As I awaited the announcement of Fabio Capello’s first squad as England manager rumours began to surface that Michael Owen was not going to be included in the 30-man squad.
Now it doesn’t take a genius to work out that Owen being dropped from the England squad for the first time since he burst on to the international scene at France 98 was a major story.
England’s Michael Owen was going to be plain old Michael again, which is a bit like telling Prince Charles that he is no longer Prince of Wales or Duke of Cornwall or whatever else he is these days.
The football grapevine - whatever that is - was buzzing with rumours of a row, that Owen was finished, that Capello simply didn’t rate the Newcastle striker. What a snub, what a shock, what a topic of discussion it would be in the pub over the weekend.
The figurehead of the England attack, the most prolific international goalscorer this country has produced since Gary Lineker, dumped on his backside by the new boss and facing a fight to salvage his international career.
I wouldn’t say I was disappointed when the England squad was announced an hour or so later and Owen was in it, although I was a little sheepish having tipped a few people off to the contrary just a few minutes before.
Nevertheless, it raises some interesting questions about Owen because, given his recent performances and his poor goalscoring record this season, he is certainly no longer an automatic choice for the national side. Even he must realise that, he isn’t stupid.
When you’ve scored one goal, against Stoke City in the FA Cup, since Capello became England manager, there must be part of you that fears the worst. If I’d heard the rumours I’m sure Michael must have heard them as well.
This is a testing time for Little Mo. He has, in the language of ex players working as pundits, “scored goals for fun� throughout his career. So he can’t be having much fun now can he?
Owen has scored just one goal in his last 15 games for club and country. It is the sort of drought Newcastle’s new captain has never experienced before and, more worryingly, he doesn’t ever look like scoring the way United have played in recent weeks. It’s not like he is missing chances, he simply isn’t getting any and that is alarming.
I would never write a player like Owen off, it is far too dangerous, but I do wonder whether he will ever return to the sort of prolific form which once made him one of the most feared and revered strikers in world football.
Owen has, according to the speculation, been on the verge of leaving Newcastle ever since he joined them two-and-a-half-years ago. But who would want him on present form? There were certainly no bids for him during the January transfer window, and as far as I know, not a single enquiry either.
Yet, Newcastle need Owen to fire properly if they are going to turn things around this season and, beyond that, become a significant force in the Premier League again.
Kevin Keegan knew that as soon as he walked back through the doors of St James’s Park. Why else did you think he made him skipper?
The problem is, when he isn’t scoring people say he is finished, but as soon as he starts scoring again, we’ll get the constant speculation about him leaving. It’s just one of those lose lose situations!
Finally, I’d just like to bid farewell to David Rozehnal. It’s a bit of a surprise that he has been allowed to leave when there wasn’t anyone coming in to replace him, but I think he knew he was going to struggle to play regularly under Keegan and wanted to leave. Keegan, being Keegan, did not stand in his way.
Rozehnal was a good guy and I was really impressed with him during his first few games for Newcastle, but he always looked a little lightweight and oppositions teams quickly learnt how to rough him up.
He’s not the first foreign defender to struggle with that side of the Premier League and he won’t be the last. If he’d stuck at it for another six months, who knows, but the manager who signed him was sacked and that appears to have made up his mind to return to the Continent. Lazio as well? Not a bad destination....
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