Oh Michael Owen, what are they doing to you...?

You've probably seen this already because it's taken me a little while to get around to commenting on it. Partly because I couldn't quite believe it was for real.

Football transfers are often effective case studies for both good and bad PR, but the public and investor relations around Michael Owen's desperate search for a new club are definitely an example of the latter. Check out the 'Brand Values'* section in a 30 page sales brochure sent to English, Italian and Spanish clubs over the past week. (Please do click to enlarge)

I'm sure potential employers will be relieved to see he is Technical... should the PC in their office need looking at.

Then there are the all important third party testimonies, such as the medical report which pours scorn on the notion that Owen is injury prone (where would anybody get that idea from?).

Of course it might help further if the piece didn't include a typo in the final sentence and other footballing 'proofpoints' that read like a Who's Who of injury-prone footballers (Bellamy, for example, made just five appearance for Manchester City last season, while Dyer and Ashton pulled on their West Ham shirts eight and five times respectively).

And then of course there is the crunch-washing angle.

(*Yes I did add a couple of those 'Brand Values' myself...)