Robinho's Not the Flop, Bellamy Is!

Much has been made of the City's millions this season. The attention has focused on 32 million pound world star Robinho. He has been the target of little praise and a great amount of criticism.

Some criticism has been deserved, but most of it hasn't. Robinho is still, according to Actim stats, in the top 10 of strikers in the Premier League. He is the eighth highest scorer in the league, combined with a decent assist record. This is not bad for a first season in the Premier League, especially coming a bit part season in Spain. He is the 36th smallest player in a league which is very physically demanding and probably the toughest in the world.

He of course has had a dip in form, but that can be expected in a long season, especially in a side struggling for form. The pressure has been fully rested on his shoulders to produce the goods for us every match and it's simply unfair.

A flop he is certainly not. We can only hope he will be at the club next season with someone less objectionable in charge than the current regime. The worst signing this season, because there have been a few, has to be Craig Bellamy.

Bellamy was signed to add pace and goals to his side, with the added bonus that he actually likes Hughes, who worked with him at Wales and Blackburn. The great Bellamy has never really hit the high notes in his career. This has mainly been down to two things: his personality, which is unpleasant at best, and his horrific injury record.

Only once has Bellamy reached double figures in the Premier League goal-wise. For me, that's a damning statistic for a striker. He clearly has great pace and can put the ball in the back of the net. But he has never done this consistently. Hughes has made him an expensive addition to the physio table. His knees are shot to bits. John Toshack recently remarked, while on international duty, that he simply can't play two games in a week through his injury.

It makes Hughes' decision to ship Jo off to Everton—a team higher than his in the league—even more embarrassing. Jo in his time at Everton has already outscored Bellamy, who struggles to play two games in a row. He is now injured again, with the same knee problem. It shows poor judgment on the manager's part by banking on Bellamy for the rest of the season, considering his fitness problems.

Bellamy appears to be an expensive mouth piece to do the dirty work in the changing room that Hughes wasn't up to himself, the marks of a desperate man who thinks he needs someone in to ruffle a few feathers to make his team better. A manager shouldn't have to resort to such stunts to get a response out his players if he has control.

A 29-year-old injury-prone, troublemaking striker doesn't make good business!