Thespence Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Michael Owen has started 16 league games for Newcastle and 16 matches for England since his move from Real Madrid. It is a statistic which gets chanted like a mantra on Tyneside and one which could scupper our chances of reaching Euro 2008. The striker is known as "England's Michael Owen" by citizens of the so-called Geordie Nation, who doubt his commitment to their black and white religion. Sam Allardyce is well aware that Owen's uncanny knack of rushing back to fitness in time for international fixtures has caused deep distrust and suspicion in Newcastle. His miraculous recovery from a double operation on groin and stomach muscles has intensified the debate in a part of the country where feeling hard done-by is the chief regional pastime. That is why Allardyce is attempting to play hardball with England boss Steve McClaren about Owen's latest comeback. It's a tough one for Big Sam, a patriotic Englishman who desperately wanted to succeed Sven Goran Eriksson last year and still believes he should have. You would have to whisper that fact in the North East, where most believe that being employed by Newcastle United is a far greater honour Remember how Owen's close friend and SFX stablemate Alan Shearer was lauded as a true Geordie hero for turning his back on England at the age of 29, so he could fulfil his destiny of winning diddly-squat at St James' Park? If Owen is fit for the Euro qualifiers against Estonia and Russia, Big Sam can do us all a major service by allowing the country's only world-class goalscorer to wear the Three Lions next week. Allardyce will be under intense local pressure to withdraw Owen from the squad but the striker will want none of it. He is too dedicated a professional to want to miss any match for club or country. Those of us who believe Owen's patchy fitness record is nothing more than an unhappy series of coincidences for Newcastle are met with cynicism from the Geordies. You can understand the frustrations of the Toon Army, who now have a better goal poacher than Shearer, 'Wor' Jackie Milburn or Malcolm Macdonald but rarely see him in black and white stripes. You can understand their misgivings, too, as it was clear Owen would have jumped at the chance to return to Liverpool in 2005 if Rafa Benitez would have had him. Then there was the release clause in his contract, that would have allowed him to leave the club for £9million. Owen's knee injury at the 2006 World Cup, after he had missed the last five months of his first season on Tyneside, led to a lengthy battle for compensation between former chairman Freddy Shepherd and the FA. Shepherd, of course, never ceased to remind us of the inherent superiority of all things Geordie - despite the fact that he himself was living, breathing evidence to the contrary. But when Freddy joked that he would have "carried Owen back to Liverpool myself" if they had coughed up £9m last year, never a truer word had been spoken in jest. Should Big Sam succumb to the Geordie uproar, it could spell disaster for English hopes - not that too many on Tyneside could care less. Owen's record of 40 goals in 85 caps is unsurpassed among current international strikers and one that rarely attracts the praise it merits. Whether the country is suffering from a genuine lack of striking talent or whether the stockpiling of players by the Premier League's largest clubs is stunting the careers of Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Andy Johnson is a debate for another time. What is certain is that England's crucial trip to Moscow next week would be far more perilous without Owen. And as the days are long gone when the North East provided so many of England's finest talents - Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson, Peter Beardsley, Gazza and Shearer among them - we might as well grant independence to the Geordie Nation, sit back ... and watch them lose to San Marino From The People Not sure who this bloke is or where The People found him but The People are desperate since McCarthy & Dunn have fled The People to join NOTW in recent months. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NG32 Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 what a fucking tosser. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Redcar Mag Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 has intensified the debate in a part of the country where feeling hard done-by is the chief regional pastime.Mistaken us for the scousers, shirley? For the record, I don't mind if he plays for England. Hope he scores and we beat both Estonia and Russia. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Liam Liam O Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 what a fucking tosser. See the article and journalist for what they are. A wind up to get people posting on their website and boost their sales / hits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Lol Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 :lol: This thread could die a quick death though apathy for the People's comments..........................or could be a 5 page thread in no time flat! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Liam Liam O Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 :lol: This thread could die a quick death though apathy for the People's comments..........................or could be a 5 page thread in no time flat! The lack of credible journalists in this country makes the papers not worth buying or even reading online now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_NUFC Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 toilet paper Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thespence Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 This thread could die a quick death though apathy for the People's comments..........................or could be a 5 page thread in no time flat! This Kidd has over did it with the hooks in his article. The People had to do a Newcastle story after NOTW ran Toongate 2 last week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benwell Lad Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 "Remember how Owen's close friend and SFX stablemate Alan Shearer was lauded as a true Geordie hero for turning his back on England at the age of 29, so he could fulfil his destiny of winning diddly-squat at St James' Park?" As opposed to our national side who have won.........err........ nothing. We (NUFC) have won something (1969) more recently than the national side (1966) and that says a whole lot about why many players will no longer flog themselves to death for the sake of so called "national pride". To be worse under achievers than Newcastle takes a bit of doing. International football ? - totally over hyped a decent league one game is normally more exciting to watch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gemmill Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 How long before someone asks for his email address and people start playing into the writer's hands by spamming his inbox like mongs? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4 Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Haha... it's so ridiculously stupid and venimous, it's not even offensive Thought it was from our good friend Miss Taylor at first. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.S.R. Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 How sad do you have to be to steal Boris Johnson's ideas? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon_Crazy Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Better goal poacher than Shearer? Look to the records and statistics and what Shearer has done on the pitch compared to Owen, no doubt in my mind who's better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCormick Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 *yawns* Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimbo Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 I couldn't give a toss, they can have him as far as i'm concerned. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Nguyen Van Falk Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 We don't own Owen the person, we own Owen the player though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4 Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Better goal poacher than Shearer? Look to the records and statistics and what Shearer has done on the pitch compared to Owen, no doubt in my mind who's better. Indeed that part was a load of bullshit (too). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinho lad Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 and who's fault is it that England weren't good enough to beat Croatia and Macedonia? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Is a better goal poacher than Shearer, just not a better player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohmelads Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 That's a desperately bitchy article, that writer has some serious issues Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSamsBarmyArmy Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Not even worth using as bog paper! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSG Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Is a better goal poacher than Shearer, just not a better player. I disagree. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RodrigoPalacio Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Fucking hell What a loser this journo is. Set Anal and John Gibson onto him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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