Premier League - Souness: Owen will be a success

Eurosport - Sun, 05 Jul 11:06:00 2009

Former Newcastle manager has tipped Michael Owen to rebuild his career after sealing a surprise move to champions Manchester United.

FOOTBALL Graeme Souness and Michael Owen file photo - 0

Souness brought Owen to St James' Park for £17 million four years ago but the move turned sour for the England striker following a succession of injuries and the club's relegation at the end of last season.

But while doubts persist over the wisdom of the deal done by United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Souness believes his fellow Scot has pulled a masterstroke and told The People: "I don't think Michael is shot. It's a really good transfer for all concerned."

He added: "I think the move will excite him and give him whole new lease of life

"He was Newcastle's top player at the time and all of that onus was on him. At United he will be just another player and surrounded by really good team-mates who can give him the service he needs.

"He will also be in the best environment in terms of treatment off the field and that is important to any player of his age."

Commenting on Ferguson's gamble, he added: "I think this is a smart deal for him. It's a clever one especially when there are not too many available targets out there.

"In fact this could easily be the deal of the season if it works out for him."

PA Sport

Comment 28 - 47 of 67

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  1. owens not gonna play every game anyhow with rooney,­ berbatov, macheda, welbeck and hopefully etoo soon­ please please please quality striker, so its not such a­ bad gamble, not a bad player to have coming off bench­ to offer something a little diff,,,, and playing with­ good players will bring the best out of him

    From j22la11, on Sun 5 Jul 8:51PM
  2. Heslop, I must admit when we made the bet I never­­ dreamt for one minute he would end up at man Utd. I­­ think Fergie will get the best out of him because he­­ wont take the @#$% from him that we put up with, he­­ will have to play well and get his finger out or he­ will­ be dropped.
    I will be surprised though if he­­ manages 50 goals, this season I just dont think­ he's up to the­ physical demands of a full sex­ session. He wimpered out the­ second half of last­ season because he was afraid of­ getting his tool­ injured and in some games he was our worst­ player and­ even though he put in such little effort, he­ still­ managed to pick up a few scabs.

    From john.connolly01,­ on Sun 5 Jul 2:22PM

    From pianomusiclive, on Sun 5 Jul 8:48PM
  3. owen,s only fit for pulling pony wood!!!

    From nlwarburton, on Sun 5 Jul 8:06PM
  4. OWEN IS SH*.T

    From henry_michael_daly, on Sun 5 Jul 7:50PM
  5. maybe its time u kept your crackpot ideas to yourself

    From Wulk Bogan, on Sun 5 Jul 7:41PM
  6. I hope Owen all the best here at united­ ................. maybe its time we see him back in the­ England Squad.

    From ernest, on Sun 5 Jul 7:31PM
  7. matty12345_uk:
    Acording to reports Owen is only on­ circa £55k a week plus bonuses for playing, scoring etc­ not £100,000 as you have said. So all in all its not a­ bad gamble on Fergie's part. If he's a flop­ everyone willl just say, "I told you so", and­ if he can regain any form and give a good contribution­ to the team in terms of performances and goals Fergie­ will be praised for taking the risk.
    As a Manu fan I am­ a bit unsure about the signing if I'm honest. After­ selling Ronaldo and losing Tevez, Owen is not the man I­ thought we'd sign to replace either of them. If it­ was 5 or 6 years ago I'd have thought it was a­ great signing, but after his poor spell at NUFC I'm­ not too excited by it at all, lets just say I wont be­ in any rush to go out and get Owens name on the back of­ my jersey. I have a feeling it will turn out to be­ either a really bad decision and Owen will get injured­ and barely play any games or he'll be a sensation­ scoring regularly. I think it will be one extreme or­ the other.
    I would like to see Fergie signing someone­ that would be considered World Class. That is what we­ lost with both Ronaldo and Tevez going and that is what­ we should be signing to replace them. David Villa,­ Eto'o, Sergio Aguero would all fit into that­ category and anyone of them should be who we are­ looking to sign.
    I would like to see Fergie go for­ some of the Real outcasts, Wesley Sneijder, Lassana­ Diarra and Robben (again if fit) would all be great­ signings and most teams in Europe would want them in­ their squad.
    If there is any truth in the rumour that­ Chelsea a would sell us Essien I would definately take­ them up on it. He's probably the best defensive­ midfielder in the game today. And if they are selling­ Bosingwa I'd take him too, he'd be a great­ replacement for G. Neville.

    From karlf2008, on Sun 5 Jul 7:24PM
  8. good business? gotta be 100k a week, 52 weeks in a­ year, 5.2 million for a guy who will play maybe 20­ games at absolute tops. and dont come this man u would­ only do a pas as you play deal with him - because thats­ conceited as hell. ie you think only lesser teams would­ be naive enough to take him on for full wahack wages...

    From Matty, on Sun 5 Jul 6:00PM
  9. souness is about as out dated and out of touch as owen­ not suprised hes got an opinion.hell be lucky to play­ more than 15 games and wont survive the season without­ limping off hes finished

    From Wulk Bogan, on Sun 5 Jul 5:35PM
  10. Owen should of stayed at Newcastle, he helped them get­ relagated, so he should take a pay cut, get them back­ in the premier, then ask for premiership wages.

    From peterlewsey2003, on Sun 5 Jul 4:15PM
  11. Just from a commercial point you sign him for nothing­ if you get him fit and playing he would still resell­ for a few million, or he gets really fit again and you­ are on to a winner, he doesn't get fit you have­ sold enough shirts etc not to worry, looks Fergie has­ been taken for a mug again !!!

    From Eric, on Sun 5 Jul 4:10PM
  12. this is a win win situation for fergie:

    because Owen­ is getting paid very little by Man U so if Owen has a­ bad season its not that bad and he can get rid of him­ in january or next year.

    but if owen stays injury free­ and plays well, then Fergie looks like a genius!
    i can­ completly understand why Fergie signed

    From Yannick P, on Sun 5 Jul 3:53PM
  13. Good luck Owen

    From darkfury18, on Sun 5 Jul 3:47PM
  14. Heard they are watching Downing's progress as well,­ think they are trying to get full use out of their­ famous medical room

    From Eric, on Sun 5 Jul 3:47PM
  15. Comment 31 : You're damn right, mate. I thought I­ was the one that only know about the (unknown player)­ and I am but the quality of the players that I've­ suggested (not to MUFC or BPLs of course) are @#$%!­ Fergie signed an unknown boy such as Ronaldo for almost­ 13 MILLION POUNDS!!!!!!! and he got a lot of trophs and­ 80 MILLION POUNDS IN RETURN! Fergie is the king of­ football.. not mastermind Rafa Benitez, not mindgamer­ Scolari who blames his players (not respecting him)..­ it's FERGIE!! FERGIE!!!

    Viva Ronaldo??
    Viva­ Ronaldo??
    No..
    it's..
    VIVA FERGUSON!!!!
    VIVA­ FERGUSON!!!
    MANAGING FOR THE GREATNESS!
    HEAR UNITED­ SINGS!
    VIVA FERGUSON!

    From Angelos, on Sun 5 Jul 3:23PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    manchester united starting 11

    ­ ­ foster,
    oshea, ­ vidic, ­ ferdinand, ­ evra,

    valencia, ­ haregraves, ­ carrick, ­ rooney,

    ­ owen, ­ berbatov.

    From Mo, on Sun 5 Jul 3:03PM
  17. I can still remember bad mouthing Fergie when he signed­ Sheringham because I thought that he was too old to­ play for MUFC! ... WTF did I know? ... Trust in­ SAF's judgement peeps, he hasn't let us down­ yet, has he? Remember what happened after he sold Cole,­ or Yorke, or Becks or van Nistelroy ... exactly ... we­ missed each of them for about 15 minutes after they­ were replaced by Fergie's new signings! Do any of­ you remember thinking, "Who the @#$% is this­ Ronaldo guy? ... I thought we were buying THE great­ Brazilian Ronaldo! WTF is Fergie thinking about? Or do­ you all deny ever thinking that now? ;-)

    From johnny.brandie, on Sun 5 Jul 2:47PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    NUFC'S GAIN BIG STYLE MAN U'S LOSS­ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­ AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    BYE BYE OWENNNNNNNNNNNNN

    From footy mad, on Sun 5 Jul 2:39PM
  19. desperate times at man u owen just a sick note playing­ to feed his vice of gambling

    From Ken A, on Sun 5 Jul 2:38PM
  20. does this make owen a double judas??

    From David, on Sun 5 Jul 2:34PM
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