Saint Mike is back.

[Red_Polo]

show me a statement he made which completely conflicted with what happened when he left for Real Madrid.

Until someone can dig it up then I think you're relying on your memories of what you think happened and how you understood what he said.

The whole crux of my argument though, is that he doesn't have to have said 'I will sign a new contract' for him to have lied. Deliberately misleading and deceiving people is lying, and that's what he did over the course of a couple of years.

First he wanted to wait until his SFX contract ran out so a different agent/agency could handle negotiations, then he signed with them again anyway. His agent went on holiday, he wanted to know who the new manager was, he wanted to make sure Gerrard didn't leave.....for every reason not to sign that went away, he came up with another reason. The truth was he didn't think the club was heading in the right direction and he thought he was better off somewhere else, he just wouldn't admit it - not to us, and perhaps not to himself, up to the point where Rafa simply had to tell him to go. But it was ok, he told the fans, he would never be able to handle playing for another English club...


The phrase "personal interests" is important - a politician is supposed to be a representative of the people, Michael Owen is really only beholden to himself. As fans we might wish that to be different but we're not professionals, we're enthusiasts. We're all relieved that Rafa is a professional. If sound, cold, calculated career management didn't come into his thinking he'd probably be off in the summer to - oh the irony - Real Madrid.

We don't seem to mind when Liverpool is the beneficiary. Funny that.

None of that suggests that he didn't lie to the club and the fans though does it? He did. How he's judged for it is another matter altogether.

Apologies for the horrendous colour

[Dalglish]

4 pages for a Newcastle player? I look forward to the Scott Parker thread

[AFII]

Edited.

[lfc4ever]

Ambition with the barcodes, classy, not everyone with ambition goes there so I applaud him for that, yup, ambitious on a hefty earner sweetener always wins it for me too <checks England position is safe (winks)>, yeh, ok, let's do it.

[Dalglish]

Edited.

Why so AF? It was an impassioned post

[Johnny]

4 pages for a Newcastle player? I look forward to the Scott Parker thread

You what???Damien Duff is next for an honourary Thread.

[tomasjj]

Owen = ****

:shakey:

Pleasqw close this thread.

[Neil Young]

Apologies for the horrendous colour

I agree he could have been more open. I still think that's different from lying.

I really don't think he owed the club anything more - he's effectively a business and so (mainly) is the club. Of course we don't see it that way but when it comes to contract negotiations that's how most would play it.

This dodgy colour thing could catch on.

[AFII]

Why so AF? It was an impassioned post

Because I'm tired discussing him and that post would have been discussed

It was a good post

The main points for those who missed it.

I think most of us are of Owen because they know that he is a world class player, at least he was before his injuries, and knows that we would not have a striker problem if he had stayed.

Owen left because the club was going in the wrong direction and his ambition was to become the best player in the world and you can't be that in a club with more or less no money and a manager like Houllier.

No one could know how a new spanish manager would do. It almost ended in disaster but ended in #5.

Gerrard would have left IMO if we had not won #5 because he must think about his career first and it would have been the wrong decision to stay in a club going in the wrong direction, UEFA Cup football and no money. Without #5 we would have been skint.

Rafa would leave if the club can't match his ambition, that's the same reason as Owen.

Carra is Carra and he would stay even if we played conference football but the rest of the squad would leave if the club doesn't match their ambition IMO.

A career is only 10-15 years so a player will have to think about himself first. A four or five year deal is a very big part of a career.

If you don't love the club with your whole heart would you then leave if the most famous club want you?

It's all about ambition.

If we want to keep and sign the best players then we must match their ambition.

Eto'o and Villa would never be interested to join us if didn't play in the CL every season. LFC is a big and famous club but the best players will not sign for us because of our history, they will sign for us if we match their ambition.

[AFII]

Roeder will leave decision to Owen

Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder has promised to let Michael Owen decide when the time is right for him to return from his knee injury.

Roeder watched the 27-year-old England international score in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Gretna on Tuesday after 10 months out recovering from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

However, Roeder will not include either Owen or fellow striker Shola Ameobi, who scored in the same game following his return from hip surgery, in his squad for Saturday's trip to Portsmouth.

Owen had targeted next Sunday's visit of champions Chelsea to St James' Park for his comeback, but Roeder has insisted he will not dictate the timing, leaving that decision to the man who knows best.

He said: "Michael is a very sensible, serious person who would not rush himself back.

"If I asked him to play and he felt he was not ready, he would tell me.

"Michael will know when he is ready to play, like Shola. Whether that is this season or not, we will have to wait and see.

"But the practice game this week was a big, big step forward because the next morning both were feeling really fine with no problems."

Owen collapsed seconds into England's World Cup finals clash with Sweden in June, robbing both his country and his club of their most potent weapon.

Newcastle have been engaged since in a battle for compensation for the loss of their £17million frontman.

However, the former Real Madrid star is delighted to have taken a major stride towards resuming his career.

He said: "I felt really sharp, but to be honest, I always felt I would be.

"It was great to be out there and good to score, although I suppose it was not what people would call a typical Michael Owen goal.

"I have been though a lot with Shola Ameobi in recent months and it was super to see him score as well on Tuesday.

"Now I cannot wait to start scoring goals again for Newcastle."

CLICKY - Teamtalk

[mikegbelieve]

yes i have returned