by zackboxer » Fri Aug 13, 2004 8:57 am
At the end of the day Owen has been stalling on this contract for 15 months and even as recently as last week was indicating he would sign.
The board have hung on in the hope of getting him to sign an extension for as long as possible in the belief that Owen would sign and there were indications on a number of occasions from Owen that he would but ended up being forced in to taking a low offer or ending up with nothing.
Seems to me that Owen or more likely his agent engineered this situation to secure a move to a big continental club.
You can't blame him for wanting try his hand abroad or for joining a club like Real, it's just a shame the way it been handled and that it's left such a bad taste for the fans.
I've seen some postings about him moving because he wasn't happy with the prospect of being automatic first choice but he's hardly going to be that at Real, he'll be behind both Raul and Ronaldo in the pecking order. On his performances last year he would probably be behind Morientes.
I wish him well, he's been a great player for the club but wish Liverpool was getting a decent price and it didn't feel like the club and the fans had been shafted over this.