Topic: Michael Owen

[El Lobo]

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.

‘No offence Lynne....’

[slaphead]

Personally I don't think he's done an awful lot wrong except write a shit book. Its nothing honest Newcastle fans don't already know anyway, that he wanted to move to us, and that they are not as big a club as they think they are. I'm not big on reading ex players books but if I was I'd respect someone a lot more for telling me how they felt not what the fans want to hear

[afc tukrish]

...they were singing what a waist of money

United fans sing the same at Shaw...

[PhaseOfPlay]

United fans sing the same at Shaw...

[CraigDS]

Why were most Liverpool fans so open to hearing Torres' side of the story, but not Owen's, I wonder? It all comes down to perception and a popularity contest, ultimately. Most Liverpool fans did not want to dislike Torres, but they want to dislike Owen. It's trendy to hate Michael Owen.

Most fans detested Torres, wanted to or not. Although think it helped slightly he wasn't a player who came through the youth ranks, wasn't at top form when he left, and also didn't run his contract down so we got a ridiculous fee for him.

He also didn't pass up the chance to come back here, and then didn't go and join United.

I mean the two really aren't that comparable.

[Fromola]

Actually interesting what Owen said about Shearer being near a Liverpool move at one point. What season would that have been?

I remember it being mooted in Robson/Houllier's last season. Either summer 2003 or Jan 04.

[Black Bull Nova]

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 remember just how good he was, he decided he was better than Liverpool and, like many players, he wasn't as it turned out, especially after his injury. If he'd done it like Keegan it would have been OK but he led us on a merry dance. The lad has always had a big idea about himself which was fine when he was 19 and a world star. When he was a crocked 28 year old that no-one wanted then some humility might have been useful. His golf club and horse racing mates in Chester probably stopped him from being grounded. Only a few years off being a 1 goal youtube clip and a 'who' from anyone under 25.

As for why he is not popular, he makes it hard to watch BT because of his irritating comments and, to be honest, he's a bit of a self serving arse.

Anyway, the publicity has probably sold a few books (who?) and he can buy another horse, although the £35m he took off Newcastle should still be getting him by.

[Fromola]

He was always appreciated at Liverpool but maybe not loved as he should have been as fans knew he wasn't one of us and never endeared himself like a Torres or Bobby. He was always known as England's Michael Owen and always gave more of a shit for them.

He fucked us over twice over though. First running his contact down, which Rafa was smart enough to make sure we got a fee and spent the money on Alonso. We wouldn't have won the CL if we'd kept him for that last year and wouldn't have had the money to reinvest. The second time was when he went to Newcastle out of fear for his England place when he could have insisted to Madrid on going to Liverpool (who were offering a few million less). As it was he did us a favour.

Third time around he wanted to come here, Rafa gave him short shrift and then he couldn't believe his luck when Ferguson gave him a deal, which was basically to piss us off.

[Hazell]

If was so wanted to come here, why did he leave in the first place?

[24/7]

His first game at Anfield after having left - playing for NUFC - two nil down - 2nd half - "YOU SHOULD'VE JOINED A BIG CLUB!"
 

[Fromola]

His first game at Anfield after having left - playing for NUFC - two nil down - 2nd half - "YOU SHOULD'VE JOINED A BIG CLUB!"
 

And Where were you in Istanbul?

[Black Bull Nova]

And Where were you in Istanbul?

That was the real beauty of Owen leaving, he ran down his contract, promising to re-sign while secretly planning to exit to Madrid in the belief they would provide him with the glory of something like a Champions league. 9 months later and the trophy is sitting in Liverpool and he's not wanted anymore.

After we won the CL we probably looked a decent bet for him again but he'd sold his soul to the Spanish and had little choice, he wanted his England place secure which was now threatened so, despite his boyhood club Everton showing interest, he was forced to the North East because no top club would take the risk anymore at the asking price (and the hiked wages he'd managed to get to by running down his contract by lowering his sale price). Newcastle (as ever) had more money than sense.

In order for him to have a bit part in winning something (on top of the 5 trophies he won at Liverpool) he had to sign for our biggest rivals, who back then were a shoe-in for silverware most years, it looked a little hollow but (excepting Stoke) gave him a little time in the sun at the end of what was a career which started off like a rocket and ended in mainly disappointment.

Players earn good money for what they do, some earn respect of the fans on top of that, often from more than one club (ie Jermain Defoe), Michael has his money. He could have been a legend.

[RedKenWah]

On the plus side for him, he’s going to be making a bit more money for himself after this book gets released.

Other than the money though I don’t understand what he’s getting out of this? 15 mins in the spotlight to be relevant again?

In some ways he’s timed it well in terms of this being the international break, but come the proper footy coming back, this will all be forgotten, and the likes of Alan Shearer will be sitting on MOTD enjoying life.

[robgomm]

It's good to see someone piercing Shearer's enormous ego a little bit.

[Scouser-Tommy]

Which actions exactly?

Leaving the club in the manner that he did and the timing left a sour taste for most supporters and then in turn ended up playing for United, so there is more than enough to consider why a lot of people have not forgiven him or see him in the same light as some other ex-players.

[MNAA]

Leaving the club in the manor that he did and the timing left a sour taste for most supporters and then in turn ended up playing for United, so there is more than enough to consider why a lot of people have not forgiven him or see him in the same light as some other ex-players.

Which manor is this?

[MNAA]

His wrong choices are coming back to bite him. He was a brilliant little player for us when we were desperate for one with Fowler out with ACL injury. But it has always been about Michael. The club and the fans did not feel the love and affection from little Mikey. No matter how great a striker he was, he was no Robbie Fowler

I can't forget and I can’t forgive though I still choose to remember the great times ... the young hero, the great goals, the great comeback from injury, the 2 goals in Rome, the FA Cup magic and the Ballon D’or

[Paully]

Well according to him they were singing what a waist of money at him as he was being stretchered off, If I was a pro footballer and was writing a book in that situation, I wouldn't have been so kind as he has, I would have simply called them c*nts.

That's utter bull-shit that quote from him.

Our fanbase have hated him for years - these quotes just add to the hatred!

[24/7]

His wrong choices are coming back to bite him. He was a brilliant little player for us when we were desperate for one with Fowler out with ACL injury. But it has always been about Michael. The club and the fans did not feel the love and affection from little Mikey. No matter how great a striker he was, he was no Robbie Fowler

I can't forget and I can’t forgive though I still choose to remember the great times ... the young hero, the great goals, the great comeback from injury, the 2 goals in Rome, the FA Cup magic and the Ballon D’or

Little. Ouch
What's that charming sobriquet he had on n here some years back? Oh yeah. Judas Midget Injury Boy.

Can anyone find that video of Neville Southall training a young keeper and Owen is being a total knob?

[Corkboy]

Reminder...

my scouse what is the forgiven forgotten attitudes that seeping like Joan Collin fanny on this pages WRITE SABU PUNDIT? You got a amnesiac of the head? This Mickey Ewing is still sporting a satin lining on the exterior of the midget body because he is a turned coat yellow brick roader of first order. How you contempt plate? He mealy mouthed Libpole with "my pen is runned out Quink just goin' down WH SMith for some and then signature" and then "oh look I shagging Royale McDrid now". 

[TheMightyReds]

Always been a twat, and will most likely always will be a twat. 

Cared only for No1. He is not a legend, and nor is he in the same league as Shearer in any capacity. Can't imagine him piping up in front of Shearer who would knock out the little bitter twat.

Always remember his picture when signing for ManU, his stupid celebrations scoring for them, him rejecting to play for Liverpool, running down his contract, putting his international career above his club all the time, taking the mick out of a 13 year old kid in front of the camera's, acting like a posh twat on BT, having a stupid twattish smile, acting like he was too good for LFC (which he done everywhere more or less), using a stupid brochure to advertise his twattish self, the self centred ego maniac. An utter imbecile and twat. Selfish and greedy. If he wasn't a footballer he would be one of those who would skin you for every pound, or leave you for dead in a helpless situation.

[Paully]

Always been a twat, and will most likely always will be a twat. 

Cared only for No1. He is not a legend, and nor is he in the same league as Shearer in any capacity. Can't imagine him piping up in front of Shearer who would knock out the little bitter twat.

Always remember his picture when signing for ManU, his stupid celebrations scoring for them, him rejecting to play for Liverpool, running down his contract, putting his international career above his club all the time, taking the mick out of a 13 year old kid in front of the camera's, acting like a posh twat on BT, having a stupid twattish smile, acting like he was too good for LFC (which he done everywhere more or less), using a stupid brochure to advertise his twattish self, the self centred ego maniac. An utter imbecile and twat. Selfish and greedy. If he wasn't a footballer he would be one of those who would skin you for every pound, or leave you for dead in a helpless situation.

Shearer hates him stems from the little wanker refusing to play for him in our vital 2nd last match of the season at home to Fulham which we lost and went on to be relegated. He didn't want to get injured and lose out a move in the summer. To think we spunked a £16.5m transfer fee and over £24m on wages on the little shit-house. Hate him. 

[paulrazor]

Shearer hates him stems from the little wanker refusing to play for him in our vital 2nd last match of the season at home to Fulham which we lost and went on to be relegated. He didn't want to get injured and lose out a move in the summer. To think we spunked a £16.5m transfer fee and over £24m on wages on the little shit-house. Hate him. 

did he really refuse? shit if true

[Crosby Nick]

Shearer hates him stems from the little wanker refusing to play for him in our vital 2nd last match of the season at home to Fulham which we lost and went on to be relegated. He didn't want to get injured and lose out a move in the summer. To think we spunked a £16.5m transfer fee and over £24m on wages on the little shit-house. Hate him. 

Bet you felt quite smug when he signed for you though Pauly?

Should have signed for a a big club.

[Scouser-Tommy]

Which manor is this?

From recollection, he ran his contract down with no indication to the club that he wanted to leave.

He refused a new contract offer just before we were due to start our Champions League campaign against Graz, which resulted in him being dropped so he wasn't cup tied then was sold for a lot less than he was worth at the time.

[paulrazor]

From recollection, he ran his contract down with no indication to the club that he wanted to leave.

He refused a new contract offer just before we were due to start our Champions League campaign against Graz, which resulted in him being dropped so he wasn't cup tied then was sold for a lot less than he was worth at the time.

he might have been taking the piss over a typo

to add to your point im sure he said on the clubs website he would sign a new deal but when Madrid came calling he couldnt run fast enough to them

[Paully]

did he really refuse? shit if true

https://twitter.com/dpcoverdale/status/965897361921904641?lang=en

[Scouser-Tommy]

he might have been taking the piss over a typo

More than likely looking back, one of the boring blag teacher types.

But yeah, I remember him being offered a new contract just before we played Graz then he got benched. I've had a few European Cup wins since then, so my memory isn't 100% on it.

Does Owen mention our European Cup win in his book by any chance haha

[paulrazor]

More than likely looking back, one of the boring blag teacher types.

But yeah, I remember him being offered a new contract just before we played Graz then he got benched. I've had a few European Cup wins since then, so my memory isn't 100% on it.

Does Owen mention our European Cup win in his book by any chance haha

na he definitely left us short changed in 2004. no question

https://twitter.com/dpcoverdale/status/965897361921904641?lang=en

selfish

[I've been a good boy]

Speaks volumes about him when no fans at any of his previous clubs think highly of him. He reminds me of a dodgy car salesman who would schmooze you all the way and tell you to fuck off as soon as he's got your money.

[Samie]

Owen makes me want to watch paint dry for a whole month. 

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Fck him. Broke my heart, after he left for Real, not because he left the club, but because leading up to that he kept saying he was going to sign a  new contract.

I'd would had been able to forgive him, but then he played for the Mancs.

[El Lobo]

Michael Owen hits back at 'delusional' online trolls and defends Liverpool ambassador role

Michael Owen looks to set the record straight in his explosive new book Reboot

Michael Owen has hit back at the abuse he takes from football fans online and defended his role as a Liverpool ambassador in his revealing new book Reboot.

Owen scored 158 goals in 297 appearances for the Reds, helping them to two League Cups, the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in the process across his eight-year career in the first team at Anfield.

However, the ex-England forward soured his relationship somewhat with the club's fanbase after leaving to join Real Madrid in a cut-price deal in August 2004.

Owen's standing further plummeted in the eyes of certain sections of the Liverpool support when he moved to Manchester United in 2009, but the 39-year-old now enjoys an ambassadorial role with the Reds.

In his new book, Owen talks about the "contradictory" claims of his detractors who take issue with his current position at Anfield, while also taking aim at those who direct abuse at him online.

With close to four million Twitter followers, the former Liverpool man is a regular target for unsavoury comments on social media, but Owen insists his reputation is intact in the "real world".

He writes: "I’ve never been one of those guys who you’d see hanging around their former club, wearing club gear, doing nothing in particular other than just being seen there. I see guys like that – lads I played with and against – doing that at clubs all over the land.

You wouldn’t see a guy like Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher ever doing that and I wouldn’t dream of doing it either. It looks desperate. It makes me cringe.

Yes, a football club was once my place of work. But when I left, that contact was broken. I can’t then become a fan – a hanger-on, standing around to remind anyone who might be looking that I once played there. I’m secure enough with my legacy and contributions that I don’t need to.

"Unless I’m contracted to perform some kind of ambassadorial duty that requires me to be at a club, I’d be mortified to be seen there. I don’t know why this is, but I’m actually proud to feel this way. The same applies to asking favours from former clubs. As much as I played for Manchester United and Real Madrid, I wouldn’t dream of phoning them up to look for a couple of match tickets.

I suspect they’d have no problem with it if I did, but I’d never dream of doing it. I’m like my dad Terry in that sense. I respect myself, and the clubs, too much to go cap in hand for anything for free. Again, I’d be embarrassed. Yet, I see ex-pros doing it all the time.

"Liverpool is a slightly different situation in that, along with a number of other ex-players, I have an ambassadorial role there. I’m not in there all the time – far from it. But I do my bit.

"Not surprisingly, I get a huge amount of abuse from what I suspect is a minority of Liverpool fans who think that, because I played for a rival club, I shouldn’t even be a Liverpool ambassador in the first place!

"That, I’m afraid, is fan-centric nonsense. Not just that, when I trawl through my memory banks, recounting all the great moments I enjoyed with the fans and my fellow players, these opinions sting. My record at Liverpool is a good one. I won trophies there, scored goals, won two Golden Boots there and lifted the Ballon d’Or. I played for the club on two hundred and ninety seven occasions. I went in where it hurts for the club on countless more instances.

How does playing for a rival club negate any of that? It doesn’t. To think that way is just delusional. And even worse, while fans are happy to question my credentials, you’ve got guys hanging around.
 
"Liverpool and every other club, with fancy titles, wearing tracksuits, being ambassadors, who played there for one season, didn’t do much for the club and kicked a ball for two minutes while they were at it! It’s all such nonsense – and fans sometimes need to stop and have a long hard think about how some of their opinions are so contradictory. Worth adding too is that these opinions only ever seem to surface on the Internet!

"In my daily life, I don’t shy away from going anywhere. I go to restaurants, pubs, racecourses, football grounds – I have done so for years and I’ll continue to. I can count on one hand the number of times that anyone has come up to me and given me a hard time about whatever football clubs I’ve played for, or been abusive about so-called loyalty, or challenged my views on this or that.

"In the real world it doesn’t happen. On the Internet however, it’s a total free-for-all.”

I do wonder who this book is actually targeted at

[Byrneand]

I do wonder who this book is actually targeted at

Reading that quote, he really doesn't come across as a great person. Basically taking digs at players who weren't as fortunate as him to earn mega contracts with the virtuous circle of the money being reinforced on and off the pitch. He comes across as arrogant and rude to his fellow professionals and at the same time fans of the clubs he played for.

His moral compass really doesn't seem to know where True North is.

Owen had/has an amazing natural gift which he obviously worked hard at perfecting; take nothing away from that and what he achieved in the first half of his career but at the same time seems to have no appreciation of how privileged he was and the benefits he received from being funneled through the likes of Lilleshall, fast-tracked through the national squads, all the endorsements and opportunities that presented themselves (e.g. investment opportunities outside of football) to him by having multi-millions at the age of 20. Again, I'm sure he sacrificed lots during those teenage years but equally, doesn't seem to appreciate how lucky he was relative to so many other footballers out there.

As for this latest chapter, its embarrassing and desperate; especially from someone of his age.

[24/7]

I do wonder who this book is actually targeted at

I can see him reading it to himself in the bathroom mirror. That whole quote reeks of narcissism and condescension and bitterness. Deluded to the end.

[El Lobo]

I’d have more respect if he’d name dropped a few like Kvarme and Diao 

[MichaelA]

I loved what he did for us as a player, and his early years were an absolute joy; it's not an exaggeration to say that he brought me back to loving football again. Then he sold his soul, and he can't handle the consequences.

[gjr1]

Once a c*nt always a c*nt.

Oh look an opportunity to make more money out of the suckers.

Never bought or read any players books and never would

[Hazell]

I can see him reading it to himself in the bathroom mirror. That whole quote reeks of narcissism and condescension and bitterness. Deluded to the end.

Needless to say, he's had the last laugh.

[PhaseOfPlay]

From here:

The late Keith Blunt, a director for the Football Association's National School at Lilleshall, used to tell a story about the teenage Michael Owen. In the autumn of 1993, Blunt had spoken to 32 new inductees, including Owen, reminding the aspiring footballers of the game's pitfalls.

"The fact is," Blunt had said, "only two of you here will probably go on to make it as a top-level professional footballer."

Owen went to Blunt and told him how he'd looked across the classroom when the bleak message was delivered, thinking, "I wonder who the other one is."