Source: Daily_Mail
Harry Redknapp says Craig Bellamy's too good to go down to the Championship
Harry Redknapp has urged Craig Bellamy not to throw away his career by dropping into the Championship to play for Cardiff. [LNB]As the Welsh club were on Monday night locked in talks with their Malaysian owners trying to find the money to sign Bellamy on loan, Tottenham manager Redknapp urged him to think twice before joining his hometown side.[LNB]Sources in Cardiff claim the player 'will arrive in the next 48 hours'. [LNB] For the high jump: Craig Bellamy is certain to leave Manchester City are falling out with manager Roberto Mancini[LNB]Bellamy is expected to return to training with Manchester City on Tuesday, but is not welcome at the club having fallen out with manager Roberto Mancini, who has made it clear he does not figure in his plans. The player's actions could be a tactic to force his move away.[LNB]Redknapp, preparing for Tottenham's Champions League qualifier in Switzerland, said: 'Craig is a Premier League player in my opinion. No disrespect to Cardiff, he should be playing top Premier League football.[LNB]'Good luck to Cardiff but it would be a waste of an outstanding player. He should stay in the Premier League, for sure.'[LNB]Welsh wizard: Bellamy has always had a deep sense of pride for his nationality [LNB]Spurs and Liverpool have been told by Manchester City that they will not sell Bellamy, 31, to a club they consider to be a top-four Barclays Premier League rival. That could also rule out Everton, leaving Fulham and Celtic hoping that he will have a change of heart and snub Cardiff.[LNB]Redknapp does not want to buy Bellamy, but would take him to White Hart Lane on loan. However, he accepts the explosive forward is better than that. [LNB]'Someone will have to end up buying him, unless City loan him to someone like Fulham, I can't see them loaning him to someone like us. It would be a ridiculous loan. [LNB]'He was in the top two-three players last season yet everyone is trying to loan him? They paid £12million, why should they loan him?'[LNB]While Bellamy's career has been dogged by controversy, Redknapp believes the Wales star is still an asset in the top flight. [LNB]'Craig was outstanding last year,' added the Spurs boss. 'I tried to sign him when he left West Ham. I was in for him then, and Manchester City beat us to him.[LNB]'He's a battler. He has a go. Every week you know what you are going to get out of him. You go away from home, you know he is going to be out there running, working, closing people down, putting himself about. You never get an easy game against him.'[LNB]Redknapp could be given transfer funds if Spurs get through the Champions League qualifying round, but still said: 'I've got four strikers so what do I do with five? [LNB]'Sometimes you can cause yourself more problems than you need. When you have too many around, one or two start getting the hump.' [LNB]So what will the Welsh side get for their money?'I see myself as a different sort of Welsh. Because we (my family) are from Cardiff, we see Wales as Cardiff. This is Cardiff; outside is Wales. It's a strange one. You are really Welsh, but you're not, if you know what I mean.[LNB]'John Hartson, he speaks fluent Welsh and has tattoos all over him to prove his Welshness. But in my own world, nobody is more Welsh than myself. We are proud people and I am proud to follow Ian Rush, John Toshack, Mark Hughes and John Charles.[LNB] 'What I say on the pitch is off the cuff, it isn't premeditated, just a reaction. I have tried to counter it. You name it. I've tried it, it just hasn't worked. I've tried to be more mellow but I don't get motivated then.[LNB]'My image is not the greatest, I imagine. You need to know me and understand me, see some of the things I do away from football. Maybe you have to be a fan of me to like me. If you are not, then you won't.[LNB]'I need to win something, that's my drive. At the end of the day, it's about winning a trophy. It's OK being a footballer, but...I feel I have the sort of hunger Roy Keane has. [LNB]'Obviously, I am not anywhere near him, incredible player - if I was a quarter of him I'd settle, one of the greats - I just don't want the game to pass me by, you know?[LNB]'It was 1987 (when I went to my first Cardiff game). Cardiff beat Newport 4-1. I remember Paul Wimbleton scored. I enjoyed that. My first ever game. [LNB]'And after that, nothing but misery watching Cardiff - with my Dad. But there was the odd Wales game too - Gary Speed's debut against Costa Rica. I saw that. Dean Saunders scored. I missed the goal, I was trying to climb up where the railway tracks are.' [LNB]Extracts taken from an interview with Craig Bellamy by Sportsmail's Michael Walker that was published in The Guardian in 2004.[LNB] My Spurs will be fantastic on plastic...Redknapp can land £30m bounty if he finds winning formula on artificial pitch Tottenham in Europe: Sportsmail takes a trip down memory lane Say you'll stay, Shay: Manchester City offer axed Given new deal Sign up to our FREE Fantasy Football game - with £40,000 in prize money up for grabs[LNB]
