Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: J P Fear 
Date:Tuesday July 17 2012
Time: 1:36PM
UK time is: 09:23:16
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
The Obligatory Annual Michael Owen To Villa Link!
This is a funny one because it seems to return every year.
Yup, the obligatory Michael Owen link.
I forget who said, I think it was in an article comment or forum post (sorry, my memory isn`t up to much!) but they reckon Owen had a visit to Villa last week. Could be total pie in the sky.
However, the 32-year-old is available on a free and has been talking things up recently.
He has tweeted saying he would only move to another Premiership Club and dropping down the divisions isn`t of interest to him.
'If a good opportunity doesn`t come my way then so be it. At this stage of my career it has to be something that I`m going to enjoy doing,'
Another tweet:
'I know I can still bang them in at the top level. I proved that nearly every time I played for Manchester United. At 32, still got a few years in me.'
As Yak at Vital Everton said
"5 Premier League goals for Manchester United in three years might not make the headlines, but overall he has scored 17 goals from 18 starts (he has also made 34 sub appearances)."
Owen has also said on Twitter he is getting closer to finding a new club and "Had a good deal of interest but just need to pick right! Can't wait to get going again.'
So... worth it? When fit, he knows where the goal is, could bring great experience to pass on to the younger strikers, is available on a free and is still only 32.
It would surely have to be a pay as you play type of deal due to the injury situation though?
We asked:
Would you take Owen on pay as you play?
Poll Date: 16 Jul 2012
Suggested By: Villa_de
No, passed sell by date 52%
Yes, few years of goals left 48%
So, fairly close!
Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco
Your Comments
Just like with the Carroll and Berbatov rumours, I can't imagine under our new business plan we'll be able to offer the wages. I'd rather we look for the next Owen anyway
MrZeus
Wages balance out, some on less, some on more. Berbatov is another quality player available as well as you say Mr Zeus!
The Fear
I'd have him, he'd probably have to take a pay-cut though. But I remember before he joined Man Utd he was sending desperate pleas to any half-decent top half club (us) to take him. Out of 4 strikers we only have one goalscorer. (2 prospects, and uh, Gabby). Not going to be good enough at that rate, but seeing as how getting a striker is a bit of a priority, I can't imagine Owen would be the main man, maybe Owen for nothing AND another new striker?
Stephen Jay Hawkings
It says a lot about English football that for years Owen and Beckham were regarded as England's undroppable finest. No wonder the national side never won anything. Contrast Owen with Miroslav Klose, two years his senior, and a similar type of player. Klose is still knocking them in for his country and could be at Brasil 2014 (age 36). If Owen comes to Villa then it should be as a pay-as-you-play impact sub on a one year deal.
VillaWillRiseAgain
I got slaughterd for suggesting we sign someone like a Forlan when he was abailable on a free some moaning he was too old and crap, themn Owen gets linked and some think he would be great for us lol Im sorry but he is a crock, Berbatov would demand more than 100k to come here plus German teams want him who are in the Champs League Anyway i would prefer Carroll over a crock like Owen sapping up 80/100k a week what a rip off that would be for a few games a season
CLIVETHEVILLAN
forgetting all things monetary - for the last 20 mins of a game or as cover for Bent - I think he still has something to offer us
Mat777
Owen can't command massive wages anymore. There is a generation of young football fans who are only dimly aware of who he is. He isn't in the national side anymore and he's injury prone. He also is a throwback as a striker. Drogba was the archetypal modern EPL striker. Multi-faceted and multi-functional. Owen has never scored twenty league goals in a season. The 'poacher' is an anachronism in the age of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi. Owen is unlikely to get anything but pay-as-you-play anywhere.
VillaWillRiseAgain
Villa Wil Rise....don't think you can compare Owen with Klose, they're so different....Owen's biggest threat was always his pace but after so many injuries, along with age, he's lost it...Klose's strengths were always elsewhere, and he didn't have pace to lose in the first place!
MrZeus
Still torn, the question is could he stay fit?
mike_field
MZ -- Have to disagree with you there. Klose and Owen are similar in the sense that, like Carroll and Bent, they are somewhat ananchronistic. They are just there just to find the back of the net. Gerd Mueller, for example, couldn't really play 'football' but could score shedloads of goals. Modern strikers -- Drogba for instance -- have to be muti-functional and track back etc. They have to be all-round footballers. Klose is regarded as an old fashioned type of player in Germany. He still makes die nationalmannschaft because he is an unusually prolific scorer. He also still has pace as you might have seen in Euro 2012 when he came on for the rather static Gomez. Owen was pacey in his teens and early twenties but lost his speed a long time ago.
VillaWillRiseAgain
Well, we had the link with Robbie Keane for 10 years and to be fair, in the end we did see him in a villa shirt. I don't think its worth it for Owen though, we already have Weimann in the mould of predator on far less money. Owen is really the team finisher, and Darren Bent has that role, another option like Andy Carroll (or of that style) might be more sensible.
thekentvillan
Yeah, we just like slating you though to be fair CliveTheVillan! lol Think some were up for Forlan link to be fair!
The Fear
Fair point, Owen's similar now, but when we was a top striker in Europe he had far more to his game than just poaching, and that's what his reputation's built on. How about we trigger Ba's release clause instead, especially if Newcastle get Carroll back?!
MrZeus
Either a one year deal or a pay as you play would be best I feel.
Pride of Lions
Nope ... not after that wembley equaliser, when they should of been down to 10 men and it would more than likely of been Owen that had been sacrificed .... (not that i'm still bitter about it or anything !! ... lol !)
bixit
I do feel that I'd like Owen to appear in a Villa shirt to pop in a goal or two when a match isn't going our way, but I don't think he'd be able to stay fit and it'd just be another year wasted on wages.
VillaHippo
Too old. Saha or Defoe would be cheaper, more effective options.
soccer15
Too many injuries, unfortunately, it's a no from me.
madirish
If we are to sign a new forward then why not somebody like Jorden Rhodes ? He has a really good scoring record and we could get him for about £5-6 million.
As for Owen I think he is well past his best.
jfr7730
Lambert has said it isn't happening.
The Fear
Rather have Keane back than Owen if we must have an older striker he managed to find the net even under the last regime!
Merlin128777
Have Your Say
Recent Articles
Petrov Delighted With Assistant Coach Role (Wednesday May 22 2013)
Broadcasting Revenue For AVFC For 2012/13 Season (Wednesday May 22 2013)
N'Zogbia Exit And £5m Given To Keeper? (Wednesday May 22 2013)
Villa's Pre Season Schedule (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Vlaar Pleased With First Good Touch Of The Game (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Villa Season Ticket Help Sessions (Tuesday May 21 2013)
They Think It's All Over - Not Yet - Soccer Sevens (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Vital Villa Man Of The Match v Wigan (Tuesday May 21 2013)
The Aston Villa Summer Transfer Thread Pt 1 (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Brentford Midfielder Linked (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | Pride of Lions | 981 |
| 2. | The Fear | 758 |
| 3. | BodyButter | 500 |
| 4. | kefkat | 403 |
| 5. | CDX_EIRE | 328 |
| 6. | ClivetheVillan | 297 |
| 7. | Villan57 | 244 |
| 8. | thefacehead | 241 |
| 9. | DeanoVilla | 219 |
| 10. | mike_field | 194 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results | ||||
| Wigan | 2 | - | 2 | Aston Villa |
| Aston Villa | 1 | - | 2 | Chelsea |
| Norwich | 1 | - | 2 | Aston Villa |
| Aston Villa | 6 | - | 1 | Sunderland |
| Man Utd | 3 | - | 0 | Aston Villa |
| Aston Villa | 1 | - | 1 | Fulham |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 12. Fulham | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | -10 | 43 |
| 13. Stoke | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | -11 | 42 |
| 14. Southampton | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | -11 | 41 |
| 15. Aston Villa | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | -22 | 41 |
| 16. Newcastle | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | -23 | 41 |
| 17. Sunderland | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | -13 | 39 |
| 18. Wigan | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | -26 | 36 |
Breaking League News
| Decision time?
» Newcastle : 23/05/2013 09:00:00
|
| PWU Wigan Athletic Podcast - End Of Season Special
» Wigan : 23/05/2013 07:00:00
|
| Bale to Stay; But where does he Play?
» Spurs : 23/05/2013 06:00:00
|
| Liverpool: Begovic To Replace Reina?
» Liverpool : 22/05/2013 20:54:00
|
| Coates thanks friend Pulis
» Stoke : 22/05/2013 18:30:00
|
| Petrov Delighted With Assistant Coach Role
» Aston Villa : 22/05/2013 16:52:00
|
| Boateng Signs Two Year Deal
» Fulham : 22/05/2013 16:50:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|
1 © - All content copyright Vital Network Ltd, not to be reproduced without explicit permission Copyright Issues
Cookie Policy
At Vital Football, we along with most other modern websites use small files called 'cookies' to create the most secure, effective and functional website possible for our users. Without these files our business model, based on advertising, breaks down and we would be unable to continue to provide the services that you are here to utilise. By continuing to use this website after seeing this message, you consent to our use of cookies on this device unless you have disabled them. For full details please read our Cookie Policy which can be found here. However, if you would like to disable cookies on this device, please view our Cookie Policy which contains an opt-out tool for disabling advertising cookies. Please also visit our information pages on 'How to manage cookies' if you would also like to block all other types of cookies. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies.