WillieStanley
New Member
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/craig-bellamy-i-come-price-4188146
I played some good football in the last quarter of the season and we got three wins in four games, beating Derby, Leicester and Sunderland either side of a defeat to Manchester United.
Harts scored in all four of those games and I got one, too. We gave ourselves a glimmer of hope. Everyone started to believe that after struggling for so long down at the bottom we could get out of it.
But when we went to Aston Villa to play the penultimate game of the season, we knew that if we lost, we would be relegated.
Bradford City were already down and Manchester City were scrapping with us in the relegation zone but we knew that if we beat Villa, we could still catch Derby and make a great escape.
Two goals from Hadji put us 2-0 up but we couldn’t hold on to our lead and Villa came back to win 3-2. We deserved to go down but it was still a desperate moment.
I felt all eyes were on me. A few members of the Coventry staff went round shaking people’s hands to say hard luck and I noticed that three or four of them missed me out on purpose.
I was a 20-year-old kid. I felt that was a bit harsh. They were trying to make the point I had let them down. They didn’t have to do that. I knew it myself. I didn’t need telling.
I didn’t say anything because I felt the guilt. I had come with the price tag. I felt I hadn’t lived up to expectations. I was the big money signing and I hadn’t delivered what they needed. I might have been the club’s joint top scorer in the league but I only got six goals.
It wasn’t enough. Hadji had a poor season and he got as many as me. Harts only arrived in February and he got as many as me, too.
I worked so hard that season and I felt that if we could just stay up, I would have shown Coventry fans what I could really do. But relegation ruined everything. I went back to Cardiff that summer and turned my phone off. I didn’t want to see anyone. I didn’t want to speak to anyone.
I was geared up for going back to the Championship and I was hoping I could make amends. I told myself that I was to blame for them going down and that the only way I could make myself feel any better would be if I was responsible for getting them back up. I was an improved player and I wanted to pay my debt to Gordon Strachan.
Then my dad rang. My agent had called him. He wanted me to phone him urgently. When I rang, he said Coventry had accepted a bid from Newcastle. They needed to slash their wage bill because of relegation and Newcastle had come back in for me. They wanted me to go straight up to Tyneside to have a medical. I couldn’t believe it.
I had been given a lifeline. This was my big chance. The next day, I flew up from Cardiff to Newcastle. Straight away, I felt there was an aura about the place. Not just St James’ Park but the city, too. I love the stadium, sitting there above the city, dominating it. I was going to be playing there every other weekend now. I was going to be part of this great institution. It all felt right.
After the accusations of bullying yesterday and this today - Just be accountable for your own shortcomings, mate.
I hope he tries to justify the comments he made about us (fans/club/city). That just wasn't on!!
I played some good football in the last quarter of the season and we got three wins in four games, beating Derby, Leicester and Sunderland either side of a defeat to Manchester United.
Harts scored in all four of those games and I got one, too. We gave ourselves a glimmer of hope. Everyone started to believe that after struggling for so long down at the bottom we could get out of it.
But when we went to Aston Villa to play the penultimate game of the season, we knew that if we lost, we would be relegated.
Bradford City were already down and Manchester City were scrapping with us in the relegation zone but we knew that if we beat Villa, we could still catch Derby and make a great escape.
Two goals from Hadji put us 2-0 up but we couldn’t hold on to our lead and Villa came back to win 3-2. We deserved to go down but it was still a desperate moment.
I felt all eyes were on me. A few members of the Coventry staff went round shaking people’s hands to say hard luck and I noticed that three or four of them missed me out on purpose.
I was a 20-year-old kid. I felt that was a bit harsh. They were trying to make the point I had let them down. They didn’t have to do that. I knew it myself. I didn’t need telling.
I didn’t say anything because I felt the guilt. I had come with the price tag. I felt I hadn’t lived up to expectations. I was the big money signing and I hadn’t delivered what they needed. I might have been the club’s joint top scorer in the league but I only got six goals.
It wasn’t enough. Hadji had a poor season and he got as many as me. Harts only arrived in February and he got as many as me, too.
I worked so hard that season and I felt that if we could just stay up, I would have shown Coventry fans what I could really do. But relegation ruined everything. I went back to Cardiff that summer and turned my phone off. I didn’t want to see anyone. I didn’t want to speak to anyone.
I was geared up for going back to the Championship and I was hoping I could make amends. I told myself that I was to blame for them going down and that the only way I could make myself feel any better would be if I was responsible for getting them back up. I was an improved player and I wanted to pay my debt to Gordon Strachan.
Then my dad rang. My agent had called him. He wanted me to phone him urgently. When I rang, he said Coventry had accepted a bid from Newcastle. They needed to slash their wage bill because of relegation and Newcastle had come back in for me. They wanted me to go straight up to Tyneside to have a medical. I couldn’t believe it.
I had been given a lifeline. This was my big chance. The next day, I flew up from Cardiff to Newcastle. Straight away, I felt there was an aura about the place. Not just St James’ Park but the city, too. I love the stadium, sitting there above the city, dominating it. I was going to be playing there every other weekend now. I was going to be part of this great institution. It all felt right.
After the accusations of bullying yesterday and this today - Just be accountable for your own shortcomings, mate.
I hope he tries to justify the comments he made about us (fans/club/city). That just wasn't on!!
