Cats back four alive to Bellamy wind-ups

Nov 21 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

DANNY Collins has warned Sunderland’s defenders they will have to try and ignore Craig Bellamy’s wind-up tactics against West Ham.

Bellamy may have mellowed a little with old age when compared to his Brat Pack days at Newcastle, but Collins insists his Wales team-mate remains the Hammers dangerman when they visit the Stadium of Light this weekend.

As one of the most talkative players in the Premier League, Collins knows defending against Bellamy is a unique challenge as he warned his Black Cats colleagues not to get sucked into an argument with the feisty forward. “Craig is his own type of character and you have to be aware of that,” said Collins, who has been on the receiving end of plenty of Bellamy tongue lashings during their time together with Wales. “Craig is probably the loudest man in football. He’s always moaning and if you’re ready for it, it can be a bit off-putting.

“Out on the training ground, he works as hard as anyone, and that transfers into his performance and attitude on a match day as well. He’s fully focused on what he does and what he wants to achieve. I have time for him as a player.

“He moans and whinges constantly, and I think some defenders find that difficult to deal with. That won’t be the case with me because I’ll be expecting it, but it can be a bit unsettling if you’re not used to it. You just have to turn a deaf ear to him and let him get on with it. He moans more than any other player I know, but I guess that’s just his way of showing he wants to win. He’s a top player.”

Sunderland will hope that Bellamy, who can expect a rough ride from the home supporters because of his former Newcastle allegiance, will be kept quiet by his former Upton Park team-mate Anton Ferdinand who, like Collins, will know every trick in the Welshman’s book.

And, having ended a four-game losing run with a vital win at Blackburn Rovers last weekend, Collins feels it is time the Black Cats proved they are capable of a top-half finish this season.

He explained: “In the Premier League these days, any team is capable of beating anyone else. That’s why it’s so tight this year. If you take any of the teams at the bottom, if they have a good day and any of the teams at the top have a bit of an off day, they’ll get beat.

“The likes of West Ham and Portsmouth are the benchmark that we’re looking to get to. We want to be around 10th spot and if we can come out of the weekend on top, that’ll be back-to-back results for us. That will mean we’re certainly pushing in the right direction.”

If the Wearsiders are going to challenge the likes of West Ham this season, Collins also argued it is imperative they improve their home form having won just two league games at the Stadium of Light so far this campaign.

He added: “It’s not as though we’ve been playing poorly at home – I think we’ve been playing fairly well – it’s just the results haven’t necessarily been coming.

“The fans have been behind us because I think they’ve recognised that we’ve played some good stuff at times. It’s just about turning that good play into a couple of goals, because if we do that, a couple of good results will follow. If we can manage that at the weekend, I don’t see why we can’t do it for the rest of the season.”