Craig Bellamy has conceded he made a mistake by joining Liverpool in 2006 and should have listened to advice given to him by Manchester United hero, Mark Hughes.
The Reds sealed a deal to sign Bellamy, who grew up a boyhood supporter of the club, after triggering a release clause worth £6million
Bellamy spent only one season at Anfield, however, and was told by Rafa Benitez he was surplus to requirements
Preceding this decision had been the infamous golf club incident between Bellamy and John Arne Riise, something the former has expressed deep regret over.
Hughes had done his best to prevent Bellamy moving to Liverpool in the first place by advising him it would be a wrong step to make due to the Reds' style of play not suiting him.
Bellamy
“[I had a] Liverpool poster on my bedroom wall every single year. That poster you got from Toys R Us? Yeah, that was there.
"To get the privilege of being able to play for them [Liverpool] was like ‘I have to do this’, even though I was very happy at Blackburn at the time,
"I spoke to Mark Hughes who was not that happy for me – he said something that was very interesting; ‘I know who you are, I know how Liverpool play and I know this is not a good move for you’. He said I wouldn’t enjoy it. I really didn’t – very rigid.”
Of the view he only began to fulfil his potential towards the latter stages of his career, the retired winger believes this is due to an unprofessional approach he adhered to during his formative years.
Bellamy added
“I tried everything I could to mess it up [football] as a young kid – I was going to become a dad at 17, on £42 a week,"
"I had to do something – if you’ve ever felt pressure, that was pressure. Injuries then had their own pressures.
"I was a boy who could barely look after myself – still not great at it now. I had no choice in this anymore, all the excuses. I was willing to blame everyone.
“My story was already written – I was not playing much in the youth team, so I blamed the coach.
"I thought, I can go back to Cardiff and blame everyone else and be a good parks player and be loved by my friends or start taking responsibility and giving it everything I’ve got, and in order to do that, I had to distance myself from my friends.
"So, I became hated by everyone else, which was fine. I started to become more single-minded, more focused, ate well and slept well, drank lots of water and started to live like a professional – and my performances went up, and up, and up.”
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