NEWCASTLE United chairman Freddie Shepherd has been caught out by a couple of Liverpool fans who filmed his response to their request for Michael Owen to return to Anfield.

The gaffe-prone football chairman offered to carry Owen back to Liverpool.

Video footage of Mr Shepherd appeared on the internet yesterday. During the 22-minute video, shot by the Liverpool pair, they pulled up alongside Mr Shepherd in his black Range Rover in Jesmond, Newcastle.

One of them shouts: "Can we have Michael back?"

Mr Shepherd replied: "I will f***ing carry him back for yous."

One of the Liverpool fans asks: "For £9m?"

Mr Shepherd denies Owen can leave for the fee, which is reported to be included in a clause in his contract, before continuing: "He's a decent lad."

He is also less than complimentary about Owen's agent.

The footage, which was put on YouTube, is part of an extended film on a Liverpool fan website.

The pair are seen driving around Newcastle, including the team's training complex, St James' Park and Shearer's Bar, trying to find the former Liverpool striker.

At one point, one of the pair, wearing a Liverpool team shirt, walks into the ground and asks a receptionist: "Is Michael in?"

She replies: "Michael who?"

He replies: "Michael Owen. I have come to take him back to Anfield."

This week, Mr Shepherd appealed to Owen, who has played only 13 games for Newcastle, to stay at the club. Last night, Newcastle fans reacted angrily to Mr Shepherd's latest own goal.

Colin Wilson, 34, said: "I know there are people at Newcastle who are doubting Owen's loyalty, but for the chairman to say that is unbelievable."

In a statement on its website, the club said: "Anyone who has seen this video clip will immediately regard it for exactly what it is. It's nothing more than tongue-in-cheek banter in the most light-hearted fashion that nobody could take remotely seriously or try to misinterpret.

"The chairman shows how approachable he is by having a laugh with a couple of fans."

It is not the first time Mr Shepherd has been caught out. In 1998, he mocked the club's fans to undercover reporters for spending money on kits and said Alan Shearer was the Mary Poppins of football. He has also said: "You don't sack Bobby Robson" and then sacked him, and said he would sell Jonathan Woodgate to Real Madrid "over his dead body".