5 Goals That Could Have Changed Newcastle United Forever

2. Michael Owen (0-0 vs Portsmouth) - Premier League 2009

When I look back on all the other chances on this list, my one consistent feeling is that I wish they'd all gone in. Whatever it is Newcastle might have won or achieved in that moment, I'm sure that it's a good thing. However with the benefit of nearly 5 years of hindsight, I can look back on Newcastle's relegation season as, ultimately, a force of positive change. That expensive squad of charlatans, most of whom arrived with reputations dwarfed only by their wage demands, promised so much in the post-Robson era but ultimately left the club in ruins. Demotion to the Championship was hard to take, but it did expedite the departure of all these rotten apples. But it was close. Memories may have fuzzed over in the years since but the end of the 2008/2009 season saw Newcastle, in 18th, finish just a point behind 17th placed Hull, and with a goal difference better than everyone up to 14th. Improving any single result over the course of the season would have seen them survive. That last afternoon at Villa Park never once saw them threaten, and a goal in the 0-3 hammering at Anfield would have made little odds, so it's hard to find a "what if" moment there. Arguably the best chance one could mention would be Nicky Butt's sliding effort that Fulham's Mark Schwarzer somehow palmed away, but it would be impossible to talk about this Newcastle side without a contribution (or lack thereof) from Michael Owen. The scene is St James' park and Newcastle are 8 games without a win entering the final 5 of the season - they sit 19th. After a PR offensive by the club that saw the redistribution of scarves and a special rendition of the Blaydon Races pre-match, Alan Shearer set up with three forwards in Viduka, Martins and Michael Owen to desperately get the goals that would drag them out of the mire. The former two wasted good chances at the start of the second half, but a few minutes later the latter found himself free of his markers, just inside the box, with a panicked goalkeeper stumbling towards him. The Michael Owen who cost the club £16.8million would have lashed a shot into the unguarded corner of the goal, the Michael Owen who scored 18 goals in 15 starts at Real Madrid would have cooly lifted the ball over the despairing head of the goalkeeper, and the Michael Owen who won the Balon D'or would have... well.. whatever, he should have scored. But the Michael Owen who played for Newcastle United stabbed a tame effort straight at the legs of David James. 0-0, two points dropped, and relegation followed just under a month later.

In a parallel universe somewhere Newcastle avoided the drop that year, and no doubt the likes of Owen, Martins, Duff, and Geremi continued to collect in excess of £60k a week for at least another year. A fall was coming though, and getting it out of the way in 2009 may well have saved the club from either asset stripping all their talent, or simply being another Leeds. A near miss for Owen, but an even nearer one for the club.