Attendinig the birth of his first child.Quote:
Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/sport/sto...65xz8&t=soccer
What about Steven Carr? He is not playing either.
Suspended? Injured?
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Attendinig the birth of his first child.Quote:
Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/sport/sto...65xz8&t=soccer
What about Steven Carr? He is not playing either.
Suspended? Injured?
I noticed a couple of years ago that Given prefers to stop the ball when its rolling up to him even if its going to put him under a lot of pressure. Just watching the Chelsea match today and the majority of his kicks with the ball rolling towards him are going into the stand. I'm 100% sure its not a one off match as I've seen it so many times and mentioned it a few times to my mates. Is it his eye sight or what?
He's always been crap at kicking. Credit is due though, he's improved, because five years ago his kicking was a liability.
I think it's due to Lifford FC, Celtic, Blackburn, Sunderland and Newcastle not placing enough emphasis on the footballing qualities of a goalkeeper.
It's never been his strongest point but as long as his hands work then what harm ;)
Not the strongest part of his game but can't recall seeing him embarassed a la Lehman. Don't see it as a major problem. Sure it's something he works on but some people are naturally weak kickers. Look at Seaman. Maybe it is a lack of coaching at a younger age.
For most players it's difficult to kick the ball accurately when it's rolling towards you. I think defenders have a lot to answer for when it comes to taking the lazy option and kicking back to the keeper when he can be put under undue pressure.Quote:
Originally Posted by eirebhoy
He's a lot better at it than Bonner was!
Given very nearly made a howler in Greece (boring 0-0 friendly under Don Givens). On a terrible pitch he missed the ball completely but the ball narrowly missed the goal. Or something like that anyway.
I'd say pitches can be very uneven in these winter months so hitting the ball first time isn't always very reliable. Anyway if a keeper is going to control the ball before clearing defenders would be better off hitting it back at a good pace to give the keeper more time.
There was that moment against Coventry when Dion Dublin jumped out of the stands. :DQuote:
Not the strongest part of his game but can't recall seeing him embarassed a la Lehman
I have that clip on my computer. Shocking! :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by brine3
Ah sure you can hardly blame Shay for that, Dion being such a small unnoticeable character. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by brine3
I wondered why he is on the bench today.
Then I found this.
"Given feared Newcastle axe – Souness"
http://www.eleven-a-side.com/acrosst...p?newsid=15195
Whats going on?
Jaysus, you're making a bit of a mountain out of a molehill. Given was linked to United and Arsenal as we all know, he went to Souness to ask about it and Souness told him its all rumours and he's safe at Newcastle.
He's on the bench today because they're playing Yeading and Harper is a quality keeper.
Fair enough.
Souness has brough on O'Brian (just gave away free kick :D )
I guarantee you the Souness "anti-Irish" thing will be mentioned in this thread, he's certainly not anti-Irish, he just doesn't get the best of Irish players at his clubs. :) O'Brien better play well, if he does he will be first choice to partner Boumsong, thats how open it is at the club.
You've just mentioned it yourself :rolleyes: :DQuote:
Originally Posted by eirebhoy
sorry, should have said "would have" and not in the way I mentioned it.
I agree with eirebhoy. I dont think Souness is anti-Irish. I think you'll find that it was him who got the best out of Damien Duff, not his predecessor, Brian Kidd. I even heard one time that Souness is married to a cousin of the legendary Dickie Rock. :)
Maybe he has played better this season but he was absolutely superb against Arsenal today and IMO was his best game of the season. For those that didn't see it, here's a few cuts from the Sky report:
http://skysports.planetfootball.com/...SP?HLID=251549
http://sport.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4037767Quote:
Ashley Cole sent over an inviting cross towards Robert Pires whose mis-hit header fell nicely to Mathieu Flamini six yards out, but he could not find a way past Shay Given.
...Arsenal went close to adding a second two minutes later when Henry picked up a pass from Jose Antonio Reyes on the edge of the box before turning and firing in a shot which Given did well to touch round the post at full stretch.
...Henry had a chance to end his goalscoring drought four minutes after the break when he won a free kick on the edge of his box after being fouled by Jean-Alain Boumsong, but his shot was punched out by Given.
...Henry came within inches of scoring a second just past the hour mark when he raced clear onto Vieira's pass and poked a shot goalwards, but Given did well to push the ball onto the post before it rebounded into his arms.
...Arsenal really should have doubled their lead a minute later when Henry brilliantly dummied Reyes's pass to give Pires a sight of goal, but Given produced a fantastic save to keep out the Frenchman's shot.
...Given was keeping Newcastle in the contest - proving to be a one-man barrier between Arsenal and a second goal - and the Irishman denied Henry again on 75 minutes with a brilliant right-handed save after Henry had cleverly swapped passes with Pires.
The Arsenal fans on the BBC message board, when asked would they rather Given or Cudicini, most people think its a non-contest in favour of the Irishman.Quote:
Shay Given: Outstanding, defiant display – forced into flying action frequently. Fine saves when Henry (twice) and Pires were clear. Man of the match. 9
Quote:
The boys were superb and really got stuck in. If it wasn't for Super Shay Given we'd have thumped them for 6!
Quote:
If God was a gooner, Given would be at Arsenal
He might have played himself into an Arsenal shirt today.
Maybe Wenger thinks he owes Cudicini a contract after he gifted them wins over Chelsea a couple of times. :D
Henry:
Quote:
“It was a better performance – and if Shay Given wasn’t there it would have been a lot more goals for us.
“One goal is enough to win the game. It’s better to put one or two more in, but sometimes goalkeepers have great games. It was one of those days for him.
“When other strikers don’t score it doesn’t matter, but when I don’t it does matter.
“It’s not only down to me. Everyone was going forward together, and sometimes that’s the way it is; you hit the post and goalkeeper has a great game.”
Great to see he is on form.
A good keeper gives confidence to the defense.
he was world class no question, lightning reflexes. As an Arsenal fan I'd be happy to see him signed
And Sky still gave the Man of the Match award to Patrick Vieira. Go figure. :rolleyes:
:ball: PP
Given was super no doubt!
Not surprised by Sky giving the man of the match to Vieira though - he was awesome yesterday - the best he's played for a long while.
So here's hoping Mr. Dein gives Mr. Shepard a call with an open cheque book!
Free Derry or Tír Chonaill, dont matter still Ireland:DQuote:
Originally Posted by davros
Brilliant performance and I thought he shaded it in terms of MoTM considering that Vieira got himself booked.
Perhaps Shay was out to impress a potential employer!?
That said, I still think Almunia is very underrated and Shay would probably only be cover to him if he moved during this transfer period.
Being a massive 32 points off the top and a mere 13 points off the bottom, Shay must be questioning his future.
He's a very good keeper, just needs time to settle.Quote:
Originally Posted by davros
I have to agree with Davros, although the new Arsenal 'keeper could come good, there's no way Given would be second to him at any team. I think Cech is probably the only other 'keeper in the league that Shay wouldn't get ahead of for their team
New Arsenal keeper:
Great shot stopper & great kick (both feet). Absolutely no command of his penalty box.
He's not as bad as people have made out but he's not of the standard that a team like Arsenal need to challenge for the PL and CL.
Given is a model of consistency and is just what Arsenal need. He's cup-tied for Europe and will be relatively expensive though. Van Der Saar will be cheap and is not cup-tied for Europe.
I think Van Der Saar just signed a new contracct with Fulham too, so he'd be expensive as well...Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
To be fair to Almunia, he was kinda thrown into the deep end at the end of last year, under pressure from the very beginning but he was alert to that late Bowyer chance - he deserves a run in the Arsenal team now, regardless of who they sign...
And he has been for some time. IMO Kiely is up there too. Neither has the status with the English press that he deserves for one obvious reason. Awful shame about Kiely's retirement.Quote:
Originally Posted by davros
Richard Wright is former Arsenal.Quote:
Originally Posted by davros
So what you're really saying is that he's there because there are so many crap keepers in the Premiership?Quote:
Originally Posted by davros
He needs to go to a club with greater ambitions than one who employs Graeme Souness
He's out injured with over a month and at his age may not make it back to being good enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by davros
Players can get into the habit of losing.Quote:
Originally Posted by davros
It's important to taste victory every once in a while.
I can't see Shay going anywhere before the summer to be honest.
Arsenal are more likely to purchase a mid-field player than a 'keeper.
They can always recall Taylor from his loan agreement at Leicester.
If Arsenal are looking to buy a keeper I'd love it to be Shay but I'd prefer if they didn't buy a keeper and Stack got a chance next season.
He could be in jail next season.Quote:
Originally Posted by eirebhoy
It's likely that Wenger wont want him at the club anymore.
Pennant was bagged after a crash at the weekend and I'd say he'll get the door too. Wenger is very strict about his "clean living" policy.
Innocent before... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Peadar
BBC included Given in their Team of the Week, but Given, Kiely, Duff, Roy Keane and Holland all got nominated in the squad (viewers can assemble their own team on the website). Nice to see so many Irish seemingly doing well...
By the way, Robinson's hardly a Leeds reject, is he? They sold him 'cos they were broke?
Nigel Martyn'll be back for this season anyway I'd say. His form has been outstanding all season - quality keeper.
I said "could."Quote:
Originally Posted by eirebhoy
You must be joking, he is absolutley woeful. I can't see (m)any other people picking him over Given if they had a choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peadar