Owen hails Al arrival

As our number nine great comes in, the current number 10 who many people expected to be his replacement in the Newcastle side, Michael Owen, has gone on record to praise the decision and clearly back the new man to turn it around. Hopefully the arrival of a friend and confidant will enable the club to get the best out of Owen for the probably eight last games of his NUFC career. He said:

'I`m really delighted to see Alan here as manager. I watched his career when I was a kid, I admired him as a player and then I got the chance to play alongside him with Newcastle three or four years ago, which was great for me.

Now it`s come full circle and here I am playing for him as my manager. Who would have thought it? Alan Shearer`s appointment is just what we needed to give us that extra injection of confidence and enthusiasm and everyone has certainly had an extra spring in their step since the announcement.

It`s exciting and it`s given the whole place a buzz. There are not many people who could come in and affect the club like this. Everybody`s in a great frame of mind and now if we get a positive result the whole thing can snowball.

The last eight games are like a new chapter. We`ve played well in patches, we know we have the ability to mix it against the best teams and today we have another chance to prove our worth against a top side.'

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