Newcastle's Michael Owen

medan wrote...

Cmon Luke, you can not be serious about MO not playing well for England becuase he wants to save his best form for Newastle. He just did not play well becuase Capello did not focus on delivering or funelling the attack through MO as Newcastle is intended of doing. I have no problem MO signing a new contract, but it better not be for more money than he is making. If I was the coach if the amount required is huge I would buy for less money a younger, faster striker. One of the reasons we are doing s*** against top 6 to 8 teams is our attack is predicatble with MO and Viduka being our main strikers, I would like us to buy one more striker similar to Torres or Ibra.

Note From Luke
I think you could probably tell I wasn't being serious. He was just awful!

Posted by: medan  | March 27, 2008 11:24 AM

Paul Patterson wrote...

Wow! Many points to comment on their Luke. . .

Firstly the oft exercised Owen issue- Everyone knows that I’ve never been a fan, but he is showing more desire now (Probably due to the lack of any competitive England games in the near future) and he’s started staying fit (Touch every piece if wood you have at hand!!)

But his merits as a player are still questionable for me, if you were to give me the zippy Owen circa 1998-2002, then I’d snap your hands off, but now he’s not the same player and I’d still accept any bid of over £8m, then get a new younger fast player.

I often joked around 2002, that I wouldn’t swap Craig Bellamy for Michael Owen- and people laughed, but my argument was that Bellamy made things happen, even if he was and still is a bit of a runt and an annoying prat.

Maybe Kevin Keegan can adapt him to play behind the front two and extend his career, that I thought was burnt out four years ago. BEFORE he had any of his recent SERIOUS injuries, which have (Lets be fair) taken a good two yards off him.

Finally on the subject of David Beckham, he is also a player who was burnt out four years ago, he’s a poor captain (Much like Owen) and his only redeeming feature is that he can hoy a good ball in the middle (Just with his RIGHT foot though)

He has simply stayed around far to long hampering any real progress the younger right wingers have of getting bedded into the side.

England have Aaron Lennon, James Milner and Shaun Wright Phillips just about there, that just need to be taught how to cross a ball better, then they will be at LEAST Beckhams equal, except they all have pace.

Paul.

Note From Luke
I honestly don't think James Milner is anywhere near playing for England. He's a good prospect, but that's all at the moment. Until he learns to run with his head up he's going to struggle at the top level. However, I take your point about Beckham, he's held back the development of our young players for a long time, but I'd still have him on the bench.

Posted by: Paul Patterson  | March 27, 2008 12:28 PM

Anonymous wrote...

You are clearly a better writer than businessman Lee. Owen is coming up to 29 and he/his advisors will try and blag a new 4 year deal. At £107k per week that is a healthy commitment of £22,256,000.

Owens on the decline and martins is the coming man. As sure as eggs are eggs the 4-3-3 formation will unravel against better teams than Fulham and Brum and as such a decision needs to be made on an injury prone/ageing/slowing owen or a martins who will not stay to sit on the bench.

Unfortunately i suspect KK is limbering up to make the wrong decision on this one.

Note From Luke
Tut tut, you didn't leave your name

Posted by: Anonymous  | March 27, 2008 1:47 PM

Paul Patterson wrote...

Anon- I've been saying that for quite some time- Owen's on the wane.

Martins needs games and a first touch, that is all.

He has done a peice with Lee Ryder at the Chronicle (Who women find far better looking a man than Luke Edwards- heh heh heh!!) saying that he wants to become a Newcastle Legend and I firmly believe he will become that, because he has the potential to beat Alan Shearer's record as Newcastle United top scorer.

Sadly he needs a touch, if he gets that, the premier league better watch out.

Owen is static compared to what he used to be- and I'm not to sure he can change his game despite his obvious natural goalscoring ability.

Paul.

Note From Luke
After your comment about Lee I can never take anything you write seriously again Paul!

Posted by: Paul Patterson  | March 27, 2008 7:23 PM

medan wrote...

Luke you got admit Paul and Anonymous make some valid points to pay around 22,000,000 pounds for a 29 year striker reminds me of Chevchenko's deal when Chelsea paid 30 mil for one of the best striker in Europe, he was around 30 yrs old waht a bust that deal turned out to be, of course the differnce here is MO is already Premirship proven, still it is a lot money for 22 mil. As I said before Iwould add few mil and look for a player in the mold of Torres or Ibra or buy 2 young fast strikers.

Note From Luke
Possibly, but Keegan made a very valid point at the start of the week saying you could spend millions trying to find someone to replace Owen, but Owen is already a proven goalscorer in the Premier League. His contract in terms of wages would be cheaper than buying someone for £15-20m and then putting their wages on top of that.

Posted by: medan  | March 27, 2008 8:50 PM

Aditya wrote...

So it might turn out that Owen is offered a new contract plays about 70 games in next 4 years and scores 25 -30(or even some more) goals from it..seems like a perfect decision,isn't it?
But seriously speaking it isn't.I think this club is not playing for Owen goals his international career.The fans come in to see Newcastle as a club on a high.And although many people would feel that Owen's done no wrong in last two matches I think keeping him is not a great prospect for future..b'coz Martins on the other side will be then getting unsettled and he has more to offer in future than wat Owen does.And although this 4-3-3 thng is working at the moment it's not a long term one.And it is a common sense that 1 target man in the attack is must.So KK really needs to anticipate comparison of Owen and Martins and then make a decision..

Note From Luke
Newcastle will aim to have four top strikers at the club next season as that's what you need to compete at the top of the PL which means, if Owen, Martins and Viduka all stay, they will need to sign a forward in the summer anyway as Alan Smith is not a quality centre forward!

Posted by: Aditya  | March 28, 2008 6:05 AM

Deaco wrote...

I wouldn't like to think where we would be without Michael Owen right now. I would love him to stay with us, he is showing great commitment to the club and to be fair its only tabloids that have stated otherwise. However, he should not be kept at the expense of Oba. Is it just me or people scared to play two perceived similar players together? I don't think they are similar, Owen is clinical and his positioning is excellent. Oba is fast and effective at the edge of the box as well. When they have played together one has assisited the other. Please just put them together up front

Posted by: Deaco  | March 28, 2008 9:23 AM

Paul Patterson wrote...

Sorry to keep banging on about it but Medan has just jogged my mind- The case point I’m going to use is the theory in buying a striker who actually plays more games than Owen, will by law of averages score more if he has anything about him.

Player in question 1:- (Don’t laugh) But he’s currently farmed out on loan, he plays for Reading, he scored 15 goals in his first Premier League season last year, he’s quite mobile, pacy, won’t be asking for £110k + and won’t cost £17m to sign oh and he’s only 23- Step Forward Leroy Lita.

Player in question 2:- I wanted him when we were originally linked with Owen, he played for Liverpool at the time, he’s on loan at Portsmouth, he’s pacy, can score plenty goals, mobile, won’t be asking for £110k + and won’t cost £17m to sign and he’s only 26- Step forward Milan Baros.

I’m not a fan of either Owen nor Viduka as I feel both have issues with either their game or the weather and it would be silly to get rid of both so if we got rid of one, the realistic choice would be to lose Viduka and replace him with Lita.

He wouldn’t be a glamour signing, but he could do a similar job to Andy Cole when he was here.

Interesting to see us linked with Jose Antonio Reyes last night- who also has issues with the weather, he’d be a great signing at 24 years of age, but again I wouldn’t fancy taking too big a risk on him as he seems to want to come back to England to break into the international side and we’ve been down this road before with Owen.

I think we have to accept that Kevin isn’t going to go and bust the bank ans sign Ronaldinho or Kaka, so for a couple of seasons these type of buys might just do us a good few jobs.

My signings for the summer:- Milan Baros, Leroy Lita, Jimmy Bullard, Aaron Hughes.

Paul.

Note From Luke
I'd love to see Aaron Hughes come back. Top guy, versatile and solid.

Posted by: Paul Patterson  | March 28, 2008 11:40 AM

Aditya wrote...

U say Luke that Newcastle will aim to have 4 quality strikers..well fine enough as long as someone of them is injured for 20 games or so.But it takes only 4-5 games where everybody is fit and players start getting unsettled.Look at Saha,Crouch,Shevchenko all are clearly unhappy.Does Newcastle want to keep on paying these kind of wages when player doesn't quite have his heart at the club.It's better to have small group of committed players than many high quality ones who are sheer waste of money.So letting Owen go and grooming Martins for the future will be the right decision.I hope club authorities n fans like you understand.

Note From Luke
I'm afraid I disagree. You have to have four quality strikers precisely in case somebody gets injured. I think it would be foolish to let Owen go in the summer but I also want to keep Martins.

Posted by: Aditya  | March 28, 2008 1:04 PM

Phil wrote...

Couldn't agree more with the sentiments raised about Michael Owen. We have to stop being a soft touch at Newcastle. The top teams now invariably have a fast tall versatile player up front. Good examples are Adebayor, Henry, Torres, Drogba, Anelka, Ronaldo, and Berbatov (wanted by Man Utd). Notice even Rooney failed in that role for England, as he's not the right mould. These players can hold the ball, lead an attack, and make things happen. Newcastle must look to the future now, and find bright young stars who have the hunger to make it, and win things with Newcastle. A couple of goals out of umpteen chances, would not inspire me as an owner to cough up 20 odd million for a player who was great in his younger days, but now looks "spotty" at best. The game is changing, and athleticism and skill is important.

Posted by: Phil  | March 28, 2008 1:48 PM

Phil wrote...

Oh, one other point. Don't worry too much. I don't think they'll be lining up to pay Owen 100k plus a week, despite the 2 goals recently. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but how about he just earns the money he's already been paid?

Posted by: Phil  | March 28, 2008 1:52 PM

James wrote...

RE: Paul Patterson
Your Summer Transfer targets - Milan Baros, Leroy Lita, Jimmy Bullard, Aaron Hughes?

Milan Baros - Cant get in the Pompey team, has consistantly proved he his not a 20+ goal scorer in English Football. Would Cost £7 anyway...

Leroy Lita - Point he scored 15 in first season, but then defenders figured him out - poor attitude. not a team player

Jimmy Bullard - he's a nice lad isn't he? but very avaergae at best

Aaron Hughes- Great servant to the club - but surely his downward spiral of the past few seasons is a clear indication of whats to come.

Im not saying lets sign Messi, Ronaldo etc.. but we have to buy players better than we have.

Note From Luke
Agree with you about the first two James, but i think Bullard and Hughes would be two good signings. Bullard looked very impressive for Fulham last weekend.

Posted by: James  | March 28, 2008 2:03 PM

James wrote...

I like Bullard, but is he really the player to take this team forward. Im not a unrealistic fan who expects to sign the cream of the crop. However surely there are players on the continent.

As for Owen, i find it laughable that people question his commitment. He is scoring goals in a very poor Newcastle side... if he had service what would happen?

Note From Luke
I like Bullard because he's established in the Premier League and if, as expected Fulham go down, he'll be pretty cheap as well. There are lots of talented players on the continent but, without going down the Little Englander route loved by some of my colleagues in the press, haven't Newcastle bought enough average foreign talent in through the years. They need time to settle and, more often than not, seem to leave for less than they paid for them!

Posted by: James  | March 28, 2008 3:12 PM

medan wrote...

James for most people the issue is not Owen,s commitment:

1]You keep saying that we need look forward I am assuming you mean buy players that in 2 to 3yrs take is where we should be competing for CL position at least top 5. With that in mind would sign a 29 yr forward who is at the tale end of his career andinjury prone in Owen. That is 2 stikers with no pace in Viduka and Owen mind you Viduka is much cheaper.

2]When Martins reaches his potential and we bring another good striker like Luke said to have 4 quality strikers, do you seriously believe Owen will accept to sit on the bench in a rotation. Especially since he is the captain

3]Yes he scored goals recently and missed quite a few easy goals that means he did get service in the last 5 to 6 games. The problem is when we play the top 6 teams where predictable passes and crosses are easily handled MO will not be able create his own shot or goal we saw it agianst Arsenal, MU and Liverpool in those games who was non existant as a striker.

I still think there is some value to signing MO as insurance with the understanding that he is not garuanteed first team play by defualt. My prerefence of course is 2 tall, young,fast new strikers keep Owen as insurance.

Posted by: medan  | March 28, 2008 8:00 PM

Paul Patterson wrote...

James- Baros is a good player and if you look at who Portsmouth have signed (Defoe) He would have been my first choice all along but you take what you can get and we are well behind Portsmouth at the present moment.

You look at what’s in the club at present- Ameobi- Lita is a better prospect, Viduka/Smith- Baros will play more often and (In my opinion score more than the pair combined) and they would probably cost less than £12m.

Therefore your argument of getting in players better than what we already have is answered.

I feel we need TWO centre halves to bring Steven Taylor out of the firing line at times next season, sadly we have none I would trust over the course of a 38 game campaign.

Plus a left winger is a must as we have a seemingly clapped out ex-great in Duff and a want-away mummies boy in N’Zogbia.

I’d doubt Bullard and Hughes would cost more than £6m for the two, so even getting them as ‘squad padding’ wouldn’t be a bad move.

To expand on the ‘little Englander’ subject, I remember signing Hugo Viana in 2002 and watching him in action for us in the Champions League and thinking Wow!- Nurture this player and he’ll become a superstar, sadly he was too erratic and didn’t score too many- he was only 20.

If we could get Bullard for £4m, he would get us 8 goals a season for the next two years and make Joey Barton twice the player he is and I believe visa-versa.

Paul.

Note From Luke
Alternatively, when Barton's doing a bit of bird - assuming he is found guilty which is by no means certain as he may be innocent! - Bullard can replace him!

Posted by: Paul Patterson  | March 28, 2008 9:09 PM

Snapper wrote...

Excellent Blog Luke pity the readers cant detect the light hearted for the serious. Remarks, like "Owen is not a good captain" are ill founded and baseless, the late great Bobby Moore, and even Alan Shearer were not great shouters, neither was Bobby Moncur, organisation and ability, and the ability to be a regular in the team are requisits. Is a screamer who shouts loud and often a better bet? I think not.

Note From Luke
You're right. A good captain is defined by his manager and his teammates and I have't heard anything but praise for Owen from both.

Posted by: Snapper  | March 29, 2008 9:19 AM

Andrew wrote...

Paul...you're a clown. No one likes a know-it-all so keep you mid-table mediocre sentiments to yourself. Ashley promised signings to set the world alight, so if he buys Baros he's a fraud and a liar and should be run out of town.

Note From Luke
I've never met him, but I think Paul works in a shop. Perhaps he's a clown in his spare time. He does appear to be pushing it a little with this Baros things of his though!

Posted by: Andrew  | March 29, 2008 12:38 PM

steven mcdonogh wrote...

I honestly dont know how you can still slag off big Sams tactics after what King Kev has braught to your under achievers. Ok he may have lacked the excitement of Keegans kamacaze football but are you honestly any better off, i dont think so. One win in how many games? i could understand it if you had turned things around but you haven't, and dont blame the squad. You need to lay off Sam and concentrate on avoiding relegation.

Note From Luke
And where's the fun in that Steven?

Posted by: steven mcdonogh  | March 29, 2008 12:48 PM

True Mag wrote...

I find it hard to believe that some fans are still having a pop at Owen after what he has done for the club in the last few weeks. Look, I rate Martins as well, but Owen has out-performed him this season. It was also the right thing to do to take him off in both games. Kevin was just being sensible, changing the shape of the team to make sure we did not concede a late goal which would have led to a defeat at Birmingham and only a point against Fulham.
Lay off Owen, we need him to stay next season as his presence in the squad will also help attract other top internationals to the club. A new contract will be a statement of our ambition.

Posted by: True Mag  | March 29, 2008 5:12 PM

medan wrote...

True Mag you blew your argument by making a very untrue statement Owen no way outperformed Martins this year no way. Take away the last 2 games agianst very medicore or bad teams and all the chances that Owen missed to score agianst Balckburn and add the fact that Owen has started way more games, played more minutes , played in this favourite position as a central striker, recieved more support from management and still have 8 goals to Martins 7.

To me to say that Owen outperformed Martins would be a herendously untrue statement. Yes in the last few games he has improved a lot but cmon Martins has been playing as winger 70% of the games he started. Yes he could do better with taking his chances but performance is a combination of goals scored, chances created for yourself as a striker and others while creating space for other strikers with your pace and ability to run at defenders which Owen definetely does not do. Perfect example was the game against Liverpool in which Martins in the 10mins he played created more chances than Owen and Smith in the whole game and should have scored a goal of the season if it was not for the post. I think the reallity is the team prformance in the last few games has improved with the 4-3-3 formation and the introduction of Martins and Viduka. The other fact is MO can get goals may be a 15 goals/yr but he is not a player that will single handedly win a game any more. I remember when Martins saved Newcastle from relegation last year, a lot of fans like you saying well Owen will be back next year and we will be competing not only for Europe but also for CL, well not even close, please do not blame the whole thing on SAM.

We need to build for the future with a plan to be competing for CL within the next 2 to 3 yrs and you will not do that with 2 old strikers in Owen and Viduka.

Posted by: medan  | March 29, 2008 6:17 PM

Paul Patterson wrote...

Andrew- If you can persuade Kaka, Ronaldo, Henry, Messi to Newcastle, could you also divert to the middle east and negotiate peace in Iraq, as your skills and powers of persuasion are wasted at present.

I’d love to batter down the door of the biggest clubs in European football and get the players you (And I) crave, but it isn’t going to happen anytime soon- were going to finish 14th-17th and therefore our pool will be severely limited for this summer at least.

But for now, I’ll remove the unicycle from my a**e and pick up my balls (Juggling balls) bake a nice custard pie and prey we stay up, because if we do, Kevin is the man I want to lead us back to getting the players you (and I) want.

Cue the dancing zebra.

Paul

Posted by: Paul Patterson  | March 29, 2008 7:38 PM

Paul wrote...

Owen has started to score one or two goals for Newcastle United ? Big deal, thats what he is paid a vast fortune to do.
I don't know what it is about Owen but I can't warm to the man.
I just get the impression that he has priorities which are Money, Horses,Ingerland,family,his Cheshire mansion,his helicopter and Newcastle United might just scrape into the top ten, and thats just because of the wages he gets.

Posted by: Paul  | March 30, 2008 2:36 PM

medan wrote...

True Mag after today's performance let's just agree both Martins and Owen are great asset to the team we would like to keep them both. Way to go team excellent performance.

Posted by: medan  | March 31, 2008 12:39 AM

Brian wrote...

Team for next year Buffon Toure terry Woodgate Enrique- Gerrard Duff Hamann Ronaldo- Torres Martins (bench) Owen Given Lampard Drogba Carr

Note From Luke
Erm, have you been drinking? We can but dream I suppose

Posted by: Brian  | April 8, 2008 2:47 PM

zulu wrote...

Think MO should give NUFC a years free service - what you think Luke ?

Also think not getting Woodgate was a blessing in disguise, he`s been rubbish since moving to Spurs.

Say it again for Paul, Andrew and Co. go and buy the big Nigerian from Everton and pair with Martins, now that would bring a smile to my face.
Also buy Benni McCarthy from Blackburn would be a good move for the fourth striker. Finally, let the Wallies in Aussieland have the lazy Vid back to play when-ever he feels like it.
See how they (MOANS OWENS & Vid) get on when we play Chelsea - then we`ll see how far they`ve come under King Kev.

Note From Luke
Michael giving a year's free service is about as likely as Father Christmas popping down your chimney with a large sack of presents on one shoulder and the Easter Bunny on the other

Posted by: zulu  | April 14, 2008 2:56 PM