PLAYERS WHO KISS THE BADGE? I REACH FOR THE SICK BUCKET
SAYS MICHAEL OWEN
THIS is the moment when it all comes tumbling out. Michael Owen has just been asked whether he feels loved by any of the clubs he played for and, suddenly, his eyes are wide.
Owen has had to contend with a week of headlines, which should have been manna from heaven for him given he is promoting his new book Reboot. He hasn’t enjoyed the conflict that has erupted with Alan Shearer, following his revelation that these former best friends have not spoken for a decade.
Nor, for that matter, has he been at ease seeing the reaction to his blunt views on David Beckham, Fabio Capello, Kevin Keegan and leaving Liverpool. Owen isn’t the whiter-than-white character his agent, Tony Stephens, manufactured but, still, the controversy has been uncomfortable.
You would almost assume — judging from his Twitter posts and the opening line ‘I don’t need my tin hat, do I lads?’ when Owen greets us — that he wished he hadn’t shone a light on a career that was like a starburst, a glorious explosion that fizzled out.
It is dangerous to make assumptions. Owen spends a few minutes scratching the surface of the schism with Shearer ( right), emphasising the grudge is firmly of the Newcastle great’s making — ‘I couldn’t believe he wasn’t talking to me,’ he says — but then comes the question of loyalty.
‘What I struggle with is the fact that if some people had the same opportunity, they would have done exactly the same,’ says Owen, referencing the two moves — Liverpool to Real Madrid (£8million, 2004) and Real to Newcastle (£16m, 2005) — that defined him.
‘Those will forever be viewed as loyal; players who would run through a brick wall. And you know what? It’s a load of rubbish. I could have written two books and been even more hard-hitting because I know how it was with some people.
‘I mentioned one on Twitter the other day (Shearer coming close to joining Liverpool in the early 2000s) and could say a lot more things. I can accept being viewed as I am. I have lived with it and know no different now.
‘What makes my blood boil is the adulation some are held in and you think, “Oh my God! If only you knew...” When I see players kissing the badge, I reach for the sick bucket. Listen, I did it when I scored in the FA Youth Cup against Crystal Palace because I had seen my heroes do it.
‘When I used my brain and was more informed, I realised it was just for the fans. The club I first played for is the one for which I have a real affinity. Once you decide to move you have to accept it is out of your control — unless you go back — and won’t be the same.’
Owen could have gone back to Liverpool. It is impossible to say how things would have turned out for him had he returned like the prodigal son in 2005; he also wanted to go back in 2009, when his Newcastle contract expired, but only Manchester United, Everton and Hull showed interest.
Accepting an offer from Sir Alex Ferguson turned his reputation with many at Anfield to dust when he should have a place alongside Liverpool’s Untouchables for his golden years from 1998 to 2004.
‘Going to Madrid, most people would have thought, “Michael Owen, we really liked him and we still like him but I understand him going”,’ he muses. ‘Those who were not sure, as soon as I joined United that tipped an extra few over the edge. Absolutely.
‘I would still suggest the absolute majority still respect me, still like me. I can play in charity games and 20 people might boo. I get it. I totally get it. Circumstances have meant I have to answer questions like this.’ The book is certainly frank. Some elements jar, such as the passage about him playing the role of bookmaker at Euro 2000. He comes across as disappointed the story of card schools was published rather than understanding why, with the sums of money gambled, it was of public interest — and remains so after Kieron Dyer’s revelations last year about the high-profile stars involved.
‘I have spoken about it and I will answer your question, no problem,’ says Owen. ‘I am not trying to justify it because it doesn’t look good. You would prefer it not to be out there but in no way am I thinking what we all did in that squad was really wrong.’
Dyer, it should be noted, contacted Owen on Thursday to tell him he loved the book. Others will feel the same and it is fitting, in a way, that this interview ends as it started, with the subject of love.
Owen won the Ballon d’Or and stamped his name on a World Cup finals; he has an FA Cup final (2001) named after him; he made enough money to never have worries; he received adulation that used to be the reserve of pop stars. Yet it seems he doesn’t look back at it all with genuine affection. Did he enjoy it? More animation.
‘The first half of it, I loved,’ he says. ‘Then I got slower. It hurt me massively. It did not put me off football. I adore the game. But playing and thinking (I wasn’t the best) caused mental anguish.
‘If I could have accepted not being that good, I’d have played until 36. I’m wired to be different.’
‘If some people had the same opportunity as me they’d have done exactly the same’