St.Michael - the mark of quality

[Craig 6700]

from .COM

 

Michael Marks and Tom Spencer registered the St. Michael trademark almost a century ago and since then it has been a label associated with quality on the High Street.

 

The Marks and Spencer partnership is now legendary and despite a few recent sticky patches the business seems set to continue for some time.

 

So what about our own recent St. Michael purchase?

 

Like everyone else we were basking in the glory yesterday, having enjoyed a few days of much-needed good news. Despite our natural cynicism we certainly weren't going to be the ones to relieve ourselves on everyone else's chips....

 

However, now that reality has had a chance to intervene and the warm euphoric glow has started to wear off, the signing of Michael Owen is one that needs to be considered carefully.

 

It was a fabulous bit of business by our Chairman - that is a given - and a huge amount of credit is due for pinching Owen from Real Madrid and from under the noses of Liverpool. The hefty £16m bid was a masterstroke but can we afford it?

 

It just seems a little odd that we unloaded players for relative peanuts at the start of the summer when it appeared we were searching down the back of the sofa for loose change to put into the transfer kitty.

 

And several media sources now seem to think that after the £9.5m purchase of Albert Luque we were still prepared to offer £30m for Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres, if the Owen bid failed. Suddenly £40m seemed to be burning a hole in the Chairman's pocket.

 

As astute as the £16m bid was in pricing out the European Champions, it seems widely accepted that we've paid well over the odds for Owen. £11m was a figure that most regarded as his market price a month ago but we've wasted that sort of money more scandalously in the past:

 

Carl Cort - cost £7m, sold for £2m

Christian Bassedas - cost £4.13m, had his contract cancelled

Hugo Viana - cost £8.5m, perennial loanee

 

And that's to name just three.

 

So we raised the bar to secure Owen's signature. That's fine by me. We hoodwinked Real for nearly £14m for a crocked Jonathan Woodgate so Owen for Woody+£2m is a deal most of us would have taken, regardless of the gross sums involved.

 

Of course, Marks and Sparks have always had a reputation for refunds so perhaps if we hang on to the receipt the St. Michael tag might still get us our money back, or perhaps an exchange or even a credit note....

 

Wednesday's St. James' Park PR exercise was worth a fortune to Freddy and the club. His personal stock shot up to a degree that would raise more than eyebrows on the stock exchange. "The Board" and the manager have bought some priceless breathing space. The feel good factor is back on Tyneside.

 

We said not so long ago that bringing in a new manager or Michael Owen would be like putting a sticking plaster over a festering wound and post-Bolton there were few who argued with us. Of course that was said when we were at a real low point and not many thought signing Owen was a realistic prospect.

 

Perhaps Owen's arrival can be like Elastoplast's new Silver Healing Sensitive plaster which has "a unique silver pad that contains silver ions that are continually released during the healing process, fighting bacteria while your skin heals naturally".

 

Something silver this season would certainly heal many of this correspondent's open sores....

 

Momentum is a huge thing in football and when things get on a downward spiral it takes something extraordinary to halt the process. Whatever the reason Michael Owen has ended up at St. James', who cares? It's all of our jobs to make sure he stays.

 

Along with the manager and Chairman, the whole club may have just been given a fortunate reprieve, the crime would be not to look this gift-horse straight in the mouth and go all-out to make up the 10 point headstart we've given the other Champions League challengers.

 

Our defence may still be a little frail, our midfield has been bolstered but what we really needed was some quality support up front - and that's another St. Michael speciality....

[nufc4ever 0]

We got Owen, FUCKING YES!

 

I'm still wetting myself at this.

[Craig 6700]

I still can't actually believe it!

 

I keep waking up each morning and turn the PC on to see the wallpaper of him in a toon shirt just to satisfy myself that it wasn't just a dream!

[Meenzer 15716]

I keep waking up each morning and turning myself on to satisfy myself over the wallpaper of him in a toon shirt!

26620[/snapback]

 

...on second thoughts, nah. Too easy.

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

/_________ The mark of quality

\

[Sicklee Sausage Roll 0]

It's a bit harsh criticising the Cort, Viana and Bassedas purchases. All the other big spending Premiership sides have wasted money.

 

Man Utd - Kleberson, Forlan, Djemba Djemba, Taibi , Veron

Arsenal - Jeffers, Wiltord, Richard Wright

Liverpool - Biscan, Diao, Diouf, Kewell

Chelsea - Sutton, Veron, Mutu, Bogarde

Edited September 1, 2005 by Sicklee Sausage Roll

[Wavey Davey 0]

I still can't actually believe it!

 

I keep waking up each morning and turn the PC on to see the wallpaper of him in a toon shirt just to satisfy myself that it wasn't just a dream!

26620[/snapback]

 

Just put a poster of him up at work. Every time I look up I get giddy.

[Craig 6700]

I keep waking up each morning and turning myself on to satisfy myself over the wallpaper of him in a toon shirt!

26620[/snapback]

 

...on second thoughts, nah. Too easy.

26664[/snapback]

 

 

Sadly, I knew that was gonna happen!

[Meenzer 15716]

I keep waking up each morning and turning myself on to satisfy myself over the wallpaper of him in a toon shirt!

26620[/snapback]

 

...on second thoughts, nah. Too easy.

26664[/snapback]

 

 

Sadly, I knew that was gonna happen!

26687[/snapback]

 

I claim to be a lot of things, but unpredictable isn't one of them.