Really liked Shay and was very sorry to see him go, but life goes on and so do we. He's made it clear he doesn't want to be second fiddle and there's no way he'd displace Tim now. That kind of makes it a no no.
No, and not only because he jumped ship but also because I don't see it as a coincidence that our backlines (with some proper quality players) were abysmal with him in goal. Don't think he could marshal the backline adequately
Not a chance. Krul is our number 1 and rightly so. Given still has years on his 'vile' contract and there is no way I would advocate paying a fee for a 37 year old 'keeper. He left to win trophies and instead has warmed benches. Them's the breaks.
Best shot stopper we've ever had in my opinion but he was a cowardly keeper, as you say he was scared to leave his line to collect crosses etc. I said this for years that when he played we conceded from a lot of crosses because he wouldn't leave his line in case he didn't collect the ball, as a result the defence got blamed due to the fact he wasn't brave enough to help relieve the pressure on them.
Would take Krul over him anyday....even in his heydays with us. Krul commands his box and line much better than Given ever did, his distribution is far better. Given hardly ever threw the ball out to get us on the break quickly which was one of my big issues with him. Even if we didn't have a decent keeper at the mo I would still say no, purely and simply cos he ****ed off and left us in the **** in our relegation season. I'm not saying he's wholly responsible for it, but it certainly contributed ! Class player though and a Toon legend in my book.
Wouldn't come as he says he wants first team football and he certainly wouldn't get that here . He'd be in the same situation as at Villa.
I loved given when he was here however the way he demanded to leave was poor, still think he could have supported us in trying to stay up And go at the end of the season After all the years he had with us rather then jump ship QUOTE=Geordieginola;4799309]http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22679633 Would you have him back?[/QUOTE]
Simple answer = No Similar reasons as other posters: 1. He's past his best and we might as well have offered Harps an extended contract if we even consider Given now. 2. He wants first team football and he's never going to oust Krul now 3. He was a great favourite here, but I'll never forget the timing of his departure. If he were the gentleman he says he is then he'd have stayed until the end of the season in an attempt to help keep us up.
