Shearer: Shay is world tops

Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer has paid tribute to goalkeeper Shay Given after the Irishman’s latest bout of heroics for the Magpies.

Newcastle were a poor second-best against Portsmouth on Saturday, but Given kept his side in contention with a series of stunning saves.

Graeme Souness’s side, without £15m striker Michael Owen, eventually limped to a 0-0 draw at Fratton Park, and former England skipper Shearer was in no doubt about the star of the show.

He said: “If there’s a better keeper in the Premiership then I don’t know who he is. He’s been one of the best for a long time and just keeps producing fantastic saves.

“I might be a bit biased, but as far as I’m concerned there’s no-one better. It’s not for me to put a price on his head, but some of the saves he has made shows you how important he is to our team. He was superb [against Portsmouth] and it’s him we’ve got to thank for getting a point.”

Have to agree,shame he is not a couple of inches taller then he would be perfect.

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Originally Posted by FarBeag

Have to agree,shame he is not a couple of inches taller then he would be perfect.

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Have to agree. He's world class, but if he was just a couple of inches taller he might have saved Henry's shot when we played France.

Maybe he will grow when he hits pubirty.

Ah would ya go on outta that The Stars and dont be so bloody aul fashioned...Sheamin Given is a topping young fella.

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Originally Posted by The Green Hen

Ah would ya go on outta that The Stars and dont be so bloody aul fashioned...Sheamin Given is a topping young fella.

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Couldnt agree with ya more Hen. Think The Stars is tryin to cod us. Bit like your 4th cousin if ya ask me.

no im not,why how old is he?
He is a good keeper though since he stopped making so many blonders a few years ago.

Well he gets lots of practice playing behind a sh1t back four at James's Park :D

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Originally Posted by TheJamaicanP.M.

Have to agree. He's world class, but if he was just a couple of inches taller he might have saved Henry's shot when we played France.

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He's 6ft tall. Being much taller than six-foot can work against you when you are a goalkeeper in terms of making low saves which require high agility.

Given is a world-class keeper.

Given is as good as any keeper around,except for maybe Dida and Buffon. I wish for his sake he'd move to a top team, so he could do even better.

I agree 100%. Shay is one of the best around. The only ones better I can think of currently are Casillas and Coupet.

Dida ? I find him overrated. He (too) often blocks shots instead of just holding the ball. Buffon is top class indeed, though I'd rank him just outside of the top-3:

1. Casillas
2. Coupet (has been world class for at least 3 years now - much better than Barthez has ever been)
3. Buffon

Buffon and Dida are fairly good keepers but you have to say they have a fairly easy job with the defenders in front of them. Juve have decent defenders like Thuram, Cannavaro etc. Another thing to bear in mind is Buffon is injured fairly often for a keeper (not really his fault), but when the reserve keepers come in (Chimenti 2 seasons ago, Abbiati this season) they also do really well, which suggests the defenders play a big part.

The same is true of Dida, with the likes of Nesta, Maldini and Stam in front of him. Tho Dida is prone to the odd error (eg Smicer in the CL final, also Altintop's goal for Schalke the other week in the CL, and a major fluff against Leeds 4-5 years ago). He's good at pens tho.

When you bear in mind the pretty shoddy defenders Given has in front of him (eg Bramble, Boomsong, Taylor etc) then you have to say he does very well.

The most underestimated keeper is Coupet, by far. He's world class, top-3 along with Given and Buffon. I hope when France play the WC next year he'll be the nr 1, he deserves it so much more (and is better) than Barthez.

We at Rosenborg got a good one as well: Espen Johnsen ! He saved our asses several times already, I'm sure his superb saves vs Olympiakos made the Irish TV screens as well...