Owen twitter: Prefer playing less often in a top team than every game in a poor team. Been there and didn't enjoy it.
Toons hit back
Current chairman Derek Llambias feels the 31-year-old would have been wise to keep his opinions to himself, particularly given the sums invested in his services by the North East club.
Llambias told the Daily Express: "Michael is the most expensive signing Newcastle has ever made and I'm disappointed with his comments.
"Under Kevin Keegan's management he was offered a one-year extension at £140,000 a week which he did not take. He was already on £133,000 a week.
"Quite honestly, what did Newcastle United get out of it? His time here cost £40-odd million, about £1.3m per goal."
And former co-owner Freddy Shepherd, who brought Owen to Newcastle from Real in the summer of 2005, also believes the forward should show more respect to his old employers.
He added: "We might have been a poor team, but we made him a rich man.
"It works out at around £500,000 for every game in a Newcastle shirt. Poor? Well, he wasn't poorer for it.
"He spent more time ferrying between Cheshire and Tyneside in his £3.5m helicopter."
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_6964103,00.html
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/925522/newcastle-hit-back-at-michael-owen-over-twitter-jibe?cc=4716owen, what a classy footballer