A lot of Newcastle United fans have replied to a tweet from the Evening Chronicle about Michael Owen.
The Chronicle are running a series of top 100 Newcastle United moments for a NUFC fan, and coming in at number 92 was the day the Toon signed Owen.
In the summer of 2005 Newcastle signed the former Liverpool striker from Real Madrid for a then club-record fee of £17m.
Of course, the move did not work out, and he is now hated by many on Tyneside for the way he treated the club.
However, these Newcastle fans still enjoyed that day.
The 100 happiest moments as a #NUFC fan – 100 to 70 ?
92- Michael Owen's arrival, 31st August 2005
? We might not like to admit it but when Michael Owen was paraded in front of the Leazes End on a warm August morning, Tyneside was excited.https://t.co/3pEe5K6iov pic.twitter.com/byBj1IkwUU
— The Chronicle (@ChronicleNUFC) March 24, 2020
It was amazing and shows how things could be with a bit of investment and ambition. Unfortunately no one knew what was to follow after that day
— ben willetts (@willetts_ben) March 24, 2020
Not a single sp*rts d*rect sign to be seen, beautiful
— walkerizm (@walkerizm) March 24, 2020
Other Toon supporters, though, have used the tweet to slag off Owen.
Didn’t take him long for him to let it be known that he actually didn’t want to be here
— Delboy E ???? (@dedwards1892) March 24, 2020
If we knew then what we knew now hey lol ?
— p smith (@kal1981lincs) March 24, 2020
He erased those memories when he put himself before the club and subsequently slated us. Very unprofessional!
— Phil Green (@philgreen333) March 24, 2020
RAT
— Jaxx (@jaxxnufc) March 24, 2020
What do we think?
Owen is not a popular man on Tyneside, but when he first signed, there was genuine excitement around the deal.
Do you still hate Michael Owen?
Yes
No
However, he has just recently revealed in his book ‘Reboot’ that he never wanted to move to Tyneside (Via the Chronicle), and this can be seen as no surprise considering he refused to play in a key game for the Toon in the 2008/09 season.
Newcastle lost and were relegated the following weekend – Owen then jumped ship, and, judging by some of these replies, many Toon fans still hate him.