Steve Bruce offered some much-needed insight into Alan Shearer’s thinking in an interesting pre-match exchange on BT Sport with Michael Owen.
Owen has been touring radio studios and giving broadsheet interviews to support his newly-released book Reboot, which re-opened old wounds in relationship with Shearer.
Owen’s former Newcastle boss has said nothing about the book since a Twitter quip on . The author, by contrast, has waxed lyrical for most of the last fortnight about it.
BT put the question to Shearer’s friend Bruce and he was pretty forthright in his defence.
“If he ever went into management, he’d know what it felt like,” he said.
“I know Alan Shearer is still devastated that Newcastle United got relegated . I’m not so sure Michael Owen still is. Everyone has their own side and own story but looking from afar I know how difficult it is to be involved in that got relegated.
“Alan has got his story that Michael didn’t really want to play. And that’s his side of the argument.”
The TV channel put that defence to Owen in the studio, and he responded with a defence of his position.
“First of all I get on well with Steve Bruce. He’s a good guy and of course I haven’t been a manager. A lot of that I wouldn’t disagree with,” he said.
“I would guess the manager would feel the pain more so than any player. Of course I was fiercely competitive as a player and ironically in this instance I spoke to Alan, went into his office and offered my services and he decided it was less of a risk to put me on the bench.
“I get all that and I get Steve Bruce is Newcastle manager as well. And of course if you’re asking him that question there’s only one side he’s going to put across and that’s the Newcaste side.”
Nevertheless, it was good to hear some pushback against Owen after a fortnight in which many of his assertions haven’t gone challenged.
