Quotes from Craig Bellamy

I am reading the biography of Pep Guardiola. I find it really interesting.

Manchester City is the richest club in the world. They work to a budget that no one else works to, so they can write their own rules.

I do have to pinch myself at times when I look back at some of the things I have achieved. I really do.

I've been playing at a professional level for 17, 18 years now, and there's more to life. I love the game, don't get me wrong - I've cherished every moment of it.

So much of my career was affected by injuries. Not just the well documented surgery, but the hamstring pulls and other things. Injuries hit me hard, and they always seemed to come at key times.

I always say the best players I have ever worked with are the hardest players I have ever worked with.

I want to make sure that I am always ready: that if I step off the bench, I will make a contribution, then be given my chance.

Being Welsh means you sometimes get exposed to international football earlier. Again, that helps player development, speeds up their thought process in a different kind of environment.

John Hartson, he speaks fluent Welsh and has the tattoos all over him to prove his Welshness. But in my own world, no one is more Welsh than myself.

I see myself as a different sort of Welsh. Because we are from Cardiff, we see Wales as Cardiff. This is Wales; outside Cardiff is beyond. It's a strange one. You are really Welsh, but you're not, if you know what I mean.

That's what makes the Premier League the best in the world: the competitiveness and the ability each team possesses can hurt you on their day.

David Brooks - every time I see him, I like him. He breaks lines, runs beyond, and I like him a lot.

Teams do not make their debut in the first XI - individuals do - but it is the team that enables the individual to get the best out of himself. Football IQ, I call it, understanding roles and the team structure.

All I want to do now is prove my temperament is not a problem and get people talking about my football again.

I can understand failure: I've failed loads of times in my life; it's not a problem. I've never feared it, because it's a part of life.

It's up to people to judge whether I'm a good fella.

I'm aware of my value as a player, of course. But do I need to buy a holiday home that I'm only going to use two weeks every year? Course not. It's a waste. Why not give the money to people who could do with it.

I want to become one of the greatest managers that has ever lived. Why not? If it doesn't happen, then I've given everything, and I'd be proud of whatever I'm able to achieve.

Of course I want to keep playing; that's the best thing for any footballer. But I'm looking forward to not having to put my body through the pain, I have to say.

Basically, we are all chimps. The human side is at the front of our forehead, but the chimp is the part that lashes out. When I play, I am completely chimp-orientated.

I can understand a bad pass or something like that; I don't get irate. But the one thing I can never accept is a lack of work rate. You have to be able to give everything you have.

Before, I would spend all my hours at training, come home, sleep, eat, watch football, sleep, and go back to training the next day. Now I do the school run, train, pick up my daughter. I am living in the real world. I am a father now. That has given me more satisfaction than football.

If I ever wrote an autobiography - and I won't - it would be called 'Don't Google Me.'

I was enjoying life at West Ham; I really was. I wanted to do the whole five years there, become a favourite with the fans, and end my career there.