I'm surprised nobody has shared this, unless I missed it? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22679633
Given, Dunne and Ireland all mates of our Rep of Ireland lads then?? If Given came here he would want to be No 1. can't see Bruce going for an older head in goal, he is building a youing squad still.
I don't think Given is anywhere near the standard he was. He's been ousted from number one slot at two consecutive clubs - Man City and Villa. Villa is the interesting one as he has been ousted by Guzan. A keeper a lot on here didn't rate at Championship standard. (For the record I really rated Guzan). For me the goalkeeping slot is a really important one to fill - I'd rather have a young keeper in the team on his way up than an old timer on his way down. It's a 'no' from me.
I'm not sure whether he would be interested but Courtois who is owned by Chelsea but playing in Spain might be an option. He is way above our station, but if he is to challenge Cech for their No1 slot the season after next he might need to be tested against Premier League strikeforces first. Long shot as already stated
I'd buck what is seemingly the trend on this one and I'd gladly give him 2 years. I cant see any other Prem club wanting to offer him that and a first choice slot so unless he's after a big payday abroad in UAE or the MLS then we'd have a very good chance. Then there's the Eire element to consider in our favour. He was classed as one of the best keepers in the country 3 years ago and has hardly played since. I cant see us getting anyone better to be honest. All things considered, the signing of 2 permanent keepers (if the Jak goes) are the most important 2 signings of the summer. We simply cannot carry on like we have for the past 3 years.
For me he's finished, towards the end of 11/12 he was starting to concede more and more 'soft' goals, and then at the Euros he was at fault for a few, and then to be ousted by Guzan who is never going to be top quality shows something IMO. I'd honestly rather sign Stockdale than Given.
I rank them about equal, the key might be the cost. If Stockdale is £2m or higher then I'd rather have Given for free.
Problem with Given, is that he's got three years left at £60k a week, so unless we loan him on subsidised wages, or Villa pay him off, it's a non-starter.
I did assume from Given's comments that this would be happening. They've agreed he needs to leave and nobody is gonna give him 60k a week. We all know what assuming does though.
Am i wrong in thinking Sorensen From Stoke is out of contract?? Paul Robinson what happened with him has he signed a contract? Two good goalkeepers
I don't get this. Everyone keeps saying we can't go on loaning goalkeepers. It's hardly done us badly has it? We've improved gradually during that time, rarely been let down by keepers and the only loan goalie who has been poor was Gulacsi (and even he wasn't as bad as people made out). The worst keeper we've had in that time was Jakupovic and he was permanent.
Lambert's just said he wants a minimum of £2m for Given, so unless they're going to give the fee to Given to bugger off, there's still a major wage issue.
Yeah, and what wouldve happened if we hadnt been able to re-sign Stockdale on loan? Say Fulham had all their keepers injured and we were stuck with The Jak for the final 5 months of the season. Do you think we'd have still gone up? It is this uncertainty element that needs addressing. And Gulacsi and Amos were both miles worse than Jak. At least the Jak did have some good game, Gulacsi and Amos were both ****e in every single game they played.
Amos was far better than Jak, he was the typical Hollywood goalkeeper, every save he had to dive for or try and punch, Amos wasn't great but he was pretty solid. Agree we need a permanent goalkeeper though, we can't keep going on like this where we've used 11 (I think) keepers since we got relegated.
If we assume that Given would take a cut in wages to be playing 1st team football in the PL, then there is no harm in approaching him to see if he wants to sign. Having 3 permanent keepers (Jak and Oakley being the other two) would certainly put minds at rest instead of the constant speculation about the loanee being recalled whenever there is a change of manager of an injury to the parent club's first choice keeper.
Jakupovic is up for sale, along with Mclean, Stewart and Cairney(if a decent offer comes in). Our third keeper's called Oxley.
Sorry my mistake, am very good at mis-spelling and didn't know Jakupovic (due to my constant mis-spelling never like to type his name in full, as will always get it wrong) was on his way out (not a surprise though)
