Given on his way?

[Kid Dynamite 5890]

With the continued rumours about us on the hunt for a keeper and more rumours about given leaving, i cant see him being here much longer. Cant say im too fussed either, I think we have seen the best of him now and Harper deserves the number 1 spot after his displays last season

[JaMoUsE 0]

aye when the rumours are this continuous u'd have to assume theres probably sumthing behind it like. That and the fact weve got Krul and Foster coming through at like 20yr old or so now. Probably time to move on for Shay. He deserves sum trophies or just a bit of success sumwhere like

Edited June 12, 2008 by JaMoUsE

[JaMoUsE 0]

i concur

[Happy Face 29]

Oh aye deserves #1 spot in the only season he got a few games in

if shays fit and on form he's better and #1 choice

Harpers loyal, he's a good number2 and thats about it, if he was really that good a keeper he would have been off for a few million to some other club by now.

 

Either way that debate aside more importantly

if were selling Given for £3.5m to replace him with some £6m reject rangers keeper who isn't even scotlands #1 were fucking nuts

Especially with the headlines he gets in the paper for being a "love rat"

add that to us possibly signing jermaine pennant and were all set for another season of crap publicity and court appearances over average and shitty players

 

Even Celtics Arthur Boruc would be better than McGregor and cost no more if we really were looking to replace shay.

theres only ever a few rare gems in the spl worth signing due to it being such a woeful league, Di Canio, Henrik larsson etc

McGregor sure as fck ain't going be among that small list

 

i'm sure us having scotlands #2 as our #1 and the mackems having scotlands #1 would go down well and all

 

Harper played 2 more games than Given last year and conceded 9 goals less.

 

You don't think that performance should be rewarded with the number 1 shirt?

 

If Given isn't up for the fight of winning his place back I'd be disappointed with him, he has no right to walk into the team, especially after last seasons form.

[Bombadil 0]

I'm all for keeping Given, it would make no sense at all to sell him.

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

I'd consider selling him with Harper, Krul and Foster on the books and the lad from Carlisle linked, but the price would have to be right. £3.5m is not right.

[TheMoog 0]

I'd sell him if he wants to go, give Harps the number one shirt and make Krul second choice keeper.

[triggy99 0]

I'm all for keeping Given, it would make no sense at all to sell him.

 

no sense at all? hes an average keeper and harper deserves to be in the team ahead of him. we should cash in while we still can

[triggy99 0]

must admit i can't wait till next season atm

if shays there i'm happy

if he's not we'll see how much of your faith he repays

 

average keeper....theres one thing saying he had a bad season and cash in

but that statement was retarded

 

he an average keeper who is overrated by quite alot of newcastle fans. my point is cash in on him because replacing him with harper or krul will not affect the team in any bad way

[triggy99 0]

ehh it tends to be alot of people outside of the club who rate Given as well

 

like you?

[LeazesMag 0]

its pissing me off this.

 

Not because Given may leave [which isn't the best thing ] but this cutting wages etc

 

How the fuck do these cretins expect us to compete with the other top clubs if we allow them to pay more wages ?

 

If the other clubs sign the best players, how the fuck do we match them ?

 

This isn't difficult

 

Those people having a go at me for automatically commenting on things like this should look at it from their directly opposite point of view. Why do they think a club with the 3rd biggest crowd in the country, and a huge fanbase behind it, should settle for not competing with the other big clubs, even if we aren't in europe just now ?

 

What an absolute load of crap.

[JawD 31]

It is worrying. Not the given thing but the whole lot. Getting rid of dead wood like Carr and Emre, Roz etc makes perfect sense. I have no doubt that some of them will have bene on silly wages not equal to their quality as has been our way. I dont mind if given goes, he has been loyal to the club and I think he deserves a move and a chance elsewhere as I think he is becoming stale here, also he plainly isnt as good as he was.

 

The worrying thing is the lack of replacements. We have what, a squad of 22 now? I know you shouldnt really judge until the end of the transfer window but still..

[Tooj 17]

I wouldn't be too sad to see him leave as he hasn't looked the same ever since that injury.

[donaldstott 0]

It's pretty telling that it took about a fortnight of rumours to get a thread up about it. Suggests to me that the majority wouldn't be really that surprised or bothered if he did go.

[Holden McGroin 4821]

We are a fickle lot aren't we!?

 

Best Toon keeper we have ever had (certainly in my lifetime). The grass isnt always greener.

 

However, I did always think that Harper and Given in the late 90s were equally matched but Shay became better and better with games whereas Harps never got a chance.

 

Since Harper has come in he has been more than solid (Didn't the 2 periods he got in the team this coincide with 2 good runs?) . I would start Harper as No 1 this season. If Given isnt happy about that then I would let him go and promote Krul or Forster as No 2.

 

He has given us great service and I would give him a good send off.

[Scottish Mag 3]

Whilst Given hasn't looked the same since that collision with Harewood he has had a stop/start time within the team over the last couple of years. I wouldn't give up on him yet though as many keepers play well into their late thirties and if Given can anywhere near to the keeper he was he is worth several points over a season, as we have witnessed many a time. Anyhoo whats the alternative sell him for 5 million or less and replace with the likes of McGregor who has one decent season and now there is talk of funny money.

 

I also think Harper is a good keeper and yes the shirt is his at the moment but the fact he has had a run of games in the side allowed him to get some consistency. Harpers taken some stick on here over the years but it seems it only takes a handful of games for some to change their opinions on how highly they rate/don't rate players.

 

And for those who want to go in with just Harper with Krul and Forster as back up if this happens I am postitive the minute Harper picks up a knock that this place will be up in arms as to why we are going into games with keepers with so little experience.

[adam_cann 0]

Retain all the keeper's we have, Harper will feel it should be his shirt to lose, Given similarly for how he's performed overall for us. Let them (given and harper) have an open competition in pre-season, split the minutes in the friendlies equally and make an assessment from there.

 

If Given was to leave, he'll be fondly remembered by me as he brought stability to a position that never really had it before he arrived.

Edited June 13, 2008 by adam_cann

[Fop 1]

We are a fickle lot aren't we!?

 

Best Toon keeper we have ever had (certainly in my lifetime). The grass isnt always greener.

 

However, I did always think that Harper and Given in the late 90s were equally matched but Shay became better and better with games whereas Harps never got a chance.

 

Since Harper has come in he has been more than solid (Didn't the 2 periods he got in the team this coincide with 2 good runs?) . I would start Harper as No 1 this season. If Given isnt happy about that then I would let him go and promote Krul or Forster as No 2.

 

He has given us great service and I would give him a good send off.

 

When Harper has had a run, he's only been replaced by Given because of injury (IIRC), although that's only happened twice I think. The thing has really been that Given had an incredible record on not being injured as well as coming back incredibly quickly from any injury he'd had.... up until the major internal injury anyway.

 

But we'll struggle to get better than either still.

[Holden McGroin 4821]

We are a fickle lot aren't we!?

 

Best Toon keeper we have ever had (certainly in my lifetime). The grass isnt always greener.

 

However, I did always think that Harper and Given in the late 90s were equally matched but Shay became better and better with games whereas Harps never got a chance.

 

Since Harper has come in he has been more than solid (Didn't the 2 periods he got in the team this coincide with 2 good runs?) . I would start Harper as No 1 this season. If Given isnt happy about that then I would let him go and promote Krul or Forster as No 2.

 

He has given us great service and I would give him a good send off.

 

When Harper has had a run, he's only been replaced by Given because of injury (IIRC), although that's only happened twice I think. The thing has really been that Given had an incredible record on not being injured as well as coming back incredibly quickly from any injury he'd had.... up until the major internal injury anyway.

 

But we'll struggle to get better than either still.

 

The 1st time Big Fat Samm brought Shay straight back in when fit. Apparently we got 3 bids for Harper the next day.

[Fop 1]

We are a fickle lot aren't we!?

 

Best Toon keeper we have ever had (certainly in my lifetime). The grass isnt always greener.

 

However, I did always think that Harper and Given in the late 90s were equally matched but Shay became better and better with games whereas Harps never got a chance.

 

Since Harper has come in he has been more than solid (Didn't the 2 periods he got in the team this coincide with 2 good runs?) . I would start Harper as No 1 this season. If Given isnt happy about that then I would let him go and promote Krul or Forster as No 2.

 

He has given us great service and I would give him a good send off.

 

When Harper has had a run, he's only been replaced by Given because of injury (IIRC), although that's only happened twice I think. The thing has really been that Given had an incredible record on not being injured as well as coming back incredibly quickly from any injury he'd had.... up until the major internal injury anyway.

 

But we'll struggle to get better than either still.

 

The 1st time Big Fat Samm brought Shay straight back in when fit. Apparently we got 3 bids for Harper the next day.

 

I'm amazed we've never sold him in many ways, although I guess the managers knew what they had in the pair of them, Robson certainly did.

[trophyshy 6432]

I've always thought Harper was as good as Given, should be England keeper, sick of the sound of my own voice in this regard.

 

How old is Harps? 5 years left in him at least?

[luckyluke 1]

Losing his place to Harper should be a kick up the arse to Given, he's been unchallenged far too long. If pulls his finger out to get back in the side, then great, but if he can't be arsed he can piss off.

[Happy Face 29]

You don't think that performance should be rewarded with the number 1 shirt?

 

If Given isn't up for the fight of winning his place back I'd be disappointed with him, he has no right to walk into the team, especially after last seasons form.

 

 

Old manager, Old tactics, mismanaged defense etcetc

I'm sure he's up for it, fact of the matter is

Givens a first choice international keeper, he's constantly regarded as one of the best in the league by plenty of people, harper isn't

he's kept harper Outta the team the entire time he's been there for a reason.

if shay had of played as many games under keegan would he have done better than harper is the question

who knows, but if he's fit past performances ratings and everything else points to Given going to perform better than harper

 

Performances warrant reward yes, but past performances esp the level of service and quality Given has produced also deserve 2nd chances

If ameobi had a run of goals and martins hadnt scored in 5-6games would you bench martins and play ameobi... prob not because you know at the end of the day martins is a better player and past performances etc etc the odds are he's going come good and normal service would be resumed

 

Everyone has a bad patch, that was Givens and tbh not bad going for 10years/amount of games he's played for us

 

 

the keeper situation is the least of our worries anyways i'm fed up with us being linked with the likes of shite from the spl and jermaine pennant or some previous arsenal youth team player who just got relegated.

 

I'd always go with my in form players, so if Ameobi was scoring and Martins wasn't, then yes, I'd stick with Ameobi.

 

There are times when loyalty is needed so that a players confidence isn't shot, probably with insecure younger players, but Given is an old pro and he knows Harper was the better keeper over the whole of last season under both Allardyce and Keegan.

[Guest BigThompers]

its pissing me off this.

 

Not because Given may leave [which isn't the best thing ] but this cutting wages etc

 

How the fuck do these cretins expect us to compete with the other top clubs if we allow them to pay more wages ?

 

If the other clubs sign the best players, how the fuck do we match them ?

 

This isn't difficult

 

Those people having a go at me for automatically commenting on things like this should look at it from their directly opposite point of view. Why do they think a club with the 3rd biggest crowd in the country, and a huge fanbase behind it, should settle for not competing with the other big clubs, even if we aren't in europe just now ?

 

What an absolute load of crap.

 

Fairly sure the wage bill will be big enough to compete with the big 4 when we actually show that we can challenge them.

 

Us, with our wages higher than Liverpools yet performing more poorly, suggests that we have some shit on big money, that we can't replace with good player on big money until the shit has gone.

 

Make sense, no?

[Fop 1]

he's kept harper Outta the team the entire time he's been there for a reason.

He hasn't though, in fact the two (?) occasions Harper's had an extended run only injury has got Given the position back (despite threatening to leave if he didn't get it), and certainly after one of those times Given basically wasn't injured for nearly 2 seasons.

 

We've been vastly lucky to have had such a good pair of goalkeepers, both of which could have been our number 1.