Geordie Boot Boy Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Yawn. Everytime Owen goes through a lean spell in front of goal, people start speculating that he's finished. He's had it his whole career. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Remember those cracking two goals he scored for England on his last comeback - he's not finished yet. The goal against boro was classic centre-forward play, I think he's getting sharper all the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Remember those cracking two goals he scored for England on his last comeback - he's not finished yet. The goal against boro was classic centre-forward play, I think he's getting sharper all the time. Dead right, this thread is raising doubts at precisely the time that Owen may be coming back into form. KK,s motivating effect was visible in some of the teams forward movement against boro for the first time this season. Don't forget he almost had a hat trick too but for a bender of a corner kick and a noncontact foul on a Gulliver type goalkeeper.. Doug. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Lol Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 If past history is anything to go by, he'll do pretty well for England, maybe score a goal then go off injured top start the recovery process in Newcastle. Not wishing that on the bloke but that's how it seems to me almost every time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 He may be coming back into some form and I hope so but he's about 75% the player he was at best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I'm split down the middle on the Owen thing. I still think he is a class striker and always a huge threat to the oppositions goal but i'd prefer Martins for various reasons. I'd like KK to play them together, that would be interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowen Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I've never been of the opinion that Owen is a world class finisher, he's always missed a lot of chances as far as I can recall. Where he does excel is in creating the space to have a chance, in his prime he was getting a number of gilt edged chances every game, and sticking some of them away. His footballing brain has always been his biggest asset imo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 He has also been robbed blind by officials a few times so far this season, non offsides given when he is through on goal, goals disallowed for fk all. The service he had under Sam was shocking ands he was always going to struggle to get chances but now under KK and a more passing game he is starting to get a bit more service. He even looks more interested though, he must have been running about playing for Sam thinking "whats the fkn point". I was all for selling him atfer seeing it was not working here for him, but KK is giving fresh hope to everyone and Owen deserves a fresh start now he is fit and under a new manager. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brazilianbob Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I've never been of the opinion that Owen is a world class finisher, he's always missed a lot of chances as far as I can recall. Where he does excel is in creating the space to have a chance, in his prime he was getting a number of gilt edged chances every game, and sticking some of them away. His footballing brain has always been his biggest asset imo. Every striker goes through a purple patch where everything they try comes off, but thats exactly what it is! A purple patch! It doesn't mean they can play like that every season for the rest of their career and we shouldn't expect that of Owen, what he will do is put away a high percentage of chances once he is fully match and striker fit. Even Shearer missed some pretty easy chances, especially when he came back from his two bad injuries. Perhaps we should afford Owen the same sort of leeway we gave Shearer or is that too much to ask seeing as he isn't a geordie boy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 He has also been robbed blind by officials a few times so far this season, non offsides given when he is through on goal, goals disallowed for fk all. He made a good point on his interview on World, said that he's had more goals [might have said "wrongly", don't remember] disallowed in the league than he's scored. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 He has also been robbed blind by officials a few times so far this season, non offsides given when he is through on goal, goals disallowed for fk all. He made a good point on his interview on World, said that he's had more goals [might have said "wrongly", don't remember] disallowed in the league than he's scored. Aye, its a sad fact, okay not all of them were bad decisions but a few were and then there are the chances he has had when he has been through one on one with the keeper and then been pulled up for offside. Must be so infuriating when chances are few and far between you then time a run get through on goal and get stopped in ya tracks by a twat with a flag. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theregulars Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Think the bottom line has to be that if you give him enough chances he will score you a goal. His barren patch recently has been due, as Keegan highlighted, to us not creating enough for him. Agree with all the stuff about him not seeming bothered, not putting maximum effort in, not having the pace or finishing ability of old, but let's see him in a side that's creating shedloads of chances and then judge him, because he's never had a real run or an actually decent side behind him to crate the kind of chances he thrived on at Liverpool and Real. Man's ability is proven, but faded, but there phrase class is permanent, form is temporary comes to mind. I don't like him all that much but this is probably his longest run in a Toon shirt and I think he's starting to pick up a bit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johnson293 Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Think the bottom line has to be that if you give him enough chances he will score you a goal. His barren patch recently has been due, as Keegan highlighted, to us not creating enough for him. Agree with all the stuff about him not seeming bothered, not putting maximum effort in, not having the pace or finishing ability of old, but let's see him in a side that's creating shedloads of chances and then judge him, because he's never had a real run or an actually decent side behind him to crate the kind of chances he thrived on at Liverpool and Real. Man's ability is proven, but faded, but there phrase class is permanent, form is temporary comes to mind. I don't like him all that much but this is probably his longest run in a Toon shirt and I think he's starting to pick up a bit. Was just thinking that - how many consectutive games/appearances is that now? Surely must be his best run since he joined? Lets hope it continues, and the team start creating more chances, as I'm sure if they keep creating them for him, he'll stick more away than he misses, in the longrun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElDiablo Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 None of our strikers are completely convincing, but we need to get away from the idea that Owen is an automatic choice and it's only a matter of time before the goals go flying in. He's changed completely from being a striker that was blindingly quick to one who's now quite slow. His old faults - one-footed and a poor first touch - are still there (albeit with a bit of improvement) and he should be competing for his place like the rest. I agree with Johnnypd. If we were better than the opposition most weeks then we'd be creating lots of chances and he'd score a lot more. The trouble is we're not better than the opposition most weeks and we're having to scrap. You have to question what Owen is offering us in that situation. Smith and Barton up front ftw!!!!11 Seriously, think about that comment. What a load of shite. That applies to basically all the world class strikers out there, you're saying just becuase he doesn't fly into challenges he shouldn't be in the team? His work rate is quite good imo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 It's by far his best run of games for us now, I'm sure it was something wank like four games prior to now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I've never been of the opinion that Owen is a world class finisher, he's always missed a lot of chances as far as I can recall. Where he does excel is in creating the space to have a chance, in his prime he was getting a number of gilt edged chances every game, and sticking some of them away. His footballing brain has always been his biggest asset imo. That's probably all true, Mowen. What is a worry is the clear lack of pace he seems to have ended up with, which hinders his ability to get into those positions, etc. Btw, I haven't written him off. I've criticised him on several occassions but i certainly haven't written him off. His goal at the weekend was excellent centre-forward play, as has been said. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 None of our strikers are completely convincing, but we need to get away from the idea that Owen is an automatic choice and it's only a matter of time before the goals go flying in. He's changed completely from being a striker that was blindingly quick to one who's now quite slow. His old faults - one-footed and a poor first touch - are still there (albeit with a bit of improvement) and he should be competing for his place like the rest. I agree with Johnnypd. If we were better than the opposition most weeks then we'd be creating lots of chances and he'd score a lot more. The trouble is we're not better than the opposition most weeks and we're having to scrap. You have to question what Owen is offering us in that situation. Smith and Barton up front ftw!!!!11 Seriously, think about that comment. What a load of shite. That applies to basically all the world class strikers out there, you're saying just becuase he doesn't fly into challenges he shouldn't be in the team? His work rate is quite good imo. When I said 'scrap', I meant everyone had to work hard to get an advantage over the opposition, and we can't afford a specialist player who is there to finish off chances created by others. Admittedly, Owen has worked harder than usual, and has tried to get more involved in the build-up. Trouble is, that's not really his game, he doesn't look that confident, and he can't automatically be considered the best option. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Yawn. Everytime Owen goes through a lean spell in front of goal, people start speculating that he's finished. He's had it his whole career. That was when he was scoring 15-19 goals a season. He has 3 (in the league) for this year. Tbf that's poor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearer9 Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Yawn. Everytime Owen goes through a lean spell in front of goal, people start speculating that he's finished. He's had it his whole career. That was when he was scoring 15-19 goals a season. He has 3 (in the league) for this year. Tbf that's poor. And he's also scored very few goals over the last few years, since he's been at Newcastle. He's still in the team for me because there's no one better, but I hope that the long term plan here sees us getting rid of him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rebel_yell12 Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 That was also when he was playing for Liverpool -- a team that was among the top of the Premiership. He had a fairly settled, consistent midfield that provided chances and played in a style that suited him. He's not had any of that this season at Newcastle. And if his wrongly disallowed goals had stood, even with his injuries he'd be Newcastle's top scorer this season (he's had at least 3 bad calls against him in league matches). Liverpool gave him multiple chances most games, Newcastle has been providing maybe one clear chance a match. He was also scoring 15-19 goals a season when he was routinely fit, which he's likewise not been while at Newcastle. And Shearer9 -- Owen's barely been fit over the last few years! He scored 7 goals in 11 matches before his run of injuries. I think in total Owen's rate is 10 goals in 30 matches for Newcastle (in the league). Which is BETTER than, for instance, Rooney's rate of 1 goal in every 5 matches for England in the last few years. I find it odd that everyone says Owen's pace is gone, yet Given just named him the quickest in the squad (with N'Zogbia as well, tbf). I can't help but wonder what Given has seen that the fans aren't. I'd love to see his times, just to put the issue to rest finally. As for his "finishing" being gone -- he put three in the back of the net on Sunday, out of four chances. That's a good rate, and if his perfectly good first goal had stood, he'd have had two goals from four chances, with the corner also being disallowed (though appropriately, I think). I think 50% is a good conversion rate, honestly. He's not going to get a goal from EVERY chance, that's just no humanly possible. He may have a rare game where that occurred (FA Cup 2001) but even in his best games he's missed a few times (like the England 5: Germany 1 match). Even the very best strikers miss, probably at a rate of about 50% or more. I think Owen needs to get a good string of matches, then we can discuss his goals record and finishing ratios. As it is, he's been out for 2 seasons, and then was stuck in Allardyce's team which concentrated entirely on defence not scoring. It hardly seems unrelated that Owen finally looks and sounds interested in Newcastle now that there is a manager who will play forward, attacking, football and play it on the ground (after all, Keegan wasn't exactly a tall target man himself, he understands these things). Since Keegan's arrival, Owen has scored once in four matches (should've had two in four but...can't fix it, can we?). Two of those matches were against Arsenal, who aren't known for giving the opponents a lot of chances and both were at Emirates. Better teams than Newcastle have struggled to do anything at Arsenal. Were there any decent chances against Bolton? Since Keegan's arrival and Owen's return to fitness, I've not seen anything to say Owen is "finished". In fact, I've seen increased work-rate, enthusiasm, and two well-taken goals. Good omens for the future, IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I simply don't agree. I don't want us to build a team around an injury-prone striker who has never 20 goals in the Premiership. Fact is.. he's been here 2 1/2 years and hasn't scored more than 15 goals in that time. It's been a waste of money and a bad signing thus far. Owen used to be able to run pass players. You think he could score a goal like he did against the Argies in 98 today? Could he even score a goal like the FA Cup winner against Arsenal? Most of his pace has gone.. you can clearly see it.. I don't need any "times" I can see it with my own 2 eyes. The pace is gone. He didn't score 3 goals.. he scored 1. Blah blah ref mistakes this, ref mistakes that only 1 counted. He has 3 for the season.... terrible. There is just too much effort involved with trying to accommodate this 16 goal season striker. Darren Bent would be more useful than Owen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest michaelfoster Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 These are our strikers league stats since joining the club. Owen: Played 24 (6 sub) Goals 12 Martins: Played 47 (7 sub) Goals: 18 Smith: Played 21 (1 sub) Scored 0 Viduka: Played 11 (7 sub) Scored 5 Ameobi: Played 95 (73 sub) Scored 28 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belfast Boy Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I didn't realise quite how little Viduka had played. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I didn't realise quite how little Viduka had played. Not shocked at that stat, it was always going to be a worry with Viduka, he is so injury prone.. Another Paddy K.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest michaelfoster Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 tbf Viduka has played 11 games in half a season, Owen has played 24 times in 3 seasons so Viduka's record aint too bad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now