Owen

[Optimistic Nut]

£5m plus one of Keane & Defoe and I'd accept.

[Parky]

Without going through the whole thread again it was mentioned in some papers that Allardyce has had a meeting with him and Dyer at the England camp this week.

 

 

Sam is on the case that for me is the main thing.

[Cajun]

There is no way Owen will accept a wage less than half of what he currently gets and rely on performance related bonuses.  Especially if its to go to a club like Spurs!

[Guest Darth Toon]

I reckon Owen is savvy enough to sit tight and see what's going on with the takeover before making any firm decisions about his future.

 

Indications seem to be that none of the "Big 4" are exactly falling over themselves to sign him, so the prosect of being a major player in the Ashley revolution could appeal to him big time. Would be nice to use the opportunity to try and tie him to a longer contract as well.

 

And if he does go anywhere, it certainly won't be to Spurs FFS!

[Paulie Walnuts]

Owen's silence has annoyed me.  He's given plenty of interviews over the last few days about England but not a word about Newcastle despite all his comments while he was injured about how guilty he felt.  Loyalty eh!

[Dave]

Owen's silence has annoyed me.  He's given plenty of interviews over the last few days about England but not a word about Newcastle despite all his comments while he was injured about how guilty he felt.  Loyalty eh!

 

They would be misinterpreted by press and fans alike.

 

I understand the frustration though.

[jackyboy]

It would be nice if Owen just had the brains to say something about his situation, he doesn't have to commit himself. Something along the lines of "I've spoken to the new manager and need some time to consider my position. I've had two bad years with injuries and have not played much for the club, however, I did not get injured then miss those games on purpose. Since I came to NUFC I am now under the third manager. The fans have been great but I am 28 now and need to be sure in my own mind exactly what I want to do"

 

Something like that would be far better than silence

[sturla]

Must be rather tiresome to always have to comment on press rumors.  I think he made it pretty clear earlier this year when he said he'll stay as long as we'll have him.  Shearer has also spoken for him that he should not have to reject the rumors.  I'm quite satisfied with Owen staying silent.

[midds]

The only things i want to hear from Owen are the following:

 

 

1)  I'm delighted to be signing this 2 year contract extension and look forward to getting this club back where it belongs.

 

Or

 

2)  I've asked my agent to find me another club. I'm unhappy here and want to move to a club that meets my ambitions. 

 

Got to be honest, I don't really care which one it is. He either commits his future to us or he decides to go and gives us a chance to scrape back some money on the deal. Offer him the contract and see what his reaction is.

[Mr. Snrub]

£5m plus one of Keane & Defoe and I'd accept.

 

5m + Defoe for Michael Owen?  No, just no.

 

I think some people forget just how good the guy is.

[Guest Triglett]

£5m plus one of Keane & Defoe and I'd accept.

 

5m + Defoe for Michael Owen?  No, just no.

 

I think some people forget just how good the guy is.

 

I think it's more the fact that his prospects are looking extremely bleak and his career is hanging on by a thread. I don't think he's a worthwhile signing for any club with the wages he's on. It's not fair to write him off just yet, but all he offers at the moment is 20 games at most, at what, £120kpw?

[Cajun]

£5m plus one of Keane & Defoe and I'd accept.

 

5m + Defoe for Michael Owen?  No, just no.

 

I think some people forget just how good the guy is.

 

Or how long he has left on his contract, the wages he is on a the frequency of his injuries.

[Northern Monkey]

£5m plus one of Keane & Defoe and I'd accept.

 

5m + Defoe for Michael Owen?  No, just no.

 

I think some people forget just how good the guy is.

 

And how much he isn't arsed about playing for us, have you forgotten that?

[Mr. Snrub]

But now that we've got a competant manager and a potential billionaire owner, we could get a team that he wants to play for.

[Cajun]

But now that we've got a competant manager and a potential billionaire owner, we could get a team that he wants to play for.

 

Well now I feel honoured! Thank you Saint Michael of Owen for blessing us! 

[Mr. Snrub]

Teams bend over backwards for their star players, that's how football works unfortunately.

 

We're no different so there's no point trying to make Owen out to be a bad guy.

[Northern Monkey]

But now that we've got a competant manager and a potential billionaire owner, we could get a team that he wants to play for.

 

You think we'll be a top 4 team in the next 2 years? Nope.

[Mr. Snrub]

Highly doubtful, but it's not impossible.  Afterall, Spurs should have been a top 4 side the season before last.

[tmonkey]

Liverpool must be having a good think about Owen's situation. This season has proven without a shadow of a doubt that the one player theyre lacking the most is a 20+ natural goalscorer. Owen happens to be that, and hes also allegedly available for close to what theyve sold him for.

 

Benitez may not be keen on Owen, but what would the new American owners think? Would they prefer to let the manager spend 30mill on Villa, or 10mill on Owen, who happens to be a big name England international player, a former Liverpool favourite, and a big shirt seller? Benitez might prefer someone else, but like settling for Penant after failing to sign Simao/Alves, would he really mind if his superiors failed to strike a deal for someone like Villa and having to end up with Owen as his "third choice"? Maybe that is partly the reason for his thinly veiled "buy who I want or I will walk" attack the other day, but still, hell know he cant always get his first choice targets and how upset would he be if he gets to spend big money in other positions having just signed Owen?

[Syrette]

Liverpool must be having a good think about Owen's situation. This season has proven without a shadow of a doubt that the one player theyre lacking the most is a 20+ natural goalscorer. Owen happens to be that, and hes also allegedly available for close to what theyve sold him for.

 

To be fair, he's never scored more than 20 in a season as far as I know.

[Robster]

Can anyone remember what Owen was saying publicly and to the press towards his time at Liverpool.

Did he openly say he wanted away or did he just sit tight and keep his mouth shut about what he was doing ?

[Keefaz]

This 20 goals a season things bollocks. There aren't many strikers who'll score 20+ PL goals, especially if they aren't a regular pen taker. If we have a striker who's scoring 15/16 goals from open play, I don't think we can have too many complaints as long as others are chipping in as well.

[Syrette]

This 20 goals a season things bollocks. There aren't many strikers who'll score 20+ PL goals, especially if they aren't a regular pen taker. If we have a striker who's scoring 15/16 goals from open play, I don't think we can have too many complaints as long as others are chipping in as well.

 

Didn't stop people complaining about Martins.

[Northern Monkey]

Liverpool must be having a good think about Owen's situation. This season has proven without a shadow of a doubt that the one player theyre lacking the most is a 20+ natural goalscorer. Owen happens to be that, and hes also allegedly available for close to what theyve sold him for.

 

To be fair, he's never scored more 20 in a season as far as I know.

 

He's never even ("even" ) got 20.

[BlufPurdi]

http://www.newcastle-online.com/sojust-what-is-michael-“owen”-us/

 

So…just what is Michael “Owen” us?

By G. Messiah On Fri 25 May 2007

 

When SFX decided to “park” their prized possession, Michael Owen, at St James’ Park way back in summer 2005, it was doubtless with some glee that they shook hands with one of the most gormless Chairmen even to grace a football club, and secured a legendarily bumper contract for Owen (and themselves), riddled with escape clauses that now leer menacingly at Freddie Shepherd.

 

Those of you prone to hangovers will be able to relate to the feeling. Because for Shepherd, when he looks back at those frantic days in the run up to transfer deadline day, it now must genuinely feel like the morning after a very heavy night before. You can imagine Freddie burying his head in his hands and cringing as, flashback after flashback, he slowly recalls various embarrassing moments from his drunken idiocy, and prays that nobody else saw him dancing naked down the Quayside with a traffic cone on his head…except, metaphorically speaking of course, we all did, didn’t we?

 

Snatching Owen from underneath Rafa’s nose must surely rank as one of the biggest transfer coups in Premiership history; but in reality it was a coup de grace that has subsequently become yet another inglorious Tyneside farce. As a love match, it has to be said that Michael Owen and Newcastle always seemed a bit of a strange one. That same summer Owen’s return from La Liga had been much vaunted by eager press hawks circling high above Anfield and Old Trafford. Indeed, Little Micky’s motivation in coming to Newcastle United has continued to vex the media and football fans alike, ever since he signed with us on 31st August 2005.

 

It was a transfer deal that promised so much, and yet that £16million has delivered so much less than we had all hoped and expected. His signing was an exercise in both vanity and desperation by a Chairman under pressure to secure season ticket revenues for the future, and a manager (Souness) keen to secure a successor to the talismanic Shearer. But as we all know, Owen’s time on Tyneside has been variously jinxed by recurrent injury, management turmoil, poor squad morale and woeful team management, and now with the transfer season just about in full swing, the same old questions return about Owen’s commitment to the club: would he ever really have wanted to come here (were it not for the money), or to put it more succinctly, wasn’t this always just a marriage of convenience?

 

Sven Goran Eriksson’s revelation that Owen only signed for the money has come to underpin this view, which is rapidly becoming the majority view of the Tyneside faithful. Whilst there is widespread appreciation of Owen as one of the Premiership’s crowning glories, a striker of unique talent, a likeable personality, one of football’s Mr Nice Guys, the great expectations of a long-frustrated Geordie public are now giving way to a brooding resentment towards “Little Mickey”, similar to that which echoed through the streets and pubs of Anfield the summer he left for Madrid.

 

A consistently fit and available Owen would and should have played something in the region of 97 competitive games for us by now, but the Newcastle United fans have seen him play just 14 times, and seen him hit the back of the net just 7 times (including a perfect hat-trick at Upton Park in December 2005). Not a bad goal per game ratio, admittedly…but at nearly £2.3million per goal or £1.1million per appearance, it’s not really good value by any measure. Admittedly, it’s pretty crude arithmetic (if you can even call it that), but on a rumoured £115,000 salary per week, Owen has latterly been seen by a section of the fan base as a rather costly mistake, a mercenary who is more interested in playing for England than for Newcastle United. It was solely the hubris of a deluded Chairman that brought him here on a contract that has persistently been the subject of rumour: supposed “get out” clauses of £13m, £12m, £11m, £9m. Nobody seems to know, but the foul stench remains, and now the general consensus is that Shepherd, in his desperation, more than likely did agree on any terms he could get Owen in on.

 

The media circus is in full flow now and frenzied speculation swirls around Owen’s future apace, spurred on by ill-advised and crass statements from the Chairman, like this one reported on 10th May: “Michael has two choices: he can come out and tell our fans that he is happy here; or I tell him none of the big four are interested. Because that’s the case.”

 

And what sort of choice did that leave Owen with anyway? Let me spell it out for you Freddie: Hobson’s choice. A typically crass choice of words from the corpulent Chairman, not least because it left him open to further criticism from fans fatigued by recent league performances, but more importantly, it betrayed that all is not well at SJP when it comes to Owen’s future.

 

To be brutally frank, we all know the power agents have these days, and if we’re realistic, there is little NUFC can do about it now. The question has been raised in the media, which is as sure a sign as any that Owen’s agents are agitating for a move. At 27, Owen has perhaps one more big money move left in him. Beyond this summer, his currency in the transfer market is likely to deplete, especially if his form suffers whilst Allardyce rebuilds around him. Indeed there remains significant doubt that Owen even wants to play now that Allardyce is at the helm, and doubt remains whether Allardyce can bridge that confidence gap and persuade Michael to stay.

 

Even now that Mike Ashley has galloped into town upon his colossal money steed, the silence from Owen in terms of publicly committing his future to Newcastle remains deafening. Maybe, just maybe, Little Mickey will decide to stay one more season. But that’s not good enough. We need to offer him a contract extension now, after all, what is there to lose in doing so? If he signs, then great, we’ve retained the services of one of England’s most prolific strikers for a few more years – and we must just keep our fingers crossed that he doesn’t wreck himself with another injury, I suppose. If he doesn’t sign, then we know where we stand and can move him along before he loses any more value in the transfer market.

 

Whether Owen stays or goes this summer is more down to the actions of one Tony Stevens of SFX than it is down to Shepherd or Allardyce. I still believe that if one of the “big four” comes a-calling this summer, waving the £9m or whatever that it will take to trigger the release clause, then he’ll be offski. Euro 2008 beckons next summer. Owen will rightly wish to be playing at a club where his talents can be fully utilised, rather than having to play a game of chance whilst Shepherd gives his last roll of the Allardyce to get things sorted.

 

Adopting a dispassionate view, there’s no good reason why Owen should want to stay at SJP when we’ve been in such disarray this past season. This is business – let’s get real. Would you want to stay and work for a place where the company’s customers booed and slagged you off on web forums? Is it Owen’s fault he’s on such a ludicrous salary? If you were surrounded by half-hearted prima donnas more interested in their next pay packet than the quality of their team work, would you stay?

 

All the while he was injured and working hard to get back playing from what could have been a career ending injury, he’s been faced with widespread unprofessionalism by various spoilt brats in the dressing room, and a manager who couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag let alone a concerted attack from a lower league side. When he did get back, he was left isolated and cut adrift for large periods of the few games he has played for us, simply because our midfield was all over the place, clueless and lacking in any direction.

 

So, maybe he does owe us “morally”…but, ultimately he’s got to think about his own wellbeing and his own career. This is business, for him there can be no room for sentiment - even though he has previously come out and expressed his guilt about his long periods of injury while he’s been here. But ask yourself this: to what extent were the club culpable for his injuries in the first place? Sure, we’ve laid down resources to help him recuperate, and he had a track record of getting crocked, but I can’t help wondering if our training regime played some small part in this sorry episode.

 

Of course, it would be nice to see him playing for Newcastle week in, week out, enjoying his football, scoring regularly, helping push us back up into the top 4. But even with Sam Allardyce in charge we have to be realistic - we’re miles adrift from being in that position just now and will probably be for some time. Allardyce will have to build a more workmanlike team to recover the ground we have lost in the past 3/4 seasons. Offloading Owen now, who seems to have been recruited on one mighty strange contract set-up, seems to be both an inevitability and increasingly desirable from a crude business perspective.