EDITOR'S CHOICE NEWS Keegan reveals name for £100m hospital Public's views needed as vision for town unveiled PM pays tribute to NHS 100 jobs to go at NHS prescription division FILM REVIEWS The Mist (15) Kung Fu Panda (PG) NEWS IN VIDEO Plane named in Keegan's honour Hartlepool bus crash victim hands over fundraising cheque to air ambulance Newcastle's new signing - they call him spiderman and here's why... Rocket to the Toon RACING PODCAST Racing tips and reports with Graham Orange of Go Racing FORMULA 1 News and Race Reports F1 Blog Circuit Guide Predictions THE HEADLINE GAME * Pit your wits against The Northern Echo and TFM in The Headline Game GET OUR NEWS BY E-MAIL Just register

Most read Comments 1 Sir Elton has 'em rocking at the arena 2 Elton John: Viv Hardwick's review 3 Schoolboy hit by car dies 4 Children questioned over slaughter of 100 animals 5 Golfer dies after being mugged on holiday 6 Man charged with murder of former girlfriend 7 Man charged with firearm and drugs offences 8 Three charged following social club stabbing 9 Man charged with attempted murder 10 Elton John in concert coup for Darlington Today | 7 Days 1 Sir Elton has 'em rocking at the arena 2 1066 and all that 3 Villagers pledge to fight plan for second wind turbine site 4 Tragic teen forced to drink petrol and set alight 5 Park and ride scheme plans hit the brakes 6 Children questioned over slaughter of 100 animals 7 Elton John: Viv Hardwick's review 8 Council defeated in court windfarm bid 9 European Union 10 Elton John in concert coup for Darlington

Comment

MICHAEL Owen informed Sam Allardyce he was fit to start against Everton on Sunday but his club manager decided he wasn't.

When it comes to Newcastle United there's only one winner in that argument and it's never the player.

Allardyce gave him 15 minutes - enough time for Owen to score and prove he was fit enough to join up with his international team-mates.

When he does link-up with England he will no doubt inform his international coach he is fit to start against Estonia and Russia and the likelihood is that Steve McClaren won't follow Allardyce's lead.

The England boss is still desperately in need of points to keep Russia at arms length with a win at Wembley and at least a draw in Moscow the minimum return from the next two games.

To ensure he gets that return he will need Owen for both games.

Dean Ashton and Andy Johnson are out, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe are fringe players for their respective clubs and Wayne Rooney hasn't scored a competitive goal for his country since the Euro finals in Portugal more than three years ago.

Owen has 40 goals in 85 internationals and three in his last two. It appears clear that McClaren has little option but to play him from the start in both games and keep his fingers crossed that his talisman doesn't pick up an injury.

If he does then McClaren and Owen will have some explaining to do to Allardyce.

6:11pm Monday 8th October 2007

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login