Cardiff City captain Mark Hudson hopes for Craig Bellamy ret
Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:50 am
Re: Cardiff City captain Mark Hudson hopes for Craig Bellamy ret
Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:24 am
Cardiff City captain Mark Hudson hopes for Craig Bellamy return
Cardiff City captain Mark Hudson believes Craig Bellamy can help fire the Bluebirds into the Premier League.
Liverpool striker Bellamy has been strongly linked with a return to his hometown club this week.
And Hudson, 30, thinks the Wales forward could make the difference to Cardiff's promotion push next season.
"He'll try and lead us with his experience and the knowledge that he's got of the game to get to that next level," said centre-back Hudson.
"That's what we want, we want to get there.
"The ambition of the club to bring someone like him in matches everyone that's playing in the Cardiff shirt at the moment.
CRAIG BELLAMY FACTS
•Born: Cardiff, 13 July 1979
•Former clubs: Norwich City, Coventry City, Newcastle United, Celtic, Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool, West Ham United, Manchester City, Cardiff, Liverpool
•Club appearances/goals: 425 (164)
•Wales appearances/goals: 69 (19)
"We want to get to that next level and if we bring him in then it's going to help us, definitely."
Rumours of Bellamy's return were fuelled this week when Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed he had given the Welshman permission to move closer to his family in Cardiff.
Bellamy, who played and scored for the Great Britain Olympic football team this summer, spent a season on loan at the Cardiff City Stadium in 2010-11 under then boss Dave Jones.
The striker, who was captain of the side, scored 11 goals in a year that ended with the Bluebirds losing to Reading in the play-off semi-finals.
Hudson remembers that season well and hopes the 33-year-old frontman now joins Malky Mackay's team.
"He's an international and he's been at the top level for a long time," added Hudson, who joined Cardiff from Charlton Athletic in 2009.
"To be able to work with someone like that was beneficial to everyone that was playing with him at the time.
"I learnt a lot from him, the way he conducted himself and went about his day-to-day business.
"You look at him now, he's a role model.
"He's been to the Olympics and he's been captain of the Olympics [football] team.
"To have that experience can only help us."
Cardiff have won all four of their pre-season friendlies so far this summer, as the squad prepares for the Capital One Cup first-round match at Northampton Town on Tuesday, 14 August.
City face Newcastle United at home in their final warm-up game before that and as he assesses the season ahead, Hudson hopes his team will go one better than last season's play-off final defeat .
"Top two is the main aim for us," he said. "I don't think anyone wants to see us go through the play-offs again and I definitely don't.
"But with the squad we've got this year and the way we've gelled over the last 12 to 13 months, as a group we're a lot more solid now."
Cardiff City captain Mark Hudson believes Craig Bellamy can help fire the Bluebirds into the Premier League.
Liverpool striker Bellamy has been strongly linked with a return to his hometown club this week.
And Hudson, 30, thinks the Wales forward could make the difference to Cardiff's promotion push next season.
"He'll try and lead us with his experience and the knowledge that he's got of the game to get to that next level," said centre-back Hudson.
"That's what we want, we want to get there.
"The ambition of the club to bring someone like him in matches everyone that's playing in the Cardiff shirt at the moment.
CRAIG BELLAMY FACTS
•Born: Cardiff, 13 July 1979
•Former clubs: Norwich City, Coventry City, Newcastle United, Celtic, Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool, West Ham United, Manchester City, Cardiff, Liverpool
•Club appearances/goals: 425 (164)
•Wales appearances/goals: 69 (19)
"We want to get to that next level and if we bring him in then it's going to help us, definitely."
Rumours of Bellamy's return were fuelled this week when Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed he had given the Welshman permission to move closer to his family in Cardiff.
Bellamy, who played and scored for the Great Britain Olympic football team this summer, spent a season on loan at the Cardiff City Stadium in 2010-11 under then boss Dave Jones.
The striker, who was captain of the side, scored 11 goals in a year that ended with the Bluebirds losing to Reading in the play-off semi-finals.
Hudson remembers that season well and hopes the 33-year-old frontman now joins Malky Mackay's team.
"He's an international and he's been at the top level for a long time," added Hudson, who joined Cardiff from Charlton Athletic in 2009.
"To be able to work with someone like that was beneficial to everyone that was playing with him at the time.
"I learnt a lot from him, the way he conducted himself and went about his day-to-day business.
"You look at him now, he's a role model.
"He's been to the Olympics and he's been captain of the Olympics [football] team.
"To have that experience can only help us."
Cardiff have won all four of their pre-season friendlies so far this summer, as the squad prepares for the Capital One Cup first-round match at Northampton Town on Tuesday, 14 August.
City face Newcastle United at home in their final warm-up game before that and as he assesses the season ahead, Hudson hopes his team will go one better than last season's play-off final defeat .
"Top two is the main aim for us," he said. "I don't think anyone wants to see us go through the play-offs again and I definitely don't.
"But with the squad we've got this year and the way we've gelled over the last 12 to 13 months, as a group we're a lot more solid now."