Daily Mirror - 06.09.2019

DM1ST
mirror.co.uk/sport FRIDAY 06.09.2019 DAILY MIRROR^59

ANDY DUNN

Britain’s best sports writer

r.co.uk/sport

It seems that the truth

really does

hurt.. when it

comes from

Michael Owen

WHEN Alan Shearer made

up his mind to leave

Blackburn in 1996, it was

not a given he would be

joining Newcastle United.

Kevin Keegan and Alex

Ferguson were invited to a

house belonging to a friend of

Shearer’s in Cheshire, where

they were asked to make their

pitch – separately of course –

to the England striker.

Ferguson knew Keegan was

in the box seat but Shearer

was prepared to give the

Manchester United manager a

fair hearing. It was tempting.

Obviously, they could match

Newcastle’s salary offer and

Manchester United had just

won a third Premier League

title in four years.

But the pull of Tyneside was

strong and if one small detail

helped cement Shearer’s

decision, it was this.

Shearer asked Keegan and

Ferguson who would take

penalties if he joined.

Keegan’s answer was

instant and simple. You.

Ferguson hesitated.

After all, his penalty

taker at the time was

Eric Cantona.

That was that.

Game well and truly

over for Fergie.

Shearer has

never confirmed

that tale, but it

rings true. It sums

up the essential

selfishness of a top-

class striker. It typifies

the necessary size of

ego, the epic single-

mindedness. Michael Owen

was selfish, single-minded and

had an ego. Those queueing up

to point that out as they

lambast him for his observa-

tions in his latest book are

stating the blindingly obvious.

But how come there are

plenty in football queuing up

to portray Owen (right with

Shearer at Newcastle) as some

sort of dishonourable rat?

As far as he is concerned, he

is telling some home truths.

And that is fine. Have little

sympathy for his grievances,

sure. As he details his fallout

with Shearer, take sides with

the latter, that is everyone’s

prerogative.

No right-minded judge

would disagree with Owen’s

declaration that Fabio Capello

was a shocking England

manager or that David

Beckham maximised relatively

limited talent, but you are

more than entitled to.

Just as Newcastle fans have

every right to be offended with

Owen’s observations about

them, their club and about his

ill-fated time there.

But someone saying exactly

what he thinks, for being

honest to himself, is hardly a

hanging offence. Even if he has

not done that or been that in

the past, it does not make

his sudden frankness

reprehensible.

Roy Keane is mostly lionised

for his public pronounce-

ments. He has been laying into

Ferguson again, saying he

would not have been surprised

had Sir Alex had his wife on

the staff at Old Trafford, that

son Darren was “very lucky” to

win a medal with United and

pointing out that Fergie’s

brother Martin was the club’s

chief scout “for a long time”.

Claiming he is owed an

apology by Ferguson, Keane

said he “had no interest in

talking to the man”.

Keane – whose father died

last month – also trained his

sights on Jon Walters, having

this to say about a player with

whom he has had a long-

running feud: “He was on TV.

Crying about his family

situation. You know, how

about lying low for a while,

taking it easy? Have a look

at his medals. Wouldn’t

take long.”

Walters had appeared

on a TV show and talked

about the impact his

mother’s death had on

him when he was 11 and

about his pain when his

brother died in 2018.

Yet there will be some

out there who continue

to laud Keane for brutally

telling it like it is.

But when Owen finally

dares to speak his mind,

he is pilloried.

There are a lot of

things you can criticise

Michael Owen for, but

for finally speaking what

he sees as the truth

about the ups and

downs of his career is

not one of them.

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AFTER The Open, the most

prestigious golf tournament in

Great Britain is the PGA

Championship.

Staged at Wentworth, it will begin

on September 19, having been

moved from its traditional date in

May.

You might not have noticed this

because the reorganisation of the

golfing calendar now means the

four Majors are compressed into a

four-month period,

with The Open

being the last of

them in July.

After that,

apart from

within the

circle of golf

aficionados,

interest has

waned. It is only

natural.

Rory McIlroy (left)

recently won £12.3million at a

tournament and it barely caused a

sporting ripple. Very rich man got a

lot richer and that was about it.

The PGA Championship always

felt like it had a wider significance

than merely being the European

Tour’s flagship event.

It was the chance to put a marker

down for the season ahead.

It might turn out to be a great

tournament. It might even turn out

to have decent weather.

But in the shuffling of golf’s

priorities, it feels like it has drawn

the short straw.

Teed off over

new PGA date

AFTER receiving a Sportsmen of

the Year award from GQ magazine,

Eoin Morgan posted a lovely picture

of himself and his wife Tara (below).

The accompanying tweet was

nice but, in a small way, summed up

the modern elite

sportsperson.

“Honoured to accept

Sportsmen of the Year

award from @

BritishGQ on

behalf of @

englandcricket

team... Thank

you to @

Burberry for

dressing us

both.”

Thank you,

indeed. For

reminding us

commercial

interests leave

no sporting

stone unturned.

Not a smart

move, Morgs

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to accept

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t

e

d.

“I LOVE a pound note but

it’s not really in my heart,”

said Eddie Hearn when

dismissing the idea of getting

involved in the first fight between

YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI.

The kerfuffle still went ahead in

front of a capacity 21,000 crowd,

drew £150million in total revenue,

attracting more than a million

pay-per-view subscriptions.

Now, the two will resume

hostilities, in LA in November,

and Hearn will be promoting it.

Which just goes to show, even

Eddie did not know just how

much he loved a pound note.

IN the past four seasons, Johanna Konta has

lost three Grand Slam semi-finals and three

Grand Slam quarter-finals. Her latest loss, at

the US Open, was no surprise or disgrace, coming

at the hands of the fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina.

But it was also no surprise Konta (right) made

35 unforced errors in her straight-sets defeat.

And it is why tough questions about her mentality in the

biggest tests are entirely justified.

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AFTER Tyrone

Mings’ press

conference where

he outlined his

remarkable and heart-

warming journey to the

full England squad, you

can just imagine the

conversation in the

dressing room.

“So, Mingsy, what

did you say you were

before you were a

footballer?”

“A mortgage advisor.”

“A what?”