Peter Crouch Recalls Fiery Clash Between Craig Bellamy & Jamie Carragher
By Tom Gott
Former Wales international Craig Bellamy had a reputation for being a bit of a hot-tempered player, and Peter Crouch has revealed how Jamie Carragher was once left speechless after being on the receiving end of Bellamy's frustration.
Bellamy played alongside Carragher during two separate spells at Anfield, first during the 2006/07 season and later in the 2011/12 campaign, but it was actually before the Welshman moved to Liverpool that Carragher first learned of the Welshman's temper.
Crouch noted in the Daily Mail that it was during Bellamy's time with Newcastle that the pair first clashed, and it all stemmed from a passage of play which didn't even involve Bellamy whatsoever.
When asked about the most verbal players he had ever seen, Crouch said: "Robbie Savage and Craig Bellamy were relentless. Jamie Carragher tells a story about Bellers.
"Carra played a ball up to Robbie Fowler and then had a go at him for not running into space. Bellers, playing for Newcastle at the time, turned to Carra and said: 'Who the f**k do you think you are you talking to? That's Robbie Fowler!'
"Even when it had nothing to do with him, Bellers could not help getting involved. Carra was gobsmacked. In my final few years, those types of players had all but disappeared."
It was probably a little awkward when Bellamy rocked up to Anfield in 2006, but it wasn't just Carragher who was on the receiving end of the Welshman's wrath.
Bellamy infamously clashed with left-back John Arne Riise after a few drinks at a restaurant, and the Welshman was eventually accused of going after his teammate with a golf club. As you do.
"I woke in the dark to hear someone opening the door," Riise wrote in his autobiography (via The Guardian). Obviously I thought it was [Daniel] Agger. I turned, but my eyes were half-asleep, and I didn’t see anything in the sudden, bright glare. But something made me realise that it wasn’t Agger. And soon I could see him – Craig Bellamy at the foot of my bed with a golf club in his hands.
"Steve Finnan, who shared a room with Bellamy, was there too, but he just stood there. Bellamy raised the club over his head and swung as hard as he could. He tried to hit my shins, which would have ended my career, but I managed to pull my leg away in time."
Charming.