Owen back in FULL TRAINING a week on Monday

[Guest hindu times]

FROM THE CHRONICLE:

 

Owen's game for a returnMar 27 2007

 

 

 

 

By Alan Oliver, The Evening Chronicle

 

 

 

 

Glenn Roeder has revealed that Michael Owen is in the final throes of his comeback which could see the Newcastle United striker back in a black-and-white shirt before the end of the season.

 

While United have had 10 players away on international duty, Owen has been quietly beavering away under the watchful eyes of Roeder and the club's medical staff at the training ground.

 

And Roeder revealed today: "Michael is now joining us in our football warm-up for the first time since he was injured last June.

 

"He is now taking part in 30 minutes of football with us every day.

 

 

 

 

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"But after that, when the intensity of this increases, he goes off to continue his work with our rehab coach John Green who, as he did with Kieron Dyer, has done a fantastic job with Owen.

 

 

"I watched as Michael was striking the ball into an empty net yesterday and, believe me, it was great to see.

 

 

Now by a week on Monday Michael Owen will be back in full training with us and he will be treated no differently than any other player in our first-team squad."

 

 

Roeder insists that no comeback date has been fixed for Owen, but it could be that the game with Chelsea at St James' Park on April 22 will be the one.

 

 

I was at a talk-in at the Whitley Bay Berkeley Tavern last night when, after Freddy Shepherd comments in the Chronicle that the club's prize asset would not be rushed back just to suit England, Owen was quite naturally a big topic of conversation.

 

 

Yet rather surprisingly on a show of hands among what can only be described as a roomful of United fanatics, the majority of them said they would not mind waiting for next season to see Owen back.

 

 

But this is not Roeder or Owen's thinking. Roeder is in the business of winning matches for Newcastle United and Owen quite naturally wants to do what he is well paid to do - play football.

 

 

Roeder has been in charge of United for nearly 14 months now and only on one occasion has he been able to put Owen on his team sheet - when the £17m man came on for the final away game of last season at Birmingham City.

 

 

But the United boss is not only happy at the progress Owen is making but added today that Shola Ameobi's rehabilitation was "unbelievable."

 

 

And with these two, along with Oba Martins, Antoine Sibierski and young Andy Carroll, Roeder seems happy enough with the strike force he will have available next season.

 

 

That's why talk over the weekend linking United with West Ham striker Dean Ashton will not turn out to be right. And reports that Hammers skipper Nigel Reo Coker was heading to St James' Park are also wrong.

 

 

However, Roeder is very much in the market for quality defenders and he was linked with Manchester United's Mikel Silvestre and Man City's former United defender Sylvain Distin over the weekend.

 

 

But the United boss told me today: "Not one player I was linked with over the weekend was correct and I am not interested in Mikel Silvestre or Sylvain Distin."

 

 

 

[Ally]

Great stuff.

 

That rehab coach seems to have done a good job with Dyer, lets hope Owen has a similar comeback.

[gray]

back for the chelsea game on me 25th birthday, nice one

[Dave]

Overrated tbh, I could strike the ball into an empty net.

 

Roeder is easily pleased.

[Guest]

Does anyone think Roeder would stick him in the reserves for a few matches?

[Dave]

Pity he's ruled out Distin there btw, would have been a very good option on a free imo.

[Ally]

Pity he's ruled out Distin there btw, would have been a very good option on a free imo.

 

No! Most sensible thing Roeder has said in ages.

[Guest]

Exactly. It's a no brainer to me. If he ends up renewing Bramble's contract, or hands Onyewu one after rejecting Distin on a Free he wants shot man.

[Guest TheOrder]

Really great to hear this. It's like a brand new signing. We've already got a leg up on the other mid table rabble, we're able to bring a world class striker into our team.

[Cajun]

Glad he has ruled out Silvestre!

[Leazes1986]

Glad he's ruled out Distin and Silvestre.

[Guest]

Glad he's ruled out Distin and Silvestre.

 

Why? On our budget, who can we get that are cheaper and better? (although admittedly I could possibly see Silvestre being Babayaro Mark II).

[Swissmag]

Silvestre is shite, but I would take Distin...

[Guest]

Can't believe somebody wouldn't. One of City's best players, was arguably our best defender the season we finished 4th. I'd have him back in a flash, even more so on a Bosman.

[Ally]

was arguably our best defender the season we finished 4th

 

That said more about Dabizas, O'Brien and Hughes than it did about him imo.

 

[Lagerstedt]

From .co.uk

 

Owen Steps Up Comeback Bid

 

By Craig Hope

 

MICHAEL Owen has joined in light warm-up work with his United team-mates as the club's record signing moves a step closer to pulling on the black and white jersey.

 

The 27-year-old striker is less than two weeks away from a return to full training, but is spending half an hour each day taking part in ball work with his Toon colleagues.

 

And gaffer Glenn Roeder revealed his excitement after seeing Owen strike a ball into an empty net for the first time on Monday.

 

The Magpies manager said: "Michael is now joining us in our football warm-up for the first time since he was injured last June.

 

"He is now taking part in 30 minutes of football with us everyday.

 

"But after that, when the intensity of this increases, he goes off to continue his work with our rehab coach John Green who, as he did with Kieron Dyer, has done a fantastic job with Owen.

 

"I watched as Michael was striking the ball into an empty net on Monday and, believe me, it was great to see.

 

"By a week on Monday Michael will be back in full training with us and he will be treated no differently to any other player in our squad."

 

Roeder has had the services of Owen at his disposal just once since taking over the reigns at Gallowgate on a temporary basis nearly 14 months ago.

 

And even then Owen was limited to just 30 minutes as a substitute in the 0-0 draw with Birmingham City last April.

 

A horror knee injury sustained at last summer's World Cup has kept the former Real Madrid ace sidelined since then, and United chairman Freddy Shepherd this week warned England bosses that Owen's return will only be when the time is right.

 

Shepherd said: "I am an England fan and I want to watch them in the Euro finals in 2008.

 

"But let's stop this clamour for Michael Owen returning to play for England before it gets up a full head of steam.

 

"Michael Owen will return when it is in the best interests of the player and Newcastle United not England.

 

"The player and Newcastle United come first, but he will not be rushed back just so that he can play for England in the summer.

 

"And make no mistake about it, if Michael is not fit for Newcastle United this season he will not be fit for England."

[Rich]

Interesting that he hasn't mentioned Brown in that, which leads me to optimistically believe we must have an interest in him (bit injury prone in the past, mind). I agree with the people who say Distin would be decent on a free: he's hardly a world-beater and I personally think Richard Dunne is better than him, but he's got a lot about him and is a massive step-up from Moore/Bramble.

 

Also, as Hindu Times said: doesn't seem like we're in the market for a striker this summer - which is a shame, really, if we suffer with injuries again next season. Have to say that Owen, Martins, Ameobi, Sibierski, Dyer and Carroll *should* be a lot better than what we've had to select from this season, but it's still far from top-class.

[BottledDog]

Regarding this.

 

But the United boss told me today: "Not one player I was linked with over the weekend was correct and I am not interested in Mikel Silvestre or Sylvain Distin."

 

No need to get elated/upset, remember this.

 

With regards to Onyewu' date=' Roder added: "I am aware of this player but he is not a player I am trying to sign." [/quote']

 

Take anything the man says with a healthy pinch of salt.

[Martin Lol]

Good news for Newcastle fans, good news for England fans, even if he won't be in an England shirt in the summer.  In short, good news for football fans.

 

As I've said many times before, a striker's main job is to score goals and imho o current Englishman does it better than Owen.  If he and Rooney were both available tomorrow, I would still pick Owen before Rooney, even though Rooney should in theory cost twice as much as Owen.

[Leazes1986]

Glad he's ruled out Distin and Silvestre.

 

Why? On our budget, who can we get that are cheaper and better? (although admittedly I could possibly see Silvestre being Babayaro Mark II).

 

I don't know what our budget is but i don't think they are great defenders at all tbh. Roeder has made it quite clear that he didn't want to bring in defenders last summer because he didn't think the ones available were good enough. Distin and Silvestre would just be stop gaps imo. We really need to sort our defence out once and for all. I don't rate Distin any better than a decent defender. We need a solid defence for once who can play together for years to come and be a solid unit.

[johnnypd]

Roeder shouldn't be in the business of ruling out perfectly good players, he's simply narrowing the field for no reason whatsoever. fool is making the same mistakes as he did last summer.

 

for the record i think Distin did very, very well here considering it was his first season in England, playing out of position and alongside some utter dross. certainly stood out. since then he has matured and looks a very capable centre-half. turning down the likes of him, or Campbell, when we're crying out for strong, powerful leaders at centre-half, is sheer nonsense.

[NE5]

Roeder shouldn't be in the business of ruling out perfectly good players, he's simply narrowing the field for no reason whatsoever. fool is making the same mistakes as he did last summer.

 

for the record i think Distin did very, very well here considering it was his first season in England, playing out of position and alongside some utter dross. certainly stood out. since then he has matured and looks a very capable centre-half. turning down the likes of him, or Campbell, when we're crying out for strong, powerful leaders at centre-half, is sheer nonsense.

 

I'm not so sure about Distins attitude, having left the club in the past. But if he could show it was good and wanted to play for the club, we could do far worse than sign him for a small fee, in fact it could be a very good deal, as he can also play at left back too.

 

When he was on loan for us previously, he was really very good, and while people correctly claim that Robert and Bellamy played a big part in us moving into the top 4 from a mid table place - especially me  - Distin also played a major role at the back too.

 

 

 

 

[Yorkie]

Would have liked Distin, as said in a couple of other threads.

 

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Fantastic news on Owen, really really good. I suppose this is a bit early? Which is why i'm still cautious. We've played 18 months without him in the team, i don't think the final month or so of this season is going to matter, especially with nowt to play for, if it's going to hinder his rehabilitation.

 

Great news, undoubtedly, but i'd rather see him playing at Kingston Park before St James'.

 

And MJ, England fans can fuck off.

[Guest smoggeordie]

Would have liked Distin, as said in a couple of other threads.

 

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Fantastic news on Owen, really really good. I suppose this is a bit early? Which is why i'm still cautious. We've played 18 months without him in the team, i don't think the final month or so of this season is going to matter, especially with nowt to play for, if it's going to hinder his rehabilitation.

 

Great news, undoubtedly, but i'd rather see him playing at Kingston Park before St James'.

 

And MJ, England fans can f*** off.

 

Have you seen the pitch there? His knee wouldn't last a minute.

[Yorkie]

Roeder shouldn't be in the business of ruling out perfectly good players, he's simply narrowing the field for no reason whatsoever. fool is making the same mistakes as he did last summer.

 

for the record i think Distin did very, very well here considering it was his first season in England, playing out of position and alongside some utter dross. certainly stood out. since then he has matured and looks a very capable centre-half. turning down the likes of him, or Campbell, when we're crying out for strong, powerful leaders at centre-half, is sheer nonsense.

 

I'm not so sure about Distins attitude, having left the club in the past.

 

PSG were asking too much. He wanted to stay if i recall correctly.