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Posts Tagged ‘craig-bellamy’

• Striker has seen yellow in Liverpool’s past four matches
• Dalglish sympathises with Blackburn’s league plight

Kenny Dalglish has questioned whether there is an agenda against Craig Bellamy, who is under threat of suspension after a spate of harsh bookings.

Bellamy has collected a yellow card for debatable reasons in Liverpool’s past four matches and is on the brink of a one-match suspension. His latest booking came within minutes of appearing as a substitute against Wigan Athletic last Wednesday, as was the case against Queens Park Rangers, and the Liverpool manager believes the striker is being judged on his reputation and not his actions.

“One of the bookings was at Fulham when [Clint] Dempsey stuck his head straight in Craig’s face,” Dalglish said. “The wee man got booked for that. Against Wigan when we asked the referee why he was booked, he said: ‘Craig knows,’ – but he didn’t know. There was another against QPR when Joey Barton approached him and Craig got booked. I don’t know why he has been booked but I haven’t seen anything in any of them being reasonable bookings.

“At Wigan, [Antolín] Alcaraz gave five free-kicks away and there was no yellow card. If he is going to get five chances, does that mean everyone else is? Gary Caldwell got booked for near enough his first foul but never got booked for the handball. We just need a bit of clarity. It’s all well and good having rules but the rules should be the same for everyone, not split up for different people.”

Dalglish insists he has no intention of advising Bellamy to change his feisty approach. “He is experienced enough to know [how to behave] but he has been booked four times and he hasn’t deserved any of them. You would hate to believe there is an agenda against him from anyone. You would like to think if you had been unlucky four times, you would not be unlucky for a fifth. Mind you, you might have said that after the first two.

“If Craig needs to play, he will play. We have just got to take that chance. He is experienced enough to get himself through it. Four on the spin is pretty consistent, though.”

Liverpool entertain Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day with Dalglish full of sympathy for the plight of the club he led to the Premier League title in 1995. “I think it is a disappointing time and you have sympathy for everybody in that position,” he said.

“Certainly the pressure that everybody at the club is under, it is a results-driven business and if you are at the wrong end of the table then you expect a bit of criticism and if it is that bad your P45. Blackburn was a fantastic club when I was there but I think as a club it has changed. Obviously the ownership has changed for a start. There were fantastic people there but I don’t think there are many of them left either.

“It is sad to see somewhere where you enjoyed working in the position that they are at the moment but we won’t give them any sympathy on Monday. We will try to be as professional and ruthless as we can. It is just fortunate that it’s not us who are getting the stick.”

LiverpoolKenny DalglishRefereesAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Bellamy returns to action after death of Gary Speed
• Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0 in Carling Cup quarter-final

The Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has praised Craig Bellamy after the Wales forward inspired their 2-0 Carling Cup quarter-final victory over Chelsea.

Bellamy returned to action little more than 48 hours after being withdrawn from the squad for Sunday’s match with Manchester City after learning of the death of the Wales manager Gary Speed.

The 32-year-old stood with his head bowed during the minute’s applause held at Stamford Bridge in remembrance of Speed, and in the second half produced a memorable performance, setting up goals for Maxi Rodríguez and Martin Kelly as Chelsea were swept aside.

“Craig is a fantastic footballer who had a hugely disappointing day on Sunday. He regarded Gary Speed as a mentor,” said Dalglish. “It was great for the wee man, making the first goal. For the second he took the free-kick. He told Martin to leave it, it was going in!

“I don’t know if we took Chelsea apart but we were delighted with the way we played. We’ve had a good day and we deserved to go through.”

Dalglish again criticised competition organisers for the scheduling of matches that forced Liverpool to play two games in three days.

“The way we’re progressing is more significant than reaching the semi-final of a cup that’s been cheapened by the actions of the people who run it,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean to say we wouldn’t love to win it. We’ve got our reward and we’ll look forward to the next game.

“Three teams in the quarter-finals have problems with fixtures. Do us a favour. I’m not clever but I think I could have avoided that. The solution is to get someone a brain.”

The Brazilian midfielder Lucas was taken off with a knee problem, but Dalglish refused to speculate on the severity of the injury.

“Lucas has damaged his knee, we don’t know what the problem is. We’ll get it looked at and take it from there. Rather than speculate we’ll wait until we get a medical update. We’ll let everyone know in due course.”

Kenny DalglishCraig BellamyLiverpoolguardian.co.uk

The Liverpool manager is more than happy to have Craig Bellamy, re-signed from Manchester City in the summer, available to face his former club

Not that many people get to sign for Liverpool twice, especially when the first time became infamous for an attack on a team-mate with a golf club, but Craig Bellamy has always held Anfield and its traditions in the highest regard and when Kenny Dalglish returned as manager it quickly became apparent the feeling was mutual.

That at 32 Bellamy was the oldest of Dalglish’s signings this summer simply