Michael Owen gets injured; rejoice!

[Golfmag]

Michael Owen looks certain to quit Newcastle at the end of the season after seeing out the clubs fight against relegation.

 

Stopped reading after that.

 

 

The Independent's article similarly starts with

 

"Michael Owen plunged Newcastle United into further chaos yesterday when he gave the clearest signal yet that he will be leaving the club in the summer."

 

Eight games is a fair number to judge, so lets look at the last eight.

 

Top of the Table pundit-darlings Liverpool FC

 

Won 3 Drawn 4 Lost 1

Scored 12 Conceded 6

 

Team "Chaos" (NUFC)

 

Won 3 Drawn 4 Lost 1

Scored 12 Conceded 7

 

No one in the press will ever make the comparison, but Man U spunked a bigger fortune on Owen Hargreaves who has started all of sixteen games in one and a half seasons. Of course, he's been injured and in their minds, that's just desperately bad luck. Liverpool paid double what Robbie Keane was worth, and Chelsea, well take your pick. The obvious one is Shevchenko.

 

Good post.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

I think he's made his decision, he's just delayed telling us.  Off in the summer on a free, probably abroad to a CL club

Owen made it clear that he never wanted to move abroad again when he returned from Real Madrid. His options are Premiership clubs.

[Thespence]

I think he's made his decision, he's just delayed telling us.  Off in the summer on a free, probably abroad to a CL club

Owen made it pretty clear that he will never play abroad again when he returned from Real Madrid. His options are Premiership clubs.

 

As the training times abroad clashed with the afternoon racing.

[KaKa]

I think he's made his decision, he's just delayed telling us.  Off in the summer on a free, probably abroad to a CL club

Owen made it pretty clear that he will never play abroad again when he returned from Real Madrid. His options are Premiership clubs.

 

As the training times abroad clashed with the afternoon racing.

[Robster]

 

Providing we can use the money to get in another attacking player, definitely sell. That's what any sensible club would do.

I don't think it would happen though because the club would be fearful of the fans' reaction.

Aye. The club are running scared of another Geordie Jihad being put on their heads 

[Baggio]

WILLIAM HILL have opened a book on where Michael Owen will be playing on the first day of next season, and make Manchester City 5/4 to be his club by then.

 

William Hill: Owen’s club 1st day of next season

Man City 5/4

Newcastle 4/1

Liverpool 11/2

Everton 13/2

Man Utd 10/1

Chelsea 12/1

Arsenal 12/1

Wigan 33/1

 

http://www.williamhillmedia.com/index_template.asp?file=11457

[hallihg]

Mark these words:

 

In January Ashley will come back, decides not so sell the club and so on.

 

He'll bring in a central midfielder, some quality prospect Wise has been scouting. I'm imagining like a tough Italian or a German. That player will be surprisingly good (a la Bassong), and fights his way to our starting lineup along side Guthrie/Barton.

 

Owen stays injury free and we finish 7th place. 6th if Martins will be lucky with injury also. Therefore Michael sees we are moving forward (finally) in the right direction and decides to renew his contract.

 

Yeah I'm in a good mood.

 

 

[Optimistic Nut]

Mark these words:

 

In January Ashley will come back, decides not so sell the club and so on.

 

He'll bring in a central midfielder, some quality prospect Wise has been scouting. I'm imagining like a tough Italian or a German. That player will be surprisingly good (a la Bassong), and fights his way to our starting lineup along side Guthrie/Barton.

 

Owen stays injury free and we finish 7th place. 6th if Martins will be lucky with injury also. Therefore Michael sees we are moving forward (finally) in the right direction and decides to renew his contract.

 

Yeah I'm in a good mood.

 

 

 

People like you get put down in this country.

[hallihg]

 

 

People like you get put down in this country.

 

Luckily I'm not in your country.

 

ps. icesave was not my fault!

[Thespence]

WILLIAM HILL have opened a book on where Michael Owen will be playing on the first day of next season, and make Manchester City 5/4 to be his club by then.

 

William Hill: Owen’s club 1st day of next season

Man City 5/4

Newcastle 4/1

Liverpool 11/2

Everton 13/2

Man Utd 10/1

Chelsea 12/1

Arsenal 12/1

Wigan 33/1

 

http://www.williamhillmedia.com/index_template.asp?file=11457

 

I will be getting some of that action.

[Segun Oluwaniyi]

WILLIAM HILL have opened a book on where Michael Owen will be playing on the first day of next season, and make Manchester City 5/4 to be his club by then.

 

William Hill: Owen’s club 1st day of next season

Man City 5/4

Newcastle 4/1

Liverpool 11/2

Everton 13/2

Man Utd 10/1

Chelsea 12/1

Arsenal 12/1

Wigan 33/1

 

http://www.williamhillmedia.com/index_template.asp?file=11457

 

I will be getting some of that action.

Manchester United can do better than Owen. Unless they are tight on cash, I don't see why they would settle on 29 year old with poor injury record. Especially after the Luois Saha experiment.

[Thespence]

WILLIAM HILL have opened a book on where Michael Owen will be playing on the first day of next season, and make Manchester City 5/4 to be his club by then.

 

William Hill: Owen’s club 1st day of next season

Man City 5/4

Newcastle 4/1

Liverpool 11/2

Everton 13/2

Man Utd 10/1

Chelsea 12/1

Arsenal 12/1

Wigan 33/1

 

http://www.williamhillmedia.com/index_template.asp?file=11457

 

I will be getting some of that action.

Manchester United can do better than Owen. Unless they are tight on cash, I don't see why they would settle on 29 year old with poor injury record. Especially after the Luois Saha experiment.

 

The world it tight on cash & as I have already said I will be surprised if Man Utd stump dosh up for Tevez. Tevez price will have to come way down.

[Wallace]

I think at at this point Owen probably wants to leave and will want to go to a club that is playing European football next season.  However, with the league as it is, it is impossible to know which clubs will be doing do.  At the moment, it looks like it will be the usual CL clubs plus Villa and Everton but who else?  At this stage, City and Spurs are below us so why would that make them a better bet than us.  It makes sense therefore to see how the league pans out before making a decison and also if a club does not have to pay a transfer fee then it increases his options as clubs like Everton may then be able to afford him.

 

I am happy for him to stay until the end of the season - we need his goals.  Any replacement bought in may need time to adapt - Xisco did not make an immediate impact and who would have though Keane would have been such a flop at Liverpool.  At least we know that if he gets chances, he will put most of them away.

 

[Cajun]

Bye.

[Guest Sniffer]

WILLIAM HILL have opened a book on where Michael Owen will be playing on the first day of next season, and make Manchester City 5/4 to be his club by then.

 

William Hill: Owen’s club 1st day of next season

Man City 5/4

Newcastle 4/1

Liverpool 11/2

Everton 13/2

Man Utd 10/1

Chelsea 12/1

Arsenal 12/1

Wigan 33/1

 

http://www.williamhillmedia.com/index_template.asp?file=11457

 

I will be getting some of that action.

Manchester United can do better than Owen. Unless they are tight on cash, I don't see why they would settle on 29 year old with poor injury record. Especially after the Luois Saha experiment.

Because Owen is a class player who would do well in a team that actually plays the ball on the ground. His all round game, not just goal scoring, is well suited to a team like manure and he wouldn't be expected to play every game in that squad. IMO, he'd be an excellent addition to that squad.

[Optimistic Nut]

But Owen would expect to play week-in, week-out at wherever he signs his new deal, whether that be Newcastle or elsewhere. He's not going to get that at Man Utd.

[quayside]

Surely Owen wants his England place back. So he has to  to go somewhere he's going to get guaranteed first team football and can keep Capello's attention. I can't see him being a nailed on starter at any of the so called big 4 clubs tbh. He can't do 4-5-1 and that's what gets played quite often these days...

[tmonkey]

Surely Owen wants his England place back. So he has to  to go somewhere he's going to get guaranteed first team football and can keep Capello's attention. I can't see him being a nailed on starter at any of the so called big 4 clubs tbh. He can't do 4-5-1 and that's what gets played quite often these days...

 

Isn't he more likely to get into the England squad being a top four squad player than he is playing regularly for us and having games where he is anonymous because the service he needs isn't there?

 

If I were in his shoes, I'd much rather be playing 25 games a year with someone like Carrick/Scholes/Fabregas/Deco/etc threading me through balls, rather then playing 50 games chasing dead end through balls from someone like Butt. And if I had confidence in my abilities, I'd think that if I went to a club capable of providing me with better service, I'd force my way into the first team by making good use of that service, i.e. scoring more goals.

 

It's difficult to see any of the top four wanting him now that Rafa has said no, but then Owen is on a free which puts things in a different light altogether as that lack of desire from the top four could so very easily change. E.g. Liverpool cashing in on Robbie Keane and picking up Owen on a free, or ManU deciding not to sign Tevez for £30mill and getting Owen in as their new Solskjaer/Sheringham type squad forward, and so forth.

 

His wages on the face of it might be a problem for a top four club, but then who says Owen isn't willing to take a considerable pay cut to join a side with infinitely more chances of winning trophies than us? Ignoring the fact that he'd be looking at CL and trophy bonuses. Added to which, I'm pretty certain that back when we signed him and put the 100k offer on the table, Liverpool weren't offering anything like that at the time, yet his first option would have been to sign for Liverpool and not us. Therefore, working backwards, he probably viewed the choice between the "CL clubs including Liverpool vs Newcastle" as "chance of success plus decent wages vs very high wages", which is probably why we managed to tempt him in the first place. With respect to first team football for the England squad, if he had wanted guaranteed first team football, he'd never have rule us out like he did back when we were first sniffing around. Hence, if he has that same choice again at the end of the season, he'd surely go for that chance of success even if it means taking a significant paycut in terms of basic salary.

[Dave]

Don't forget that players magically gain greater eligibility for England when they 'play' for top four clubs. See Bridge, W.

[cp40]

Don't forget that players magically gain greater eligibility for England when they 'play' for top four clubs. See Bridge, W.

 

or Londoon club

[Chris_R]

Haven't read the other 28 pages so doubtless my point will already have been made but if he's delaying until the summer it'll be so he can talk to English clubs.

 

Right now he can only sign with Newcastle or with overseas clubs and it stays that way until the last month of his contract iirc. He's probably already been tapped up by another club though and doubtless already knows where he's going. And despite the "Money's not important" quote, I'd not be surprised to see him at Man City.

 

Not blaming the lad for that mind, given the current off-field shambles of our lot I think any player with half a brain would look to get out if they could. Still disappointed though.

[Baggio]

Former Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd has insisted Michael Owen should feel morally obliged to remain at St James' Park beyond next summer due to a personal debt to the club.

 

Shepherd, who masterminded the £17 million deal that took Owen from Real Madrid to Tyneside in 2005, has claimed the club-record signing "owes" Newcastle another season because of the amount of time spent sidelined due to injury.

 

Shepherd told Telegraph Sport: "Let's hope he stays because morally – and let's forget about the financial side of things – he owes Newcastle another season at least because of the number of games he's missed through injury.

 

"Anybody can get injured but a bit of common sense must come into this. An extra season would be his way of repaying the fans and then it would be a case of taking it from there.

 

"Footballers all get injured, that's life, it's an occupational hazard, but at the same time he can recompense the club by doing another season for them. He can't be blamed for the injuries but then again neither can Newcastle."

 

Shepherd appealed for Newcastle supporters not to get at Owen after he chose to delay a decision on a three-year contract offer until next summer when he is expected to leave on a free transfer, with Manchester City likely to lead the race for his signature. "Owen owes the Geordies but at the same time they've got to get behind him," Shepherd said.

 

"Knowing that Geordies are fair-minded people who want what's best for the club, they'll give him the benefit of the doubt as he hasn't made a final decision. Everyone has to remember that no single individual is more important than that football club."

 

For Shepherd, “it is a case of what might have been” when he reflects on Owen’s Newcastle days. “If he’d stayed fit I certainly think we would have finished in the top three but football can be very cruel,” Shepherd added.

 

“I thought his signing was the biggest coup for me as Newcastle chairman, but it has proved to be a very expensive deal for the club. I certainly don’t regret signing Michael, I just regret the amount of injuries he’s sustained.

 

“I still remember feeling physically sick when David Davies from the FA rang me up after the England-Sweden World Cup game [in 2006] to tell me the knee injury was worse than it had appeared to be on television.”

 

Newcastle agreed a compensation package with the FA and Fifa to cover Owen’s £100,000-a-week wages following his World Cup injury. Shepherd added: “Newcastle made sure he got the best knee surgeon in the world in Richard Steadman over in America and they [the FA] never reimbursed us for any medical bills. It cost us a fortune.”

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/newcastle/3919718/Michael-Owen-owes-it-to-Newcastle-to-stay.html

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

Former Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd has insisted Michael Owen should feel morally obliged to remain at St James' Park beyond next summer due to a personal debt to the club.

 

Shepherd, who masterminded the £17 million deal that took Owen from Real Madrid to Tyneside in 2005, has claimed the club-record signing "owes" Newcastle another season because of the amount of time spent sidelined due to injury.

 

Shepherd told Telegraph Sport: "Let's hope he stays because morally and let's forget about the financial side of things he owes Newcastle another season at least because of the number of games he's missed through injury.

 

"Anybody can get injured but a bit of common sense must come into this. An extra season would be his way of repaying the fans and then it would be a case of taking it from there.

 

"Footballers all get injured, that's life, it's an occupational hazard, but at the same time he can recompense the club by doing another season for them. He can't be blamed for the injuries but then again neither can Newcastle."

 

Shepherd appealed for Newcastle supporters not to get at Owen after he chose to delay a decision on a three-year contract offer until next summer when he is expected to leave on a free transfer, with Manchester City likely to lead the race for his signature. "Owen owes the Geordies but at the same time they've got to get behind him," Shepherd said.

 

"Knowing that Geordies are fair-minded people who want what's best for the club, they'll give him the benefit of the doubt as he hasn't made a final decision. Everyone has to remember that no single individual is more important than that football club."

 

For Shepherd, it is a case of what might have been when he reflects on Owens Newcastle days. If hed stayed fit I certainly think we would have finished in the top three but football can be very cruel, Shepherd added.

 

I thought his signing was the biggest coup for me as Newcastle chairman, but it has proved to be a very expensive deal for the club. I certainly dont regret signing Michael, I just regret the amount of injuries hes sustained.

 

I still remember feeling physically sick when David Davies from the FA rang me up after the England-Sweden World Cup game [in 2006] to tell me the knee injury was worse than it had appeared to be on television.

 

Newcastle agreed a compensation package with the FA and Fifa to cover Owens £100,000-a-week wages following his World Cup injury. Shepherd added: Newcastle made sure he got the best knee surgeon in the world in Richard Steadman over in America and they [the FA] never reimbursed us for any medical bills. It cost us a fortune.

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/newcastle/3919718/Michael-Owen-owes-it-to-Newcastle-to-stay.html

 

Interesting about the FA not re-embersing medical bills!

 

The bit about another year is daft as it is not even in the realms of possibility that this will be the scenario

[Syrette]

For Shepherd, “it is a case of what might have been” when he reflects on Owen’s Newcastle days. “If he’d stayed fit I certainly think we would have finished in the top three but football can be very cruel,” Shepherd added.

 

Yeah, righto, Freddy. Course we would have.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

For Shepherd, it is a case of what might have been when he reflects on Owens Newcastle days. If hed stayed fit I certainly think we would have finished in the top three but football can be very cruel, Shepherd added.

 

Yeah, righto, Freddy. Course we would have.

 

Even NE5 wouldn't admit to thinking that.