What an old fashioned out of the blue signing he was.
Was so excited for his debut, came off the bench at Palace in the League Cup and instantly set up one to get us back in the tie. Was an absolute pleasure seeing him pull the strings in the second leg. People say he didn’t suit our style but he actually played a fair bit in his first few months and made all those around him look better (Villa away when we ran riot with Gerrard and Murphy scoring).
He then got injured, I think playing for Finland at Anfield (or have I made that up!) and missed the rest of the season.
After that he struggled for game time the following season but made some useful cameos, none moreso than his great goal at Leverkusen that should have put us through. Who knows what that could have led to.
I think some are a bit unfair on Houllier when they blame him for driving Litmanen out of the club. He would have played more had he been fit for longer and by the time he returned we were in good form and Owen was very clearly the main man for us (not arguing Owen was more talented or anything, just our side was set up to get the best out of him).
Lovely player, lovely mullet.
