Source: Telegraph
Former Newcastle United chairman Freddie Shepherd defends signing Michael Owen
Shepherd sanctioned a deal that saw the club transfer record smashed four years ago to bring Owen from Real Madrid to Tyneside where his stay has been blighted by serious injuries.
The 29-year-old Owen lost his place in the England side after moving to the North-East where a succession of injuries meant that he only played in 79 games for a club that was relegated from the Premier league at the end of last season.
Owen is understood to have been paid in the region of £115,000 per week by club owner Mike Ashley but he managed to score only 30 goals during his ill-fated spell in Newcastle colours.
Despite the outcome, Shepherd has insisted that he had been right to bring Owen back to English football from Spain.
"Hindsight is a great management tool, "everybody's wise after the event," said Shepherd who remained tight-lipped on rumours he is aiming to buy the club from Ashley.
"It's very easy for people to say signing Michael Owen was a disaster, but everybody said it was a fantastic deal at the time. There were no dissenters back then.
"The clamour for him to sign was immense, and I didn't hear any complaints from the thousands who turned up to welcome him on the day he arrived.
"At the time we signed him, his goals-per-game stats were about the best in the business and his pedigree second to none.
"Plus, he had had no career-threatening injuries and we had his fitness stringently checked out, as Real Madrid had a year before. Yes, things didn't turn out anything like we hoped and expected they would. But nobody - and I mean nobody - saw it coming."
Owen is now looking for a new Premier League club and Hull manager Phil Brown is aiming to hold talks with the former Liverpool player in an attempt to persuade him to head to the KC Stadium but Stoke have also emerged as rivals for his signature.
Meanwhile, Fabricio Coloccini's agent is seeking talks with his Newcastle paymasters to clarify the Argentine defender's future.
"For weeks now, I only hear silence from Newcastle," said Marcelo Lombilla. "After the relegation, the directors seemed to decide to sell Fabricio but I have heard no more details.
"Now, without more information, the chances to sell him look negative." Coloccini has been branded a flop on Tyneside after a £10m move from Deportivo La Coruna last summer but Sevilla, Real Zaragoza, Fiorentina and Lazio are apparently interested in his services.
"I have spoken with them, but without knowing Newcastle's position, it's nearly impossible to do a deal," Lombilla added.
