Footballers get pelters for a lack of honesty and ex-pros often get accused of not telling the whole story, especially when they do these books.
Obviously, in the eyes of many, Owen is damned either way.
If that's his genuine opinion on his time as Newcastle, then fair enough. People don't have to like it.
Bit of a twat thing for Shearer to do with that clip imo. I've watched that segment and not being the player he was earlier in his career, clearly affected him. Just because he was still trying to do his job and pick up a wage (no matter how extortionate) doesn't make his feelings less valid.
I'm not his biggest fan by any stretch but I think some of the stick he is getting is over the top.
Agree with this.
Maybe time dims memories but before his Leeds injury he was an absolute superstar. We had one of the top strikers in the world, with everything going for him to become the best of his generation alongside Ronaldo, to become an all-time great. It felt like everytime he got the ball up top he won a foul, skinned a player, and closer to goal created a chance / assisted / scored. The game was a bit more open back then, granted, but it's the sensation you get with the true greats.
All that, ended at what was his age...something like 19 and a half, maybe 20. Never the same again as a player, though he did put up decent numbers for a few seasons after modifying his game.
If he had topped himself a few years down the line it would have been perfectly understandable. The fact he went on to make a career for himself, living through that bitterness, probably depression, anger, of greatness denied...is no small feat. People love talking, being supportive about mental health when someone fesses up to it but not all men are built to share, just because someone doesn't spell it out doesn't mean the issues aren't there.
Fine with his comments so far, if someone's being anything less than honest he / she's wasting your time. The extracts so far haven't been a waste of time.
I'm sure newcastle fans will hate him for them, but hey, they already hate him I think. You know, fans complain about 'paying the wages' of pros, it was more accurate back then before the huge tv money deals , but at the end of the day you're not doing it out of the goodness of your heart, you're going there for your fix / escapism. A fix, as a collective, they can't even kick as Mike Ashley destroys their club. Probably the main thing you can level at Owen in Newcastle was his lack of commitment, that would be fair, but even that came with red flags before he had even signed, no well run recruitment unit signs a player who's blatantly half-hearted about your club before he's even walked in. They chose to pick a guy who was less than enthused, they chose to pay him that much, take some responsibility for it.