When mevster met michael

[Mevster]

ok i had planned to write a beautifully articulate, nostalgic and yet informative piece about last nights dinner with michael owen but im snowed in work and i want to report back to you all, so (thankfully, im sure youll think) i'll trim it down. By the way, i am a huge michael owen fan and want him back at anfield so i didnt go for hard line interrogating or offer any kind of sneering contempt for his actions, but i thanked him for what he did at liverpool and the memories he provided and expressed a hope that he would come home.

 

he was extremely friendly and gracious, signed anything, posed for photos and completely charmed the entire room. he was painfully shy at first. i was the first one to spot him and make a bee-line to him and he could barely look me in the eye and after a few questions about his foot he just didnt seem to want to talk to me, so i sloped off feeling hugely embarrased and self conscious. once he was in a larger group he warmed noticeably and we had a longer and more two sided conversation both one to one (well with his agent chipping in too) and in the more formal Q and A later on. So to be honest i was completely chuffed at how it went.

 

SO the goss.......

 

First the second hand goss that was passed on to me by the organisers who had done a similar event last week at st james park. that had gone one much longer as he didnt have to get his helicopter home like he did last night (london - newcastle by copter 1hr 10 and lands literally in his back garden). At that bash theyd been really surprised at his honesty. the gist was that he would definitely come back to liverpool, he felt brazil were favourites for world cup and he was finding it a struggle to mentally get used to running with a pin in his foot. his wife louise had been there and had been really charming. seemed to imply that posh was VERY different to her. nothing then really that new. oh, and he was really hurt by his reception at anfield.

 

in the first awkward chat about his foot he said he could start on saturday (sunday?) if he had to but why risk it. he's now sprinting and doing everything. he never mentioned to me the mental issue with the pin, he said he was used to it now.

 

later when i recovered from the initial embrassment and fear he'd now try and avoid me all night, i asked him my planned question about whether he felt he could fit into benitez's style of play as it didnt always seem to match his prefered style. he gave the most adamant answer i heard him give all night. he didnt pause and said "Definitely. defintely. you adapt." he had no doubt at all so i was pleased with that reply. another liverpool fan asked if he thought wed see the best of moro next season and he gave his second most adamant answer of the night - "no" and the further intimation was that he'd be off next season. id mentioned that i thought wed be closer to chelsea this season if wed had a finisher like michael in the team. the aenct definitely agreed and he subtly indicated that he thought that too.

 

figaro, i said about saldago saying he was missed and he looked a bit non-plussed.

 

i asked if he was bored taking the helicopter to work (ie fancy coming home) and he didnt get it.

 

there was a debate about should gerrard or lampard play in the england team, assuming we needed a holding player and assuming stevie isnt better than anyone else would be in that role, and he agreed that it made sense for gerrard to play as the two of them have played together since they were 9 so surely its best to play to the main strikers strengths by using the man who knows how to find him best. hes also playing better than lampard now anyway.

 

at the q and a session i asked for a two parter: first i asked if there was a problem with his relationship with rafa in that liverpool missed out 2 transfers involving the pair of them and the fact that owens book seemed to imply he was a bit put out by rafa focusing on stevie on his trip to the england camp and that hed made no mention of discontent at liverpool in the book which must have literally been finished just before he left liverpool. the second part was could he then shed light on what happened on each transfer.

 

now i know some of you will debate if his answer is true, thats not for me to say as im not connected, but this is what he said. first of all, absoutely no problem with his relationship with rafa at all. another vehement answer. second he claimed that madrid came out of the blue, his agent called him with the news and faced with what could be a once in a lifetime chance to play at a club like madrid and experience life overseas he went for it but was almost as surpised as anyone. he listed off the names of the players in that side and basically said its hard not to be excited about having the experience of playing with them. as for newcastle he said he wanted to go to liverpool, felt he was honest and made it perfectly clear that was his choice. he said newcastle just kept trumping liverpool's offer like an auction. liverpool went £8m, newcastle went £10m. pool went £10m, Newcastle went £12m. Liverpool went £12, Newcastle went £15m. so to me the imlplication was that liverpool werent half hearted - they went back several times. newcastle were just on a trophy hunt and threw money at it. he said the clock was running down and he did have to think about the world cup and in the end that was just how it went. basically transfers are tricky things and events can make them go either way. i tried to sneak in a cheeky third part and say "so shall i have a flutter on your coming home" and he smiled, winked and said "you had your two parts", which got a round of applause.

 

what else? ummmm the agent said stevie was really really happy, it was all going really well for him. he felt - surprise - that agents had a bad rep, it is not in an agents interest to force deals on players because you can lose their trust and then youre screwed.

 

michael defended his scoring record in madrid and bemoaned the fact that having been on the bench so much he had to leave madrid then have a lot of striker injuries.

 

then the last liverpool related news i can remember (i ll throw in more if i remember) was someone asked him who he supported as he was supposed to be an evertonian until he was 11. he said his dad (who was downstairs throughout but too shy to show his face) was an everton player but supported liverpool and hed initially anyway had been kind of an evertonian cos of his dad but soon became red. he says liverpool are in his heart, they are the club he supports and thats that. he was there in instanbul as a fan.

 

his best memory is the fa cup final. he was asked if hed swap it to have played at instanbul. he said he wouldnt swap to have simply played if it meant they didnt win. but he implied that of course you want the CL.

 

he was asked if he could only have one of winning the world cup, having a horse that won the grand national or winning the open, what would he chose? he said the world cup, big round of applause and then with good timing said "now if youd said the epsom derby...."

 

so i guess nothing revelatory other than he clearly thinks he could play with benitez, has no problems with him and would love to play with liverpool again. oh yes, the previous week he apparently said that he'd probably give newcastle another season and they were offering to put him up on shearers pedastal. now obviously if liverpool come in for him that could easily change.

 

what i'll take away from it is that he is a really decent, down to earth guy and clearly loves liverpool and that if it wasnt for the murkey world of transfers hed probably be back in red and who knows, one day he might be. whatever people say about the circumstances of him leaving and not coming back, i personally think the claims that he maliciously and intentionally screwed liverpool are simplistic. im more than happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. lifes to short to be bitter. leave that to everton.

 

oh, and im worried about his foot for the world cup. i didnt feel inspired with confidence in his fitness. svens setting up some b games for all the crocks.

 

hope that was worth the effort for you guys.

 

mev

[SkippyjonJones]

nice one Mevs.

 

thank you.

[Andy @ Allerton]

He and his greedy agent shouldn't have tried to leave on a Bosmon then should they?

 

Money over loyalty isn't a good way to endear you to the fans.

 

If he ever every plays for us again then I think it's a sad day for the club and especially the fans who will be using their hard earned to pay for his snidey return.

Edited April 27, 2006 by Andy

[Tones]

Thanks for taking the time to let us know Mev. Nthing too surprising but sounds like a nice evening out for you.

[Hightown Phil]

How can he have been in Istanbul as a fan when England were playing in America?

[Joshytoohotty]

Cheers mate.

 

Nice one to read some words from Mikey that aren't specifically engineered for the press.

[Stevie H]

He and his greedy agent shouldn't have tried to leave on a Bosmon then should they?

 

Money over loyalty isn't a good way to endear you to the fans.

 

If he ever every plays for us again then I think it's a sad day for the club and especially the fans who will be using their hard earned to pay for his snidey return.

 

f***ing

 

thanks for the write-up, mevster.

[Gravy]

IMO, if eh doesn't come back this summer he will never come back. Rafa will get his strikers this summer and if Owen isn't one of them then that will be that.

Edited April 27, 2006 by Gravy

[DanielS]

IMO, if eh doesn't come back this summer he will never come back.

 

What's Heskey got to do with anything?

[McBain]

How can he have been in Istanbul as a fan when England were playing in America?

 

Astral projection

[Cooldude]

He's always been a good person in general, even though if you believe some fans, he's a judas two faced lying so and so

[Eiler99]

Thanks for taking the time to write that, mevster.

 

Enjoyed reading that.

[jimmylibel]

How can he have been in Istanbul as a fan when England were playing in America?

 

How could he have been in Istanbul as a fan when he was being paid to be there by ITV... and seemingly sat stoney faced throughout the game, ala Lawro during the UEFA Cup Final in 2001 when Jocky was going mental.

 

Mevster, thanks for that. I really want Owen back to but still blame him and his agent for running down his contract and forcing us to accept that paltry bid to be honest. Don't think we should forget that he did string us along for about a year on that one.

[Cobs]

How can he have been in Istanbul as a fan when England were playing in America?

he joined up with the England Squad 4/5 days after the EC Final

 

doesn't prove he was in Istanbul, mind.

[madaboutlfc]

Really ? What would you do - rot on Madrid's bench or get first-team (and WC) football, with LFC outbid by Newcastle ?

 

And while we're at it......

Sign Bellamy.

 

he was not rotting on the bench.. if he was patient he would have played over 25 games.. anyway he is history.. compare his attitude to robbies and there you get it why ones a Liverpool legend and the other one is an ungracious England striker who we brought through the ranks and screwed us royally.

[Cobs]

compare his attitude to robbies

 

[Lee W]

...and there you get it why ones a Liverpool legend and the other one is an ungracious England striker who we brought through the ranks and screwed us royally.

 

Who are you talking about Fowler or Owen ?

[Cooldude]

he was not rotting on the bench.. if he was patient he would have played over 25 games.. anyway he is history.. compare his attitude to robbies and there you get it why ones a Liverpool legend and the other one is an ungracious England striker who we brought through the ranks and screwed us royally.

 

Oh please

 

One is a model pro on and off the field who is dedicated to the game, trains hard, and gives 100% to whoever he plays for

 

The other is almost the opposite, he was sold because he was getting overweight and lazy coz he's enjoying fame a little too much

 

Don't wanna turn this into another Robbie vs Mickey type debate, I love the both of them (For different reasons) and would love to have the both of them, end of story

Edited April 27, 2006 by Cooldude

[Kite]

He left us very late on in the day with little time to find a replacement remember and rafa ended up short until the following january. His leaving may have been very 'last minute' as far as he was concerned but his commitment to Liverpool in the final few months was clearly under question - this he could have quashed at anytime and chose not to. Personally I never considered him a judas and I was also ashamed of the reception he received at anfield but neither am I knaive enough to believe that we are his spiritual home or indeed that he has one. He may have some kind of affinity for the club and the likes of david moores but ultimately Michael will choose whats right for Michael and f*** everyone else. no problems with that but lets not kid ourselves about what happened that summer or his role in it.

I think Owen is being less than frank there too - how many players are negotiating a new contract for over nine months and then are surprised to find the club selling them two weeks before they become 'bosman' players..? His comments don't add up. He also spoke in interviews about the fact that had he signed a contract, no club could have afforded him so, all in all, I think he was perfectly aware of what was happening that summer.

 

Personally though, that is all now in the past as far as I'm concerned but he remains just one striking transfer option among many (in the same way that I think LFC, to him, remain just one club looking for his signature among many) and I'd prefer to see him prove his fitness etc before we make a move for him, if that's what's going to happen.

 

(Edit: oh, and thanks for the good original post mevster)

Edited April 27, 2006 by Lenin

[hideNseek]

Bring him home.

[Sion]

Bring him home, not because I like him, but because he knows where the goal is, unlike most of our bunch (including Cisse)

[Mevster]

wonder if he would at all consider going abroad again. Hasn't there been rumours of juve getting rid of trezeguet?

 

his website says its unlikely though you can never say never

 

Possibly but the main influencer for him coming back was the family pressure I believe... and I don't think he'll do the foreign thing again as a result.

 

 

he seemed to think it was typical bad luck for him that there had been striker injuries in madrid that would have given him more opportunities this season. a kind of "just my luck" element. from all ive read it sounds like he did miss the premiership but I wonder if hed been one of the main men there (and maybe if it hadnt been world cup year) would he have stuck it out one more year.

 

im sure elisha would know.

[Stevie H]

Bring him home, not because I like him, but because he knows where the goal is, unlike most of our bunch (including Cisse)

 

owen couldn't have scored that first one that cissé did last night.

 

[neilem]

well Rafa wanted him back....

 

What would you do if rafa bouhgt him back like he wanted to in Jan?

 

Boo him?

No, I just wouldn't be his biggest fan. I guess it would be like, hmm, did you boo Diouf? No? You may have dislike the way he acts, but he was still a Liverpool player. Samething really.

[Tyler]

well Rafa wanted him back....

 

What would you do if rafa bouhgt him back like he wanted to in Jan?

 

Boo him?

 

 

I think the key in all this was that we wouldn't pay more for him than we sold him for.

 

But people wonder if he could have insisted on going to Liverpool even though Newcastle were offering Madrid more money. Should he have called Madrid's bluff and refused to talk to Newcastle. He didn't because it was World Cup year. His decision but it also means people's concerns that he was more concerned with England than Liverpool are raised again - same as when he was at Liverpool and highlighted by his obsession with being fit for WC as opposed to being fit for Newcastle and their push for a European place.

 

 

if newcastle qualify for uefa cup does that affect any clause in his contract about not qualifying for europe which was presumably champions league