Michael Owen gets injured; rejoice!

[OzzieMandias]

From the mackem slag:

 

Joe Kinnear believes there is a "60-40" chance of Michael Owen accepting a new three-year contract at Newcastle United and indicated yesterday that it could even be signed before Tottenham Hotspur visit St James' Park on Sunday.

 

Just last week a much more pessimistic Kinnear claimed that he thought the odds of the England striker remaining on Tyneside were around "30-70" but Newcastle's manager now feels that Owen is being strongly tempted by the security of the long-term deal on offer.

 

"It was my idea to offer Michael three years, which will take him up until he's 32," said Kinnear, who added that the prospective agreement may potentially be extended into a fourth year, although this would necessitate Owen playing in more than 50% of Newcastle's games during his third season.

 

"Michael told me that when Kevin [Keegan] was here he had previously been offered only 12 months and I did not really see any value in that," explained Kinnear. "So I just said, 'What if we can tie you up for the rest of your career, more or less, would you be happy with that?' and Michael said, 'Yes, I would be delighted'.

 

"So I spoke to Mike [Ashley, the Newcastle owner] and said could we give Michael three years plus the possible option of another one and Mike said, 'OK, do it'."

 

Kinnear is expecting a swift answer. "I am not going to say Michael will definitely sign but I think he will," he said. "We haven't exactly agreed a deadline but, two days ago, I did ask Michael, 'When are you going to make a decision?' and he said, 'In the next couple of days'.

 

"I spoke to Michael in my office for about an hour and a half. He is delighted with the length of time we're prepared to offer him. He also said he was very happy here. I suppose he will now go back and negotiate with Mike and Derek Llambias [Newcastle's managing director] and his agent."

 

Kinnear's buoyancy seemed slightly at odds with comments made by Ashley on Wednesday when Newcastle's owner admitted: "We'd love Michael Owen to stay but we have to look at what we can spend when other clubs like Manchester City do not. If Manchester City want Owen there's nothing I can do about it."

 

Unfazed Kinnear merely stressed: "We have not received any calls about Owen or offers for him." He trusts it will stay that way as, rather than selling Owen, Newcastle's manager sees him as a magnet capable of attracting fresh blood in January. "If Michael signs it will help me in everything else I'm trying to do," he said. "The more top-class players you have, the more players are prepeared to join your club."

 

While Newcastle expect Nicky Butt to sign a one-year contract extension tonight they are also hoping Shola Ameobi and Steve Harper will agree new deals.

 

Kinnear insists he has licence to spend in January and that, although Ashley is still determined to sell up, the owner will speculate to accumulate. "Mike wants to finish in the highest possible position," claimed a manager who has cast his scouting net far and wide. "I wouldn't have thought I'll be buying £10m players but I would think I would get away with £5m or £6m types."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/dec/18/newcastleunited-premierleague

[Guest rebel_yell12]

The more i think about it, the crapper i think the offer actually is - not in terms of salary, but in terms with what it means to Owen. I realise his injury record has been terrible for us, but i put that mainly down to 2 freak accidents, to offer 3 years, with the option of a fourth providing he stays fit to a player of Owen's calibre is oretty insulting if you ask me.

 

If you think about it, the offer kind of leaves him with toomuch insecurity, not only is it essentially a 3 years contract, but he has to prove his fitness in that final year in order to "win" a fourth year, if he doesnt, he's left at 32 with no contract offer andnot much hope of furthering his career but not old enough to retire assuming he's still the class striker he is now. 

 

I think the money will come second in priority agisnt the length.

 

 

 

I don't think it's insulting, in fact it's a bit ideal in the balance.  It alleviates the club of the possibility of being "stuck" with a 32/33 yr old who isn't capable of top-flight play due to injuries -- thus helping the business lower it's overall risk in offering the contract.  For Owen, it's a top-level pay packet (unlikely to be matched elsewhere) and if he's fit (as he no doubt thinks he will be) he has that fourth year anyway.  Thus, it would take him until he's 33 1/2 at 4.68 mil per year, not including any bonuses, etc.  That's hardly insulting, imo.  If Owen is confident in his ability to play 19 matches in the third season, then he'll think of it as a four-year contract (and, really, Owen has only had two season with less than 20 matches in an 11 season career, iirc -- unfortunately, back-to-back at Newcastle United).  Not too many players are guaranteed 90k per week at 33 years old.

[Mick]

I don't know why anybody puts any faith in what Joe Kinnear says, he seems to just open his mouth and tell people what he thinks they want to hear rather than anything to do with reality.

[mrmojorisin75]

I don't know why anybody puts any faith in what Joe Kinnear says, he seems to just open his mouth and tell people what he thinks they want to hear rather than anything to do with reality.

 

this, absolutely

 

if he wasn't getting paid a relative fucking fortune i'd probably have some type of pity for him, as it is i just wish he didn't exist

[NG32]

I just said to Michael, What if we can tie you up for the rest of your career, more or less, would you be happy with that? And he said Yes, Id be delighted.

 

That sentence really does fill me with confidence.

 

 

Aye, thats given me a lift this morning.

[Tooj]

I just said to Michael, What if we can tie you up for the rest of your career, more or less, would you be happy with that? And he said Yes, Id be delighted.

 

That sentence really does fill me with confidence.

 

 

Aye, thats given me a lift this morning.

 

Don't forget though that Kinnear is prone to the odd bit of bullshit.

[Tooj]

I don't know why anybody puts any faith in what Joe Kinnear says, he seems to just open his mouth and tell people what he thinks they want to hear rather than anything to do with reality.

 

Never saw this before I posted, but couldn't agree more Mick.

[NG32]

I just said to Michael, What if we can tie you up for the rest of your career, more or less, would you be happy with that? And he said Yes, Id be delighted.

 

That sentence really does fill me with confidence.

 

 

Aye, thats given me a lift this morning.

 

Don't forget though that Kinnear is prone to the odd bit of bullshit.

 

True.

[TRon]

Is it unhealthy for him to stay and score a load of goals for the club?

 

I'll bite. The object of the exercise is for the team to win matches, not for one player to score a lot of goals. How valuable Owen's contribution is to the team as a whole has been debated over and over, and I didn't want to get into that again. Personally I think we can thrive without him and the whole pantomime is bad for the club, but I concede I'm in the minority there.

 

Do you think we'd score more goals if we allowed without Owen in the team?

 

With Shola and Martins, we were creating chances and scoring goals, so I'm not worried, no. We'd need another striker to boost the numbers in the squad, but it wouldn't need to be anyone of Owen's standing.

 

Our club has a tendency to drift into this kind of unrealistic hero worship. First it was persuading Shearer to keep playing long after he was knackered. Then it was shelling out stupid money for Owen. Then we had the whole Keegan fiasco. Now we seem to think that getting Owen to sign again would be something stupendous.

 

It's all rubbish. The big four and the England manager don't want him for a reason. We shouldn't be offering Champions League wages to a player who isn't Champions League standard any more.

 

 

Money-wise he is probably worth paying the extra because of his standing in the game. Kinnear is now repeating what Keegan first said about how much easier it is to attract other good players with someone like Owen at the club. If Owen would rather stay here than go to the likes of Spurs or City that's good enough for me. Strikers who score 1 in 2 don't grow on trees.

[Guest]

I just said to Michael, What if we can tie you up for the rest of your career, more or less, would you be happy with that? And he said Yes, Id be delighted.

 

That sentence really does fill me with confidence.

 

 

Aye, thats given me a lift this morning.

 

Don't forget though that Kinnear is prone to the odd bit of bullshit.

 

I know what you mean, but it just seems strange that Kinnear's went from being not too optimistic about keeping him on Friday, to this yesterday. Something must have happened in that meeting to change his mind, otherwise he could have easily just said something like, "We made him a good offer, he's turned it down, he'll stay until June and then move on". It's not like the fans would have been able to criticise him if he'd said that.

[oldtype]

I think the offer the club came out with was far better than anyone, including Kinnear or Owen, imagined.

 

He'll take some time to process his options, but right now my money is on him signing.

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

I reckon he will sign.

 

Apart from Man City (who will be after more exotic buys) no-one can get within 30 grand of that figure outside of the big 4.

[Lenny]

It really would be a relief to get this whole situation put to bed if he signed. It would also be a very pleasant suprise as well.

[ElDiablo]

Kinnear has made a big blunder by revealing this though hasn't he. Surely now, if there is no news on him signing in the next few days, the press and our fans will be all over it, which could potentially lead to him getting a hard time from our fans.

 

I've defended Kinnear, but this has been his biggest mistake so far imo for the reasons you say. And why put Owen under pressure? Needless comments.

[Dokko]

It was Owen who came out 1st talking about his contract and that he hadn't been offered one.

 

Honestly some people, any excuse to have a go.

[Thespence]

Was it not common knowledge that loads of players who's deals run out in the summer had not been offered new contracts

[ElDiablo]

It was Owen who came out 1st talking about his contract and that he hadn't been offered one.

 

Honestly some people, any excuse to have a go.

 

That's different, they're in the middle of negotiations, no need to come out and say this 60/40 thing. I appreciate it if he thinks he's keeping the fans in the know but I think he should keep his mouth shut about this one.

[Dokko]

It was Owen who came out 1st talking about his contract and that he hadn't been offered one.

 

Honestly some people, any excuse to have a go.

 

That's different, they're in the middle of negotiations, no need to come out and say this 60/40 thing. I appreciate it if he thinks he's keeping the fans in the know but I think he should keep his mouth shut about this one.

 

It's only different because you want it to be different so you can have a go, its in fact quite the same and tit for tat which Owen started.

 

It's all part of the game, accept it and hope that JFK is telling the truth and Owen is 60/40, if he's not, its not a bad thing for our competitors to think that anyway meaning any fee were going to possibly receive in the winter window has now increased as were not as desperate to sell as some think and Owen isn't as desperate to leave as the media would imply. Owen's not exactly going to come out now and say he wants to leave, so all JFK has done is returned the serve from Owen and its now firmly in Owen's court.

 

 

[ElDiablo]

It was Owen who came out 1st talking about his contract and that he hadn't been offered one.

 

Honestly some people, any excuse to have a go.

 

That's different, they're in the middle of negotiations, no need to come out and say this 60/40 thing. I appreciate it if he thinks he's keeping the fans in the know but I think he should keep his mouth shut about this one.

 

It's only different because you want it to be different so you can have a go, its in fact quite the same and tit for tat which Owen started.

 

It's all part of the game, accept it and hope that JFK is telling the truth and Owen is 60/40, if he's not, its not a bad thing for our competitors to think that anyway meaning any fee were going to possibly receive in the winter window has now increased as were not as desperate to sell as some think and Owen isn't as desperate to leave as the media would imply. Owen's not exactly going to come out now and say he wants to leave, so all JFK has done is returned the serve from Owen and its now firmly in Owen's court.

 

Don't fucking pretend you know what I'm thinking, you haven't got a clue. I've defended him from the mongs on here when he's come out with comments before but this is totally different. What you're going on about in the second paragraph I do not know. Owen was asked a question about his contract and fobbed them off, he didn't come out of the blue saying it like Kinnear has now.

 

[Guest The Libertine]

I've defended him from the mongs on here when he's come out with comments before

 

you defended all the pointless and (now proven to be) untrue things he has said previously and its the others who are the mongs?

[ElDiablo]

I've defended him from the mongs on here when he's come out with comments before

 

you defended all the pointless and (now proven to be) untrue things he has said previously and its the others who are the mongs?

 

So if they're untrue then I'm right then? Because I wasn't defending the things he said just the fact he would come under criticism for making comments no matter what they were just because people were annoyed with his mistakes on the pitch. Ironic now after my previous post I know.

[David Icke - Son of God]

JFK is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. He says fuck all and people moan about the lack of communication from the club, he says this and people moan it's going to be counter productive.

 

I'd much rather he talked and told us what was going on, even if he does have a track record for spouting tosh. You'd have to be an idiot to think Owen is going to decide before January so I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the "72 hour" claim.

[Guest The Libertine]

I've defended him from the mongs on here when he's come out with comments before

 

you defended all the pointless and (now proven to be) untrue things he has said previously and its the others who are the mongs?

 

So if they're untrue then I'm right then? Because I wasn't defending the things he said just the fact he would come under criticism for making comments no matter what they were just because people were annoyed with his mistakes on the pitch. Ironic now after my previous post I know.

 

he was making bold statement about things he (clearly) knew nothing about in a time when we all wanted answers.

[Baggio]

JFK is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. He says f*** all and people moan about the lack of communication from the club, he says this and people moan it's going to be counter productive.

 

I'd much rather he talked and told us what was going on, even if he does have a track record for spouting tosh. You'd have to be an idiot to think Owen is going to decide before January so I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the "72 hour" claim.

 

Thats what worries me though. Plenty of fans will believe the 72 hour claim whether its true or not, and if he doesn't sign in the next 3 days, are certain sections of fans going to start giving him a hard time?

 

I agree its good of him to tell us whats going on, but the timeframe could have been left out. Just say that we had some positive talks and he's been offered a very good contract.

 

Surely it's Owen's fault then for telling Joe he will let him know within that time frame?

[TRon]

It's ok if Owen doesn't mind the terms of the contract being discussed publicly. If he wants to sign I doubt if he'll be that bothered, although he'd probably prefer it if Joe kept his gob shut.