Gareth Southgate wants Michael Owen and Alan Shearer to meet up and end 10-year feud after Twitter spat
GARETH SOUTHGATE has urged Michael Owen and Alan Shearer to put their feud to one side.
Owen and Shearer swapped insults on Twitter after Owen serialised his autobiography entitled Reboot - My Life earlier this week.
Owen had claimed he regretted joining Newcastle and their online spat saw Gary Lineker join in.
The former Liverpool and Manchester United striker has been accused of being 'selfish'.
They were previously "very good mates" on and off the pitch until Shearer was handed the managerial role, and Michael Bridges explained earlier this week what led to their rift.
Southgate has been no stranger to repairing broken relationships while he has been a manager.
And now he has offered his own advice to the warring pair.
He said: "You never like to see people falling out publicly and that’s a shame.
“I think in football, when you’re in high-pressure moments, inevitably, there will be events that happen.
"Having been involved in a relegation battle myself that same year, that’s a very tense environment, so if you then don’t have the opportunity to work beyond that then there are unresolved conversations, perhaps unresolved decisions.
“I’ve always been of the view of wanting to reconcile with them, you know, why not?
"Gaizka Mendieta would be one, where I managed to meet him, we played a charity game together.
"I knew, as a young manager, I hadn’t got the best out of him, which I think I would’ve done now. As a manager and a coach you should reflect on those things and think: ‘Could I have got more out of him?'
“Similarly with George Boateng: we played together for years. In the end, George was captain at Middlesborough.
"Everyone has got to choose their own path. Hopefully the two lads can get together and talk.
"I think communicating in any walk of life is the most important thing you can do.
"So, ideally that’s face-to-face, second best over the phone, probably not through social media but they’ve got to get on with it, they are big men and hopefully, in actual fact, if anything was festering it might actually force them to get together."