Newcastle United managing director Derek Llambias has taken aim at Manchester United striker Michael Owen.
Toon have taken issue with some of Owen's tweets this week.
Owen, responding to criticism after signing an extension to his contract at Old Trafford, wrote: "Prefer playing less often in a top team than every game in a poor team. Been there and didn't enjoy it."
Llambias told the Daily Express: "Michael is the most expensive signing Newcastle has ever made and I'm disappointed with his comments.
"Under Kevin Keegan's management he was offered a one-year extension at £140,000 a week which he did not take. He was already on £133,000 a week.
"Quite honestly, what did Newcastle United get out of it? His time here cost £40-odd million, about £1.3m per goal."
And former co-owner Freddy Shepherd, who brought Owen to Newcastle from Real Madrid in the summer of 2005, also believes the forward should show more respect to his old employers.
He added: "We might have been a poor team, but we made him a rich man.
"It works out at around £500,000 for every game in a Newcastle shirt. Poor? Well, he wasn't poorer for it.
"He spent more time ferrying between Cheshire and Tyneside in his £3.5m helicopter."
