Hughes - Bellamy no bad boy

City boss backs his enigmatic frontman

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 15th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hughes - Bellamy no bad boy

Bellamy: In the form of his life

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Manchester City boss Mark Hughes feels Craig Bellamy has shaken off the 'bad boy' image which marred his early career.

The Welsh striker has often courted controversy down the years, with spells at Newcastle and Liverpool seeing him never far from the headlines.

Bellamy has, however, taken a more mature approach to his football over recent years, firstly at West Ham and now at City.

At 30-years-old he is arguably enjoying his most productive spell, while his versatility has proven invaluable to Hughes at times this term.

The City boss admits as much, happy to pile praise on a man who has all too often been publicly lambasted.

Ability

"The perception of Craig for too long has been too negative," Hughes said in the News of the World.

"He'll admit himself that at times he's let himself down.

"What has never been in question was his ability, and because of the focus on City he now has a platform to allow people to understand what a good player he is.

"I've worked with him before at Wales and Blackburn and he was outstanding for me.

"But because of the lack of focus on his efforts there, his performances were not flagged up as they should have been."