More leavers

News, at last, that Craig Bellamy has finally left for pastures new, and perhaps strangely decided he'd rather keep his passport tucked up safely in a drawer in Blackburn than have to go through the hassle of competing against teams in Europe next season.

Undoubtedly talented, and his goal against Feyenoord remains one of my happiest Newcastle memories, it was his attitude that ultimately saw him depart SJP for pastures new. Whether Mark Hughes is able to coax the best out of him (and for that matter whether Hughes will be happy to see him playing for Wales and coming back injured) remains to be seen – but I can't imagine there are too many in our dressing room who will be disappointed to have seen him leave.

In other news we have apparently accepted a bid from Charlton for Darren Ambrose, whose lack of first team games presumably left him frustrated on Tyneside. That said, his inability to cross a football from out wide often left me (and presumably Alan Shearer) more annoyed. Whilst in some ways it's sad to see a decent young player leave, it's probably the right move, with Ambrose unlikely to get too many games if he remains, and probably not quite good enough to take us back up the league to where we want to be.