Shepherd rubbishes Rafa

By Jeb
December 26 2005

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd has rubbished Rafa Benitez's claims that they pulled out all the stops to sign Owen.

A bemused Shepherd could not understand why Benitez had staked these claims before the two teams met, then went on to say "Does Rafa Benitez really think that the British public do not know the facts and are stupid?"

"We have a club that had just won the Champions League and was looking round Europe for a top striker. Now they want us to believe that they tried their best to sign Michael."

"It was Newcastle United who did everything they could to sign Michael Owen."

"We are happy with what we have bought and Michael is more than happy to be here."

The two teams meet today in a televised clash at Anfield.