Michael Owen has opened up on why moving from Real Madrid to Newcastle United represents one of his biggest career regrets.
The former England striker was out of favour in Madrid and while he wanted to join Liverpool, Newcastle was the only offer accepted by the Spanish giants and he decided to go and join Graeme Souness' side.
But in his upcoming book 'Reboot', serialised by the Mirror, Owen reflects on the 'downward step' he felt he had taken and why, with hindsight, he regrets his decision.
'My move to Newcastle was one I really regret – I should have followed my gut instincts from the start. I didn't want to go there – my heart was still set on a return to Liverpool,' Owen said.
'Liverpool couldn't match Newcastle's offer. From a career perspective, there was no doubt in my mind that a move to the North East was a downward step.'
Owen, despite his reservations, became Newcastle's club record signing on a deal he says saw him earn around £120,000 a week when he moved to St James' Park in 2005.
But while 20,000 greeted him like a hero for his unveiling, the 39-year-old soon realised his relationship with the fans was strained beyond repair after he re-watched a game back on BBC highlights show Match of the Day.
'When I got home, I switched on Match Of The Day to watch the game and I could hear Newcastle fans, my fans, singing 'what a waste of money!' as I'm being stretchered off,' Owen continued.
'I can't deny their actions that day changed things for me. No longer was I even going to attempt to ingratiate myself with the fans. Instead, I flipped it in a slightly more resentful way thinking, I don't need to justify myself to f ****** Newcastle fans.'
Newcastle, under Glen Roeder, went from relegation candidates to the UEFA Cup at the end of Owen's first season in 2005-06. But an injury while away with England at the World Cup that summer saw Owen out of club action until April 2007.
But while fans were dissenting at his lengthy spell on the sidelines, given his earnings, Owen has opened up, via the Chronicle, on how the club did not want him to play as doing so would see insurance policy pay-outs cease.
A blazing row with chairman Freddy Shepherd reportedly ensued when Owen, close to his comeback, was told he was not allowed to train with TV cameras recording the session. A back-and-forth over the phone got heated and Owen was told to hide in the toilets so the club would continue to receive money from insurance.
Owen told Shepherd to 'f*** off' as he wanted to train having worked so hard to regain fitness. He also explained in his forthcoming book that he felt the issue with the insurance company was not legally and ethically sound.
Newcastle have struggled to draw star names from clubs like Real Madrid in recent years and Owen feels the club are a only a 'big club' due to the size of their supporter base - rather than for results on the pitch.
'This kind of blind delusion is especially true of Newcastle United – which, as I reach for the nearest tin hat, is only a big club in the sense that it has a lot of fans and a big stadium,' he adds.
'They're historically not successful off the pitch, in fact quite the opposite mostly. And they've never really won much on it in recent times.'
Edoo87
1
bad talk