Craig Bellamy - the signing of the season?

Everyone loves something for nothing.  In the high-priced world of professional football, the same is even more true.  When in August last year Kenny Dalglish asked Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini nicely for Craig Bellamy, the Liverpool icon became the proud “owner” of one very cheap, slightly-used Welsh forward.

That very cheap, slightly used Welsh forward – who spent last season on loan at his hometown club, Cardiff City – has since been one of the Reds’ best players and without question has provided the best value for money of all Liverpool’s 2011 acquisitions.  Considering the plentiful concerns about Bellamy’s physical condition –his knees are reportedly bad enough to prevent him from playing three matches in a row – the contract he signed on Merseyside is for a quite reasonable two years.

In fact, despite only a month ago crowning Sergio Aguero the Premiership’s best signing of 2011, it’s time to reconsider that honour in Bellamy’s favour.  With the difference in transfer fees paid and the disparity in the pair’s respective wages, the title is now the fiery Welshman’s to lose.

As an aside, Bellamy’s success at Liverpool, in concert with defender Nedum “You were such a nice man” Onuoha’s £2.5 million sale to QPR, makes one ponder the validity of City asking so much for sensation-magnet Carlos Tevez.  City have insisted on receiving close to market value for their pugnacious former front man (as well as for other superfluous players Adebayor and Santa Cruz) when they have essentially discarded quality EPL players like Bellamy, Onuoha and Shaun Wright-Phillips for a handful of coppers.

As Tevez has reportedly been fined over £9 million for his repeated indiscretions, his probable profit from any deal (with a signing bonus possibly a percentage of any transfer fee paid) is something City should be hoping to avoid.  This, and possible (though this sounds far-fetched) savings on his wages, mean any substantive monies they receive from his sale should be seen as gravy. 

Given past experience, he is likely to haunt them no matter what fee they may accept for his signature – so the Citizens may as well just move him on and save themselves some more Tevez-induced fiscal heartburn.

Socceroos balanced in defeating Wales

The Socceroos' upcoming World Cup campaign looks on firm ground. This morning's friendly against Wales showed the evident class of both sides' top players, but a workmanlike Australia were the superior team against a side whose Premier League pedigree belies it's FIFA ranking of 119.

courtesy: soccerwallpaper.mackafe.com

Up front, Tim Cahill and Scott McDonald (remember him?) pulled the strings for the Socceroos, while for extended periods the Aussies were able to nullify Wales' influential wide men Craig Bellamy and Gareth Bale.

McDonald, who still hasn't scored after 26 Socceroo caps, has never been faulted for effort in Australian gold and this was again the case today. He was busy up front and with Tim Cahill had a role to play in both goals. Given his 5'9 frame, leading the line in what amounted to a 4-4-1-1 hardly accentuated his gifts, but he regularly puts in Tevez-like endeavour, if without the pursuant goals.

More encouragement took the form of the central midfield matchup, where Neil Kilkenny of local Bristol City and Serie B's best bargain, Carl Valeri, more than matched the talent and experience of Aaron Ramsey and David Vaughn respectively.

It was hardly an exquisite spectacle - more an unkempt tussle in which the Australians collected themselves more quickly than their opposition. They pulled away when perpetually underrated right-back Luke Wilkshire first thundered a long-range shot against Wayne Hennessey's upright and minutes later delivered a pinpoint cross that Cahill powered into the bottom right corner.

He also curtailed Welsh WMD Bale, while the less experienced combination of Matt McKay and Michael Zullo were able to somewhat negate Bellamy's influence on the left. When Wilkshire was pulled at half time, the opposition flankers were far more able to shape the game.

As The Age's Michael Lynch has pointed out on Twitter, the blend of youth and experience should hearten the Green and Gold army.

The team is defensively sound, with Michael Zullo, Matthew Spiranovic and Rhys Williams all impressing. Williams' presence was impressive, while Spiranovic made a habit of being in the right place at the right time. McKay, though unlikely to have damaged his prospects of moving to Rangers, showed again some David Carney-esque tendencies at left back: good going forward, but was often beaten for pace and lateral movement by (very good 'uns) Craig Bellamy and Bale.

It was after Zullo, Wilkshire and Neill had all been withdrawn that a miscommunication at a set piece left Wales right-back Darcy Blake alone to score.

All appears positive for the Socceroos behind the ball. The midfield, though for the meantime shorn of the class of Bresciano and Kewell, is bustling, harrying and athletic. It is only going forward that the Socceroos don't have a good mix of experience and exuberance. When Robbie Kruse put home the rebound from a McDonald's shot, it served to contrast his fortunes with those of McDonald: when the Middlesbrough man scores his first Socceroo goal, it must be written that the earth will open and swallow him whole.

There is hope in Kruse's ability to find the net and McDonald's endeavour can begin to capitalise on delivery which has improved markedly since Osieck took over from Pim Verbeek. The team is still disconcertingly reliant on attacking midfielders Cahill and Holman to score. But this, after the Germany matches and a valiant Asian Cup, is encouragement enough for now.

You've seen Team GB, now try Team Celt.

In the midst of an international break in which England plays Wales and following the revelation that Team Great Britain will compete at the London 2012 Olympics it got me thinking: who would win a contest between England and the rest of the British Isles? This led me to begin playing with the idea of an all-Celtic Eleven.

The Celts were the original inhabitants of Great Britain and much of Western Europe. Now, Celtic languages, for example Gaelic or Welsh, are spoken predominantly in Brittany, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and Ireland. The Celts (or Britons, as they became known in England) were relocated into the farther reaches of the islands upon invasions from first Rome and subsequently Danes and Vikings. The areas these invasions remained unable to conquer, very broadly speaking, are those which remain fiercely proud of their Celt heritage and from whom we can choose our team.

This means our combined squad comes from Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland and would need to have today's players prepared to such a state to contest a one-off match against the best the English - and their fancy new non-inflected Indo-European language - could muster.

We can break down the players available either by position or by nation. Perhaps the easiest way would be to select the walk-up starts and fill in the gaps that may create in the squad. Like Barney Ronay when selecting his Team GB squad for the 2012 Olympics, in the interest of fairness we're going to include players from all four nations. We'll go with a 4-4-2 formation for familiarity.

First selected must indubitably be Gareth Bale, the Welsh left-winger who's recently won plaudits as the best player in the world. He may be the one World Class player that Team Celt could boast. To his right would probably sit Scotland's Charlie Adam and Darren Fletcher in central midfield. All three are proven Premiership performers and the centre-mids blend nicely Fletcher's harrying defensive style with Charlie Adam's sublime left peg. The other wing goes to Man United stalwart Ryan Giggs - no questions asked. The world's favourite Welshman would also captain the side.

One of the strikers must go to Kenny Miller, formerly of Rangers and who's just signed for Bursaspor. Statistically speaking, he was one of the best forwards in Europe last year - though few who saw him play in person would agree - and he is almost unquestionably the best forward the Celts could put forward. He has played very well both as the lone striker and in tandem for Craig Levein's Scotland. Here endeth the walk-ups - the remaining six positions, plus seven bench spots are all up for grabs.

The Centre-backs are more tricky. James Collins is one frontrunner, but has steady competition for the role from Aston Villa teammate, Irishman Richard Dunne. Sean St-Ledger has performed admirably in the green of Ireland and must be considered, as could Swansea City's Welshman Ashley Williams and Northern Irish duo Jonny Evans (of United) and Aaron Hughes (of Fulham). The only Scot with the quality in this position could be Wolves' Christophe Berra. In order to help with evenness, the positions go to Collins and Hughes.

Full-backs are again, a coaching minefield depending on what you set out to accomplish. Defensive? Maybe we could go for United's John O'Shea, who could also provide cover for offensive monster Bale. More offensively minded? Then we could lean towards the overlapping play of Everton's revelatory Irishman Seamus Coleman or Tottenham's Scottish right-back Alan Hutton. Also with strong cases are Ireland's Kevin Foley and Stephen Kelly while Chris Gunter of Nottm Forest (Wales) can play on both sides. The edge here goes to the experience of the marauding Hutton and the dour O'Shea, with Coleman unlucky to miss out.

Even farther back, the choice of goalkeeper is a three-cornered one: Wales' Wayne Hennessey, Ireland's Shay Given or Scotland's Craig Gordon. Even though he's been displaced in the Manchester City lineup by Joe Hart, Shay Given is still perhaps one of the top ten Premiership custodians - not something you can say about the solid Sunderland man Gordon or Wolves' exciting youngster Hennessey.

A forward partner for Miller is now the priority. His partner could be Irish and out of form - Robbie Keane, Irish and consistent - Kevin Doyle or Welsh and flamboyant - Craig Bellamy. Bellamy's resume is superior to Doyle's and so wins that battle. Unfortunately for the likeable Keane, he has bounced from club to club without convincing anywhere for two years now which lessens his case. I like also the unpredictability and madness brought by Bellamy.

This gives us our starting XI, so now it's time to choose our seven substitutes. With the midfield populated by stars, it's right to select Wales Captain Aaron Ramsey, a Rolls-Royce of a player. Spartak Moscow's Irish winger Aiden McGeady was bumped only by the presence of Giggs and Bale and so gets a guernsey. To reinforce the defense, I've opted for Coleman and Jonny Evans, while West Bromwich Albion's left-sided dynamo Chris Brunt takes his place as Bale's back-up. Youth loses out to experience in goal - Gordon over Hennessey, leaving only the reserve striking role to fill. To change the game a little with his ability as a target man and finisher, the only choice is Kevin Doyle. Unlucky to miss is Leicester's Welsh centre-mid, Andy King.

And that leaves us with a team looking like:

	Shay Given (Ire)
Alan Hutton (Scot)	Aaron Hughes (NIR)	James Collins (Wal)	John O'Shea (Ire)
Ryan Giggs (Wal) (c)	Darren Fletcher (Scot)	Charlie Adam (Scot)	Gareth Bale (Wal)
	Kenny Miller (Scot)	Craig Bellamy (Wal)

Sub: Gordon (GK - Scot), Ramsey (Wal), McGeady (Ire), Coleman (Ire), Evans (NIR), Brunt (NIR), Doyle (Ire).

I'd back that team to do well against most international squads. Now if only we could convince FIFA that it's a good idea ...