Craig Bellamy: a hated man redeemed?

Football supporters love to hate certain players, and it's usually deserved to some extent. But it's a little rarer for these public enemies to improve their social stock almost regardless of what they do.

Craig Bellamy was, once upon a time, a remarkably easy man to dislike. His constant mouthing off on the pitch did little to endear himself to supporters, while several ugly incidents went a long way to making him one of those players who get booed week in, week out at countries the length and breadth of the nation.

But while I always considered Bellamy to be an abrasive little shit, there's often been a nagging feeling that he didn't really do anything I wouldn't have considered an achievement had I done it myself.

After all, I'd tell Coventry City I was leaving if they got relegated. I'd call Alan Shearer worse names than Bellamy could ever conjure up. I'd also happily have a quiet word with John Arne Riise with a golf club handy. The man picks his "victims" well - he's like a violent little Robin Hood of morality.

I'm joking of course, but the point is that none of these incidents necessarily make Bellamy a bad bloke. It's easy to see that he might just be a stupid one, or rather he used to just be a stupid one.

I think Craig Bellamy is a vastly different player and man from the one who went around burning bridge after bridge throughout the early part of his career. He seems so much more mature (when did he last do something which justified the abuse he gets?), and he does more good than bad. I'll come back to morals, here. Unlike most footballers, he wants to help people less fortunate than himself and stand up for his beliefs.

That has to be admired.

His work in the war-torn West African state of Sierra Leone is a well-known and oft-cited example of the Welsh international's good intentions and strong moral fibre. His latest episode would appear to be a stand against the sacking of Manchester City manager Mark Hughes.

I have no time for Hughes, but I have total respect for the fact that Bellamy gets on well with him - after all, Hughes got the best out of Bellamy for City, Blackburn Rovers and the Welsh national team - and is displeased with his shoddy treatment by Garry effing Cook and Manchester effing City.

And amongst all that, he speaks like an erudite and intelligent man and has been in the form of his life. At West Ham United, he impressed me hugely. No surprise, then, that he's made a success of his time at City and escaped an undeserved potential exit from the club when the Abu Dhabi bottomless pit bored itself through the soul of a proud old football club.

His pace and strength are his best assets, and he also has wonderful vision and a vicious shot of which I, as an opposing supporter, am frankly terrified. His ability has never really been in question. But these days his application is undeniably good and he's reaping the rewards.

So is Craig Bellamy...(gulp)...one of football's good guys? I'd love him at my club, that's for sure.

(Pic via Jalcorn)