Given departure is another sad reminder of just where Newcastle United are at
Nobody can blame Shay Given for quitting Newcastle United and there can't be too many Toon fans who will begrudge him his move to Manchester City.
If that's what he wants after 11 years surely he is entitled to make the decision to leave Toon.
And while he still had time left to run on his contract the fact that the direction of Newcastle United has clearly changed highlights some major problems on Tyneside.
I recall a sunny day at the end of the 2001/02 season.
The weather is wonderful, Sir Bobby Robson's team have just qualifed for the Champions League, United see off West Ham in a 3-1 win and Shay Given is joking around with fans in the sunshine.
Back then the club was heading where a top player would want them to go.
The Champions League should just have been the start of it really.
But since then lack of investment in new players (a point that Given has flagged up a few times) and some bad decisions regarding the management of the club finally culminated in Given quitting the black and whites.
Nobody will quite know exactly which straw broke the camel's back.
But if Kevin Keegan's departure in September and a crazy management system which involves a failed League One manager deciding which players a proven manager is allowed to bring to his team wasn't enough to push him to the limit, then some inept performances from a team that lacked reinforcements (after years of neglect in the transfer market) and gave him little protection probably polished the Eire stopper off.
It all came to a head against Liverpool in the 5-1 loss.
That day with United all over the place, Given shouted "We're s***" when taking his goal kicks.
The crowd responded with shouts of "We know!"
All of it down to frustration and after losing the plot with his defence and sprinting for the tunnel and shoving keeper coach Paul Barron out the way in the process at the end of the Liverpool, it was obvious it was over.
After that Given was torn over whether to battle on or call it a day on Tyneside.
He chose to call it a day after 92 clean sheets for the club in his 11 years and an endless string of superb saves.
Two Champions League qualifications (one of them ended by Partizan Belgrade on pens), an FA Cup final and a few narrow misses in the other cups are all Given has to show for his time on Tyneside.
He's probably the most popular goalie in the club's history and if there is any justice in the world, NUFC will give him a testimonial anyway.
After leaving Given said: "I have two young kids, I had just moved house in Newcastle and there were a few things that could have made me stay there.
"I have a lot of friends there, and the supporters there are fantastic.
"They have been great to me for so many years, and I thank them for that.
"But I just felt that this was an opportunity for me to come to a club that in my opinion are really going to be going places.
"I am even really excited to be going training on Monday, it's a new chapter in my life and one I am looking forward to."
Good luck Shay, good luck to a true Toon legend.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF GIVEN'S DECISION TO JOIN MAN CITY?
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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The day NUFC died ...good luck Shay ..RIP NUFC ....
Hi Lee,
I know Shay's a great keeper but we got Harper as well as a few good young lads as reserve.
My question is, since we are basically toothless in front of the goal as evidenced in the derby, why didn't we try to get Jo on loan?
Can we survive the drop with young Caroll and Ameobi as our main striker?
a crying shame:-(
goodluck shay, thanks for the loyalty, honesty, integrity, honour, service and goodtimes.
you'll be sorely missed.
because jo is going to everton zam thats why if you had a choice who would you go to everton or newcastle you would go to everton of course.we should get shearer back.
given is a snake leaving newcastle for a club like man city hes a disgrace no toon legend in my eyes.
given is a disgrace leaving for more money never a toon legend
shay you are a legend
Mike behave lad! so unless a player stays his entire career he's a snake & a disgrace!?! Get a grip. Shay, good luck to you pal. . Best keeper in the league & yet you stuck with us & have little to show for it except our undying gratitude & best wishes for future success. Thanks for the memories.
Loyalty and honour? Thanks for the memories? a multi-billionaire club has just turned his head and bought his "loyalty" and "honour", so he's jumping ship when we're right in it.
Leaving us in the state we're in during January does not demonstrate any loyalty or honour in my eyes.
It's like he's left his beautiful wife for a lottery winning charver, just cos his wife's depressed with work.
One Steve Harper.
How can any of you have a go at Shay Given . He was here 11 years and always gave 100%. Never mind criticising him how about acknowledging his efforts for the club and wish him all the best for the future . I for one are very sad to see him go but as we won't be winning anything why should he stay at this s******e. What's going to happen to the money we got for him . It's now far too late to spend it, a bit like Milner's money surprisingly . I was working yesterday so I wasn't at the game , was any frustration directed at Ashley or did everybody sit there and just accept our fate. Yes I know we have to ghet behind the team , but are we just going to allow these scumbags to bring our club down . How come Spurs are able to splash the cash , is there any possibility that the money from our sales is making it's way into their coffers?
I was at Man City away last week. They were awful. If anyone thinks Shay has moved for football reasons don't kid yourself. Man City are a poor team. He's moved for money.
If it was a football move he'd have gone to Arsenal or a club of that stature.
Does moving for money make him a bad bloke? No.
I'm sure I'd move if someone offered to double my wage and secure my family for years to come.
Steve Harper you deserve to be number one for your loyalty.
Good liuck Shay, but I think he has made a bad move going to Man City, but its done now.
Have a good mate in Liverpool who is in the know on the footy front and he has just rang me saying their are roumers Michael Owen is on his way back invloving a swap deal for Robbie Keane plus ã10m. Has anybody else herd of this, looking between the lines it could be possible
Burky
Good liuck Shay, but I think he has made a bad move going to Man City, but its done now.
Have a good mate in Liverpool who is in the know on the footy front and he has just rang me saying their are roumers Michael Owen is on his way back invloving a swap deal for Robbie Keane plus ã10m. Has anybody else herd of this, looking between the lines it could be possible
Burky
Good liuck Shay, but I think he has made a bad move going to Man City, but its done now.
Have a good mate in Liverpool who is in the know on the footy front and he has just rang me saying their are roumers Michael Owen is on his way back invloving a swap deal for Robbie Keane plus ã10m. Has anybody else herd of this, looking between the lines it could be possible
Burky
HE WIILNOT FIND THE LOVE AND SUPORT HE HAD IN NEWCASTLE AND LIVING THE TEAM IN DIFFICULT MOMENT IS NOT THE BEST THING FOR ME.THE CLUB IS ABOVE EVERYBODY AND US THE SUPPORTERS THE AIR WHO KEEPS IT ALIVE.ALL THE BEST FOR HIM TO HIS NEW SMALL TEAM .HARPER IS A VERY GOOD KEEPER AND DESERVES ALL OUR SUPPORT FROM NOW ON.NEWCASTLE FOR EVER YIANNIS MAZIS .AGIOS NIKOLAOS KRETA GREECE
anyone having a go for shay leaving this shambles, are bang out of order, the bloke has been a credit and fantastic ambassador for our club and city ,only ever in the the papers for the right reasons.
he deserves his move, the reason he did'nt go to arsenal, is because arsenal ever ever came in for him, yes man city have their struggles at the moment, but they have a better chance of competing in the near future, due to them having funds to bring in better quality players than we will ever be able to in the very near future.
he nows come next season he could well be playing under jose mourinho.
that in it self is more than enough reason to go to city.
the bloke will always be thought of a toon legend because, he EARN'T THAT RIGHT.
GOOD LUCK YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WELCOME BACK.
Further to my previous comment , I honestly believe that the club should acknowledge his contribution by granting him a testimonial , probably best at the beginning of next season . I think Yiannis is right when he says he won't be adores at man City as he has been here, and this would be the best way for the fans to show it and to show the fat man and his cross eyed little dwarf what loyalty and NUFC mean to the geordie nation.
Thank you for 11 years of sheer graft, Shay! You've kept us in games (and the league!)more times than I care to count. The fact that you've kept Steve Harper (who I think could have moved years ago and had a shot at the national team) out of the team tells me all I need to know.
I honestly hope NUFC give you a testimonial; it'd be the only match I'd be interested in going to, and you deserve a send-off to rival wor Alan!
As for NUFC, I'm glad we're now getting people in; just wish it'd been before our best players got crocked!!!
You can't blame him for leaving as he's heard all the promises over the years, none of which have come to fruition. But in the end he submitted a transfer request and he will have made a fortune out of the move. So sorry guys, talk of giving him a testimonial is rubbish. I'll give him a round of applause when he comes back with City, but no way will I attend a testimonial.
Good Luck Shay ...you've done us proud over the seasons.I hope Mr Ashley and the board are Proud of themselves,hope you get a testimonial...
And guess what Ashley is trying to sign 4 players be fore the deadline at 5.pm
What a joke,
And what will happen if they don,t get there targets Ashley and JK will then say well we tried but we could not get them to sign or some other excuse?
Why leave this late to try and sign 4 players??????????
Best wishes Shay - know how you feel: the false dawns and empty promises can only be put up with for so long. Career-wise this is his last throw of the dice and though Citeh aren't too hot at the moment, when they start spending mega-shekels in the summer they'll look a much better prospect (probably without Mark Hughes as well). Gan canny.
Do you honestly believe Shay left Newcastle for MONEY? RUBBISH. You're off the mark with this true TOON legend. Shay hopes TO WIN SOMETHING before his career is over and we all agree that there doesn't look to be any evidence of that happening on the toon and after 11 years, who can begrudge him a move to city. He deserves a testimonial to say a proper 'Goodbye and thank you' to the fans and the memories. Shay will always be a 'geordie' at heart. He's given 11 years of graft, loyalty, commitment, ability and service to the club and community. Let's remember Shay for who he is and was ... a player who'll LOOOOOOOONG be remembered in the hearts and minds of the geordie people for all the right reasons!
Everyone having a go at shay should hang their heads in shame.
We would be in a much worse position than we are in now if he had of moved clubs before this.
Good luck Shay you will always be welcome in the toon.
Well done Shay and good luck, anyone having a pop at him needs there heads looking at! If it werent for Shay we wouldnt even be in this league now because the amount of points he has won over the years with his great performances.
Just hope they havent left it too late to spend the money they got for him, not long to go and still waiting for some concrete news on new signings? Ireland would be a good move but I thought JK kept on about getting in a defender and forward?? I wouldnt be a bit surprised if we got no one else in and the Insomnia deal fell through and we were stuck with him as well!
Still cant see where we are going to get the points needed to stay up.
sad to see Shay leave, but leave it at that! lets move on, harps is a decent keeper and he has shown much more loyalty, he's been waiting for this chance for 16 years and he's just signed a new 3 year contract. plus City will sack Hughes in summer and whers that gonna leave Robiniho, Bellamy et al.
Best wishes Shay - know how you feel: the false dawns and empty promises can only be put up with for so long. Career-wise this is his last throw of the dice and though Citeh aren't too hot at the moment, when they start spending mega-shekels in the summer they'll look a much better prospect (probably without Mark Hughes as well). Gan canny.
Good luck Shay, who can blame you.
No words can describe the logic of the management structure at NUFC. Which half decent player would want to play for Ashley and Co.? If the latest transfers keep NUFC in the premium league, great, but it smacks of panic buying. ItâÂÂs never too late, but for Mr. Ashley the boat has long gone.
Good luck Shay. Anyone having a go at the lad is bang out of order, anyone in his shoes would do the same. The club is a joke, run by idiots & full of c**p players. Why should the leagues top keeper put up with that? I just hope we put the money to godd use although I don't hold my breath
Would like to nominate my favourite Shay moment: at the stadium of plight against the mackems when Kevin Phillips turned on the edge of the box and aimed a shot that looked destined for the top corner - all the sunderland fans were cheering a goal when Shay produced a stunning save to keep it out. Brilliant.
I can't hide the fact that I had a tear in my eye when Given's transfer was confirmed. Good luck to you Shay. Hope one day you will return in any role at the club. Shay is the last of the favourite Toon Legends at the club,his name held in the same breath as Shearer, Ferdinand, Beardsley, Ginola, Asprilla and Keegan.I look at the team now and don't see any player that will sweat Black n White for the club as Shay and the others did. Having said that though, I don't feel that signing for Man City will give Shay the same hero status from the fans and the city itself. Shay is a legend here but I thought it would have been better for him to move to the Arsenal's and Liverpool's to win a trophy. A move abroad wouldn't have been bad either as it would have ease the pain of NUFC fans watching him in the Premiership if we are relegated or him making those world class saves to deny us next season and beyond. Anyways, Steve Harper deserves the number 1 jersey now as he is still the longest serving player at the club.
Thanks so much and good luck to you Shay!
Good keeper, legend NO. Good time to leave, No. Should have stayed until the end of the season.nuff said.
shay has been as good at his end as shearer was at the other, if not better how many goals has he saved?
11yrs anywhere is long enough for anyone... fair enough when AS left FS brought in the next best thing -MO. sadly injuries aside we've not built a team around him, so we've went nowhere and thats not what shay was here for.. i honestly hope he gets something with ManC but i've got this funny feeling he might just be chasing rainbows... we'll see -good luck shay! -"best PL keeper since peter schmeichel"
shay has been as good at his end as shearer was at the other if not better how many goals has he saved?
11yrs anywhere is long enough for anyone... fair enough when AS left FS brought in the next best thing -MO. sadly injuries aside we've not built a team around him, so we've went nowhere and thats not what shay was here for.. i honestly hope he gets something with ManC but i've got this funny feeling he might just be chasing rainbows... we'll see -good luck shay! -"best PL keeper since peter schmeichel"
Good luck Shay, you deserve a move mate, I only wish we could move as well. Anybody having a go a Shay, ask yourselves would you continue to work for the shambles and muppets we have at SJP??? What's the betting Shay's fee will be banked and not spent.
Why did we not try and get Johnson or Richards in as part of the Given deal? A good opportunity missed. Nice one Dennis.
Can Somebody please tell me what the cross eyed dwarf is doing for his money . Here we are with less than 2 hours to go and we're desperately trying to make last ditch signings. Is The Fat man really trying to convince us that The dwarf was always going to be better for us than KK .What has old cross eyes done for his money. Anyway , just heard that Insomnia's gone, by my reckoning we should be 6/7 million in the black , but do we have time to buy anybody else . Lets see what 5.00pm brings but I suspect that money will go into the Fatman's pocket's still more evidence of him bleeding this club dry
can't actually believe we tried to swap martins with?bent!!! tell me this was just a stupid rumour? if true, thank God we're just minutes away from shutting the window. Martins to go then we would be in trouble with injured m.o, inconsistent shola and up and coming carrol.i purposely left out viduka! bent? cant even start to think about it!
I read that DW is on 1.2m per season.. so where exactly are we saving money MA????????? having said that i think the same paper mentioned MA was going to eventually get rid. 1.2m in wages how much to KK 6-8m? sold one of our best hopes james milner to villa and spent it bringing in one crocked MF who has never played and wouldn't be surprized if we were paying his hotel bill + some other spaniard who couldn't get a game in spain.. how much has DW really cost NUFC.? add Shay Given to that.. em, anyone got a maths degree??
can't belive we've not even got richard dunne out of the gievn deal, even on loan.. DW why does your name keep coming up???
Mike, Jonny, Harpo - congratulations, you co-win todays Halfwits-of-the-week award.
Apart from a couple of seasons under SBR when we threatened to become a force again, the decline has been regular and unstoppable. Several clubs have tried to tempt Given away in the past, but he stayed loyal. In the meantime, the likes of David James, Jose Manuel Reina, Ed deGoey, Sander Westerveld, Jerzy Dudek, Tim Howard, Jens Lehmann, etc ,etc all win trophies. How many of those were as good as Given? Not many I'd suggest. He must also look at the likes of Alan Shearer and Gary Speed who stayed loyal for years and won nowt while on Tyneside.
I think Given has earned the right to go to a club which, whilst it might not be Top4 material yet - at least isn't run by a wideboy Spurs fan, a poison dwarf and managed by a man whose IQ is lower than his shoe size. Man City have the chance to become a trophy winning team and play in Europe. We will be in the Championship in six months and selling players for a song. Loyalty? Stupidity more like.
Hell, I've been black and white for 35 years and I wouldn't play for us at the minute. Well, ok, I would - but you take my point.
The last true senior professional this club had. sorry to see you go shay.
Good luch Shay youhave been a great servant for our club, I honestly can`t understand the idiots who even dare to give stick to a true Newcastle Legend like yourself, It`s a shame another Legend leaves the club without any silver ware with them,
On another note I am sitting here praying that we get 2 players in but it looks like the wool has been pulled over our eyes yet again!!!!
we got 6-7 mil for zoggy and x mil for given and what do we do with the money?
NOTHING we waste our time trying to swap martins for bent!!!!!!!
we sell the best keeper in the league to city then waste more time trting to buy johnson in a seperate deal....unbelivable
fat ashleys made a profit in the transfer window in times like these its disgusting,
and im not going to swallow "buy the time the given and zoggy transfers went threw we didnt have time to spend the money" when theyve knew since the last trasfer window were we need to strengthen
So enough was enough for wor Shay. The true end of an era. For a man who has been here for 11 long hard years I can't blaim him. Can you imagine having played under Sir Bobby and Keegan alongside the greats ( Shearer, Rob Lee etc etc ) to now have to turn up to be trained / shouted at by Joe Kinnear and his brigade of half wits, well for me personnaly I think I would've took the same stance. The real shame is he loves the city loves the club and is deeply hurt with how bad things currently are. That's why he's left. As an optomist I always try to look on the bright side but the truth is its more profit for Ashley in another window of opportunity which is now rapidly drawing near to closure. Bring back Big Al - the site of him singing yesterday shows a true man who loves the toon opposite to a scarf wearing cockney wolf in sheeps clouthing.
Good luck and goodbye Shay Given, only two keepers better in the history of the Premier League - Peter Schmeichel & David Seaman. Like many others I wish he had left us for one of the Big 4, but really can't see it being too long before Man City are competing for silverware - I hope he ends up with a cabinet full of them, a true proffesional. And if anyone was questioning why he left I think our January transfer inaction sums it up nicely, a couple of solid pro's signed but most importantly of all a nice profit in Ashleys pocket. At best this all smacks of outright incompitence but I fear that there is more to it than that.
Spot on Jeddi. If we wanted johnson, why wasn't it mentioned as part of the deal with shay? ã8m for johnson??? He never gets a game! Hasn't he turned into abit of a wideboy aswell lately?
Again we wait until the last ebb of the window then try and buy players. There was no planning for transfers at all. As I said before, if we knew shay would go instead of rejecting the offers just tell them at the start, he'll cost ã8m or whatever. Its dragged on for a couple of weeks leaving no time to use the money. I suspect that was the plan all along though.
That money will be in fat mans pocket right now.
The window has shut and what have we got...lovenkrands - free, nolan 4m, taylor - zog makeweight. Ashley has got away with spending nothing again! We will have got a fair bit for shay and the money from zog but hardly spent anything. We are 2 players down plus the injured lot and only 3 incoming. Its disgusting how this club is run. How can we possibly stay in this league with virtually a full team injured/ no proper strikers up front/no creativity and no pace? This was our last shot at making a team fit for survival and its failed.
What a Cunch of bunts. Exactly the same as the summer. These horrible despicable txxxs have destroyed the toon . I think it's going to be a bumpy ride between now and the end of the season , again we'll get the usual cxxp about how they really tried to get two players in for 8 million each . My Axxe. Where do we as the true guardians of NUFC go from here . Do we demonstrate, do we give our fullest support hoping whats left of the team do enough to keep us up . Anybody got any suggestions . If I remember rightly weren't the management going to make a statement after the window closed. I'm looking forward to the greatest fairytale since Hans Christian Anderen stopped writing . Anybody know what contribution old cross eyes has made to this transfer window . I'm sure he must have been working hard to earn his Million plus NOT
Well i guess that the lack of reports comin from SJP means that we have not added any more signings. Nolan and Taylor in and Nzogbia out represents good business in my eyes but we could have done with another half a dozen. In a week when Giles Barnes goes to Fulham on loan, Christophe Berra signs for Wolves for 2.3m, Saviola desperate for a loan move, Gudjohnsen not playin at Barcelona. We sell Shay Given the best keeper in the league for an undisclosed fee? Why not just tell us how much? Then hours later try to sihn Johnson for ã8m from the same club - Why? Surley we should have dug our heels in and demanded it as part of the Given deal - even better including Onuaha and Richards. If Mancity wanted him that much they would have compromised. The bottom line is Mike Ashley is about ã15m better off - Thats strange isnt it - Havent Spurs just resigned Keane for that same figure? Is he selling the toon down the river Tyne to finance his beloved Spurs. Strange how last season we had all but bagged Woodgate and Modric before they signed for Spurs and how Redknapp turned us down only to go to Spurs 6 months later. The links go on and on - normally with the end product in Spurs favour. In a time when something smells rotten at SJP its worth a thought.
Here we go again no signings just repalcements,
Ashley has just netted between 10 and 15 million,Good for him?
WHAT MUGS WE ARE?
anyone comming to see the spartans with me next week?
Ashley and Joe Kinnear should hang there heads in shame,
Yesterday JK said he had four players lined up before the transfer window shuts and guess what, no surprises, sweat f--- all
I thought that pain and truth
Were things that really mattered
But you can't stay here
With every single hope you had
Shattered.
RIP Newcastle.
I'm done.
shay given is not to be blamed. those who run nufc should be. a failed championship manager who does the deals, a manager who talks without thinking and someone who bought nufc to play with as a toy.
this from someone who has supported nufc since 1966.
it is very sad to see go down!!!!
City will get just about every player they want at this time (xcept Kaka) its a wise desicion for Given really...
all the best shay!
newcastle's best player has departed, but trash like ameobi and butt are still around... sigh
I have said time and time again why why why is Ameobi still at Newcastle this guy is crap?
Unbelievable.
More asset stripping by Wise, Lambias & Ashley.
Quality out, journeymen in again.
Ashley OUT!!!!
Keeeeeeeeeeeeeegan!!!
The fat guy is making mugs out of us
Derby day, it didnt go well,
The Makems almost made us fall,
Ameobi handles the ball,
does he think its basketball,
no shay given but harper was tall,
Shearer singing along with us all,
one fat bloke sitting in the stands,
loaded with cash, rubbing his hands
Is this the end for the Toon as we know,
lets hope not and just have a cup of tea.
http://www.true-faith.co.uk/tf/editorials.nsf/LookupUNID/3F0931419CF6CC9E802575510079808B?OpenDocument
True Faith spot on as usual.
Lee - FFS SORT OUT CAPTCHA WILL YOU ... HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU NEED TO BE ASKED?!
I was truly down when Shay left although it was inevitable. He deserves a Testimonial - lets get a petition going to show him the fans gratitude. As for the team, it started going downhil when 'Fat Freddy' sacked Sir Bobby. Fifth in the league and a decent squad, what a ludicrous decision that was! I only hope that we're still in the Premiership when Shay (hopefully) comes back to town.
Shay Given did the right thing, NUFC, is not on the wish list of any Top Professional. N,Zogbia, is in for a real culture shock at Wigan, 4 years of anti-climax. Too many players just dont want to be here. I think that with Ashley/Kinnear combination, we will be relegated by Easter and truly deserve all we get. The club is just like Pompey; in free fall.Roll on the Championship; then even worse possibly.There is no sharp solution to our problems; this scenario has been brewing for 10 years.
Am I the only one who actually isn't overly concerned by Given Leaving?
Is it a coincidence that the defence has been s**te for about 10 years?
fantastic shot stopper and thats about it!
Doesn't command the box, poorish on crosses, distribution simply second rate.
Loyal? yes and a good servant.
Best in the prem? errrrrr I would prefer chech, van da sar, Reina and probs David James. Dont Get too Hung up on it I think Harper will do good enough and personally Krul looks a good bet.
Good Luck Shay.