And tonight, he walked alone....

(WARNING: FOOTBALL RANTS)

"When you walk through a storm
Hold your chin up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet, silver song of a lark.
Walk on, through the wind,
Walk on, through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone."

Oh how cruel these words must sound to Michael Owen right now...! Today he stood in front of the fans at his old club and was taunted and abused- all his past heroics for Liverpool forgotten. One of the highest scorers for Liverpool ever ; a man who had not so long ago carried Liverpool's expectations on his shoulders stood alienated in a stadium where before he had counted only friends. His close friends Carragher and Gerrard were powerless to help him, neither with the game nor with the fans.... Liverpool was flawless and efficient and Newcastle was floundering and inept as Owen stood, a mere spectator in the game, hardly getting a touch of the ball...

How fickle and cruel we humans are! Owen made a mistake once- he left the club that nurtured him for a bigger name and for a shot at the Champions League Trophy and he will never be allowed to forget it. His once-fans booed as they heard his name announced where they were used to cheering loudly and taunted him with his absence at a great Liverpool moment ('Where were you at Istanbul?' cried those bitter fans) which no one will regret more than he does....A cruel hand has Fate dealt him, denying him a decent chance at Real Madrid (the only REAL villains I can yet see...) despite his good performances and a Liverpool victory in the Champions League in the very year he leaves.. A generous man, and still a liverpudlian at heart, Owen does not grudge his old mates the success but tonight it must have broken his heart to see Liverpool winning because they were telling him in effect that they don't need him anymore...

All credit to Rafa Benitez for making the Liverpool defense the strongest it has been in recent years but one cannot help but feel resentful toward him as the reason that Owen is not back at the Kop. Until now, I believed that all of Liverpool wanted him back, but Rafa, but what can I say, tonight my heart broke as Owen's must have... My dream of seeing Owen, Gerrard and Carragher was shattered into a million pieces....

I rue the day that Owen signed for Real (their only fitting punishment can be languishing in inconsistency brought upon by terrible work ethics and a lack of respect for hard work and efficiency which on any day outweighs a lazy flair…) and I shall rue this day on which he came back to his real home... I’m an ardent Liverpudlian and nothing will shake my love for the traditions (and until now I didn't know that it had involved making an already distraught player more miserable) and spirit which Liverpool represents but today and only today I would rather have seen them lose than see the devastated look on my all-time favorite Liverpool player…

Owen wouldn't lose hope and so I too shall try not to. I will hope that Fate has something but distress in store for him....