Alan Shearer will not dispense with the services of his star striker ... but as Shearer said BEFORE he took the manager's job: "Owen owes Newcastle a big debt" ... and now is the time for him to give us something for four years of backing from the Geordie faithful.Owen's Last Chance To Go Down In Toon History!
Alan Shearer will not dispense with the services of his star striker ... but as Shearer said BEFORE he took the manager's job: "Owen owes Newcastle a big debt" ... and now is the time for him to give us something for four years of backing from the Geordie faithful.The 29-year-old is without a goal since January 10, and he has rarely looked like adding to his season's tally of 10 goals since his return from injury against Arsenal at the end of last month.
Alan Shearer's assistant Iain Dowie: "Michael's goal record stands up to scrutiny with anybody. He is used to this. People only talk about him when he doesn't score.
"We didn't get a lot of opportunities in the game at Tottenham, apart from the one from Obafemi Martins in the closing stages.
"Michael has worked his socks off in all three games we have played. His work-rate is fantastic and he has covered so much ground.
"He's doing all the things that are right and one thing is certain - if chances come his way, he scores.
"We know that Michael has quality in abundance. In training this week and last week, he has come up with finishes that other strikers simply can't do.
"It's almost a British thing now, we like to knock our great goalscorers.
"All Michael needs to know is that he's got the faith of his team-mates and the staff here. That's the key element, and he knows it and feels it.
"Alan knows the game in terms of being where Michael is now. Alan was there himself.
"We are very happy with him. We know he can pop up when people are least expecting it.
"He knows how to deal with pressure - he's lived in the 'goldfish bowl' all his life. But he just gets on with his business."
We don't want him to "just get on with the business" ... Owen is supposedly a world class player and after the initial fee of £18m (a club record) he has picked up £108,000 per week.
That is a total outlay of £40,464,000, and one of the reasons the club is in a financial shit hole.
We expect something special in these last five games ... enough to keep us in the Premiership.
He can't do it all by himself, granted, but as Shearer says ... HE OWES NEWCASTLE BIG TIME!