Gary Lineker pokes fun at Alan Shearer's Michael Owen spat – 'What do you want me to say?'

Micah Richards couldn't contain his laughter when left to sing the praises of , despite their well-documented feud.

Shearer and Owen share a colourful past, having been team-mates for both England and during the final season of Shearer's professional career in 2005/06.

The duo were brought back together in 2009 when for the last eight matches of the season, with the team battling against relegation.

Tensions between the former England forwards ignited on the last day of the 2008/09 season and have continued ever since. Owen had informed Shearer that he wasn't fit enough to play a full 90 minutes in an away game against Aston Villa, with Newcastle needing to avoid defeat to escape relegation.

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The ex-Liverpool forward was subbed on for the final 25 minutes, but Newcastle still succumbed to a 1-0 loss, sealing their embarrassing and damaging drop into the Championship. Despite exchanges between the pair since that ill-fated day, Shearer found himself answering questions about his former team-mate on a new episode of podcast, reports .

A fan wrote into the show to ask Shearer, Lineker, and Richards just how good former Ballon d'Or winner Owen was at his peak, sparking the teasing of the MOTD pundit.

A grinning cheekily quipped to his colleagues: "I know you love Michael a lot so I'll leave this one with you Alan," triggering an outburst of chuckles from Richards, as Shearer clarified his position regarding Owen's skill.

"I'm never ever against his ability, I played with him remember, the Argentina game, when he scored that goal, bloody hell man," the top scorer in Premier League history said.

Richards kept the banter going by teasing: "He's started sweating, come on Al, talk us through your mate," leading an amused Shearer to respond with a hint of sarcasm: "What do you want me to say?" Then taking a lighthearted dig at Owen's stint at Newcastle, he added: "He was a brilliant centre-forward, just not at Newcastle."

The playful ribbing had a backdrop of past tensions, going back to a heated exchange between Owen and Shearer on social media in 2019 following the release of Owen's revealing book.

Shearer had swiftly retorted to a contentious excerpt, posting an incriminating video clip on in which Owen confessed: "I hated it, I couldn't wait to retire." Shearer wittily captioned it with: "Yes Michael, we thought that also, whilst on £120k a week..."

Amidst the spat, Owen took to talkSPORT later in 2019 to express regret over the situation and clarified his stance towards Shearer saying: "It is sad. I have got no problem with Alan. I like the guy, we have great history, but sadly he has this view of myself that I didn't want to play in this game. I know why he has come to this conclusion but come on. I said to Alan, 'I'll do whatever you want'."

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