Michael Owen has revealed the details of his decade-long ongoing feud with Alan Shearer.
The pair were close friends and enjoyed a fruitful partnership on the pitch at Newcastle but things took a turn when Shearer was parachuted in as manager to rescue the Magpies from relegation in the 2008-09 season.
In his upcoming book 'Reboot', serialised by the Mirror, Owen said: 'Sadly, this feud has continued to the present day. The more I think about it, the more I understand why Alan behaves the way he does and continues to spread negativity about me whenever he can.
Owen lived with Shearer for a time and considered his fellow England forward a good friend.
'At no time did I get the impression that he saw things any differently. To put it simply, there has been a lot of lies, bulls*** and general mis-information surrounding the end of my time at Newcastle.'
Shearer, a club legend, had been brought in as manager towards the end of a tumultuous season.
Kevin Keegan had resigned after falling out with the board, Joe Kinnear had a health scare and had to quit and caretaker boss Chris Hughton combined with Colin Calderwood led the Magpies through a dismal run of results.
In desperation, they turned to Shearer and Owen believes the striker has always found it easier to blame him rather than point to his own lack of managerial experience.
'He was brought in at St James’ Park as the saviour, the local boy. It could have been a great story. But he failed. Newcastle United were relegated. Perhaps rather than examine his own shortcomings, it felt easier to blame Michael Owen.'
With everything on the line, Newcastle's survival came down to the very last day of the campaign.
Shearer's side needed a point from the final game in 2009 against Aston Villa but lost 1-0
'I told him that I wasn’t fully fit but was prepared to play. As I left his office that day, he made an insinuation that led me to believe he thought I had half an eye on my next contract. I’m not stupid – we both knew I was out of contract in a few weeks.
'It wasn’t until three months later, I discovered that Alan Shearer was apparently seething with me. Not only that, it transpired that he was telling anyone who’d listen what he thought of me.'
Newcastle lost 1-0 against Villa and were relegated by one point. Their 16-year stay in the Premier League ended with a Damian Duff own goal.
During the match Owen made an appearance as substitute midway through the second half, but he could not affect the result.
The striker continued: 'When you analyse it, it all makes sense. Shearer’s record as manager in the last eight games of that 2008/2009 season was dire: lost 5, drew 2, won 1. These are hardly God-like stats.'
Despite their previously close friendship, Owen and Shearer have never spoken about the fall-out and the feud rumbles on.