I have first hand experience of this exact situation, although it was 28 years ago i saw bullying and humiliation. Bellamy isn't that much younger than me (6 years) so i'm pretty certain that he would have witnessed some of the things i did while he was a youth product at Norwich. Both sides of the story ring correctly in my experience, coaches belittling certain players infront of their peers in order to show their disdain and also looking for a reaction and parents who were convinced that their 'superstar' son wasn't being considered because the coach disliked him. The football environment is very unique, everything is set up so that a young player progresses and becomes an asset to the club and both the club and the player have two years in which to show his worth-very competitive. My youth team coach was a very hard man, he liked ability but put a massive emphasis on Character, whether out on the pitch, in training or around the ground. Players who were considered weak in the 'character' stakes were often dismissed and there was bullying by coaches which inadvertently allowed the players to do the same.Originally Posted by Cowbridge Blue
Like i said, this was a lifetime ago and things have changed massively over that period, but Bellamy does come across as a no excuses type of bloke-a bit like Roy Keane-A go and show me what you can do Philosophy-And i would imagine that parents are a lot more involved than they were previously, some of these complaints are down to interpretation or whether the things mentioned were conducted in a sinister manner.
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