Surprise, surprise, some people are trying to suggest there is a rift between Michael Owen and Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce over the striker’s involvement in England’s Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia.
Blimey, next thing you know they’ll be telling us the Australians are a little upset about losing in the Rugby World Cup to England last weekend.
No, seriously, this sort of thing gets on my nerves, it’s just stirring the brown smelly stuff for the sake of, well, stirring the brown smelly stuff and it is Newcastle United who ultimately suffer.
Every club manager has to protect his interests, hence why Allardyce - who is privately sick and tired of having to spend 90% of his Newcastle press conferences talking about Owen - has urged caution. Rafael Benitez did exactly the same with Steven Gerrard last month and, guess what, there were exactly the same stories of rows, bickerings and eye scratching doing the rounds.
Allardyce questioned whether Owen could play two games in less than a week, something he is perfectly entitled to do given the player’s injury record. Last week, he also insisted Newcastle would decide whether he played against Everton or not, not England - again, something he is perfectly entitled to do.
On both occasions, however, he also insisted the German surgeon Dr Ulrike Muschaweck had given the striker the all-clear and that he was merely taking a cautious approach to ensure the player’s long term health. In fact, it was Allardyce - before the defeat at Man City - who raised the possibility that Owen could play against Everton in the first place.
Allardyce freely admitted at the weekend that ‘Little Michael’ had disagreed with his decision to leave him on the subs bench against the Toffeemen, just as he has admitted Joey Barton isn’t happy about being told to play reserve games, rather than sit on the bench in the Premier League.
Yet, funnily enough, there is no talk of a rift between him and Barton. Then again, that isn’t exciting and controversial is it. A disagreement between Owen and him is - star striker and manager row, that grabs attention.
As for Owen, he has concurred with his manager and publicly stated his desire to play from the start against Everton. He then said he would take the advice of Dr Muschaweck and if she said he was fit, which she has, he is fit. If England coach Steve McClaren was willing to play him from the start against Estonia on Saturday, he was ready and willing. And why shouldn’t he be?
He wanted to play against Everton from the start and he wants to play against Estonia from the start. He wanted to start for his club and he wants to start for his country, yet the latter desire is used to question his commitment to the former.
The problem with the whole Owen commitment thing is that, as far as the rest of the country is concerned, he is an England player first and a Newcastle player second. Partly because he has played so few games for the Magpies and partly because, as far as they are concerned, Newcastle are not newsworthy. Well they are, but not newsworthy in a Champions League or London sense.
And then, of course, there is that lingering bitterness from the fact Newcastle signed him in the first place, the little northern upstarts!
As Allardyce said today: “It’s just people trying to get between myself and Michael. The same thing has happened with Steven Gerrard and Rafa Benitez at Liverpool earlier this year - it’s a common theme during the international breaks.�
Owen is the only Newcastle story of genuine national interest, but only from an England point of view. Therefore he is always written about from an England perspective which, in turn, causes people to question his commitment to his club because he is constantly discussed in a national team context, whether he is scoring goals for the Magpies or missing games because of injury.
Owen is very passionate about playing for his country as lots of players are, but he does care about Newcastle, he does want to do well for his club and he does want to repay the club for the time and money invested in him. It’s not his fault other people constantly talk about him as an England player - hence the nickname England’s Michael Owen.
Owen is an extremely valuable asset to Newcastle. I’ve already said he will be United’s top scorer this season and his record of ten goals in 17 starts gives an indication of what he will bring to Allardyce if he stays fit.
But, the thing with Owen is - and this isn’t his fault - he will never belong to Newcastle as far as the rest of the country are concerned.
Hence why, once these international games are over, the rest of the season will be spent speculating about his destination when the transfer window re-opens in January and again in the summer. What was that about scratched records?
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »