Michael Owen Has Failed Newcastle United: What Now for the Toon?

There is no way on Earth that his form for Newcastle last season warrants an England place, and if Owen's previous record for England entitles him to a call-up, then maybe Fabio Capello should look at calling up Sir Bobby Charlton or Gary Lineker, both having scored more goals for England than Owen has to date. Capello has done a wonderful thing—he's picked players not on reputations but on form. And that's why Owen has been left out in the cold.

Sorry, Michael, but you should be apologising to Newcastle for your expensive years of under-achievement. It's time Owen forgot the past and concentrated on re-inventing himself. Of all the footballers on the planet, I would have least expected him to release a brochure this week to sell himself; it's all very bizarre. I can’t imagine what’s in it...but I’m going to hedge my bets and say that having signed youth contracts at 15-16, not many professional footballers have ever written a CV.

The old rumour dictates that people who write CVs are liars. Statistics wise, Michael Owen doesn’t really need to lie. There’s a cliché somewhere about CVs being able to communicate independently, and I suppose Owen’s would be top of many recruiting piles on this basis alone. Sadly for Owen over the last many years, there is a "but."

The list, if it can be called that, of clubs interested in securing the services of a player whose name was synonymous with goal scoring during his teens and early 20s, in the same vein as Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler, is not extensive or glamorous. The club he supported as a boy, Everton, have been tentatively linked with the player but have not been making too many enthusiastic noises about securing him on a contract at Goodison Park either.

Simply put, there does not seem to be an abundance of interest from Premier League clubs in a man once cherished as England's No. 1 goal poacher, and after a glance at the suitors casting admiring looks in his direction this summer substantiates the view that the aura surrounding the one-time golden boy of football has long since evaporated.

Such a notion would have been unthinkable five years ago, before Owen took the decision to move to Real Madrid. This failure does not rest on his shoulders alone, but one thing is for certain: Michael Owen did not pay Newcastle United back for their trust and investment.

As saddened as they were by Michael's goal tally this season, more importantly there is the small matter of relegation, and as stunned as they are by what has—or has not—happened since, the fans main emotion right now is fear. Fear that the worst is yet to come. Fear of another, even heavier fall come next May.

The bookies, twisting the logic that what goes up must come down, make the Magpies favourites to return to the Premier League next season. And considering people foretold so much of the current strife when looking ahead to the 2008-09 season, Newcastle’s absent landlords might do well to take notice. No new owner in his right mind would not appoint Alan Shearer as manager, so why is he not already in the job and cracking on with what has to be done this summer?

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?