Seems like the owner up at NE1 are getting their knickers in a twist over owen. Newcastle have hit back at comments from striker Michael Owen which suggested the St James' Park side were a 'poor' team. The Manchester United forward, who spent a disappointing four-year spell in the North East which was badly blighted by injury, made his comments on Twitter earlier in the week. Owen, responding to criticism after signing an extension to his contract at Old Trafford, wrote: "Prefer playing less often in a top team than every game in a poor team. Been there and didn't enjoy it." Having splashed out £16million to land the former Liverpool favourite from Real Madrid, the Magpies saw Owen score 26 goals in 58 Premier League starts for the Tyneside outfit. But the fact that the England international, who suffered a serious knee injury during the 2006 World Cup in Germany and missed a significant chunk of his Newcastle career as a result, elected to run down his contract and leave for nothing still rankles with many of the Toon Army. Current chairman Derek Llambias feels the 31-year-old would have been wise to keep his opinions to himself, particularly given the sums invested in his services by the North East club. Llambias told the Daily Express: "Michael is the most expensive signing Newcastle has ever made and I'm disappointed with his comments. "Under Kevin Keegan's management he was offered a one-year extension at £140,000 a week which he did not take. He was already on £133,000 a week. "Quite honestly, what did Newcastle United get out of it? His time here cost £40-odd million, about £1.3m per goal." And former co-owner Freddy Shepherd, who brought Owen to Newcastle from Real in the summer of 2005, also believes the forward should show more respect to his old employers. He added: "We might have been a poor team, but we made him a rich man. "It works out at around £500,000 for every game in a Newcastle shirt. Poor? Well, he wasn't poorer for it. "He spent more time ferrying between Cheshire and Tyneside in his £3.5m helicopter
Exactly the truth and I think he should have been on at least £200,000 a week at the scum no wonder he wanted to leave
Surprised at Owen for making his comments public. Like it or not, he was looked after very well - apart from his astronomical earnings - by his employers and gave very litle in return, admittedly through no fault of his own. It's unlikely we will ever be in a position to pay ANYONE that sort of money, so a comparison is impossible but I am absolutley certain most fans would be insulted if ANY of our players made such comments in a similar situation. With a bit of luck, this stupid comment will come back to haunt him sometime in the future.
Bent made similar if somewhat less deflamatory statements when he joined Villa - saying a bigger more successful club etc etc. I'd piss myself if both Downing and Young did a runner this summer and left the greedy bastard to rot in a much depleted squad, jsut as SAFC invest in a stronger and more competitive one. I'm sure if Owen had signed for us, ripped us off to the tune of 40m (signing fee and wages) and then slagged us off we'd be more than a little miffed too. It's a sign of the modern player that their greed and pig ignorance knows no bounds. I dont mind players leaving, thats football but its the manner in which they do that pisses me off.
I don't think you can pay 16 mil, pay 133000 p/w and complain about someones goal to pound's ratio. Even 20 goals a season would have been 500k a goal. As for the 1 year extension, why bring that in to it? would Lambiass been happy paying Owen 140k p/w in the Champo?
it's about the reputation system, give rep if you think someone has posted something decent, or neg rep, if you think it's ****, but lots use it to take the piss.
For the record, I didn't give anyone negative rep. I just gave Argus some positive rep. So whoever thinks I did it, you're wrong and you're a tit.
