Oliver Holt defends Bellamy...

[Cowbridge Blue]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ave-Queen.html

Top writer Holt who reveals he knows Bellamy personally after having written his biography.

Makes a convincing case in a cut-throat business where parents often can't take - or don't want to hear - their kid isn't going to make it.

[Tall Midget]

Makes a convincing case in a cut-throat business where parents often can't take - or don't want to hear - their kid isn't going to make it.

Thanks for the link.
I read an longish article in the Mail on Saturday which was the Dad's side, so it was good to read a defence (and I like Ollie from his appearances on SS).
A case of sour grapes?
If so, why is the club not exonerating one of their staff?

[BLUETIT]

Thanks for the link.
I read an longish article in the Mail on Saturday which was the Dad's side, so it was good to read a defence (and I like Ollie from his appearances on SS).
A case of sour grapes?
If so, why is the club not exonerating one of their staff?

Baffling as to why this is only coming to light Two years down the line !!!

Definitely SOUR GRAPES, now they have found out their son won’t make the grade

[billy.ronson]

I read somewhere that the lad left during 2017/18 season so how would he know about the GSTQ before England semi final which was played after the season had finished ?
Also Why wait until now to start complaining and then going to the newspapers ? If you weren’t happy surely you would have approached Ken Choo regarding the “bullying” ?

Oliver Holt normally talks sense and am sure would have spoken to Bellamy before writing his column in the Mail.

I think the club are making sure none of the allegations are correct after the Malky incident with the texts,etc.

[William Treseder]

Never has a daily rag been more criticised on here than the Daily Mail. Unless that is, it has a piece defending one of our own 🤔😂

[Tuerto]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ave-Queen.html

Top writer Holt who reveals he knows Bellamy personally after having written his biography.

Makes a convincing case in a cut-throat business where parents often can't take - or don't want to hear - their kid isn't going to make it.

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.

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.

[JennyWren]

Thanks for the link.
I read an longish article in the Mail on Saturday which was the Dad's side, so it was good to read a defence (and I like Ollie from his appearances on SS).
A case of sour grapes?
If so, why is the club not exonerating one of their staff?

Maybe the club needs to conclude investigations rather than jumping to conclusions?

[Eric Cartman]

Never has a daily rag been more criticised on here than the Daily Mail. Unless that is, it has a piece defending one of our own 🤔😂

Do you have to either agree with everything written in it or disagree with everything written in it?

[Wales-Bales]

I was coached by ex-internationals from the age of 13, so I could see how it could "break" some people, as these old-pros didn't mess about. However, if you put in the effort and gave as good as you got, I always saw it as character-building and quite rewarding. I was the captain and team "enforcer", so I never had too many problems

[William Treseder]

Do you have to either agree with everything written in it or disagree with everything written in it?

Just the bits that suit us City fans 😂

[WJ99mobile]

Agree with the article wholeheartedly, however we do not know the specifics in this situation.

We all know Bellamy is vehemently proud Welsh and Cardiff born boy. Could that mean he is unconsciously biased towards local lads and is unaware of his bias against English born players? Has he created an atmosphere in which it's created a divisive or siege mentality between the players born outside the area? Probably not but i'm just making a point why the parent may feel the way they do.

The crux of it is that Bellamy should be absolutely impartial in all this and turning the sound down for the anthem and the rest of what is accused, whilst what his personality would have wanted, should have just bitten his lip.

We all know of stories in the past where the players that make it had good connections through their parents. I'm not sure if it still happens with reports but those in power did not have to justify their decisions in the past.

[William Treseder]

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.

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.

A good well balanced post on the topic 👍

[Lawnmower]

Just the bits that suit us City fans 😂

Surely that’s what everyone does ?
Agreed with the bits they agree with and disagree with the ones they don’t 😂

[William Treseder]

Surely that’s what everyone does ?
Agreed with the bits they agree with and disagree with the ones they don’t 😂

👍 We fans from all clubs are all as fickle as each other. It’s what makes the football world go round.

[Tall Midget]

I was coached by ex-internationals from the age of 13, so I could see how it could "break" some people, as these old-pros didn't mess about. However, if you put in the effort and gave as good as you got, I always saw it as character-building and quite rewarding. I was the captain and team "enforcer", so I never had too many problems

The very worst kind of bully IMO

[Tuerto]

A good well balanced post on the topic 👍

Here's a true story for you. During a pre season tournament in which we had to Play Crewe (who were shit hot) Middlesbrough and Aston Villa during a week stay at a university campus in the midlands, seven of us went for a walk in the evening that saw us go 'off campus' it was only about 7pm ish-we weren't given permission to go out of the Camp even though we were just walking about boring roads. We were found out, sent to bed and awoke at 6am the next morning-all 7 of us were lined up and the other players were woken up to watch every one of the guilty party have their character assassinated by the coach, there was no ****ing about, he absolutely ruined us infront of the other lads, they hated us because they had been dragged out of bed for something that had nothing to do with them-The coach went through us individually and slaughtered us, from appearance to ability. We were then told to **** off, put in the back of a van and sent back to Cardiff with a two week suspension. The coach only had 12 players left to complete the tournament, one of those players was him. Me and the seven others were fined two weeks wages (YTS Money) and allowed back after two weeks-One player who was more senior than us was sacked. All we did was go for a walk-i was 16 years old.

[Tall Midget]

Here's a true story for you. During a pre season tournament in which we had to Play Crewe (who were shit hot) Middlesbrough and Aston Villa during a week stay at a university campus in the midlands, seven of us went for a walk in the evening that saw us go 'off campus' it was only about 7pm ish-we weren't given permission to go out of the Camp even though we were just walking about boring roads. We were found out, sent to bed and awoke at 6am the next morning-all 7 of us were lined up and the other players were woken up to watch every one of the guilty party have their character assassinated by the coach, there was no ****ing about, he absolutely ruined us infront of the other lads, they hated us because they had been dragged out of bed for something that had nothing to do with them-The coach went through us individually and slaughtered us, from appearance to ability. We were then told to **** off, put in the back of a van and sent back to Cardiff with a two week suspension. The coach only had 12 players left to complete the tournament, one of those players was him. Me and the seven others were fined two weeks wages (YTS Money) and allowed back after two weeks-One player who was more senior than us was sacked. All we did was go for a walk-i was 16 years old.

Character building

[Penarth Blues]

Here's a true story for you. During a pre season tournament in which we had to Play Crewe (who were shit hot) Middlesbrough and Aston Villa during a week stay at a university campus in the midlands, seven of us went for a walk in the evening that saw us go 'off campus' it was only about 7pm ish-we weren't given permission to go out of the Camp even though we were just walking about boring roads. We were found out, sent to bed and awoke at 6am the next morning-all 7 of us were lined up and the other players were woken up to watch every one of the guilty party have their character assassinated by the coach, there was no ****ing about, he absolutely ruined us infront of the other lads, they hated us because they had been dragged out of bed for something that had nothing to do with them-The coach went through us individually and slaughtered us, from appearance to ability. We were then told to **** off, put in the back of a van and sent back to Cardiff with a two week suspension. The coach only had 12 players left to complete the tournament, one of those players was him. Me and the seven others were fined two weeks wages (YTS Money) and allowed back after two weeks-One player who was more senior than us was sacked. All we did was go for a walk-i was 16 years old.

With the benefit of hindsight does there seem any merit to what happened to you? Were the rules clear about not going off camp? Who was responsible if you’d been in trouble? If I was your parents I’d be furious with the club if anything had happened.

[Tuerto]

Character building

That's how it would have been seen by him-to me, it was bullying. Standing in front of someone while they take apart every aspect of your character while the other half of your team mates are encouraged to laugh because they're shit scared isn't on.

[Tuerto]

With the benefit of hindsight does there seem any merit to what happened to you? Were the rules clear about not going off camp? Who was responsible if you’d been in trouble? If I was your parents I’d be furious with the club if anything had happened.

We sort of new that we shouldn't have wandered, but it was 7pm on a july summers evening, we were spotted by the coach because he was having a pint in a pub we walked past. we were back in by 8.30. I wouldn't have mided a bollocking, even a bit of a beasting (running etc) but not the humiliation we were given infront of everyone else-it was really personal-then to be done two weeks wages with a suspension.

[Tall Midget]

That's how it would have been seen by him-to me, it was bullying. Standing in front of someone while they take apart every aspect of your character while the other half of your team mates are encouraged to laugh because they're shit scared isn't on.

So did it crush you - or make you become even more determined to improve? (With hindsight)

[Tuerto]

So did it crush you - or make you become even more determined to improve? (With hindsight)

It didn't really do anything-believe it or not i didn't really want to be there anyway. I suppose that at that age i couldn't really deal with the pressures of it all, the intensity, the competitiveness the Macho behaviour that was encouraged. That was just my character. I walked out four months later and turned my back on football, this after spending six years with the club. That decision was probably more about me than the club, it wasn't the happiest time for me. So, i'm certainly not going to say that i didn't make it as a footballer because of other circumstances, i didn't get on because i didn't want to do it and i'm not sure that i had enough ability anyway.

[Tall Midget]

It didn't really do anything-believe it or not i didn't really want to be there anyway. I suppose that at that age i couldn't really deal with the pressures of it all, the intensity, the competitiveness the Macho behaviour that was encouraged. That was just my character. I walked out four months later and turned my back on football, this after spending six years with the club. That decision was probably more about me than the club, it wasn't the happiest time for me. So, i'm certainly not going to say that i didn't make it as a footballer because of other circumstances, i didn't get on because i didn't want to do it and i'm not sure that i had enough ability anyway.

Thanks for an honest answer.
I hit a decent level in three sports - and can't recall any comments from the people who were supposed to be educating me- good or bad - just.....nothing. Didn't bother me and I became used to paddling my own canoe. Was I a better sports person for that? Dunno. The only negative bullying I experienced was from spectators who were supporting opposing teams - and they only served to deepen my determination to win.

[Tuerto]

Thanks for an honest answer.
I hit a decent level in three sports - and can't recall any comments from the people who were supposed to be educating me- good or bad - just.....nothing. Didn't bother me and I became used to paddling my own canoe. Was I a better sports person for that? Dunno. The only negative bullying I experienced was from spectators who were supporting opposing teams - and they only served to deepen my determination to win.

I found it a very aggressive environment, we had lads from as far as Ipswich, Portsmouth, Cornwall ( he really struggled) they were put into digs and told to get on with it, no support for them-They didn't know the City yet were bollocked for getting on the wrong bus and being ten minutes late! It was definitely harder for them as there wasn't any understanding and the punishment dished out was put in place to humiliate you and scare everyone else. I don't think that it was right to do that to a 16 year old away from home. That was then, i presume it's different now with a support structure that allows young players to express themselves or communicate their feelings, i hope so. As for me, whenever i was singled out i just thought '**** You' it didn't make me more determined.

[William Treseder]

Here's a true story for you. During a pre season tournament in which we had to Play Crewe (who were shit hot) Middlesbrough and Aston Villa during a week stay at a university campus in the midlands, seven of us went for a walk in the evening that saw us go 'off campus' it was only about 7pm ish-we weren't given permission to go out of the Camp even though we were just walking about boring roads. We were found out, sent to bed and awoke at 6am the next morning-all 7 of us were lined up and the other players were woken up to watch every one of the guilty party have their character assassinated by the coach, there was no ****ing about, he absolutely ruined us infront of the other lads, they hated us because they had been dragged out of bed for something that had nothing to do with them-The coach went through us individually and slaughtered us, from appearance to ability. We were then told to **** off, put in the back of a van and sent back to Cardiff with a two week suspension. The coach only had 12 players left to complete the tournament, one of those players was him. Me and the seven others were fined two weeks wages (YTS Money) and allowed back after two weeks-One player who was more senior than us was sacked. All we did was go for a walk-i was 16 years old.

https://youtu.be/-ZYlXEUo-Lo

I know this was scripted to make people laugh, but it does go on in real life. Would you say this is character building, weeding out the weak, or downright bullying?