Which do you think would be the better keeper if the current Dubravka were to play in the same era as a peak Shay Given?
Dubs. Full respect to given but I feel most people love him cause of his long stay at the club more than his actual goalkeeping skills. I’d feel better relying on dubs. Given would be a cracking 2nd keeper to have mind.
Shay was a wonderful keeper. Having said that, he was always in a much better team. Our present goalkeeper is threatening to keep us in this division almost single handedly.
Few months ago I said Given. I thought Dubravka was very weak from corners, he still isn't great at them, but we generally deal with them better now. Considering just how good Dubravka has been this season, I'd say he is fantastic. Probably the best keeper we have ever had. The Prince of Wales has deemed him worthy of a knighthood. But I'm not in charge of that.
Given at the moment but if Dubs can do it for another season and a bit as this current level then he'll take the crown.
Given for now. I like Dubravka but people are getting carried away (a bit like they did with Shay and Harper to be honest). He's steady and a good shot stopper. He isn't great on crosses or commanding his box generally. He's ok with his feet but no more than that. His dodgy spell of a few games this season appears to have been erased from the memory of many of our fans. His current form is stellar though.
Much better team? If you were a 'keeper, would you want to play behind: Carr-Boumsong-Bramble-Elliot With Peter Ramage and Steven Taylor as options? or Yedlin-Lejeune-Fernadez-Clark-Dummett. With Lascelles & Rose as options? I can't help but think that a lot of the alleged weaknesses that people have ascribed to Shay would have evaporated if he hadn't been trying to organise that shower of sh!te at the same time.
i simply feel he was overated ... made a few saves , but he got plenty of opportunities with our defenders .. I just felt like he could do no wrong .. not saying he was bad, but he was not very good either... i feel my opinion was vindicated by his time at villa and city
Not sure if your assessment of his time at City is correct, Manchester City[edit] On 1 February 2009, Given signed for Manchester City on a four-and-a-half-year contract for £6 million.[55] He was formally paraded as a Manchester City player on 5 February 2009, and was assigned squad number 37. In the subsequent press conference, he criticised Newcastle's management for not trying hard enough to keep him at the club.[56] He also said that "By coming here I thought I could be at a club that is challenging for honours. I didn't want to finish my career regretting not taking up this offer."[56] Given kept a clean sheet in a man of the match performance in his debut, a 1–0 win against Middlesbrough on 7 February.[57] please log in to view this image Given playing for Manchester City With Joe Hart leaving the club on loan, Given was given the squad number 1 for the 2009–10 season. He made his 400th league appearance on 5 October 2009 against Aston Villa.[58] On 1 November 2009, he saved a James McFadden penalty to help his side draw 0–0 at Birmingham City.[59] On 5 December 2009, he made an outstanding penalty save from Frank Lampard to deny Chelsea an equalising goal. City went on to win 2–1.[60] The same month, Daily Telegraph football correspondent Henry Winter named Given as Premier League Goalkeeper of the Noughties.[61] While team captain Kolo Touré was on international duty, Given was given the captain's armband by manager Roberto Mancini, who described the Donegal-born player as "one of the five best goalkeepers in the world".[62] He dislocated his shoulder during a match against Arsenal on 24 April, ruling him out for the rest of the season.[63] On 14 August 2010, Given was dropped from the Manchester City starting XI for their opening league game against Tottenham and replaced by Hart,[64] who became City's permanent first choice goalkeeper. Given's only domestic appearance during the 2010–11 season came in a defeat to West Brom in the League Cup; he also played in two Europa League matches. Just saying like.