Owen axe May haunt Capello

The former Newcastle and Bolton boss insisted Owen remains "very, very powerful force at the international level."
Allardyce - himself a leading candidate for international jobs in 2006 - revealed that he had been surprised to see the Italian give back at 28 years old.

The man who had Owen under his wing in his eight months in office of urracas last season marked the striker has proved to be in fine nick Goalscoring coming to the winners to claim against Bolton and Coventry last month. And unlike the vast majority of the workforce England, Owen can reproduce his club Goalscoring capacity at the international level.

The pressure is now on those used in front of Owen - with Portsmouth's Jermain Defoe looks favourite to start in his role - to break Andorra tomorrow and, above all, Croatia on Wednesday. Otherwise, he warned Allardyce, 53, Capello will "face the consequences."

The commented: "When a manager makes a critical decision, as Fabio with Michael, you have to go out and prepare your team and make sure there is no reaction in this regard. "The only answer is to get the results you need - otherwise, as we all know, they face the consequences. Nothing more than the manager of England. He gives in his neck more than anyone else. We get into the Premier League, but only international round games every so often, and is so intense and the results are everything.''

"Fabio has made a big decision and a decision surprising to me, because you can not escape the fact Michael results critical and crucial goals. When you do Result, you will either get a draw or win the game. He has done that over the years and, more recently, at the beginning of this season, has come to Newcastle and won for the winner against Bolton and Coventry. This shows that still has that knack not only of goals but score goals criticism.''

"It's not as if the England side is a country free-scoring side at the moment. The players at international level have not accompanied the results obtained at the league. oe Cole results for Chelsea, Frank Lampard always gives 20, Steven Gerrard - and I know he is not there, this time - 15-20 and Jermain Defoe has been appearing in them for Portsmouth. But they do not play that consistent at the international level. he rest of the England staff can only keep up the pressure for Fabio ensure that he will not be news headlines at the end of these two games."

Allardyce admitted Owen - who has scored 40 times for his country - not pose the same kind of threat as it did when the first burst on the scene England. "Michael is not the player who used to be," he added. "He has talked about this - who has changed his style, based on their experience. His natural ability for scoring goals has not been affected and, obviously, it is not as fast as it used to be.

"But he has changed his game as a result still make him a very, very powerful force. Michael is damaging to ignore. The loves playing football and has tried a lot of bad luck with the number of injuries he has suffered."

As to why Capello has preferred to Defoe, Allardyce added: "That could be an overall contribution. But at the end of the day if not convert the opportunities are created when the opportuni at this level you are ultimately in the absence of result. And as we know today in the game, the results throughout the entire ride more than ever. Yes, winning with style is very important. We all want to win with style, but if you are playing football with style and not win, can not be used as an excuse. Nobody will be more satisfied."