Michael Owen- Play or Leave

Michael Owen; an Ballon d`Or, English Golden Boot, Premier League, F.A. Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup winner signed for Stoke City on the 4th September 2012.

Shirt sales went through the roof, the whole club was buzzing at attracting such a high profile player and everyone was licking their lips at seeing such a natural goal scorer graze the turf at the Britannia Stadium.

Four months on and four substitute appearances later the excitement around the former Real Madrid forward has been extinguished. A number of fans have started to voice their concerns about how the Everton fan has conducted himself since arriving at the club.

Recently, the former England international has resembled Eidur Gudjohnsen, who was also bought on a free to give him a final chance at Premier League football by being more interesting in carving himself a new career in punditry.

This has triggered a number of jokes on social media sites that Owen has made more appearances for BBC`s Match of the Day this season than he has for the Potters.

Many fans including myself would prefer Owen to be putting in the extra hours on the training ground than trying to be the next Gary Neville.

To be fair, the warning signs were always there as Michael Owen only signed on the dotted line for the Potters just in time to be registered in the clubs squad for the upcoming season.

Looking back at this, Stoke were the last place Owen wanted to be, because if he wanted to play for the club, then he would have signed at the start of pre-season and been completely match fit for the start of Stoke`s season.

Owen must play in this weekend`s fixture against Crystal Palace in the F.A. Cup.

He has had enough time to get match fit and this is an ideal opportunity for the striker to finally take his Stoke City bow from the start.

If the two time F.A. cup winner isn`t fit enough to play, then he should leave the club immediately and should probably retire to take up his new found love of punditry.

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