Michael Owen has put his side of the story forward after a spat with Newcastle fans and Alan Shearer.
In his autobiography, Owen had said that his move to Newcastle was the only regret in his career and that he never wanted to go there.
Shearer, the manager at the end of Owen’s stay, hit back on Twitter with a brutal dig, questioning his commitment to the club while taking a salary of £120,000-a-week.
Owen then hit back questioning Shearer’s loyalty to Newcastle, saying that the striker was pushing for a move to Liverpool after being left on the bench.
Talking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show (talkSPORT, Tuesday, 8am), Owen said his move to Newcastle suffered after a serious hamstring injury early in his career.
“It was a frustrating time in my career,” Owen said.
“My body was going through change. I was no longer the greyhound, I had to change my game.
“Sam [Allardyce – Newcastle manager at the time] said he noticed that. All of a sudden I was going through that period in my life which was mental torture. It was really hard to go through.
“I still knew I was a great finisher, but I wasn’t the Michael Owen I had been. That’s one of the things that disappointed me in the fallout about the book. I never said I didn’t love football, it was my life.
“If you’re not doing something as well as you used to you’re never going to enjoy it as much. That was me from my mid-20s. It was mental torture.
“My body was regressing, I was getting worse as a footballer.”
Owen making headlines
Owen was always going to come out second best when he took on Shearer, a legend in Newcastle.
He’s got a book to sell and the headlines can’t have done him any harm in the rest of the UK, but he’s probably hampered sales in Newcastle.
One bookshop in Newcastle refused to stock his book, although that was reported widely in outlets such as the Daily Mail, and ensured Owen was in the headlines for longer.
When you serialise a book, you’re always looking for a hook to make the news, but in this instance, Owen might have been surprised at how far this story went.
He’s spent the time since trying to repair his relationship with Newcastle, but we think he’s still got a way to go.
Newcastle not the problem
Owen scored 158 in 297 games for Liverpool and won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in his first season at Anfield.
Not many people will forget the goal he scored for England against Argentina that announced him on the world stage.
However, after Liverpool, he never hit the same heights – 16 in 45 games for Real Madrid, 30 goals in 79 games for Newcastle and 17 in 52 for Man United.
Owen might have blamed Newcastle for stalling his career but in reality that happened when he left Liverpool and he’s admitted the real problem – his serious injury – in this talkSPORT interview.