Several Key Players Out Of Contract - Owen Talks
By Tyne-Talk
December 8 2008
As Newcastle United prepare themselves for a future without Michael Owen the striker has stepped forward to explain the delay in contract talks, which are edging nearer and nearer to the deadline. It is clear, and has been for sometime that Mike Ashley is not willing to pay hefty wages or multi million pound fees for players;
But to leave people in limbo for such a long period of time and not attempt to resolve contract talks is leaving him open to more bad feeling from the fans and also unrest amongst the squad.
Newcastle currently have up to seven players needing their contract to be sorted out or they can leave in the summer, Steve Harper, Shola Ameobi and Nicky Butt, in addition to Owen have their agents scouting out a new club.
Owen said of the situation:
"A new contract is something that has been spoken about for a long, long time now. I had talks with the club about five or six months ago. We were negotiating but then all the hysteria happened.
Before it gets twisted, I'd like to say that it's not Newcastle snubbing me or anything else. They have bigger fish to fry than sorting out contracts.
They haven't got round to talking because there has been so much turmoil.
There are no snubs or anything about me wanting to leave.
The plain and simple fact is there has been a lot of turmoil at the club and things have been shuffled to the back of the queue."
After the Stoke game Owen said;
"Obviously Kevin Keegan left and a lot of the people on the board as well left and some of those people were the ones we were negotiating with. Since then there has been so much happening that we haven't resumed.
The club obviously haven't got back to us yet.
As soon as Joe Kinnear came in he mentioned that he wanted to do that. So we are going to speak to the club whenever he organises a meeting or anything like that.
It's just circumstances.
There has been loads' going on at this club. It's not just my contract - there are about five players who are in their last year.
I can understand the club not getting back to us because there have been bigger and more important things to concentrate on.
That's the situation."
Especially if we signed a few more players.
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