So according to this blog post – “the problem is Newcastle, not Michael Owen… [Freddy Shepherd] simply over-valued a striker”, the inference is that Shepherd is a buffoon. I doubt you’d find many Newcastle fans who would disagree with that sentiment. The article then goes on to state,
“The fans are also partly culpable in all of this, buying into the idea that Owen didn’t try, or somehow let them down. We all know about their Messiah fixation but every pantomime also needs a villain and down the years they’ve had a few. Currently it’s nasty Mike Ashley the man who effectively saved the club from going bust.”
I would argue that Mike Ashley simply over-valued the club – he bought it without doing due diligence in the hope of flipping it to someone else and making a quick buck, unfortunately for him (and more so unfortunately for us culpable fans) this backfired spectacularly and left him with an asset worth a fraction of the price he paid. To me this shows Ashley to be every bit as much a buffoon as Shepherd. The difference is Freddy Shepherd’s buffoonery didn’t get NUFC relegated!
I don’t see how fans being deeply unhappy with Ashley reconciles with the author’s tacit supposition that we were happy with Freddy Shepherd. Just because one despises the Coalition Government it does not follow that they are in favour of Labour or that they were a fan of New Labour. The two can be, and often are, mutually exclusive.
Now back to the posting. Ah the halcyon Hollywood days of Owen’s signing – I was given a mug commemorating his arrival (the joy I had smashing it after NUFC’s relegation still brings a warm glow to the pit of my stomach). We don’t have a Messiah complex at Newcastle any more than any other club – it’s a media fabrication that exists to sell newspapers! Trying to prove that we are more tribal than other fans because some mindless tits spat at Bobby Robson in 1982 is one of the most moronic things I have ever seen. 1982 – when we still had barriers, full time hoolies and the NF handing out leaflets outside football grounds throughout the country!
Newcastle fans are no more culpable for their club’s current fate than Mickey Mouse is – “The expectations are too high”, “They think only Geordies understand the club” – NEWSFLASH: ALL we want from our players is 100% effort – you don’t even have to be that good (Warren Barton is a case in point) – but if you give 100% most fans will forgive your other foibles. And that’s where Michael Owen let us down… Overpriced or not, most Toon fans who I speak to felt Owen didn’t put in the effort.
Ah but “While Owen’s star may have been on the wane, he still scored 30 goals in 79 games – a goal every 2.63 games.” says the article; ah but, as Mr Owen himself tweeted, “For the record, I tried my best in every game for Newcastle. Under KK I played well and i’ll never forget the 2 I scored against Sunderland.” – Keegan was manager for 6 months (playing time) and Owen was with Newcastle for 4 years! The thing is Newcastle were relegated by 1 point 1 freaking point – so had we drawn one game that we lost we wouldn’t have gone down.
Think about it, as bad as Newcastle were in that relegation season – and they were bad, had we got 1 more point we wouldn’t have been relegated. Now consider this, between Christmas and the end of the 2008-2009 season Newcastle United lost 7 games by only one goal. They also drew 6 games. So from Christmas, Newcastle had 13 attempts to score the goal that would have prevented them from going down – surely with a fully focused CLUB CAPTAIN Michael Owen the £16m man – or even the £8m man playing to his average (ie a goal every 2.63 games) we should have been able to avoid relegation. The stats are in our favour after all – half of those games were at home… Do you know what Michael Owen’s contribution was? 1 goal. One fucking goal in 20 league games – 13 of which were decided by one or less goals and 10 of which were at St James Park! His magnificent goal scoring feat in that period is matched by fellow £8m-£16m maestros, Danny Guthrie and David Edgar – and get this, it’s beaten by Peter Lovenkrands “signed on a free from nobody” (3 goals).
So don’t come all high and mighty with Newcastle United fans and tell us who we can and can’t boo – Michael Owen was shit when we needed him most, he has NEVER apologised to the fans who pay his fucking wages for helping get our team relegated and he fucked off as soon as the whistle blew at Villa Park on the 24th of May. He deserved all of the stick and boos he got at St James’ Park on Tuesday.
I run a film production company in Gatesheed, UK. I have two boys and one American husband. I love NUFC, the Red Sox and Pats. I rant A LOT.
ZeesRants 
Couldn’t agree more. The press has created the ‘messiah’ image of the NUFC fan which exacerbates the hatred other teams have for the team.