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Football

14th Jun 2017

Michael Owen must be stopped before he kills again

Cold-blooded

Ben Kiely

Professional football career aside, Michael Owen seems like an ordinary man.

He’s got the amiable demeanour of a gentleman. The kind of guy who upon being introduced to someone new will look them straight in the eyes, shoot them a wide smile and extend a warm and sturdy along with a pleasantry like ‘Hello, nice to meet you.’

He knows how to act in public, but the key word in that sentence might be ‘act’.

A great man once said the eyes are the window to the soul. The next time your old pal Owen greets you, have a good look through the glass and you will notice the emptiness. That special zone designated for the human soul is nothing more than a cavernous void in the Earthly vessel known as Michael Owen. There may have been something there once, but it appears to have left him ages ago.

Perhaps it vanished on October 5 2012, the date of his first documented kill.

That tweet sent shockwaves around the world. He ended the life of a beautiful creature and while he claimed to be devastated, the punctuation made it seem so callous, so ruthless, so cold-blooded.

Maybe that was deliberate. Maybe that was calculated.

Just think back to all the times you saw him staring back at you from your television screens. Suddenly, that emptiness behind those eyes seem so unsettling. What disturbing realms did that twisted mind travel to? Always deep in thought, but what was he plotting?

Maybe he was fantasizing about his next kill, which he would brag about on social media nearly half a decade later.

Not a hint of remorse.

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10