Craig Bellamy uses a ‘not believing in rainbows’ analogy in a bizarre interview as he talks of his hope that Burnley can avoid relegation.
The ex-Premier League player was standing in on the touchline for Burnley manager for Vincent Kompany, who was had been serving a ban following his red card in the 2-2 draw at Chelsea back in March.
Bellamy watched on as the Clarets went 1-0 up against Brighton on Saturday, with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen seeing his attempted clearance of a Carlos Baleda back pass deflect back off Josh Brownhill.
However, five minutes later Arijanet Muric then let the ball go under his feet, putting Brighton level.
The result means Burnley are now six points adrift of safety with five games remaining, with assistant manager Bellamy claiming his side still have what it takes to climb out of the drop zone, and used an analogy that his three-year-old daughter used to make his point.
Bellamy said the team had to take responsibility for the mistake because of the way they choose to play out from the back.
“It’s us,” Bellamy said, per Eastern Daily Press. “It’s not his mistake, it’s our mistake. Do we call it a mistake? I don’t know. It’s how we play. It ain’t going to change. He’s scored goals for us, doing what he does. It’s one of those, it’s not an issue.
“It’s how we play football. It might not please everyone. We’re not here to please everyone, but we believe in this way of football. It might be naive, I don’t know.
“I have a three-year-old girl who still believes in rainbows and unicorns. That might be me. I honestly believe we’re going to get out of this situation, I believe we’re going to stay up. Maybe I’m naive. Maybe I’m the one believing in rainbows and unicorns and it’s actually got to my head.
“But at the same time, I’ve no issue with it. Aro is top. Get the ball again, look for the pass again. You see the save he makes in the last minute. Top. That to me is a goalkeeper. We all make mistakes, it’s how you respond from it. So I’ve got nothing but praise for him, even more.”
“We played well, especially in the first half,” Bellamy continued. “We had good opportunities and should have scored. Coming in from the first half we were a little bit disappointed we weren’t 1-0 or 2-0 up, but that can be football.”
Can someone please inform Craig Bellamy that his three-year-old daughter is correct and rainbows do in fact, exist. pic.twitter.com/g7qTxqh3NZ
— HLTCO (@HLTCO) April 15, 2024
“We all make mistakes, I’ve got nothing but praise for him” 👏
Burnley assistant manager Craig Bellamy backs goalkeeper Arijanet Muric after his error against Brighton. pic.twitter.com/jV7gpMyilF
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 14, 2024
Roberto de Zerbi speaking to BBC Match of the Day after Brighton’s draw with Burnley: “Fair result. We didn’t deserve to win and we didn’t deserve to lose. I think in this moment Brighton are like this. We are trying to play better, we are trying to win but it’s clear we are spending a tough moment.
“We have a lot of injuries, we have many points to the European position. It has been a tough season for the players who played a lot of games – [Pascal] Gross, [Jan Paul] Van Hecke, [Lewis] Dunk, [Danny] Welbeck and we are trying to give our best but at the moment it’s tough.”
On Pervis Estupinan injury: “It’s an ankle problem we will see in the next days [how serious].”
On the fortunate goal: “I can speak about our goal it was a short pass, too short pass from Carlos Baleba to the keeper. The keeper was maybe too deep and Baleba is playing very well but he’s very young. We have to give him time to be better and play better. He is a good potential player, important for the future of the club and next season I think he can become better.”
On 12-day break until next match: “I hope we can recover as many players as we can but I’m not a doctor, it’s tough for me to be a coach. We have to play with pride, we fought for the ball. We started the first 20 minutes not so good but the last 70 we played a good game.”
Player ratings (via Sky Sports):
Burnley: Muric (4); Vitinho (5), Ekdal (6), Esteve (7), Assignon (7); Foster (6), Cullen (6), Berge (5), Odobert (7); Bruun Larsen (5), Fofana (5)
Subs: Taylor (6), Rodriguez (5), Brownhill (7), Tresor (n/a)
Brighton: Verbruggen (5); Veltman (6), Dunk (6), Van Hecke (7), Estupinan (n/a); Baleba (5), Gross (6), Moder (6); Adingra (7), Welbeck (6), Joao Pedro (5)
Subs: Julio (6), Buonanotte (6), Fati (6), Lallana (6), O’Mahony (n/a)
Player of the Match: Wilson Odobert (Burnley)
This is how fans reacted after Craig Bellamy uses a ‘not believing in rainbows’ analogy in hope that Burnley can avoid relegation…
@KCCOvilla88: Wow – I didn’t even rainbow denier’s on my 2024 bingo card
@james_r_mcgrath: Not in Burnley, they don’t.
@claretmaduk: Not a chance we’re staying up… we don’t deserve to. And judging by the assignon red/pen and the non pen from Saturday as well as many others the Premier league are making sure the nail is in the coffin
@DavidFisherFolk: But can he do it on a simultaneously rainy and sunny day in Burnley?
@Bennbfc: Looks like we’re staying up then!
@NaySunshineBand: Can someone please let Craig Bellamy know his 3 year old is correct. Rainbows do exist.
@MellyMaestro: I don’t like the implication here that she was wrong about the unicorns. Stick to football 😤😤
@CityJohn: RAINBOWS DON’T SCORE GOALS THOUGH, DO THEY? THIS ISN’T ATLANTIS
“Rainbows in the sky? Makes you think” pic.twitter.com/CpnuFzLUXJ
— Michael (@Mikey_T1991) April 15, 2024
Craig Bellamy must have been spending some time with Matt le Tissier?
Last I checked, rainbows were real 😂. Poor kid. pic.twitter.com/68fhNAZh1k
— Jamie Evans (@Evans707) April 15, 2024
Craig Bellamy in superb form post-match.
“Maybe I’m too naive or optimistic, but I believe we’ll stay up”
He mentioned he gets that optimism from his 3 year old daughter who believes in rainbows and unicorns
The Muric error is “on us” for asking the team to play in that way.— John Dunn (@John_Dunn77) April 13, 2024
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