Should the Bluebirds Attempt to Bring Bellamy Back?

When Craig Bellamy joined Cardiff on a season-long loan from Manchester City last August, the transfer sent shockwaves throughout British football. A Premier League star of the Welshman’s standing dropping down a division while still at the peak of his powers was unprecedented.

Expectations soared upon Bellamy’s arrival at his hometown club. With players such as Jay Bothroyd, Michael Chopra, Peter Whittingham, Jason Koumas and Seyi Olofinjana at his disposal, manager Dave Jones already had what seemed an embarrassment of riches by Championship standards. The sensational capture of Bellamy appeared to put the icing on the cake.

Bookmakers immediately installed the Bluebirds as promotion favourites and their confidence looked to be justified when Bellamy made a scoring debut in a handsome 4-0 home victory over Doncaster. He turned in another impressive display during a 2-0 triumph at Portsmouth a week later, but that was the last City fans saw of him for more than a month.

The 32 year-old aggravated a long-standing knee injury while playing for Wales in Montenegro and missed the next five league games as a result. On his return to action he netted just two goals in ten games between October and the Christmas holidays, and his form was mediocre as he worked to regain full fitness. However, after scoring in a Boxing Day victory over Coventry, Bellamy hit a purple patch. He struck five goals in seven games, culminating in a spectacular late winner against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium in early-February.

Although he went another two months and ten games without a goal, the former Liverpool striker’s form continued to improve and his influence on the side steadily increased. By the time the regular season had ended in early-May, Bellamy was easily Cardiff’s most important player. Sadly, however, he limped off with hamstring strain after just 17 minutes of the play-off semi-final first leg at Reading and subsequently missed the crucial second leg. When the team needed its captain most, the injury problems which have so often blighted his career sidelined him once again.

Bellamy’s contribution to City’s promotion challenge was considerable. He netted eleven goals and over the course of the season was undoubtedly one of the side’s most effective performers. There were times when he looked every inch a Premier League star, particularly after he reached peak fitness during the second half of the campaign. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that defender Kevin McNaughton was voted as the club’s Player of the Year, while Bellamy failed to get selected by his fellow professionals for the PFA’s Championship Team of the Year. He had a decent season, but by his own standards it certainly wasn’t an outstanding one and I believe he’d be honest enough to admit that.

Ever since he returned to Manchester following the dismal play-offs flop, supporters have been clamouring for the Bluebirds to re-sign Bellamy. The fans’ enthusiasm for the player is fully understandable, but I’m not convinced that bringing him back to Cardiff would be a good move. Having examined his career statistics, I strongly suspect the club was more than a little fortunate to get so many games out of him in 2010/11 and I very much doubt he will be able to play as frequently during the forthcoming campaign.

Excluding internationals, Bellamy started 35 matches last season. That was the highest number of starts he’d made in six years and his fifth-highest number of starts since making his Football League debut for Norwich back in 1997. Given his well-documented knee problems and the fact that he’s admitted he found the physical demands of the Championship difficult to cope with, there must be a major question mark over Bellamy’s ability to play another full season at this level. At this stage of his career I reckon he would almost certainly be better suited to the Premier League, where fewer games are played and squad rotation is more commonplace.

When Bellamy arrived in Cardiff last August, fitness guru Raymond Verheijen arrived with him. The player told the press he was paying for the Dutchman’s services out of his own pocket. I have no idea how that arrangement worked, but what I do know is Verheijen wasn’t afraid to publish thinly-veiled criticisms of the club’s training methods on his Twitter page. Indeed, he has recently made disparaging remarks about City’s pre-season build-up under the new regime despite the fact that his client hasn’t been involved in it. Did Verheijen’s presence cause any disruption behind the scenes last season, I wonder? Was his involvement with Bellamy a distraction for the coaching staff and the rest of the players? Perhaps not, although I don’t imagine a set-up where one high-profile individual gets treated differently to everyone else is a healthy situation within a team environment.

The fitness programme devised by Verheijen dictates that Bellamy should play just one game a week. If he returns to Cardiff and his training schedule is strictly adhered to, he will miss a minimum of twelve Championship matches during 2011/12. Can a club in City’s financial position afford to gamble a significant percentage of its budget on a player whose career has been dogged by injury and who is guaranteed to miss more than a quarter of the campaign before it has even started? Of course, it can be argued that the cost of Bellamy’s salary is counterbalanced to a large degree by increased ticket and merchandise sales, and I think that was definitely the case last year. However, I don’t believe he would bring in anywhere near as much additional revenue during a second spell with the Bluebirds.

Assuming that Manchester City are willing to sanction another season-long loan deal, the press have suggested it would cost Cardiff at least £30,000 a week to re-sign Bellamy. Therefore, his wages would equate to more than £1.2 million over the course of the campaign. In my opinion, that money would be better spent on a couple of younger players who could provide the club with more long-term value. If Bellamy does return I certainly won’t be disappointed, but on balance I reckon it will be better for all concerned if he stays in the Premier League.