Former chairman defiant over £17m signing four years ago 'Everybody said it was a fantastic deal at the time' http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/26/michael-owen-newcastle-freddy-shepherd Michael Owen is set to leave Newcastle for free next week, four years after a £17m transfer. The former Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd has hit back at claims that he should never have signed Michael Owen. The out-of-contract 29-year-old former England international will leave the club for free next week, four years after arriving in a £17m transfer deal. However, injuries have limited him to just 79 appearances and critics insist his spell on Tyneside has been nothing short of disastrous. But Shepherd, the man who brokered a deal he believed would rival the capture of Alan Shearer nine years earlier, remains defiant. "Hindsight is a great management tool – everybody's wise after the event," he told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle. "It's very easy for people to say signing Michael Owen was a disaster, but everybody said it was a fantastic deal at the time. "There were no dissenters back then. The clamour for him to sign was immense, and I didn't hear any complaints from the thousands who turned up to welcome him on the day he arrived." Hull City and Stoke City are the only two clubs to have publicly confirmed their interest in signing Owen, who is desperate to resurrect his international career after falling out of favour with the England manager Fabio Capello. But Shepherd is adamant no one could have foreseen the two serious injuries which have blighted his time on Tyneside. "At the time we signed him, his goals-per-game stats were about the best in the business and his pedigree second to none," he said. "Plus, he had had no career-threatening injuries and we had his fitness stringently checked out, as Real Madrid had a year before. Yes, things didn't turn out anything like we hoped and expected they would. But nobody – and I mean nobody – saw it coming." You just have to laugh at the bracode fans, I seem to remember them queuing up outside St James park just to get a glimsp of their new signing back then, but I have to admit that we got the best out of Owen I think it was a blessing in disquise when he took his greedy little arse off to Madrid, you reap what you sow Micheal
Totally agree with you. We sold him at exactly the right time, even though it was his choice. Still should of got more money for him though. Anyone who wants him back at our club is of their trolley. Hull or Stoke is about right for him now. Won't forget what he did for us though, the fa cup win was the most amazing day in 2001,
Does anyone remember all the Newcastle fans singing outside St James Park when they signed Michael Owen "Are ya watching" "Are ya watching" Are ya watching Liverpool ! I watched it on Sky News and i'll admit my head was wrecked. They won't be jumping around like that for a long time