Liverpool FC Forum

[Bring Dalglish back]

Once more, Michael Owen - our best player - has threatened to leave Anfield - and I for one, believe that he will unless we don't qualify for the Champions League.

I don't study pschology, but you can clearly see by his body language and especially when he is questioned about his future at the club that he is unsettled about the direction in which the club is heading.

On today's BBC sport website it states:

'Michael Owen is ready to quit Liverpool if they fail to reach the Champions League next season.

Owen's agent Jon Holmes insists he has to be playing in Europe's premier competition to improve his career.

And in a message that will have shaken Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier, Holmes said: "Champions League football is very important to Michael Owen.

"For Liverpool not to qualify for the Champions League two years on the trot would have severe repercussions."

And Holmes said: "A crucial five months await Liverpool.

"Michael Owen is now 24. He's moving into his prime and needs to be playing football at the very highest level."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/3371417.stm
Accessed: 5/01/04

[big al]

Good post and sadly very likely.  If liverpool contiune to dither maybe even inevidible.  Slim chance is to dump Houlier once we're definitely clear of relegation and give O'Neill the job of talking Owen round.

[redandblue]

Of course Owen is on his way. He is one of the finest strikers in Europe, but the quality of service which he receives is poor. He wants to be competing for league titles and playing in the latter stages of the Champions Cup. He ain't going to get that under Houllier's regime.

He looks at a great player like Alan Shearer........lots of money, but a near empty cabinet of medals and says to himself......I don't want to end up like that. He then takes a look at the Neville Brothers with a cabinet overflowing with medals. That's where he wants to be and rightly so.

I believe that Owen and his advisers have signalled a clear message to the Liverpool Board..........unless there is an immediate improvement in attitude, performance and results which can be sustained for Liverpool to get to the top, then he's off.

I can't see him hanging around for much longer. The worst legacy of the Houllier years is the fact that we never saw the best of Michael Owen. He played at the wrong time, for the wrong team and most importantly, the wrong manager.

[Bring Dalglish back]

I agree with you completely redandblue. Owen does not want to follow in the footsteps of Robbie Fowler, whose best season undoubtebly was in 1994/95 and from then onwards declined in quality. Fowler's demise was partly due to a lack of self-enthusiasm after realising that Houllier's Liverpool were not going to win the league.

[JBG]

I don't think you can compare Fowler to Owen. Fowler was interested in money and the personal glory of scoring goals.

Owen is far more ambitious and determined person than Fowler.

[jonnymac1979]

Personally, I don't think we have ever played to Owen's strengths, or if we have, we have failed at it miserably.  We would cope to a point if he went, albeit we would be a worse team than we are now. 

Don't get me wrong, do you think I want to see him go elsewhere?  Of course I don't. 

Believe me, the player we would miss the most at Anfield if he went, and I think a lot would agree, is Steven Gerrard.  I can't remember the last time he failed to perform below his incredibly high standard, even when he's surrounded by the usual mediocrity.

[Bring Dalglish back]

I appreciate your point JohnBarnes'Granny about Fowler not being as good as Owen - I think that is obvious even with the most amateur types of football followers. Robbie was however, as Ian Rush once described: 'One of the most gifted young players of all time, who he had seen at Liverpool'.

Fair enough he may not have been as determined as Owen, but neverthless, he still was determined in terms of wanting to win the league - just like Owen. On this basis, he did realise that being at Anfield and under the guidance of Houllier, this was not going to materialise.

Along with other factors - such as money - which you rightly mentioned, Fowler then decided to jump ship and go to Leeds.

[JBG]

I am harsh on Fowler because he is probably my second favourite Pool player of all time (behind Digger but ahead of Kenny!) and for three or four years he looked like he could be the best goalscorer of our history. However, he reminded me a small bit of Gazza in that he had a stupid streak in him and towards the end of the Roy Evans days he was beginning to look a bit complacent.

Owen is a better player than Fowler for two reasons: pace and 100% professionalism. Robbie had (and has) better technique (remember his shooting back in 1996/97: incredible swerve on his shots) but wasn't the fastest and wasn't very professional.

[ROBtheRED]

Fowler was also one of my favourite players over the years and i was saddened at the deterioration he showed with fitness and his attitude but he did come back after 2 or 3 massive injuries which had clearly affected his pace and sharpness. His goalscoring record for the club is the one of the greatest ever and he should be more remembered for that than his lack of professionalism.


Owen on the other hand i agree is a model professional and i hope he does not leave us,i can't blame him for wanting to play at the top level but i'm sure at this stage in his career would like to achieve that with Liverpool although champions league football is not guaranteed next season. He is only 24 and seems settled in his family life therefore i hope he will at least extend his contract by 1 further year even if we don't qualify next year!  It is strange that the announcement he may want to leave at the end of the season was made by his agent and not Owen himself, maybe Jonathan Holmes is getting the pound signs in his eyes already!

[redandblue]

Fowler had huge talent but was an idiot. A complete waster and a terrible role model for kids. He is still only 28 but now looks like a fat pub player. Robbie could have been one of our all time greats had he chosen to be more professional about his attitude to training and his conduct off the park. Getting rid of him was one of GH's better decisions. We never saw the best of him and I am sure that one day, he will look back and regret it.

Owen by comparison works hard, trains hard and is ambitious to win important trophies. He conducts himself magnificently and is a great role model and ambassador for the club. He has been very loyal to LFC and he finds himself in a difficult situation where his ambitions are higher than those around him at the club. Who on earth could blame him for leaving.

[JBG]

Owen has come out today and rubbished those reports from SFX, who is he now breaking links with as he is sick of them stirring the sh##e about his contract at Liverpool.

His dad Terry will take over his affairs in the summer.

Again, great professionalism from the man. He might have his concerns over his future, but he obviously wants to keep them private and he sacked his agents for speaking out of turn.

[redandblue]

Yes, he has shown great loyalty to the club and to the manager. I hope that fans never question Owen's loyalty, but he is fiercly ambitious and he would be a sensation playing for a really good team which, currently, we are not.

It is interesting reading the Southern press every day (I'm afraid I now live down here). Articles about the club are in the sports news every day. For years, we would hardly get a mention. It would be all about Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea.......all of the London teams. But for the past year or so, Houllier has gone on the offensive with the press..........talking about his plans for the future, injuries, how we will win the European Cup, all sorts of nonsense. It is non stop.

He gives more interviews than Wenger, Ranieri, Curbishley, Coleman and Pardew put together. And the view down here is that he has lost his marbles. Always making excuses when we lose, always talking about putting together a winning run. And he himself perpetuates the Owen story unneccesarily by making himself so available (and he does this to court the press so that they will give him an easy ride).

But the AGM has been seen down here as a full frontal attack on Houllier and Moores from which they are unlikely to recover. The fans of the London based teams are plain fed up hearing from Houllier, or the Owen story.

GH........please just shut up. You are making yourself and the club look ridiculous.