U-Turn From Shearer?
Last updated : 17 September 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor
Shearer was the first to say Owen should put all the speculation to bed by coming out and telling the fans he intended to stay at St James' Park.
And the ex-Newcastle skipper is on record as saying: "Owen owes Newcastle and the fans a lot. They have stuck by him during his injuries."
Then Toon chairman, Freddy Shepherd, was furious Owen would not go public and say he intended staying at Newcastle when the truth came out about the £9m clause in his contract. And Shearer, at that time, backed Freddy.
But all his rosey in the garden these days, and Shearer is adamant that Owen never wanted a move.
Shearer: "I know Sam was delighted that no-one came in for him, all the fans were delighted and I know Michael did not want to leave Newcastle.
"He wanted to prove a point. He hasn't played as many games as he would have liked to up there, he hasn't scored as many goals as he wants to, so I think he wants to stay and do that for Newcastle United.
"I have worked at close quarters with Michael, so I know how good he is.
"He doesn't have to prove anything to himself or to me or to anyone, really.
"It makes me laugh when people say he's not the same player because of his injury, he's lost two or three yards.
"He still comes back despite his injuries and scores goals, and he is if not the best, one of the best around at doing that.
"If you create chances for him, more often than not, as his record suggests wherever he has played, he will score goals.
"It does take time for you to get back to match pace, and when you have been out for a while with a serious injury, what tends to happen is for the first two or three games, it goes well for you because the excitement is there of getting back to playing football.
"But then after that, reality sets in and that's when you have got to work at your fitness and try to get to where you want to be.
"Over the last couple of weeks, he has slowly but surely been getting better, and the chances he has scored for England over the last 10 days or so have been typical Michael Owen."
WIN SHEARER'S NEW BOOK
Alan Shearer's new book "Alan Shearer - My Illistrated History" will be published on 15th September ... and the publishers (Cassell Illustrated ) have kindly given us a copy to give away in a competition.
Simply answer these three questions on Alan Shearer ... and e-mail your answers to us at:
Kevnumad@fsmail.net
The competition will run until September 20th - and we will put the names of those who provide the right answers into a draw. The winner will receive the book BEFORE it hits the shops.
1) For which south coast club did Shearer make his league debut?
2) Who's Newcastle goalscoring record (that had stood for almost 50 years) did Shearer beat in his last season at the club?
3) Who did Newcastle play in Shearer's testimonial?
The book details are as follows:
ISBN: 9781844035861
Price: £18.99
Published by: Cassell Illustrated