken

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Anyone who watched yesterdays game at Liverpool, will have seen what the difference is between Michael Owen and craig Bellamy. The way Owen scored his first goal when running through on goal and then putting it past a world class goalkeeper (ok..forget the world class bit!) was sensational, he makes it look so easy. If Bellamy could do that we would have one of the world's best strikers on our hands.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Buff
Was the Marinelli goal the one that McCoist put first ?

If it was, I'd be prepared to concede, on the basis that the heart had the final say, but I don't think it was that much better (if it was), that there was no argument about it. It just seemed to me that however he managed it, Shearer got everything absolutely spot on, and I'd even go so far as to say it was a more difficult goal to score.

As for Bellamy, I would never have expected that Schmeichel of all people would be the keeper who'd be nutmegged by a player who supposedly is moving so quickly that he has no option but to put the ball straight at the keeper.

As with the Shearer goal, it seemed to me that Bellamy was still able to sum up his options and chose the nutmeg one. But if that wasn't the case, more power to his elbow anyway, if he can stay that lucky.

Gawd help opposing defenses if he ever does master the art of bending the ball.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Just watched the highlights package with an interview with Bellamy. Well he said about 50 words anyway, he said they had discussed that the Grate Dame spreads himself and his best option was to go through him.

He said he aimed and was just lucky that the ball went where he aimed and he scored.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

BBC Sport gives Goal of the week to Shearer!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/hi/english/football/eng_prem/ newsid_1639000/1639125.stm

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

The Bellamy - Owen deabate is complex. I agree about Bellamy being a better all round player, he gets involved with the general play more often - more like an attacking midfielder, Beardsley style player. Owen is a striker and nothing more, give him the ball in the box and he'll put it on target for you.

If Bellamy can add top quality finishing to his game - which WILL come if he practices enough in training - then he really does have the potential to break all NUFC scoring records, unless he picks up a serious injury and loses a yard of pace, in which case he will lose the biggest aspect of his game.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Well, I know which one I'd prefer in my team! I hope I'm wrong.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Remember when Thierry Henry came over from Juve, having had a mare playing on the wing there? He couldn't hit the proverbial with a proverbial for the first few months, then went on an amazing scoring run. He still misses a few, too. Have faith: the boy Bellamy is going to be a great.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001