Topic: Owen's Brochure impresses Ferguson

[Gromit]

Liverpool were not doing well, had a new manager who might not adapt to English game, how long after that was it Gerrard nearly left? Real Madrid, a massive club with lots of money and star players come in for Owen, he leaves not a domestic rival but to a club in another country. which so very few England players are willing to do.

If a player from Arsenal or Sunderland (who were doing well at the time if I recall rightly) did that, we would be calling it ambition, wanting to win things and so on. As it is Owen and Liverpool, this seems to be a unspeakable and evil crime, doesn't seem fair

You make a fair point, it was a professional decision, he thought he would do better at Real and put any feelings he had for the club to one side.

But we wanted some loyalty and support for the new manager.  He chose not to give it, so I don't know why anyone is surprised we aren't getting all sentimental over him after he looked out for himself.

[Ken-Obi]

*shrugs*
One of favourite players back when he was one of ours.
Shook my head when he left for Madrid and moved on.
Nowadays I'm just indifferent about him - we all make choices and we must stand by it, no regrets of the past.

[MidwestWool]

Good luck, Owen.















NOT! FUCK YOU!

[mig]

*shrugs*
One of favourite players back when he was one of ours.
Shook my head when he left for Madrid and moved on.
Nowadays I'm just indifferent about him - we all make choices and we must stand by it, no regrets of the past.

Same. Can't believe how low he is now when he is supposed to be peaking already.

[hoonin]

Oops. Missed this.

Pissed meself laughing at that. Hilarious.

[hoonin]

His move from us has to go down as one of the worst transfers a footballer has made.

Incredible how far he has fallen.

Yep.

Not everyone was/is bitter towards Owen after he left, but I defy anyone not to find what followed a large dose of "tough luck". He's the master of his own destiny so has nobody to blame but himself.

[lurganboy]

If we got him on a free I'd snap his hand off. He's lost pace, but still knows exactly where the goal is. Ian Rush left Liverpool, so too did Keegan and Souness. We had Rush and Souey both back (Souness as manager), and we took an unfit Fowler back, to great acclaim.

[Degs]

If we got him on a free I'd snap his hand off.

Which would leave him with no legs and no hand.

But there's no problem in leaving, half the time it's necessary, Keegan gave us a year's notice, time enough to find Dalglish.
Rush left purely because of Heysel, and Fowler and Souness were past their best.

Owen left without giving the new management a chance, he ran down his contract for 2 years claiming he would sign one - deceiving everybody so he could engineer an easy move away, and then when he left the biggest insult of all was to say he was leaving US...LIVERPOOL...to win medals.

Thankfully the little shit has won fuck all since then while we're now the proud owners of an actual European Cup with an FA Cup win along the way, and European nights he could only dream of while crying into his copy of the racing post.

I hope he has "Where were you in Istanbul" ringing in his ears everytime he closes his eyes.

[MagicHat]

Not doing well? We had qualified for the CL which in all fairness is no worse than Arsenal have achieved this year.  We had a new manager with a proven record of success.... maybe, just maybe it was worth giving the club his career to that point a chance as they WERE showing the ambition he also had.

Gerrard situation is totally different, that was due to the incompetence of Rick Parry.

Lets just see how you feel when Fabregas fucks off with a year left on his contract after repeatedly assuring the fans he would sign a new contract?

Is that what a player wants to tell his grandchildren? "League titles? No, never had them but I qualified for Europe." As Van Persie says, that isn't enough, as Sammy Lee would say, that isn't enough. Not all managers or players can, for whatever reason, then take that to another country so yes Benítez, was a gamble. As for matching ambition, heard that from several clubs before and it now has Benítez built up a side ready to challenge for the league.

I would say thanks for the service Cesc, good luck.

But we wanted some loyalty and support for the new manager.  He chose not to give it, so I don't know why anyone is surprised we aren't getting all sentimental over him after he looked out for himself.

Liverpool were hardly rich, run by Parry and co, a load of decent but hardly world class players, he had given a lot of service to Liverpool already, why should he wait? If Liverpool had been rich, packed full of world class players, seen as genuine title challengers and then Owen left saying "I don't trust the new manager Benítez" then that would be not showing faith. Failing to stay a year and not badmouthing the new boss is hardly undermining Benítez's position, a manger only proven in Spain.

I'm not saying about lack of sympathy, understandable you guys don't want to cry over his failures out of the sympathy. More the laughter at how his career his gone and comments of hatred, rather the opposite of sympathy is it not?

[Gromit]

MagicHat - do you feel indifferent to Ashley Cole?  Would it have crossed your mind to think 'that's karma' should his career had gone tits up after looking out for himself and leaving Arsenal the way he did?  After all, Arsenal weren't as strong as Chelsea, he's won much more than if he had stayed.

[Walking Through A Storm]

I'm not saying about lack of sympathy, understandable you guys don't want to cry over his failures out of the sympathy. More the laughter at how his career his gone and comments of hatred, rather the opposite of sympathy is it not?

It's hugely rare that a player has left us in the way he did, I can only think of him and Steve McManaman as players that let their contract run down while promising to re-sign, leaving us with a pittance of a transfer fee. Though I couldn't comment about Arsenal, we're used to players keeping their word and committing to the club, so its unsurprising people took it badly. Personally I'd find it hilarious if the little backstabber ended up in the Championship.

[LFCfan4Life]

I'm not saying about lack of sympathy, understandable you guys don't want to cry over his failures out of the sympathy. More the laughter at how his career his gone and comments of hatred, rather the opposite of sympathy is it not?

hatred? many don't hate him. they just don't like him for what he did which is fair enough. i couldn't care less that he wanted out but not signing a new contract the year before he left just so he could make a move for a small transfer fee and pull in more wages for himself is what hurts me.

If we had got £25m instead of £8m we might have had a couple better players that summer or the summer after, rather than having to make cut price signings as stop gaps.

about wanting to tell your kids you played in the CL, probably not. but how much of that has he done in the past 4 years? at least if he stayed he could have told them some stories about beating big teams and getting so far in the CL etc

instead now he can tell them the story of how he left liverpool in the shit but they still played in finals and won cups he could only dream of, while he went to rot on the bench of real madrid.

EDIT: btw i want to add that i hope he goes somewhere for football rather than money this time get 30+ starts under your belt at a good PL team like Fulham and sort himself out.

[And Could He Play]

Agree with Magic hat here to be honest, a lot of people just jumping on a bandwagon to hate Owen, love the guy myself. Gave me some of the best days of my life. He left a team that looked like it was going nowhere really, full of shite players, for Real Madrid. It was a career move, he gave us years of loyalty. Can't really blame him for leaving, none of us knew what was going to happen, and be honest if someone told you we'd win the CL that season with diao's , biscans , smicers etc. You have laughed you head off at them.

[markmywords]

Is that what a player wants to tell his grandchildren? "League titles? No, never had them but I qualified for Europe." As Van Persie says, that isn't enough, as Sammy Lee would say, that isn't enough. Not all managers or players can, for whatever reason, then take that to another country so yes Benítez, was a gamble. As for matching ambition, heard that from several clubs before and it now has Benítez built up a side ready to challenge for the league.

I would say thanks for the service Cesc, good luck.

Liverpool were hardly rich, run by Parry and co, a load of decent but hardly world class players, he had given a lot of service to Liverpool already, why should he wait? If Liverpool had been rich, packed full of world class players, seen as genuine title challengers and then Owen left saying "I don't trust the new manager Benítez" then that would be not showing faith. Failing to stay a year and not badmouthing the new boss is hardly undermining Benítez's position, a manger only proven in Spain.

I'm not saying about lack of sympathy, understandable you guys don't want to cry over his failures out of the sympathy. More the laughter at how his career his gone and comments of hatred, rather the opposite of sympathy is it not?

I'm not expecting a wake held in honour of Owen's England Career, but a little class might be nice.

Proper football fans would remember the great things that Owen did for LFC, knowing the good outweighed any bad and wish him well, few of those wearing red today, Magic, Thanks for shining a light to the petty, small mindedness and bitterness of many fans on here, sometimes you need an outsider to illustrate just how far the LFC fans have fallen

[rednich85]

Rush left purely because of Heysel

Sorry mate, Rush didnt leave purely because of Heysal

I dont even think that was one of his reasons leaving.....at all

[Dick_Emre]

"Were it not for an unhappy spell at Real Madrid and two injury-scarred years at Newcastle, he would be spoken about in the same breath as Torres and Ronaldo and valued in the priceless figures that only match-winning goalscorers ever justify."

It was the England injury in 2006 that ultimately fucked him up good and proper.
Having said that I hope the miserable  little money grabbing twat ends up at Rochdale or Macclesfield.

[Degs]

I hope the miserable  little money grabbing twat ends up at Rochdale or Macclesfield.

Which he will if he stays at Newcastle 

(sorry)

[Dick_Emre]

Which he will if he stays at Newcastle 

(sorry)

Boooooooooooooooo! 

[MagicHat]

MagicHat - do you feel indifferent to Ashley Cole?  Would it have crossed your mind to think 'that's karma' should his career had gone tits up after looking out for himself and leaving Arsenal the way he did?  After all, Arsenal weren't as strong as Chelsea, he's won much more than if he had stayed.

He amuses me My issue with him is he talked to a club beyond Wenger's back thus breaking the rules, tried to cover it up and blacken the clubs name then went to Chelsea, a local rival. As an England fan pleased to see him back on form, did think celebrating a Carling Cup victory when he was a sub was a bit silly

Had Cole moved abroad and kept silent about the club beyond "I want to win things" then I would have wished him luck. Eve so Arsenal fans really overdo it with some of the insults

It's hugely rare that a player has left us in the way he did, I can only think of him and Steve McManaman as players that let their contract run down while promising to re-sign, leaving us with a pittance of a transfer fee. Though I couldn't comment about Arsenal, we're used to players keeping their word and committing to the club, so its unsurprising people took it badly. Personally I'd find it hilarious if the little backstabber ended up in the Championship.

Edu is closeset I can think of for us, we had to put up with a lot of legal trouble over him and he left us on a free over lack of games but we liked him anyway. Hardly compares though

Maybe because I was rather young (and because I wasn't here) but don't recall McManaman getting this even when he is mentioned nowadays

hatred? many don't hate him. they just don't like him for what he did which is fair enough. i couldn't care less that he wanted out but not signing a new contract the year before he left just so he could make a move for a small transfer fee and pull in more wages for himself is what hurts me.

about wanting to tell your kids you played in the CL, probably not. but how much of that has he done in the past 4 years? at least if he stayed he could have told them some stories about beating big teams and getting so far in the CL etc

instead now he can tell them the story of how he left liverpool in the shit but they still played in finals and won cups he could only dream of, while he went to rot on the bench of real madrid.

Not hate? I would hate to see what Liverpool fans hatred was like if this thread and other Owen threads were mere dislike.

The thing is, yes he won nothing since but he couldn't see into the future, he had to make a calculated guess as what would happen. Back in that summer, did you honestly think Liverpool would win the Cl that next season (or finish 5th?) or that Real Madrid would do so badly? I recall thinking Madrid would slip but never this badly, I would have thought they would have been a lot better then they ended up being and I certainly didn't think Liverpool would win so much

[Mark Walters]

I didn't have a problem with Owen leaving.  What I have a problem with is that he actually had a chance to come back and chose to go to the barcodes instead. THAT was a bigger fuck up than leaving for Real!  I'd LOVE to see him playing in the Championship next season.

[Degs]

Maybe because I was rather young (and because I wasn't here) but don't recall McManaman getting this even when he is mentioned nowadays

He did, he does.

[LFCfan4Life]

Not hate? I would hate to see what Liverpool fans hatred was like if this thread and other Owen threads were mere dislike.

The thing is, yes he won nothing since but he couldn't see into the future, he had to make a calculated guess as what would happen. Back in that summer, did you honestly think Liverpool would win the Cl that next season (or finish 5th?) or that Real Madrid would do so badly? I recall thinking Madrid would slip but never this badly, I would have thought they would have been a lot better then they ended up being and I certainly didn't think Liverpool would win so much

most fans don't hate him, its a strong word to hate someone, i dislike him and ill say that to his face. Like i said its not about going but the manner in which he engineered his move and cost us when it came to demanding a decent transfer fee. same reason i don't like mcmanaman he turned down a big money, then, move to barca which would have got us a fair wedge to run down his contract and fuck off on a free.

just because you laugh at someone's fate after their own doing or don't want to see him back at liverpool doesn't mean you hate him, no one here wants him to fall ill or hurt etc and those that do need to look at themselves before judging him.

[buchigo!]

how much does this wasserman group charge? i want to make a brochure for someone.

"were it not for bungling the p&g account and arriving to work hungover half the time, he'd be mentioned in the same breath as osen from legal and hannah from management.

you can also say that "...he's good-looking and charismatic."

[Slave]

I couldn't care less.

Owen had footballing talent in abundance and was a joy to watch but once that initial exiting flush of innocent and precocious youth went after his first serious injury, he then seemed to branch into other areas, and perhaps excelled above all in looking after number 1, and in later years perfecting his ability to wangle staggering sums of money for questionable old rope.

I expect he's a very personable chap to know, but I can't help but sometimes think that despite protestations to the contrary,  any regret he may have over his lack of medals or England appearances is not primarily as a sportsman, but at missed business opportunities to increase his brand Owen sponsorship and advertising revenue, and every statement that I have ever heard from him simply seems carefully crafted and caged to primarily ensure the retention of public sympathy for the St Michael.

So it is unlikely I will ever shed a tear at his lack of medals or the 'wasted' career of a man who can comfortably go to sleep on a mattress stuffed with £100 notes dreaming of his extensive property and racing stables portfolio and wondering were he'll fly his helicopter to next.

Unless he's spectacularly dim behind the facade and has poor financial advice or his gambling habit is as rumoured, unlike the rest of us, his children and possibly grandchildren will need never do an honest days hard work in their privileged lives. Most of us would deem that as pretty wildly successful.

I think he should simply retire gracefully and stop getting people excited at the (im?)possibility of him ever really recapturing that fantastic magic period of his youth before the patience wears too thin and the good memories are irrevocably tainted, and now concentrate purely on enjoying his considerable wealth and his horses and other trappings in secluded anonymity.

This.

He always struck me as someone who whilst praising the fans for their support, was secretly chuckling to himself at how stupid they were. He has been taking the piss out of supporters for years and has been laughing all the way to the bank.

[Cruiser]

Agree with Magic hat here to be honest, a lot of people just jumping on a bandwagon to hate Owen, love the guy myself. Gave me some of the best days of my life. He left a team that looked like it was going nowhere really, full of shite players, for Real Madrid. It was a career move, he gave us years of loyalty. Can't really blame him for leaving, none of us knew what was going to happen, and be honest if someone told you we'd win the CL that season with diao's , biscans , smicers etc. You have laughed you head off at them.

Well said mate. So much bitterness here.

Too many people just love to target someone. I mean, he may have screwed us around a bit, but fuckin hell that doesn't mean hes public enemy no.1 after all the good memories hes given us.  He went to a boss Madrid side but couldn't make it. Shit happens, but its not reason to spew hate at him. The club may have missed out on a few million cos of him but its not like its your money is it? Too many people have short term memories.

[RigBon1892]

"charismatic"

Fucking hell, that's the funniest thing I've read in ages.  A tin of creosote has more charisma than Michael Owen.

I remember joking that Newcastle would have no problem scoring goals when he joined, all him and Shearer had to do was start on a story and then just walk the ball into the net

[ALPH1217]

Christ, he's been gone for nearly 5 years, get over it.

[BazC]

Liverpool were not doing well, had a new manager who might not adapt to English game, how long after that was it Gerrard nearly left? Real Madrid, a massive club with lots of money and star players come in for Owen, he leaves not a domestic rival but to a club in another country. which so very few England players are willing to do.

If a player from Arsenal or Sunderland (who were doing well at the time if I recall rightly) did that, we would be calling it ambition, wanting to win things and so on. As it is Owen and Liverpool, this seems to be a unspeakable and evil crime, doesn't seem fair

It's fair enough he went to Madrid. Just not how he did, which ended up with us getting £8m for a striker worth at least 2-3 times that at the time. But still, can't stop him- at the time we weren't that great and Real looked like they could win trophies.

Us winning the CL and him sitting on his arse winning FUCK ALL should have taught him though. We came back in for him for £10m but the little twat wouldn't sit and force Madrid's hand JUST AS HE HAD FORCED OURS THE SUMMER BEFORE! So off he trots to fucking Newcastle, a move which was anything but ambitious. I'm not going to say his predicament over the next 2 years 'served him right' but it's probably one of the greatest real examples of irony you're likely to find anywhere. I love that fact. In the time he's been away we've turned from the team who failed to deliver after promising so much to winning the CL, getting to another final, getting in a truly world class spine in the team that only Chelsea can match in the PL, we've emerged as genuine title challengers and are one of the most feared teams in Europe, having beaten every big team going in England, Spain and Italy these last few seasons.

And little Mickey Owen's been sat on his arse watching it all.

I don't blame him for going to Madrid. I do, however, wonder why the fuck he went to fucking Newcastle when we were definitely in for him that summer... I think he also met with Rafa and Parry before being unveiled in Newcastle.

Saying all that, I'd take him back on a free and a pay as you play with a small fixed salary- he may be a crock and has made some utterly idiotic career decisions, but he's still a good player- he'd be great cover for Torres I reckon. But that's all he'd be. Cover for Torres. Torres has been better than Owen at his best- hell, Torres just got 14 goals in a season where he started 20ish games and quite a lot of injuries in between. That's 2 good matches for him (he'd get 5-6 goals easily in 2 good matches!) away from Owen's best record of 19 goals in the league for us...

[RJH]

It's fair enough he went to Madrid. Just not how he did, which ended up with us getting £8m for a striker worth at least 2-3 times that at the time. But still, can't stop him- at the time we weren't that great and Real looked like they could win trophies.

Us winning the CL and him sitting on his arse winning FUCK ALL should have taught him though. We came back in for him for £10m but the little twat wouldn't sit and force Madrid's hand JUST AS HE HAD FORCED OURS THE SUMMER BEFORE! So off he trots to fucking Newcastle, a move which was anything but ambitious. I'm not going to say his predicament over the next 2 years 'served him right' but it's probably one of the greatest real examples of irony you're likely to find anywhere.

Indeed. He refused to force Madrid's hand, because he was worried about having to spend another season mostly on the bench at Madrid, which would have damaged his chances of making the World Cup squad.
 I think "ironic" is probably the best word to describe everything that's happened to him since he left Liverpool.

[Andy2006]

Terrible at career making decisions but fuck him wouldn't have him anywhere near our squad to be honest.

[LFC on tour]

Made up for the snidey little c*nt.

Left us in the shit while he ran off to 'win trophies' only to be sitting on the bench every game and watch us win the CL. He must hate himself.

[Superthing]

The problem many, including myself, have with Owen, is not the fact that he left, many players have done that and we have wished them well and given them a warm reception any time they have been back at Anfield, it is the way he left and what happened afterwards.  Michael Owen spent two years telling anyone who asked that would be happy to sign a new contract at Liverpool, the contract was being sorted out, he was discussing a new contract etc etc and then, just as we are looking for some continuity and stability to give our new manager a good starting point, he upped and left.  Also you have to remember at this point Owen was worth around £25m however as he had ran his contract down to the final year in order to engineer this move we got around £8m for him and ended up signing players like Josemi & Nunez!  A year later and Real now with a strike force of Robinho, Baptista, Raul & Ronaldo decided Owen was suprplus to requirements, the bench just wasn't big enough for him any more! Liverpool were naturally interested along with Newcastle, supposedly Owen wanted to return to Liverpool, he certainly came for talks but Newcastle offered more money, so he took the filthy lucre and turned his back on the club that made him for a second time.  This is why I say bollocks to Owen, maybe for once in his self involved existence he should do the right thing and stay and try to help Newcastle out after all the money they have paid him to keep their physio busy, but that would not be in the best interests of the great Michael Owen would it?!

[RigBon1892]

Thats it, I can live with players leaving, I mean my favourite LFC player has just left us, but the circumstances in which Owen left and what he did afterwards are the killer

[TALBERT]

Once my hero

now a c*nt

[LF]

If the attitude what some fans show towards him is not borderline hate, I'd love to see the real terrible vengeance my fellow fans have for those who truly anger them. 

Any good player who contributed to the club and made us happy with good moments should always be least given some amount of respect. Being indifferent is one thing and calling him c*nt is another thing.

[tHe^CuLpRit]

His first move sucked big time but that's ok, as he used the ambition excuse.

Second move to Newcastle sealed his reputation for me. To me he's a cock for that but I think we dodged a bullet with this one. A good striker no doubt, sadly just too injury-prone.

I'm not for laughing at people's misfortune (well, actually sometimes I do) but I couldn't help cracking a chuckle when he lay on the ground within a minute of the World Cup.

Don't think less of me, I'm not a bad person.

[toshi]

Good luck to Michael in finding a new club, but he put himself in that position.   He was having a great carrear at Anfield til he himself decided to bin it.  He's got no-one else to blame for ending up with a now Championship side.

second that....

i don't hate him, he was one of my favorite player

[Cob from TIA]

ifiddhadnabinferrealnewcastleandinjuries...

[MagicHat]

.

Us winning the CL and him sitting on his arse winning FUCK ALL should have taught him though. We came back in for him for £10m but the little twat wouldn't sit and force Madrid's hand JUST AS HE HAD FORCED OURS THE SUMMER BEFORE! So off he trots to fucking Newcastle, a move which was anything but ambitious. I'm not going to say his predicament over the next 2 years 'served him right' but it's probably one of the greatest real examples of irony you're likely to find anywhere.


I don't blame him for going to Madrid. I do, however, wonder why the fuck he went to fucking Newcastle when we were definitely in for him that summer... I think he also met with Rafa and Parry before being unveiled in Newcastle.

At Liverpool, he had a year left on his contract, he could force a move unless Benetiz wanted to really gamble on getting nothing next year. Thought he had awhile left on his Real contract which makes it rather more difficult to force Real Madrid to accept a lower offer

[Grushko]

At Liverpool, he had a year left on his contract, he could force a move unless Benítez wanted to really gamble on getting nothing next year. Thought he had awhile left on his Real contract which makes it rather more difficult to force Real Madrid to accept a lower offer

Why would Rafa wish to gamble on a player who was obviously not commited to LFC? And risk losing whatever transfer fee, however low, that he would have needed to rebuild. And lets have it right. Little big head was never going to sign a new contract. Whether that was in the final year of contract or when it ran out.

Magic, just admit that the only reason you are even interested in this thread, is because you wish the large headed midget hadn't fucked us over and effectively fucked his career up.

And was still banging the goals in for you're beloved national team?



P.s. Cob  loving the avatar lad. Think i might have to get a proper size flag for the new season..... Wind them up even more.........