Newcastle and Real Agree Fee for Owen - Not A Hope !

It seems that Real Madrid and Newcastle have agreed a fairly massive fee for Michael Owen meaning it is just down to Owen and Newcastle to agree terms.

I don't want to disappoint any Geordies reading this, but Owen would be mad to go to Newcastle and I don't think it's going to happen.

For one thing, him and Shearer were never a great partnership for England and I don't see that being any different now. Secondly, Newcastle are a club in permanent turmoil - Souness is unlikely to last, they can't keep their top players happy, they're not in Europe, so what exactly would the attraction be for Michael Owen.

All this stuff I've heard about Owen not getting into the England World Cup squad if he doesn't play regularly for Real is nonsense. We all know Sven isn't going to leave him out even if he only plays one game for Madrid. I can see the apologists for the England manager already talking about how 'fresh' Owen will be if he only gets a few games for Real this season, how 'hungry' he'll be and what a class player he is.

Write your own cliches...Owen will play in the 2006 World Cup in Germany if he only had one leg. Signing for Newcastle isn't going to make a damn bit of difference one way or another.