Patrick Snell's Football Mailbag

(CNN) -- CNN World Sport's Patrick Snell answers your football questions.

Q: I've been a Newcastle fan for 30 years and I've seen players come and also seen them go -- but what I've read about Michael Owen going to another club has to be a joke.

If he does leave it will feel as if fans and Newcastle United have been kicked in the teeth. It will also be a clear message that players are only interested in money rather than the game itself.

Fans like me pay anything between £20-38 a game just to see players like Owen. If he leaves I'll feel cheated out of the money I've spent watching Newcastle United. Having spent a year injured I think he still owes something to the club. Of course, whatever happens I'll still be watching Newcastle home and away next season because I love the "Toon."
Mick, Barnsley, UK

A: Hi Mick -- Questions on Michael Owen surface regularly but normally they're to do with the fact he's so injury prone! Once again England had to make do without him in a key game with Croatia and his catalogue of setbacks and surgeries are well chronicled.

But Owen is a top talent. I know Newcastle fans are perhaps unsure of his future in the Northeast but right now we can only go by what the man himself is saying -- namely that he remains contracted to the Magpies and intends to see out his deal and I have no reason to doubt him.

I can understand fans' frustrations when they feel they've been short-changed but, believe me, when -- and if -- a fully fit Michael Owen takes to the field he's a joy to watch. The only thing is it's a big "if"...

Q: England misses Euro 2008, the first time they've failed in qualifying since the 1994 World Cup. What's your thoughts about that?
Philip, Sweden

A: Hi Philip -- There's been plenty of reaction to England's latest flop but at the end of the day, in my view, after 12 games only the best two teams advance. Croatia proved themselves to be streets ahead of the eEnglish both home and away and it was no surprise to me that they won both of those clashes.

They were technically superior and their will to win was there for all to see. As for Russia, there was perhaps little to choose between Hiddink and McClaren's teams but in the end the Russians appeared to hold their collective nerve at just the right time whereas England seemed jittery and disorganized when it mattered most.

You're right to recall England's failure to qualify for USA '94 but is their demise a concern to anyone outside of the UK? The national team proudly won the 1966 tournament on home soil but since then generations of players have come and gone without so much of the slightest hint of some silverware.

Indeed the much- hyped current squad could only manage a last eight appearance in Germany last year and you really do wonder what impact they would have had anyway in Austria and Switzerland.

Right now, the English FA's priority is to find a new coach and begin focusing attentions on their World Cup qualifying group for South Africa 2012 -- a group which includes, of all teams, Croatia! E-mail to a friend