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With the rumours about Owen I thought I'd look at the United squad and the ruling a little closer.
The rule states (and ignore the Manchester United blog because it is completely inaccurate and all the replys to that blog have ripped it to shreds) that "clubs can supplement their squad with an unlimited number of players under the age of 21." thus meaning that the following players: Ben Amos, Bebe, Tom Cleverley, Corry Evans, Gabriel Obertan, Federico Macheda, Fabio, Rafael and Chris Smalling do not need to be included in the 25 man squad to still feature in the Premiership during September 1st and December 31st.
Manchester United's First Team squad has 36 players including Oliver Gill, Joe Dudgeon and Magnus Eikrem who again are all under 21 and do not need to be included in the 25. That's 12 players under the age of 21 who don't need to be selected in the 25.
Simple maths: 36 - 12 = 24. Meaning that unless Ferguson wants Owen to go out on loan and get games under his belt then he can still be selected in the squad. Being home grown (although not a problem for United with so many at the club) also helps his cause but if Berbatov and Rooney start and the likes of Bebe, Hernandez and Macheda are all available too then Owen's chances of playing this season are slim. It's even possible that SAF could recall (if there is an option open to him) both Wellbeck and Diouf who also might be seen as being ahead of Owen in the pecking order but with the under 21 rule there for all the clubs to use arguably a team could have 100 players available to them as long as they have players under the age of 21.
I'll gladly say that I am wrong if Owen was to turn up at Loftus Road but the assumption that he won't make the squad based on numbers is one made without clearly having read the rules.
For more details of those rules: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4...ules-explained
An Overview of the Rules
•Clubs register a squad of up to 25 players, which must include at least eight ‘home-grown’ players, at the end of each transfer window.
•Home-grown players do not have to be English; home-grown players are defined as those who “irrespective of nationality or age, have been affiliated to the FA or Welsh FA for a period of three seasons or 36 months prior to 21st birthday”.
•Clubs can supplement their squad with an unlimited number of players under the age of 21.
•Changes can be made only during transfer windows, although in exceptional circumstances (eg two out of three goalkeepers injured) moves could be allowed.
•Players loaned out to Football League clubs cannot be replaced, but can regain their spot on return to parent club.
•Clubs do not have to name a full squad of 25 if they do not have that many contracted players and in this instance they may add free agents outside the transfer window. However if they have 25 eligible contracted players, they must be named.
•Clubs do not have to name eight home grown players but if they do not have that many signed they will operate from squad reduced by the relevant number of home grown players missing.
•Rules purely apply to only Premier League matches – not European, FA Cup or League Cup games.
•The first deadline to be adhered to for squad submission to the Premier League is 5pm BST on 1st September 2010, the current transfer window closes on August 31st 6pm 2010.
The rule states (and ignore the Manchester United blog because it is completely inaccurate and all the replys to that blog have ripped it to shreds) that "clubs can supplement their squad with an unlimited number of players under the age of 21." thus meaning that the following players: Ben Amos, Bebe, Tom Cleverley, Corry Evans, Gabriel Obertan, Federico Macheda, Fabio, Rafael and Chris Smalling do not need to be included in the 25 man squad to still feature in the Premiership during September 1st and December 31st.
Manchester United's First Team squad has 36 players including Oliver Gill, Joe Dudgeon and Magnus Eikrem who again are all under 21 and do not need to be included in the 25. That's 12 players under the age of 21 who don't need to be selected in the 25.
Simple maths: 36 - 12 = 24. Meaning that unless Ferguson wants Owen to go out on loan and get games under his belt then he can still be selected in the squad. Being home grown (although not a problem for United with so many at the club) also helps his cause but if Berbatov and Rooney start and the likes of Bebe, Hernandez and Macheda are all available too then Owen's chances of playing this season are slim. It's even possible that SAF could recall (if there is an option open to him) both Wellbeck and Diouf who also might be seen as being ahead of Owen in the pecking order but with the under 21 rule there for all the clubs to use arguably a team could have 100 players available to them as long as they have players under the age of 21.
I'll gladly say that I am wrong if Owen was to turn up at Loftus Road but the assumption that he won't make the squad based on numbers is one made without clearly having read the rules.
For more details of those rules: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4...ules-explained
An Overview of the Rules
•Clubs register a squad of up to 25 players, which must include at least eight ‘home-grown’ players, at the end of each transfer window.
•Home-grown players do not have to be English; home-grown players are defined as those who “irrespective of nationality or age, have been affiliated to the FA or Welsh FA for a period of three seasons or 36 months prior to 21st birthday”.
•Clubs can supplement their squad with an unlimited number of players under the age of 21.
•Changes can be made only during transfer windows, although in exceptional circumstances (eg two out of three goalkeepers injured) moves could be allowed.
•Players loaned out to Football League clubs cannot be replaced, but can regain their spot on return to parent club.
•Clubs do not have to name a full squad of 25 if they do not have that many contracted players and in this instance they may add free agents outside the transfer window. However if they have 25 eligible contracted players, they must be named.
•Clubs do not have to name eight home grown players but if they do not have that many signed they will operate from squad reduced by the relevant number of home grown players missing.
•Rules purely apply to only Premier League matches – not European, FA Cup or League Cup games.
•The first deadline to be adhered to for squad submission to the Premier League is 5pm BST on 1st September 2010, the current transfer window closes on August 31st 6pm 2010.