EX-NEWCASTLE ace Craig Bellamy once stopped the team from training so he could blast an academy star for doing too many stepovers.
The revelation was made by former Toon defender David Edgar.
The Canadian revealed how he and fellow academy product Matty Pattison had been called up to join the first team for training.
However, things did not go to plan with Pattison irking Bellamy to the point where he physically stopped the team from playing until they left.
Speaking to the Under The Cosh podcast, Edgar explained how he tried to behave during the session
He said: “Speak when spoken to and don’t give the ball away when Craig Bellamy’s around.
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“I liked him. I just thought he had very very high standards and he could be ruthless, don’t get me wrong, but just again, high standards and he loved football, just loved football.
“I was quite a simple player – you get it and move when you play with the first team. Matty was 15 stepovers and a couple of Cruyffs – one too many for Bellers’ liking.”
And Pattison’s continuous skills eventually incited the rage of the Welshman.
Edgar explained: “One time, he kept giving it away and he (Bellamy) just flicked the ball up, picked the ball up and he went, ‘No. Nobody’s training until you send that ginger f*** back’.
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“He held on to the ball and I remember Shearer going, ‘Come on, Bellers,’ and I’m going, ‘F***ing hell, I’m doing all right here,’ but he was going, send them back.
“We got sent back. Sent us back to the academy because Matty was giving the ball away.
“‘He’ll never make it’, he (Bellamy) said.”
Despite Bellamy’s claim, Pattison would go on to make his debut a few months later, though Edgar actually made his Premier League debut before his team-mate.
However, a tragic series of events followed for the South African midfielder.
Edgar added: “Matty made his debut a couple months later. Look at Patter, man.
“Like I say, he made his debut, does his knee, his old man passes away, all in the space of a couple months.
Comes back [and] does his knee again, so you build that resilience to things like that [Bellamy’s insults]… that’s not going to bother you.
“Plus he was… he was ginger.”
Pattison made appearances for the Magpies before leaving for Norwich in 2007.
Meanwhile, Edgar played 23 times before departing for Burnley in 2009.
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In Bellamy’s case, he enjoyed his most prolific period at Newcastle, scoring 43 goals in 128 games.
He would later go on to play for West Ham, Cardiff, Manchester City and Liverpool, where he landed the League Cup, before retiring at Cardiff in 2014.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
