Freddy rips Owen

Kimbo wrote:

Luso wrote:Is anyone really surprised this has become an issue though? Before Owen signed there was already talk of a buy-out clause...I think this was destined to be a high pressure situation with constant talk of Owen leaving.

No disrespect to Newcastle, but both at Liverpool and Madrid he played for honours, and that simply isn't the case at Newcastle...the desire, or the supposed disire, to leave was always going to be an issue IMO.

But he's not good enough for those clubs and they will never be interested in him, the media need to get their head around this. Infact little old Newcastle could do better imo. If he wants to leave and go to an Everton or a Villa then he can probably make it happen, but he would have to take a paycut. Owen is best off staying put, the only way is down for him.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you totally. The problem is getting him to realise that right.

Owen must be kicking himself for leaving Liverpool. To have been stuck at Newcastle for 2 years must be an absolute nightmare.

It's not Newcastle's fault he's been injured most of that time

Excellent article on the situation here.


The thing that amazes me most about the Michael Owen saga - even more than the fact Newcastle would actually agree to a sale clause almost half the size of the fee they paid for him two years earlier - is how much the rest of the country wants the England striker to dump on the Magpies.

It's incredible and has revealed the sort of bitterness and jealousy normally reserved for teams who actually win things, not one which constantly under-achievers and has a nasty knack of pressing the self destruct button.

You know, clubs that dominate domestic football like Manchester United, Liverpool and, more recently Chelsea. I don't include Arsenal in that, if only because they play the sort of football everyone should admire.

As regular readers will know, I'm not a Newcastle supporter, I have an affinity with them because I live in the city and it's my job to follow their fortunes, but I'm not a fan. I'm a Leyton Orient fan and I'm very proud of it.

But I still can't hide the fact I've been really irritated by some of the things that have been written about the Owen situation this week. Okay, so I know Freddie Shepherd isn't likely to win any popularity contests in football and Newcastle were probably a little silly to agree to the clause in his contract and then not to expect those close to him to leak its existence to the media, but the venom which has poured out has been shocking.

It's almost as if they can't wait for Owen to leave so they can laugh and mock the club for having the audacity to sign him in the first place. You'd expect that from Sunderland fans and in the interests of local rivals, they are perfectly entitled to laugh at the pain and misery of their neighbours!

But as for the rest of the country, I don't get it. Why shouldn't Newcastle show ambition? Why shouldn't they sign the best players available. Other clubs don't like it when one of the big boys unsettles and then buys their best players, preventing their ability to build a team which is capable of challenging for silverware, do they? So why enjoy Newcastle's problem so much?

I suppose it all boils down to jealousy. After all, how dare Michael Owen join Newcastle and not Liverpool two years ago! How dare he! The cheek of it! He didn't sign for one of the big four when they wanted him? Unbelievable, how very dare he.

English football IS the big four, the Champions League, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool. The rest are just there to get beaten and pull off the odd shock which influences the title race.

And Newcastle - cough splutter - that isn't anywhere near London, it'll take me ages to get up to see Michael play there. Newcastle? , they're in the North, somewhere near Scotland I believe. I hear the people eat their babies up there......

As I've already said this week, this story will run and run unless Michael - and I don't often agree with the Newcastle chairman - insists he is going to stay.

He could do that now, but he won't because he will be advised not to. He'll be advised to wait and see if any of the big four do make a bid and then he can make a decision. The rest of the country, meanwhile, will lick their lips in anticipation of his departure!


Rasies some interesting points.

Tweedle wrote:I thought you were after a world class striker though? Owen may score you goals but he'll contribute nothing to the team like Fuyt or Crouch would so at times it will be like playing with ten men.

If you had someone like Villa, you'd score the extra goals + have someone that contributed to the team both in assists + movement.

Owen simply won't improve your team

Funny how all of this is coming out now that he isn't at Real Madrid any more. Madridistas used to take a terrible pounding on the old 606 for suggesting that Owen was nothing more than a goalpoacher. People swore up and down that his goalscoring should have been enough to put Ronaldo on the bench even if he didn't contribute anything else to the team.

Jaime wrote:

Tweedle wrote:I thought you were after a world class striker though? Owen may score you goals but he'll contribute nothing to the team like Fuyt or Crouch would so at times it will be like playing with ten men.

If you had someone like Villa, you'd score the extra goals + have someone that contributed to the team both in assists + movement.

Owen simply won't improve your team

Funny how all of this is coming out now that he isn't at Real Madrid any more. Madridistas used to take a terrible pounding on the old 606 for suggesting that Owen was nothing more than a goalpoacher. People swore up and down that his goalscoring should have been enough to put Ronaldo on the bench even if he didn't contribute anything else to the team.

Goals win matches, and Owen was terrific at scoring them with Madrid.

Kuyt does lots of work, but he's hardly clinical. What's the point in running around in circles for 90 minutes, and then messing up any chances you get to score? Even if Owen touched the ball just once in the match, and scored with that touch, it would be more useful than working hard for the team, but failing to score.

Owen isn't just a finisher either. He contributes quite a lot to attacking build up play, but he never tracks back, which is what people tend to judge the 'just a goal poacher' comment on. I'll always rate Owen as a top class finisher, and a Kuyt/Owen partnership would be near perfect - a non clinical over-worker and an extremely clinical under-worker. It's what we've lacked ever since he left...We have so many chances we fail to convert.

If we could resign Owen for £9million, I'd jump at the chance. Just look at his record (when he's not injured) It's fantastic. He would improve us, dramatically.

Jaime wrote:

Tweedle wrote:I thought you were after a world class striker though? Owen may score you goals but he'll contribute nothing to the team like Fuyt or Crouch would so at times it will be like playing with ten men.

If you had someone like Villa, you'd score the extra goals + have someone that contributed to the team both in assists + movement.

Owen simply won't improve your team

Funny how all of this is coming out now that he isn't at Real Madrid any more. Madridistas used to take a terrible pounding on the old 606 for suggesting that Owen was nothing more than a goalpoacher. People swore up and down that his goalscoring should have been enough to put Ronaldo on the bench even if he didn't contribute anything else to the team.

don't think it was ronaldo, it was raul that people wanted out and still do