Owen brands Newcastle a ‘poor team’

Posted on June 2nd, 2011 | 53 Comments |

Former Newcastle striker brands his oold team poor.
Injured, as usual.
Michael Owen hints that Newcastle United were a ‘poor team’ when he was playing for them.

Michael Owen, who has recently signed a deal to keep him at Man Utd for another year, has allegedly had a bit of a pop at the Toon. According to Twitty, he said:

“Just to answer some of your tweets. Prefer playing less often in a top team than every game in a poor team. Been there and didn’t enjoy it.

“Training every day at a high standard keeps you performing at a high level. I’m sure I have a lot to offer and so does the boss. Buzzing!”

Unfortunately he’s right – we were indeed a poor team when he was playing for us. Or should I say we were a poor team when he was queueing up outside the treatment room for us.

But despite his factual accuracy, I can’t help but feel there’s some bitterness from Owen about the criticism thrown in his direction from Newcastle fans when he upped sticks and left us relegated without so much as a by your leave. It just seemed like he didn’t care and that rankled.

He can’t help being injured I suppose but many fans felt that he did not express enough regret at captaining a team to relegation, completely failing to communicate with the fans in a way that might be expected of a decent captain.

He had to leave as there’s no way we could have continued paying his extortionate wages while we were in the Championship, but I’m not sure he particularly deserves the ‘mercenary’ label nor a lot of the bad feeling Toon fans seem to harbour for him. In some ways he has been made a scapegoat as he epitomised the poor-purchasing, over-spending era that contributed to our relegation.

He turned out to be a dreadful transfer for Newcastle but I’m not sure he deserves quite so much scorn.

Although I’ll give him some anyway as it sounds like he’s dissing our club: I hope the fleas of a thousand camels infest the wee grudge-bearing striker’s armpits.

Still, those are times past so who cares what Owen says? We look to be on the up again now.

Howay The Lads!

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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53 Responses

  2. He just doesn’t know he’s one of the main reason why we’re poor. Stinky dog never realize what it is.

  3. I would like to see his helicopter come down with him in it!!!!

    I wouldnt so much as piss on the flames as he lay there burning; more like throw some petrol on there and really get it going!

  4. Thing is his England career when we went down was over, same as KK’s was when he signed for us.

    He could have taken a huge pay cut and said “i feel guilty for the relegation and will play in the Championship for 1 season to get you back up, i’ll even take a massive wage cut. I don’t want to be captain anymore but will play to my full ability” Of course he didn’t, when we were still getting used to the prospect of second flight football he was off signing for Man United with a massive grin on his face, and that was after the shameless PR brochure he’d brought out which thought it proved scientifically how he isn’t injury prone. No, not one bit. Honest.

  5. Football fans aren’t stupid, and it was obvious to every fan who watched Newcastle during the relegation season dogfight, that Mr Owen didn’t bother trying.
    We all saw that he couldn’t be bothered, and his effort was well below 100%.
    If he had given 100% for the cause, it would have been a different story. Most fans would have respect for him now, but they don’t, and neither do I. You have to earn respect, and Micheal Owen didn’t. End of .

  7. hahaha thats bullcrap!! He moved to Man U as he thought he would get enough games to get him into the reckoning for England!!!! He said so himself!!! Has that happened? NO. Will that happen?? NO

    He has gone from a could of been to a never was.

  8. A professinal who does not like playing, although he could have been refering to the pool. played there too much i think.

  9. Just forget him lads. He is the one with issues if he still keeps on about us. He had a chance to shine for us and save us from the poop. He failed and I bet it gripes him.

    Good riddance I say. Look to the future.

  10. Biggest problem with MO is, he himself takes absolutely no responsibility for it being a poor team, despite being captain of it and one the most experienced, key, players. Contrast that with the team spirit we have now with an decent footballer/bloke as Captain.

    MO is a great example of a career path to avoid as a footballer, he’s all about himself and his performance, not the TEAM, and he’s quite happy to sit and take the pay check for doing as little as possible – even by his own admission. The guy is an insult to football.

  11. he deserves every bit of scorn that comes his way! How much money did we pay him while he was with us, how many injuries did we nurse him through. If u r the captain of a team which is totally underperforming, maybe u should blame yourself as much as you blame other people. Even though our team wasn’t the greatest when scott parker was captain, at least he gave his all. And guess what! We didn’t relegated then.

  12. You just need to look at before and after to sum him and his professionalism up.

    Captain before him: Alan Shearer, went out of his way to talk up the club, even tried to help persuade people (like the little parasite himself) to sign for us. Charity work done in the area, schools visited, available for interviews, etc.

    Captain after him: Kevin Nolan, again puts himself out for the club. Immensely proud of captaining our side, Stands up for the players and fans, will not let anyone disrespect HIS club, and also does a huge amount for charity (including letting another mercenary live with him lol), etc.

    Owen: Couldn’t even be arsed to live here!!!

    I can see what you’re saying about the flak stuff, and yes he can’t help being injured, but could you imagine shearer and Nolan, even when injured not putting the club first?? I think he is doing the Shearers and Taylors, etc a huge show of disrespect to say these things in public like that. He is a nobody now….and to think, i wanted to name my son Owen after him?? I would have had to change his name to ‘worthless piece of crap’ now…thank god for the gf making me see sense!

  13. it was only a poor team because we couldnt score we should of played ameobi instead of that useless prick

  14. Owen is a dick head.
    A player that has not produced the goods in years trading on former glories.
    Proper Judas.

  15. What a spiteful man, for some reason he is baffled why he got a bad reception when we played united. He forgets that he was the captain and takes no responsibility and calls us a “poor” team. Most of the time he did not care when he played. We could say if he scored that 1-on-1 at Portsmouth we would not of got relegated, clinical finisher my ass! Just hope your happy sitting on the bench for the rest of your career lol u money scrounging scouser twat :D

  16. What a mug. A realy want to go tohis house kill his horse and have sex with his wife just to show him you don’t mess with Geordies.

  17. ginkoh, there are lots and lots reasons why your club is so poor I really don’t no were to start. Maybe if Owen had gone to a big club when he left Madrid which he was hoping for his career might have been different but, I personally believe that his heart was not in it when he signed for you but it was the best deal on offer to him at that time. Your club has a large fan base with die hard support but with no history it does not make you a “big club” but I think you are realising this now.

  18. Why are we all getting upset? He is obviously not referring to us and therefore it must be Liverpool FC.
    “Play every game in a poor team” were his words. In his Newcastle career he played about 1/3 of the games and therefore he cannot mean us.
    Quod Erat Demonstrandum

  19. Lmao…we must be a brilliant club not a poor one as the article suggests as he hardly ever played for us. Maybe he needs to work out that some of his team mates play every week. When good he is very good but when not playing well he is frankly rubbish. Frankly he was never good enough to be our number 9 and he knew it which is why he kept the ten. Stick to horse racing now son as your legs have gone which is why you do not play every game!!!

  20. Why dont you realise you are a poor team, he is not liked by me either, but NUFC are poor, and are not a big club, as big clubs win things.

  22. Nightlife and Doddsa, I suggest you do a little bit more research before you make an arse of yourself. Do take a simple look at Wikipedia before you write anything else. Admittedly a lot of our titles were won before 1960 and in terms of our top flight wins were before 1915. We are however still the eigth highest club in terms of honours and the only club that has never been lower than the second tier of English football. Even in terms of the premiership we are either eigth in terms of the total number of points scored, and we are the only club this high in the league that has been out of the premiership for two years. Stadium is one of the highest capacity grounds in the country and fans, well you said it yourself! Shall we look at players, Malcolm Macdonald, Gazza, Waddle, Beardsley, Given, Hughie galleger, Shearer and Wor Jackie Milburn. No history….muppets!

  23. People who judge the size of clubs by trophies tend to be Liverpool or Man Utd glory fans that rarely if ever attend matches.

    Nice to see a couple have come on here, hiya.

  24. HAHAHA- michael ‘gambling’ owen said that ??

    sam sums it up well here i reckon: ;-))

    “Biggest problem with MO is, he himself takes absolutely no responsibility for it being a poor team, despite being captain of it and one the most experienced, key, players. Contrast that with the team spirit we have now with an decent footballer/bloke as Captain.

    MO is a great example of a career path to avoid as a footballer, he’s all about himself and his performance, not the TEAM, and he’s quite happy to sit and take the pay check for doing as little as possible – even by his own admission. The guy is an insult to football”

    Well said sam! The bloke’s a shadow of his former self-and a spineless, shameless, greedy gambling crock!

  25. owen’s a twat, but we shouldnt need to bother wasting another second in the past…when the future looms bright and breezy: Re Transfers

    Pratley being linked with Bolton now, the 26 yr old is available free (hence our interest i assume), but claims it’s all rumours, and:

    “I’m happy, my girlfriend is happy and my dog is happy in Swansea.”

    personally, i hope nothing bad happens to either of his bitches, cos i’m not fussed about him wearing black and white AT ALL.

    Gamerio wud have been nice, but actually, at 5ft5 he might have been just a little fly weight for PL…

    The Turk Erding looks good tho, strong, and keen to play off the shoulder of the last defender, so i’d be keen to hear more on that one…

    not hearing anything on new keepers tho, which i think cud be an issue as Harpers getting old and injury suseptible, and i really dont rate Krul.

    also defenders wud be nice…

    Howay

  26. To be honest, if that’s his full statement, then I don’t know how anyone can think he’s talking about the toon, as he certainly never played every game here, regardless of how poor a team we were. Nor did he train every day, to whatever standard!

  27. Owen’s mentality is a poor as his desire to play consistently, he would have had a good season in the championship and will now be a better player. Anyone can do well at a club like Man U.

    Always a Toon Fan

  28. he was another past it player we signed. he shit on liverpool and shit on us the horid little greedy shit

  29. One dimensional player was EMO, soon as he did his ACL and lost his blistering pace he went from a European Player Of The Year who could beat defenders like they weren’t there to someone who relied on scoring headers from dead ball situations.

  30. Fine. Owen’s career really ended a few years ago anyway, and he’ll continue to be a bit-part player for Man Utd.

    I wouldn’t have minded so much his annoyance at the booing had he have demanded less wages when he was injured. It seems very rare when professional footballers aren’t greedy. Even Barton was the same when in jail and refusing to take a wage cut. They might have short careers but even on a fraction of what top players earn they can still buy half a dozen big houses before they retire.

    Sorry, getting off the topic there a bit!

  31. I think Owen has lost the plot.
    He used to be the model pro. Never in the papers, his missus wasn’t a hanger on WAG, his kids were never in the limelight. In fact the complete opposite to his team mate, Shrek.
    He was class when he first came on the scene and I’ll never forget the part he played in the 5-1 drubbing of Germany.
    Just recently he seems to have found a voice, probably twitter and is wanting some publicity.
    I guess as he isn’t playing now, he needs something to remind people he is around.
    We should never have signed him, he didn’t want to play for us, he was just thinking of his England career and needede to be playing in the PL to get noticed, apparently. We were the only ones willing to take him on. If he was that good, why didn’t ManU or Arsenal or Chelsea get him in?

    One of the most rediculous things I’ve heard him say recently was that the price of his allocation of Champions League tickets were too high at £239 per ticket. To me and you that is a lot for a single ticket, but to someone like him it’s nothing, it’s like us spending a fiver! He would have probably just sold them on anyway like he did a few years back with FA cup tickets. *ahem* aledgedly.

  33. we might have been a less poor team, had he worked for the money he milked out of the club whilst sat in the stands/at the races

    just proves he isnt the “model” professional some people claim with a petulant, childish statement like this….

  34. Says alot about man utds finacial situation, when they give a contract to a player who is more interested in horses than in football. Had he not got a contact he would of retired, guess he can do that next year.

    Im glad we are past having these type in the squad, to think he was our club captain. I remember when he done his knee for england, he got interviewed at home, asked about not playing for newcastle and all he talked about was his horses :-) and he still does not understand why he is not picked for england!

  35. Also this twat is our record signing, he is in part of our history as it stands, probably for a long while too, unless we spend more than 16mill on a player (not going to happen anytime soon) and all those kids who came to see him when he signed at st james’, just shows what kind of bloke he is.

  36. You know what, one of the advantages of being an oldie is that due to my senility I can’t remember who you lot are talking about. Michaela Olwyn, wasn’t she with “The New Seekers” or some other has-been group.

  37. i frankly cudnt give a fk bout owen, over paid/ungrateful, and now set to be under used until he retires.

    I do care about who’s joining the club tho, with Everton now favorites to sign free Demba Ba. Berb has also reconfirmed his desire to stay at ManU, and Gamerio looks set for Valencia or France. Even Pratley is going free to Bolton.

    So striker wise, this Erding turk dude and Shane Long of Reading (Sun reports). He’s 24, scored 25 goals and apparently very unlikely to stay their….anyone know of his quailities?? i must say, after the champs play-off game – he looked a bit average.

    Oh, and M’Bengue is still on our radar. Our 4.5m bid has been upped to £5.4m…but Toulouse are holding out for more offers.

  38. At the risk of getting howls of derision coming my way, I can’t help thinking that Shola might still become a Swan with the better service that ought to be forthcoming from an improved (hopefully) midfield set-up. I thought he was showing some good touches in the last few games the season just gone.

    Still like to know if the S Korean Andy Carroll is still a prospect for us.

    The transfer window is starting to have another groundhog day feel to it, although the there may be a hint of ducks swimming, to it. :)

  43. no worries boys, keep up the good work!

    Who’s the South Korean Andy Carrol??

    Anyone interested in Reading’s 24 yr old Shane Long? he bagged 25 goals last season…but looks kinda like a pub player to me…

  44. Milner says:
    June 2, 2011 at 6:30 pm

    “no worries boys, keep up the good work!”

    Thanks Milner.

    These things always happen at some point, eventually.

  45. Arguably the little whanker has a point.We were shlte when he arrived (managed by that clown Souness) and undoubtedly got worse before he fecked off.

    Shearer and Owen looked the part but Clueless management ensured we never got the best out of them

    So why we ever thought that bringing in a pint sized, Real Madrid reject would solve our problems was/is beyond me at the time and even now :(

    Re-posted due to NUFCBlog’s sensibilities over the word (rhymes with banker)

  46. Hope your b4lls turn square and fester at the corners you short arsed bindipping scouse git. Best off out the road. Bitter ? Not me. just dont like being taken the p!ss out of. HWTL.

  48. If Owen could have left Liverpool the way he did, clearly loyalty isn’t in his DNA. Maybe it’s naive to expect loyalty to clubs and fans. It would have been nice if MO was able to take the high road instead of taking shots at Newcastle United. But clearly Owen’s time at NUFC was traumatic for both parties. I’m glad he has found his niche in Manchester and I’m glad we’re in a better place.

  49. DeeJay says:
    June 2, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    “It would have been nice if MO was able to take the high road instead of taking shots at Newcastle United.”

    DeeJay, as someone else mentioned above, he must be referring to Liverpool, as that was the only place where he played “every game”. He certianly didn’t for us!

  50. Milner
    There was some chat about a 6 foot plus South Korean called Dong several dozen blogs ago, who had supposedly been scouted by us. There was even some u-tube footage and he did look to be a bit of a prospect. Or was it just another alcohol induced dream!! :)

  51. OWEN IS A DICK WAS NOT PLAYING AT MADRID SITTING ON THE BENCH WE GAVE HIM THE CHANCE WHEN LIVERPOOL CUD NOT ME ARSED AND HE COULD NOT EVEN BE BOTHERED TO TRY MAY BE IF HE HAD HE CUD HAVE GOT BACK IN THE ENGLAND TEAM HAD THE BIG OP TO BE THE NEXT TOON HEROE LITTLE SLAG HOPE IS HORSES DIE, THEN WHEN WE GET A PLAYER THAT GIVES 120 PERCENT EVERY GAME WE PISS THEM AROUND IE BARTON OK PAST TROUBLES BUT THERE IN THE PAST……

  53. what a stupid little twunt.

    I’m still sharpening 50p bits. Find me on ebay, under anti-shite-hawk missiles ltd.