There was something too familiar yesterday, when we heard that Michael Owen had withdrawn at the very last moment from the Newcastle team to play their vital game with Fulham, which of course we ended up losing because we again couldn’t score any goals, and may now be doomed to the Championship.
Michael Owen – can he get bumper contract at another club?
He shouldn’t base contract on appearances or goals – that’s old fashioned
But if that happens don’t worry Michael will simply join another Premier league club and probably go to the highest bidder for his services – make no mistake Michael puts himself out for nobody.
And exactly what has Michael given to the club over the last four seasons – in short – not much.
If we assume he’s on £5.5M/year in wages then he has cost Newcastle £39M over four seasons, and he’s scored just 30 goals. Yes – that’s £1.3M for each goal scored and he’s hasn’t scored when it’s mattered – not since January in fact.
The great players are those who produce in the big games when it’s necessary – and Michael hasn’t even scored for Newcastle since January – and we will not even mention that he’s been dropped for the side twice recently.
In his 4 years at the club Michael has appeared just 77 times, with 64 starts – hopeless.
No, we have to face the facts and Michael Owen has been the worst Premier League buy ever.
He’s cost the club about 1/.3M and in his last season captained the side that was relegated.
When you think Mike Ashley pays out around £74M in wages to this lot – to say her hasn’t got his moneys worth is not saying it strongly enough.
Setanta Sports brought out a story yesterday saying the problems with Newcastle was simply they had too many players with weak characters who couldn’t produce this year, when it mattered.
Michael is one of the them of course, and we well remember 25,000 Newcastle fans turning up in September, 2005 after we had just signed him. One of our twin sons Neil thought he would be awesome at Newcastle, and so did I.
But Newcastle fans have never really taken to him, because he doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve and hardly says what he means in interviews – in fact we have no idea what he really thinks – even now.
If we go down we hope Alan will stay on and he’ll have to unload most of these less than cardiac kids.
He can start with Owen, Barton, Viduka, Gutierrez (hopeless again yesterday), Coloccini, Geremi, Cacapa, the 5.7M Xisco who is now 8th best striker at the club.
Oh, and we should send Nacho González back to Spain – he makes Marcelino look like a fit, enthusiastic and committed player for us. He appeared twice for us early in the season as a substitute. How you can have an Achilles injury for 9 months is beyond us.
But that’s just one of the many things that have gone wrong at the club this season, and we’ll pay for it with relegation.
And it will be both an embarrassment and a tragedy for the proud club that is Newcastle United – make no mistake about that.
28 comments so far
komfort
May 17, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Comment #1ed , prepare yourself for nico the numpty..
..just ban him.
batty
May 17, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Comment #2KOMFORT I 2ND THAT AND WHILE UR AT IT ed BAN ME AS WELL
batty
May 17, 2009 at 11:29 AM
Comment #3TO MR MIKE ASHLEY IF I EVER BUMP INTO U IN MY LIFE TIME I WILL KNOCK 7 SHADES OF SHITE OUT OF U AND IF I DONT I WILL SEE U ON THE OTHER SIDE <<<soz stardust
Toon Graeme
May 17, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Comment #4Batty – why ask to be banned mate when we only have about a week of the blog left.
MO wont play next week and he will sign for Everton or Villa.
Not that he could have done owt yesterday.
Toon Graeme
May 17, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Comment #5Batty – what about Llambias – the gurning tw*t.
HarryWorth
May 17, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Comment #6“How you can have an Achilles injury for 9 months is beyond us.”
You should swot up on medical matters Ed, then you will see that an Achilles injuriy is about the most career threatening leg injury there is.
Alanmc09
May 17, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Comment #7Ed,let this comment go through as im SURE u feel the same!
Mike ashley is a fat gambling bast*rd who could doom the toon!!
Dennis wise is a sh*t-stirring cockney bast*rd liambiarse-OBESE bast*rd,i saw him smile when ciise scord in st james!!
Shearer-local legend who wil save the toon!
Ericles
May 17, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Comment #8That twat Own has no intention of staying at NUFC. His entire demeanour has been one of getting out when his contract runs out. And that is whether we stay up or go down. He is an arsehole with no loyalty whatsoever. If he had NUFC and the fans at heart he would have signed a new contract by now. He is just another mercenary and like a lot of other rats at the club he will be jumping ship. Alan Shearer must keep a few who love playing for our club and throw the rest of the shite overboard. Hard times are coming because of that fat Spurs fan Ashley and his brainless business sense. Go sell your rags somewhere else Ashley and take lame arse with you!
DanToon
May 17, 2009 at 11:59 AM
Comment #9He Thru one in yesterday the little pr**k.
Girth
May 17, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Comment #10yeah agree with all this Ed, but just to mention we got a load of money back in compo when he did his knee in playing England didnt we, something like 15 mil…
maybe that should be brought into the financial equation. but as far as football goes, yep, one of the worst.
Imagine if Ashley had bought him, lol would get mobbed!
Sav
May 17, 2009 at 12:24 PM
Comment #11One ray of hope in all this gloom (and nobody’s mentioned what a plonker Bassong was to get himself so he felt had to blatantly get caught fouling Kamara and banned for Villa) is the return of Enrique. Not that he’s that great but it should at least allow Duffer to get further up the wing where he can hurt the opposition and put some decent crosses over.
Duffer has been one of the best for us over the last few games.
On the other hand, having observed the corny and predictable Toon scriptwriters in action over maany years. I’d have my house on Milner scoring the winner.
Wigaz
May 17, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Comment #12I Think looking at it yes signing Owen was a huge mistake. But I think it’s just one of many that have been made in last 5 years or so. Starting with sacking Sir Bobby, then moving on to bringing in Souness as his replacement. Then we signed Shearer’s strike partner instead of Keeping Lua Lua or Bellers & looking for shearer’s replacement when he hung his boots up. We then spent seasons at the wrong end of the table until we were saved by a billionaire, or so we thought? He brought back KK who the majority of us were over the moon to see back, here’s to exciting attacking football again instead of Big sam’s boring tactics & general arrogance. It didn’t start as we hoped but was prob best as when the results came we were realistic about how we could move forward. Then came another huge mistake MA not backing KK & making Wise (One of the most hated men in the game) his boss really. KK walks & we’re in the mire. Cue God to step down from heaven to save us. The sad thing is the squad is a thrown together bunch of raggy dolls from 5 or so previous managers so what did expect Alan to do. We have a team with no legs in midfield, no creativity in the side, no delivery from out wide, no leader at the back, and last but not least no desire & genuine lack of form & quality upfront. Sorry to be a party pooper but it will take a miracle to keep us up next sunday. But there is so much to do to haul our club back to where it once was under one of the best managers ever to grace the game. Thank you Sir Bobby. Saying that i do have faith that Shearer is the right man to do this.
Sav
May 17, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Comment #13Well said, Wigaz.
serene0380
May 17, 2009 at 1:43 PM
Comment #14Let him leave the club!!! He is not helping us in any other way. .. He has disappointed the fans…
Michael Owen, whenever Newcastle need you, you are always not there for them…
Show us what you can on Sunday. Beat Aston Villa and glory Newcastle so that the club won’t be relegated…
Fr Singapore
Let’s pray for Newcastle club that they will NOT be relegated
I will be saying my PRAYER in SINGAPORE… So do you!!!
davis_toons
May 17, 2009 at 3:46 PM
Comment #15I hope NEWCASTLE UTD stay in the EPL and slowly we can be like another Fulham whom rebuilt.
We fans are not asking too much.
Common, Players can’t you just help the club once more.
trojnoj
May 17, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Comment #16Nonsence.
In the summer we must realease first of all weak players, who dont deserve play for our team. These players are: Beye, Bassong, But, Enrique, Duff, Ameobi, Owen. Its necessary also release Barton, Gonzalez, Xisco, Collocini,R.Taylor.. Omg, how much rubbish in our yard…
trojnoj
May 17, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Comment #17And the biggest looser in team is keeper Harper. Mistake after mistake. He mus play in third division ant not in PL. Alias…
Macas
May 17, 2009 at 6:47 PM
Comment #18What a load of tosh, Owen’s character has never been in question, he’s just far too injury prone that’s all. And that fact is we missed him badly yesterday as playing up front with Martins must be hard for any striker, as he is so unpredictable. He is much better as an impact sub. Viduka looked so much better alongside Owen, its just a shame he was injured.
nufcc
May 17, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Comment #19Agree with macas. Im gonna stop reading eds articles, only quotes from players. because its becoming really stupid now. It is not a players fault when they get injured and i am surprised at how well owen has handled himself. I have great respect fo owen if not for being an excellent goal scorer its for being and excellent professional. He deserves to be captain.
tysontoon
May 17, 2009 at 7:47 PM
Comment #20Lots of fabricated, uninformed comments in this post.
Even went as far as saying we have already been relegated…
NicoGF
May 17, 2009 at 8:03 PM
Comment #21Ed, you change your mind so easily. Wasn’t a HUGE performance against Middesbrough? then u said we can’t beat the sides below us (which is correct).
You also said Viduka played a monster game against Boro, and now you want to get rid of him?. Let’s make some sense..
Btw, I’d be very happy if Nacho is sent back. He’s not a championship player 😉
NicoGF
May 17, 2009 at 8:05 PM
Comment #22then u said we can’t beat the sides above*us (which is correct). = we can only beat the sides below us.
Nick D
May 17, 2009 at 8:13 PM
Comment #23NUFCC – How on earth should he be captain? He never speaks to or encourages anyone. You hardly know he’s there, which he isn’t 99% of the time any way.
It was a poor atempt by KK to placate him, when he so obviously is not a captain and for the last 2 years not much of a player either.
he’s now happy to take a 50% pay cut to play for someone else. He’s never done us any favours has he.
Until we get rid of all the has beens whose legs went years ago :Butt, Owen, Viduka, Geremi, Cacapa, Duff and the useless and ineffectual : Smith, Jonas, Colo and the nutter Barton and give our youngsters a go ( Ranger, Lua and Vuksic) we will just drift and dift forever.
Magpie Magoo
May 17, 2009 at 8:41 PM
Comment #24Nick D.
I would agree with you on getting rid of the deadwood on our side, but Duff and Viduka have been rock solid when the others on the list were playing like s***. Keep Viduka on a smaller contract, because he’d definitely be worth it.
http://habibz.mybrute.com
nufcc
May 17, 2009 at 11:21 PM
Comment #25nick i understand what you are saying but what you should consider while choosing a captain is. 1. He should be able to inspire teammates
2. he should be a decent player.
3. He should be respected in the lockeroom
4. He should be a good professional.
We literally have no one who is able to inspire players. So we will let the manager do that. Smith is someone who leads with example but is total garbage player. We do not have a decent player in the team right now. We have very few players that are respected in the locker room and i believe owen is one. He is the best professional that we have in the team and based on that i said he should be captain. i would like to hear from you who should be captain of the current team.
Brutooon
May 18, 2009 at 1:01 AM
Comment #26Even making it worst for michael owen is that some fan still believe in him scoring goals.
how can he score a goal when he got an average one shot on goal every 2 games..
he get 110,000 in wages per week just by running around the pitch.
Hope Owen join fulham or something and get back his scoring form so he can help england in 2010 worldcup final
NUFCNeal
May 18, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Comment #27NicoGF – and Nacho is not a Premiership player either!!
Nick D
May 18, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Comment #28NUFCC – I believe Beye, and S. Taylor ( not his biggest fan I admit) would be better more vocal options and they are professional in their approach.
owen like barton although not a nutter, strikes me as totally out for himself and giving him the captancy was like a pathetic bribe to make him stay.
The fac the is prepared tot ake a 50% cut to play elsewhere speaks volumes for his commitment or rather the lack of it.