Telegraph still seems to think Given to Arsenal is on the cards.
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Telegraph still seems to think Given to Arsenal is on the cards.
Attention seeking has nothing to do with it, he was ordered by the clubs doctors to wear the skull cap while playing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Den Perry
I think he has to wear it for the rest of his career tooQuote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
There is a player in the MLS who wears the same thing...some people just have fragile heads after those kind of injuries, and simply can't risk playing without protection.
thats me corrected!! sorry...I still don't like him though:DQuote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
I read this thread title and was delighted thinking it was about Don Givens and his trail of destruction were finally coming to an end but no ..... out plight still continues :o:(:mad:
Cech is an outstanding keeper, fair enough had a rough patch last year.... im sure you would be unaffected coming back onto the pitch after nearly loosing your life through injury on it, but the rest of us are just human. He's by far the most complete goalkeeper for me, his performance against Everton in December there clearly shows the mans talent.... oh and 1,025 mins of football without conceeding a goal and that penalty save against blackburn to cap it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Den Perry
Given needs to get himself into a Champions league team in order to prove how good he is.... I rate him highly but he's not the best in the world, top 5 maybe.
I get to see at least 2 games each weekend, Oz may be on the other side of the world but we do have sattelite TV and even the equivilant of SKY Plus!!!! I agree with what you say about James, Howard and Friedal being outstanding for their respective clubs, my point is very little is expected of them. Reina is expected to keep a clean sheet each and every week and is under much more pressure than them. If any of those guys put in a good performance they are lauded as heros whereas Reina is expected to deliver all the time, one mistake and he is hammered. His consistency under those conditions is incredible. As someone already said he is the first keeper in a long time that Liverpool fans are happy with after a string of rubbish keepers including Friedal and James, they obviously could not perform under pressure because they are quite good now. As for Howard, well I will just agree to disagree. I think you will find when you re-read my post that I 100% agree that Jaaskelainen is a great keeper. He is wasted at Bolton just as Given is wasted at Newcastle. I can't belive a manager of Wengers talent paid good money for both Lehmann and Almunia when he could have chased one of those two to replace Seaman.Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
As a Juve fan, I'm fairly certain that Gigi Buffon won't be leaving Juve any time soon (if ever). Therefore I find it extremely unlikely that Shay will be joining to sit on the bench.
He should get out of Newcastle as quick as possible IMO though.
I actually don't think he has come back to anywhere near the form of his first full season at Chelsea. He clearly has everything you'd want in a 'keeper but for me the "best in the world" mantle just became a habit on behalf of UK media, it didn't really hold true. Too many high profile blunders last season for me. Den is right when he says he seems to be above criticism. Any error is always said to be uncharacteristic but in truth his errors last year were nothing but characteristic at the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Oink
I haven't seen much of him this season but he seems to be getting back towards his best.
Just to revert to some of the other 'keepers mentioned above, Howard & Schwarzer are far too hit and miss for me to be anything other than mid-ranking.
I think Buffon and Casillas are probably the best, beyond that there aren't many better than Given and I think he stacks up well against anyone. It'd be interesting to see how he'd do at a top club - I personally think he'd have no trouble.
One area where Shay is particularly weak on is penalties, I think i have only ever seen him save one penalty for Newcastle. None for Ireland but obviously the number of pens he faced for us would be significantly less.
What about his fantastic penalty save in Cyprus?Quote:
Originally Posted by elroy
I stand corrected. Still dont think he has a great record at them to be honest.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sligo Hornet
He's unconvincing with penatlies for sure. There was a whole thread started by Owls fan (?) over a year ago. He did save one recently but it's certainly the exception. If I was buying a keeper I'm not sure I'd let that be a dealbreaker though.
He saved a penalty in Cyprus for us, don't forget. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Absolutely, and what save it was too.
If only he had stood up against Mendietta's pathetic effort in Suwon :(
I remember that penalty well, it was my brother's 21st and we were watching the game in the pub. As he was making the run up, I said "you know, I don't think I've ever seen Given save a penalty"!
You could see Mendietta jump a little after he struck it. Even he wasn't convinced by it.
Still drives me demented thinking about that. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I said the exact same thing to my missus! Well we can't be right all the time. Shay has always done it for us. I'll never forget the two outstanding saves he made at Lansdowne in the second half against Iran in the WC play-off. Made sure we brought the two-goal lead to Tehran.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Me too, just move your leg a little lower Shay.........Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
The guy is a top class keeper and is a true professional for us and his club. But if you watch him in penalties, he really gets a hand/near to the ball. I would need to watch the pens again but am fairly sure in the Spanish game he didnt really look like saving any. The two missed Spain pens were wide im sure.
Maybe that pen shootout taints my perception of him at pens, he did save a fine pen from Kevin Nolan earlier this year.
mendieta never looked at the ball when he took a penalty, always kept his eyes on the keeper to see his movement and tended to roll it the other way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Torn-Ado
even though his penalty wasnt aesthetically the best, he rarely missed because of this technique
City make £8m bid for Given
http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/en...n-1595677.html
Thursday, 8 January 2009Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has denied making a bid for Newcastle and Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given.
Media reports claimed City had table an offer of around €9m for the 32-year-old, but Hughes says this is not true.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Torn-Ado
Given would've saved that with his legs had it not hit a bobble to take it over them at the last moment, shocking penalty. Still sick thinking about it, worst I've ever felt at a game I reckon....
Amazing how a whole campaign can hinge on these "hairs breadth" moments.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er
I tend to juxtapose that penalty moment with Hollands excruciating miss against us at Lansdowne Road in the qualifier. Remember Dunne, Staunton and Given with some Key-Stonesque scrambling around in the box as the ball trickles wide of the post?
If we were in a peno shoot out tomorrow - who are the 5 you'd want taking them?
The emotions throughout that game were unreal for me, i wear my heart on my sleeve as it is and am fairly edgy generally, but that day I reckon I got a glimpse of what manic depressants feel. Couldn't sleep properly the night before, headed down to the Irish Embassy in boston for around 7. Sheer elation, undescribale highs that no drug could bring about, unbeleiveable lows, I literally didn't talk to anyone for around 4 hours after that game and it annoyed me the fairweathers chatting and laughing about an hour after the game(im usually always talking, longest stretch is about 5 mins :D). I couldn't watch any more football until the final and none of it mattered then anyway. I didnt stop thinking about it for ages, I remember thinking before the game, sure we have got this far, what does it matter now, how wrong I was in how I felt after the game. Football is only a game(granted when your country is playing its more), but that day it felt like an awful awful lot more.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
I remember thinking the same, the ball bobbled over his leg, but at the same time thinking shay lift yer leg, lift yer leg shay, shay lift yer fcuken leg!!! :D
Afair, avoidance of a goal was due to Stan's instinct to lay the ball in a direction slightly wide of the goal. Shay is prone to the odd rash rush. He was not watching what Stan was doing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
Féck it though, hard to keep cool when the world stops turning for 2 seconds.
Are Shay's kick outs not improving? He was able to land the ball directly on Doyle's head time after time at Croker recently, like a man who has finally found the spot to nourish.
Remember it well, how we got away with that I'll never know!! People go on about how Keane's tackle on Overmars in the first minute 'set the tone' but that's nonsense, they battered us for at least half an hour after that and Overmars made a mug of Kelly till the sending off, we were lucky to still be in the game at half time. He dragged us back into the game alright but that tackle itself meant nothing despite the mythology.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
5 takers now would be Keane, Doyle, S Hunt and the 2 Reids if fit and playing. Would fancy Stephen Ireland for one if he comes back. Wouldn't give McGeady or Duff it or any of the back 4 at present. Would have confidence in Keith Andrews if he was on and reckon Glen Whelan could put it away at a push. Would have to depend on how subs and that had gone obviously.
Good question!
Whelan’s actually a pretty good ball striker, I’d be pretty confident in him.
Finnan’s penalty in Suwon was the most emphatic (of the 2 that went in! – Holland was unlucky, very similar kick to Sheedy’s in Genoa).
Now I’d have:
Keane
Hunt
Doyle (not a great record from the spot though)
Finnan
Whelan
I've heard it suggested that you leave one of your best until last - there's more pressure at the end and that's when quality tells.
Then:
Dunne (great ball striker but a bit wild)
O’Shea
Andrews
McGeady
Kilbane
Duff
McShane
I'd actually be tempted to give Shay a go at 6 or 7 and Andy Reid would be in my 5 ahead of Whelan if he's playing.
It was retribution for Cascarino's penalty in Genoa. How that went in I'll never know.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er
:D Think the keeper made the mistake of diving for the divot which actually was travelling faster then the ball and practically crossed the line first!Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Forgot about Finnan, would definitely have him in the 5.
Wouldn't let O'Shea near it till absolutely necessary, always have issues with his concentration levels. Wouldn't fancy Dunne either, too wild. Mind you, who would have expected O'Leary to place it on the top corner with such aplomb in Genoa!
Yeah, Holland was unlucky, have always felt we'd have gone on to win it had that been a few inches lower.
Hope he doesn't move. Has played very well for us and a move could upset the equilibrium - a bit like Robbie K.
I'd love to see him go somewhere like a top Serie A side. Our record with players on the continent is fairly poor but I reckon he'd hold his own.
I understand we share the same language with England but still I don't understand the lack of players who are signed by to other European nation teams. its not like the language is that big of a deal anyway. many dutch people are fluent in english.Quote:
Originally Posted by Torn-Ado
I think it nearly warrants its own thread tbh. Why does it not happen more often or just at a natural level the way it would happen in a country like ours, Croatia? Of course its beneficial for players to play at home in our league but I'd like to see Irish spreading out a bit more around Europe.
I dont buy the cliches like the technique of the players isnt what there looking for. ive played against spanish, french, italian, belgian teams as a youngsters and it was all pretty even really.
I can only think of Dominic Foley, zayed(for a few months i remember) Joe Kendrick(whose now back home), Ronnie O'Brien who have played outside the british leagues.
I remember a few years back roy o'donavon was really close to joining a french team , not sure which one though.
I think money has something to do with it aswell. Correct me if I'm worng but I would assume a decent Championship side would pay a player as much or more than some of the teams outside of the top five in the other leagues. In other words, once a player has found his level in the English lower leagues if he was to compare what he gets paid in England with playing the same level of football in another country then he would get paid more in England.Quote:
Originally Posted by irishultra
Robbie Keane,Steve Finnan. O Shea and Gibson played a season at AntwerpQuote:
Originally Posted by irishultra
Connolly in Holland, Harte in Spain
Phil Babb, Alan Mahon in Portugal
McPhail in Wales.