It’s not often that a player is undergoing a medical at Carrington and I’m hoping they fail it. It isn’t the natural behaviour of a fan to want a player who your beloved manager is keen on to fail their medical. But then it isn’t natural behaviour for a product of the Liverpool youth team, who played in almost 300 games and scored over 150 goals, to agree terms with Manchester United.
The world as we know it has turned upside down. Michael Owen is a Manchester United player and the vast majority of our fans are made up about it. I know I’m not asleep but I not sure whether this is a scenario from my dreams or my nightmares.
When the rumours started circulating in the press a couple of days ago I dismissed them fairly easily. Owen to United? Yeh right, he is finished with. He’ll be lining up alongside Frazier Campbell and Nicky Barmy next season, if he’s lucky, and we’ll be chanting “you scouse bastard!” at him when he shows up at Old Trafford. The fact that even Liverpool fans boo their former hero doesn’t change what he is. Vermin. One of them.
Now, I’m not sure whether it makes it better or worse that he abandoned them the moment a bigger club came sniffing. Whilst it was funny at the time, as a football fan, you have to recognise what he did was out of order. I know there are plenty of reds who think David Beckham is still mister Wonderful Manchester United fan, but there’s something so disgusting about turning your back on the club that made you in preference for the bright lights and fame of La Liga.
A similar scenario repeated the following season when Owen was in talks with both Liverpool and Newcastle when seeking a return to the Premiership. He claimed it was an “easy decision” to snub his boyhood team for Newcastle, which again can be compared with the hurtful remarks David Beckham made about it being the ‘best decision ever’ to leave us for Real Madrid. To be so careless about the feelings of the fans who spent years adoring you tells you a lot about a player’s personality and if we’re honest, Owen hasn’t shown there’s lot about his personality (nb. him actually having a personality is up for debate) that we can warm to.
With Liverpool fans all over the place raging at Owen’s decision to sign for United, it really is clear he does not give a shit less about them. Whilst it’s not often I would cite a player’s lack of caring for Liverpool FC as something to use against them, in the case of a youth team product, it has to be acknowledged as a fault. If he could fuck over Liverpool fans over and over again then how could we expect him to do anything different to us? And whilst a lack of loyalty and mercenary behaviour are rife in football these days, does that mean we can just turn a blind eye to Owen’s behaviour?
Essentially, Owen has made it clear he’s been in it for the money for some time. Even when he was at Liverpool and pledging his future to the club, he was talking about money in a fairly bizarre way.
“I’m not motivated by the financial aspects of football,” he claimed in 2004. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m very aware of my value as a footballer and what the going rates are. I know I’m in a fortunate position that by the time I end my career I will be in a very good situation financially.”
How many players talk about their market value? It’s just not the done thing really, particularly for a player who is supposed to be fully committed to the club.
So far, this is the doom and gloom I imagine you were expecting to come from me. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. You probably wouldn’t believe me if I said ‘excited’ the word which best sums up how I feel this morning but it’s true. I watched the interview he gave ten minutes after signing, where he can’t wipe the smile off his face, and it made it a lot easier to see the positives of this deal. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea.
The most important factor is the money. Not only because United are getting a good deal financially but because it shows a change in Owen. Hull certainly would have offered him more than the £30k a week it’s being reported he’s going to earn with us yet he still opted to join us. The last time he was presented with the opportunity to move he signed for the smaller club, with less chance of winning anything, but who would pay him more. He’s learnt his lesson.
Now, this doesn’t suddenly make him a massive fan of United or desperate to win our fans over, but it does mean we’re going to see a player with a point to prove and who wants to do well. Maybe I am being naive or maybe he has actually changed. Maybe being faced with joining Hull or Stoke has given him the wake up call he needed. That’s not to say he’s not interested in the money but that finally he has started to get his priorities straight.
Regardless, to feed his money hunger he has the incentives to score goals and play in lots of games. I imagine he can be on a great salary if he bags enough goals, so he has to believe that is what he’s coming here to do. Joining United isn’t a big pay day for him, like Real Madrid or Newcastle were. He’s going to have to really work for his money here.
As we have seen the deterioration of Carlos Tevez’s character before our very eyes and mocking comparisons between what we’ve lost and what we’re gaining pick up speed, it’s important to see what the advantages are in the England man over the Argie.
For all of Tevez’s complaining about how he was disrespected by the manager, we must remember he played in 51 games for United last season. Granted, Berbatov started more games in the Premiership, but it’s not as if Tevez wasn’t given enough opportunities to prove himself. Replacing the five league goals he scored last season shouldn’t be difficult and it’s hard to imagine Owen not being able to score at least five goals in the Premiership for us next season. For a dreadful team he found the back of the net 10 times in 31 games, so with the best service in the league, you have to fancy him to score more.
We’re also getting a player who is prepared to work for their place in the team, which is something Tevez is not prepared to do. Just like Gabriel Heinze wanted to leave when Patrice Evra gave him competition for his place, Tevez won’t settle for anything other than a starting role. Sadly, he seems to think he’s a hell of a lot better than he actually is. In contrast, Owen is happy to work hard and prove himself. He’s not joining United because he expects to start every game, rather he wants to do all he can to help the team during whatever appearances he gets.
One of the biggest concerns is of course Owen’s fitness, after spending four injury ravaged years at Newcastle. Our new player insisted this wouldn’t be a problem, claiming that a player with over 500 appearances to his name (an average of 42 games a season for club and country) couldn’t be injured as much as the press made out. However, the occasions where Owen is playing 90 minutes for United are going to be harder to come by than when he was at Newcastle anyway. Nobody is untouchable at our club, with even Wayne Rooney getting benched for derby day last season, but Rooney and Berbatov are our starting strikers. With less game time under his belt you’d hope this would increase his chances of staying fit.
All the reasons that made me not want us to sign Owen are still there though and I’m not suddenly of the view that this is the best thing ever. However, if things go well, this really could be something special. Let’s imagine he stays fit for the season and scores over 15 goals. Let’s imagine one of those goals is at Anfield. Let’s imagine he helps us to go on to win our record-breaking 19th title. When you think he could do all these things on a free transfer, it’s hard to find massive fault with the deal.
I think a lot of fans do feel in conflict over this but as always, we have to trust the manager. It could work really well for the club or he might flop, but the risk isn’t as great as the benefits we could see from this deal. But bloody hell, who would have thought, Michael Owen playing for Manchester United! Best of luck to him.
Check out the Michael Owen song
Man Utd News 24/7
I doubt anyone will write songs about him, and even if he does well there will be muffled applause given his roots, but I really hope the man can help us to #19. And something tells me he has a real point to prove with Rafa and will end up scoring a goal at Anfield…and that, followed by the ranting and raving of the vermin when he scores more goals then Tevez (which lets face it won’t be difficult) makes him a good signing.
I trust SAF implicitly, so while i’m not overjoyed with Owen’s arrival. I will wish him the very best of luck.Here’s hoping he has the best season of his career and get back into the English team.
Nice one Scott
A lot has happened since he played for Liverpool, it’s not as if he moved here direct from Liverpool, he has been at 2 clubs since then.
Look it was either us or Hull City or some obscure team like that, so I don’t know why you can hold that against the guy, besides he was not a childhood Liverpool fan or even from Liverpool.
So give the guy a break.
Thank you, Scott. This article sums up my feelings about this whole affair perfectly. =)
I don’t like him as a person. But I will respect him as a player, our player. If Sir Alex thinks he’s good for us, then I will trust his judgment.
Never in a million years did I think we would sign Owen.I have always put him in the same bracket as Alan ‘Shirley’ Shearer,about as much personality as a wooden spoon and a vocabulary so full of cliches he makes Dave Bassett look like Shakepeare.
I have never really liked him as a person and to be fair,never really rated him that highly as a footballer (apart from his goal against Argentina which was nice).Ok,his record at Liverpool was quite impressive but that was a long,long time ago when he was a teenager.
Now that he has signed for us I must admit i’m getting a little caught up in the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘masterstroke signing’ stuff in the press and I am actually starting think he could do a decent job at United.
In Sir Alex, we trust. He does what he thinks is the best for the club.
Alan Smith didn’t go down too badly when he came over from Dirty Leeds!
I hope Owen does well. Can you imagine him scoring against ‘Pool. That would be priceless!!!!
did sunderland give a shit when goal king cole signed for them??
what about leeds , they are like uniteds feeder club, anyone like these players
alan smith, denis irwin, eric cantona, gordon mcqueen, rio ferdinand
40 days till the lad scores in the pemiership
Spot on tiny tears
I agree with most of the article. Very well put.
But disagree with the unfounded criticism on becks. The guy was forced out due to his fall out with SAF, and we all know that. And to this date he has maintained that he will not play for another club in England. (It may change this year, being the world cup and all that)
@Beckham: I think we shouldn’t be so tough on the past things…At some point, we all make mistakes while thinking we’re doing the best thing ever…Once the realization sinks in, the feelings deep down resurface. All the ruckus about the boot thrown at his face and his comments still hurt… And I pray to god nothing of the sort happens with rooney..
Owen played for liverpool 5 years ago! and he’s a life long everton fan, the lad wants to prove himself and get himself back into the England set up if he scores 1 in every 2 games like he has done for most of his career we got him on a free transfer we just need to get behind Owen like we should do with all are players and hopefully he will return fergie’s faith and bag a winning goal against the scum and celebrate by kissing the badge infront of the kop! my god i would love that!!!
he will score against liverpool
its the one thing you can rely on next season
Oh common scott,its time to move on.GO with the flow of this modern day footballer schemes..It works both ways,its a win-win situation really.. NOW is not the time for bikering 8bout this patty stuff,it is now time for us to start utilize what we can get in the market cuz as we see those Son of Bitch from Madrid are buying everyone.So if we can find some quality out of michael owen then it would be great..But sadly I would have preffered eto’o over owen if I knew Manchester United was going to sign him..
as a player of our squad who will work for us with passion, I’m sure eventhough he’s a scouser, when he scores, it wont take long time till you hear owen songs at OT. I’ll give him a chance..
Scot, like Sash said your spot. on when the news first came out i think we were all a little shocked, especially when we were not having much luck with getting benzima etc. But i think a compound of other things going on at the same time. such as Tevez shouting his stupid rants. in contrast Owen coming across very humble and very honored to be given this chance at UTD. and we have all been battered over recent months by the so called lack of respect shown to our beloved OT from Ronaldo. Owen has actually been a breath of fresh air. >that’s when its hard when you find yourself saying something like that< “reality check utd player now”
“Recent coments from utd has redeamed him to some extent”
Very good post scott, I couldn’t believe it when i first heard he was at carrington to have a medical. I thought to myself he won’t pass it, no chance, but he bloody did.
My firast thoughts were ‘no way’ not him, but did you see the smile on his face 10 mins after he signed on mutv?
Its a win win for us I feel and if he can score 15 – 20 goals then I’m for it, if he flops it hasn’t cost us too much money.
why do most of you guys think he is our definate number three striker behind rooney and berba? i could see play him upfront with berba and rooney behind them, in the “hole”. that was the position rooney wants to play, doesn’t he? that could be a hell of an attack!
of course owen or berba could be replaced by kiko or welbeck in some games, or we play slightly more defensive with rooney upfront in place of either berba or owen.
Wasn’t Owen a boyhood Everton fan?
All over french news that utd have edged Arsenal in the race to sign Oberan 20 year old striker?
I am absolutely made up with this FREE signing.
We need a little poacher with everything to prove and no inflated sense of entitlement like the little ARGIE JUDAS TRAITOR BITCH FAGGOT FREDDIE KRUGER RAT.
Michael Owen is a Manchester united Striker now. What shall we do about that?
Bitch like little girls about who he used to play for and what injuries he might or might not get? Or should we say to ourselves Fantastic ! He is a proven goal scorer and deadly finisher who will very probably score some very important and decisive goals for ours and his club.
It may well be the making of a Legend – Lets hope for the best – Look forward not backwards and get behind him all the way. Lets come up with a great song that will rub the scousers noses in it everytime he scores a goal. Enjoy it Boys and lets not fret about the past we cannot change or the future which has not yet happened. BELIEVE.
Any ideas boys for scouse baiting Owen chants?
It’s not about the money for Little Mikey. It’s about winning trophies and, in his mind, getting Fabio Capello to include him in the Ingerland plans for the WC next summer.
What’s in SAF’s mind ?
The upside has to be that it was FREE, that IF Little MIkey can do as much for UTD winning # 19 as Kiko Macheda then that will be a nice piece of business. IF Little Mikey stays relatively healthy and IF he is reconciled to being an impact-sub then the deal looks very, very good indeed. UTD have needed that kind of Inzaghi “fox-in-the-box” for a while – 68 goals last year was a pathetic return from so much domination. Little Mikey may have lost his pace over, 20 or 30 yards, but I don’t think he has lost much in terms of anticipation and vision in the box where, I hope, he should be used in situations in which UTD are knocking on the door with the opposition pinned into their box.
The only downside to this deal is IF SAF uses him in any other role than that of “super-sub”. When it comes to starting games, I’d much prefer to sit Little Mikey on the bench so that Macheda/Welbeck get as many chances as possible to gain experience and to impress. LIttle Mikey needs to be coddled and used judiciously. For all the talk about his physical frailty, the statistic that just jumps off the page is his goals/minutes played ratio. That hasn’t really changed whether it’s for Newcastle – a god-awful team – or Real Madrid when he was largely used as a super-sub – or even his glory days at LiverPoo. Used sparingly and in the right circumstances so that he doesn’t actually have to run much, Little Mikey is a “world class” talent. Expecting anything else is folly.
I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about his previous employers – but I sure would like to see him win TheLads an extra four points by late-minute heroics in the same way that Kiko did last season. Lest we forget, UTD won the EPL title by four points.
Keep the expectations low – then maybe Little Mikey can exceed them.
it really really really is win win
free , goal scorer, out to prove not to settle not for money
played,fantasticly, with rooney before
kiko and wellbeck can learn
i cannot believe united can win 12 premier leagues + 4 in a row next season
i have a wonderful feeling about this
and unless there is some one in the team that bitchs behind closed doors
everything is rosie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLf3Un6qc9U
we’re gonna win the league
again
we’re gonna win win the league
again
and now ya gonna believe us
and now ya gonna believe us
and now ya gonna believe us
we’re gonna win the league
The only thing im worried about the owen signing is his fitness. I think he will be impact player of the bench if were struggling 4 a goal. Of topic we are signing a french player called obertan any1 know anyfink about em.
“Let’s imagine he helps us to go on to win our record-breaking 19th title”
the best line in the article
we just got to get behin the lad and as for the becks saying that about the best move ever, thats rubbish, ussal paper bullshit and the becks truth and taking the piss thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0S7Hc87MfU
te frecnh lad is a coming
Willierednut. that saw Sissoko thread a pass to Oberton and the Bordeaux striker drilled a low shot home from just inside the area.
Ireland conceded a penalty eight minutes into the second half when Manchester City defender Garry Breen was adjudged to have tripped Malonea and the attacker showed his composure by converting the spot-kick himself.
The influential Oberton grabbed his second and France’s third goal after 58 minutes by curling an exquisite 30-yard shot high into the top corner past the helpless Shane Redmond in the Irish goal.
march 2008
He looks good hope we get em dont no wat this means 4 nani.
Ummm on the subject of signings, where’s this guy sprouted from?
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5416628,00.html
I do take solace in the manchester united community
when im feeling uncertain about our replacement signings and the potential humiliation we could face instead of the glory we deserve next season, the republik is here to reassure!
cheers scott
@ ROJO RED ROT ROUGE
if we signed Pepe, Drogba, Ballack i would have killed myself.
Owen it’s okay for me. Crazy times but thank God we didn’t sign Ballack when we had a chance. Chelsea did us a favor.
The jury is still out for me. I think that it’s a smart move to avoid any more spending. No matter what we hear, i don’t think UNited will buy another striker.
Hello everyone.
Have been in the States for a couple of weeks so have been out of the loop in regards to United news.
And my oh my, what a suprise the Owen signing was. My intial thoughts were similar to a lot of you by the looks of it. But the more you look at it, there is not an awful lot to lose out of it. I think the fact he used to play for Liverpool isn’t really a big issue for me. He was born in Chester and supported Everton. Rooney is more of a scouser than Owen!
The Valencia signing was expected, 16 Million seems reasonable given that We were hearing figures in excess of 20M a couple of weeks ago.
Obertan. Good player, very quick feet. Delivery and finishing could be improved but if we are to believe what is in the papers (L’Equipe is a pretty good source) we should be able to improve that aspect of his gane.
I am starting to get the feeling that this 80million + 25million for not following up on Tevez is going to get forgotten if its not spent in this transfer window, convieniently brushed under the carpet and gradually used to pay back the Glaziers loans. However when you look at targets that we could sign, the majority seem to be unavailable or have moved elsewhere (Benzema was disappointing) so i wouldn’t be suprised if no big name signing arrives this summer, maybe a couple more youngsters like Obertan.
What you think?
anyone know anything more about this Obertan deal??
Why don’t we take a punt on Ronaldinho?
@ Anon
Well, the French newspaper L’Equipe quoted the Bordeaux chairman to saying that a deal had been agreed and would be announced in the near future when it is official.
Seems pretty reliable…Well, as reliable as Transfer rumours can get?!
Obertan at the moment looks like a poor mans Nani.. very much for the furure if he signs
Michael Owen played for Manchester United and in the shirt of United before he even became a hero at Anfield.
He isnt a scouser, hes an adopted one. Unlike the other Kop Hero Fowler (a boyhood Everton fan like Carragher), Owen wasnt brought up on Merseyside, he didnt live in Liverpool and was considered to be a “Liverpudlian” as the Kop labelled Fowler.
One thing is certain though, the scousers hate the thought of him playing for Utd, they hate the thought of him winning things at Utd.
Most Liverpool fans wanted him back, even given some of heir cries about his move to Mardid. Carragher and Gerrard tried to persuade Benitez to take him back. Dont believe the Kops talk of Owen being finished, this si the same Kop who welcomed a finished Fowler back a couple of years ago.
Commenting on the first part (I know you recovered your sanity in the second) of the blog, ‘loyalty’ is a much abused term these days.
For me loyalty is giving every thing on the football pitch. End of.
We love professional sports because it is just that – professional. A football players has two primary objectives –
1) Give his best in a manner that benifits the team as a whole.
2) Take care of his own interests, however misguided or shallow they may seem to us (Like Ronaldo leaving for the choas that is Madrid or Beckham declaring that moving to Real was his best decision. We do know that it wasn’t. But Beckham always gave his best to United.)
Michael Owen has always given his best to whichever team he has played for.
Michael Owen allegedly plays club football to further his England career. I have no problem with that as long as it benefits United. And i can see no reason why it wouldn’t.
Maybe the modern football fan should ditch the traditional concepts of ‘loyalty.’ Football is a professional sport, an industry. All we ought to expect from players is professinalism.
Fuck him ….He is a scouse vermin ridden cunt…… soon as he is fully gone from OT, the better I will like it
It’s good he fucked Liverpool over, he proved he’s still an Evertonian at heart, he grew up hating those dipping cunts, that’s gotta work in his favour. Harsh on Beckham in the article though, he never wanted to leave, SAF forced him out. Admittedly this has since been proved right, with Beckham winding down and Ronaldo coming in, but Beckham has always stated he would never return to play for another Prem team, and he’s been true to his word. And how did anyone expect Beckham to be in his final season at United? The best right midfielder in world football (which he was at the time) lost his place in the team to Solksjaer, a striker playing out of position. Could you imagine Rooney being happy sitting on the bench while Nani plays in his position?
But anyway, I’m glad we’ve got Owen. He’s desperate to win the big prizes, and wants to go to the World Cup and break Charlton’s record, and loves money, so needs to be playing and scoring in order to get the big money. All of this points to a hungry player next year, something Ronaldo wasn’t for 2/3rds of the last season, and a player who guarantees goals when he’s in the team, something Tevez never has.
TonyBee
Rooney’s a scouser mate, do you think he’s vermin cunt and you’ll be glad when he’s gone?
This is a superbly written article, articulate, detailed and balanced. You have also managed to sum up the feelings (good and bad) of fans on this situation. I for one am now hooked on this website. Keep it up,mate.
I AM JUST POSTING HERE BECAUSE NO ONE WILL EVER SEE THE POST
ONLY GOD,
OH YES,
GOD WILL SEE IT..
AND STEVIEME.. BECAUSE HE THINK HE IS GOD..