Owen impressed by Big Sam

[Greg]

todays times is reporting that owen may be here next season.................................

 

Newcastle United are increasingly confident that Michael Owen will remain at the club next season, a development that will provide early validation for the new regime at St James’ Park. While Manchester United and Liverpool harbour an interest in the England striker, other targets are being pursued more vigorously, allowing his present employers to plan for life with their record signing in tow.

 

That news will be welcomed by Sam Allardyce, the manager, as well as by supporters, whose delight at the prospect of Mike Ashley’s £133 million takeover has been tempered by speculation surrounding Owen and Obafemi Martins, his teammate. Both forwards have release clauses in their respective contracts, but it is thought unlikely that Owen’s will be triggered this summer.

 

United’s pursuit of the 27-year-old stretches back to the World Cup finals, when Owen suffered a serious knee injury. Liverpool rivalled Newcastle for his signature in the summer of 2005, but were not prepared to match the £16 million fee accepted by Real Madrid and it is understood that Rafael BenÍtez, the manager at Anfield, is ambivalent towards their former player.

 

Public discussion regarding the existence of a £9 million get-out clause infuriated Freddy Shepherd, the Newcastle chairman, who called upon Owen to commit himself to the club. That declaration has not followed, although Owen has never expressed any desire to leave Tyneside and used a recent column in The Times to confirm that he had enjoyed “a good chat” with Allardyce.

 

Glenn Roeder’s replacement intends to transform the culture at Newcastle into a replica of the system he employed at Bolton Wanderers – where emphasis was placed on psychology, sports science and innovations in diet and fitness – and Owen has been impressed by his vision. In Mark Viduka and Joey Barton, there have already been two quality additions to the squad.

 

Owen’s continued presence would also be a coup for Ashley, the billionaire businessman, who has assumed control at Newcastle. Ashley’s ambitions are high and that task will be assisted by Owen’s marketing potential and talent for scoring goals. Since joining Newcastle two years ago, he has been limited to 13 starts for the club because of injury and has acknowledged that he has yet to provide value for money.

 

Martins could leave for £13 million, £3 million more than Roeder paid Inter Milan ten months ago. Juventus have been linked with the 22-year-old, who scored 17 goals in his first season at Newcastle, and Arsène Wenger’s admiration for the Nigeria forward may be hardened if Thierry Henry leaves Arsenal; Martins this week spoke of his desire to stay on Tyneside.

 

If it is not dismantled, Allardyce’s striking quartet of Owen, Martins, Viduka and Shola Ameobi should be formidable and he has taken steps to bolster the rearguard. Having missed out on Tal Ben Haim, who joined Chelsea on a free transfer, he is expected to sign David Rozehnal, 26, the Paris St-Germain defender, for about £3 million and is also monitoring Sami Hyypia, of Liverpool, and Habib Beye, of Marseilles.

 

Try reading the rest of the page?

thats all ican find online,why whats there ?

 

This page man!

 

Edit: The previous page now!

[Dave]

The exact same article was posted an hour previous.

[madras]

todays times is reporting that owen may be here next season.................................

 

Newcastle United are increasingly confident that Michael Owen will remain at the club next season, a development that will provide early validation for the new regime at St James’ Park. While Manchester United and Liverpool harbour an interest in the England striker, other targets are being pursued more vigorously, allowing his present employers to plan for life with their record signing in tow.

 

That news will be welcomed by Sam Allardyce, the manager, as well as by supporters, whose delight at the prospect of Mike Ashley’s £133 million takeover has been tempered by speculation surrounding Owen and Obafemi Martins, his teammate. Both forwards have release clauses in their respective contracts, but it is thought unlikely that Owen’s will be triggered this summer.

 

United’s pursuit of the 27-year-old stretches back to the World Cup finals, when Owen suffered a serious knee injury. Liverpool rivalled Newcastle for his signature in the summer of 2005, but were not prepared to match the £16 million fee accepted by Real Madrid and it is understood that Rafael BenÍtez, the manager at Anfield, is ambivalent towards their former player.

 

Public discussion regarding the existence of a £9 million get-out clause infuriated Freddy Shepherd, the Newcastle chairman, who called upon Owen to commit himself to the club. That declaration has not followed, although Owen has never expressed any desire to leave Tyneside and used a recent column in The Times to confirm that he had enjoyed “a good chat” with Allardyce.

 

Glenn Roeder’s replacement intends to transform the culture at Newcastle into a replica of the system he employed at Bolton Wanderers – where emphasis was placed on psychology, sports science and innovations in diet and fitness – and Owen has been impressed by his vision. In Mark Viduka and Joey Barton, there have already been two quality additions to the squad.

 

Owen’s continued presence would also be a coup for Ashley, the billionaire businessman, who has assumed control at Newcastle. Ashley’s ambitions are high and that task will be assisted by Owen’s marketing potential and talent for scoring goals. Since joining Newcastle two years ago, he has been limited to 13 starts for the club because of injury and has acknowledged that he has yet to provide value for money.

 

Martins could leave for £13 million, £3 million more than Roeder paid Inter Milan ten months ago. Juventus have been linked with the 22-year-old, who scored 17 goals in his first season at Newcastle, and Arsène Wenger’s admiration for the Nigeria forward may be hardened if Thierry Henry leaves Arsenal; Martins this week spoke of his desire to stay on Tyneside.

 

If it is not dismantled, Allardyce’s striking quartet of Owen, Martins, Viduka and Shola Ameobi should be formidable and he has taken steps to bolster the rearguard. Having missed out on Tal Ben Haim, who joined Chelsea on a free transfer, he is expected to sign David Rozehnal, 26, the Paris St-Germain defender, for about £3 million and is also monitoring Sami Hyypia, of Liverpool, and Habib Beye, of Marseilles.

 

Try reading the rest of the page?

thats all ican find online,why whats there ?

 

This page man!

 

Edit: The previous page now!

right so i've read the rest of the page,several times now....what you getting at ?

[KaKa]

todays times is reporting that owen may be here next season.................................

 

Newcastle United are increasingly confident that Michael Owen will remain at the club next season, a development that will provide early validation for the new regime at St James Park. While Manchester United and Liverpool harbour an interest in the England striker, other targets are being pursued more vigorously, allowing his present employers to plan for life with their record signing in tow.

 

That news will be welcomed by Sam Allardyce, the manager, as well as by supporters, whose delight at the prospect of Mike Ashleys £133 million takeover has been tempered by speculation surrounding Owen and Obafemi Martins, his teammate. Both forwards have release clauses in their respective contracts, but it is thought unlikely that Owens will be triggered this summer.

 

Uniteds pursuit of the 27-year-old stretches back to the World Cup finals, when Owen suffered a serious knee injury. Liverpool rivalled Newcastle for his signature in the summer of 2005, but were not prepared to match the £16 million fee accepted by Real Madrid and it is understood that Rafael BenÍtez, the manager at Anfield, is ambivalent towards their former player.

 

Public discussion regarding the existence of a £9 million get-out clause infuriated Freddy Shepherd, the Newcastle chairman, who called upon Owen to commit himself to the club. That declaration has not followed, although Owen has never expressed any desire to leave Tyneside and used a recent column in The Times to confirm that he had enjoyed a good chat with Allardyce.

 

Glenn Roeders replacement intends to transform the culture at Newcastle into a replica of the system he employed at Bolton Wanderers where emphasis was placed on psychology, sports science and innovations in diet and fitness and Owen has been impressed by his vision. In Mark Viduka and Joey Barton, there have already been two quality additions to the squad.

 

Owens continued presence would also be a coup for Ashley, the billionaire businessman, who has assumed control at Newcastle. Ashleys ambitions are high and that task will be assisted by Owens marketing potential and talent for scoring goals. Since joining Newcastle two years ago, he has been limited to 13 starts for the club because of injury and has acknowledged that he has yet to provide value for money.

 

Martins could leave for £13 million, £3 million more than Roeder paid Inter Milan ten months ago. Juventus have been linked with the 22-year-old, who scored 17 goals in his first season at Newcastle, and Arsène Wengers admiration for the Nigeria forward may be hardened if Thierry Henry leaves Arsenal; Martins this week spoke of his desire to stay on Tyneside.

 

If it is not dismantled, Allardyces striking quartet of Owen, Martins, Viduka and Shola Ameobi should be formidable and he has taken steps to bolster the rearguard. Having missed out on Tal Ben Haim, who joined Chelsea on a free transfer, he is expected to sign David Rozehnal, 26, the Paris St-Germain defender, for about £3 million and is also monitoring Sami Hyypia, of Liverpool, and Habib Beye, of Marseilles.

 

Try reading the rest of the page?

thats all ican find online,why whats there ?

 

This page man!

 

Edit: The previous page now!

right so i've read the rest of the page,several times now....what you getting at ?

 

 

Think you need an early night pal.

[madras]

gregs fault "try reading the rest of the page" without specifying...tch

 

 

why didn't you say it had already been posted.

 

 

 

thanks dave for not being so cryptic

[Greg]

gregs fault "try reading the rest of the page" without specifying...tch

 

 

why didn't you say it had already been posted.

 

 

 

thanks dave for not being so cryptic

 

Sorry.  8)

[ohmelads]

Owen is playing us around and waiting for a move but you know he's a professional and if he does stay he'll score goals for us.

 

I'm really torn on it to be honest. I really don't want us to lose our best player but looking at the bigger picture it might not be all that good to have a superstar constantly attracting interest from bigger clubs and not committing himself to the club.

 

The hope would be to keep him and have a good season and convince him to stay on, but somehow that seems unlikely. If he does stay another season I think it'll be his last anyway, plus his value will drop significantly as his contract will be running out. Losing him now, as painful as it would be, could just be better for us in the long term. £9m is still quite a bit of money, throw a few mill more on the end of that and we could get ourselves a very good replacement for years to come, someone perhaps more committed to the club and someone better for the balance of the team. As great a player as Owen is, I've always felt he's a little bit awkward to play around and his injury record means he has never scored 20 league goals for anyone. For me a world class striker who seldom assists should be able to claim that.

 

He's not the be all and end all and £9m is not pennies. We need an answer soon though because to lose him in August would leave us with a big problem.

[Guest]

Agree there. As long as he's scoring goals and playing well, I couldn't give a f*ck whether he wants to be here or not.

[Quailman]

He's going to stay, along with Martins and with Smith as an addition from Man Ure with the versatility of midfield aswell things are looking on the up and up!