For what my four-penneth is worth, this signing worries me a little. I believe that it's a massive gamble from Sir Alex but if they pull it off, it could just be perfect. The amount of injuries that have happened at Newcastle to any of their players simply cannot be a coincidence. I've thought for a long time that there must be something amiss with their training facilities and from what Dan said, then I'm right. The conditions at Carrington are perfect so let's hope that this helps. I've seen Michael Owen play a few times in the last couple of seasons and I wouldn't exactly say that he lit up the pitch but then it makes a difference as to who you're playing with. At Newcastle he had no-one offering goals up on a plate. They only really had Duff as a true winger so the lack of balls into the box was very evident. With us, he'll get those opportunities created for him and hopefully start scoring regularly again. Only time will tell. The big bonus for me is that he's English/British and given the right situations he can score. Fingers crossed.
MobileNanny
It's less of a gamble than not signing anyone though
BTW, stop comparing the move to Smith's move...
This is the former European Player of the Year...a player who was looking a certainty to smash Bobby Charltons England scoring record...a player who can actually put the ball in the net...
He has been shit at Newcastle [mostly]... and I've slated him for that...but I guess we could have put Ruud in his pomp in that team and he'd have struggled...he's not going to add much to team play, so without service, he is nothing...we should provide plenty of that, and there's no better poacher in world football barring the aforementioned Ruud...
There is no-one better at eeking out a few more years of players careers at the top level than Sir Alex...Giggs, Neville, Scholes, Keane [with all his injuries], VDS and many others are testiment to that...Sheringham was of a simillar age when he came here and he was our player of the year...the more I think about this the more excited I am...possibly because I'm biased as hell, but also possibly because we all know what a phenomenal talent he was at Liverpool and Madrid...if he can get anywhere near that then it will be a great signing...
Matt 379
Owen's a really experienced striker, with a natural predatory instinct. His injury history is the biggest worry, but there is little use in complaining about a player of this calibre being tied to a deal on a free, and with a pay-as-you-play incentive arrangement. It's not a 'risk' unless he constitute's the club's main replacement of Ronaldo/Tevez (with Giggs/Scholes rounding the corner or retirement). Then, his success or failure will be bound to Fergie like a rash. It's certainly not a move that I would've made, but I applaud that there's an intriguing logic behind it. [I'm much less convinced on Valencia than Owen]
Reductio ad Absurdium
This is a no lose situation for all involved.
We get a proven, World Class goalscorer for a relatively low wage. A player capable of 20/25 goals a season if he can stay fit, and no real drain on our resources if he can't. It's easy to overlook the fact that Owen's goal rate for the Geordies was still not far off one every two games despite all their problems. There will also undoubtedly be hefty appearance/goal/release clauses in Owen's contract in case he continues to struggle with injury.
Owen gets a chance to revive his career at one of the worlds biggest clubs with one of the worlds best managers, a complete turnaround from the fiasco that has been Newcastle United over the last few years. If he doesn't revive his career, then at least he's failed here, and not at Hull or Stoke.
Mr. Brownstone
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