Given - Will He ... Won't He?

Last updated : 09 December 2005 By Footy Mad - Editor




Last Saturday Shay Given was plucked out of the pack to talk to the media when manager Graeme Souness failed to show after United scraped a home draw against relegation-threatened Aston Villa. The look on his face said everything we needed to know, far more than the shallow words "the players are behind the manager".

The 29-year-old is not happy, and I don't think he has been since Souness walked through the door. Others talk, but I feel the Irishman is as close to the fans as any other player barring perhaps skipper Alan Shearer. And both are sick and frustrated at not winning any trophies.

He is keen to extend his nine-year stay on Tyneside, when talks start at the weekend, but admits there are "footballing issues" to be addressed.

Given: "My advisor Michael Kennedy is coming up on Saturday for the first meeting. This is my ninth season and it hurts me to see us mid-table. It hurts me when we're languishing where we are. I'm at a club which should be challenging in the top three or four positions and in Europe every year.

"I don't want to finish my career without having won a trophy, I have said that all along and I haven't changed. I don't want to hang up my gloves and think about what could have been. Newcastle is in my blood. I would love to have my best years here and I feel they are still ahead of me. I have given eight-and-a-half years service and we will have to see what happens.

"To be fair to the club, we have brought in some players this year and spent a lot of money. I can't have a go at the chairman for not backing the manager. But I don't think the squad is big enough. People said we struggled last year because of the size of the squad. We sold seven or eight players since the summer and have brought in four or five. If you do the maths, the squad is a lot smaller. Maybe we have more quality but when we get injuries, like we have this year, there's not a lot to fall back on.

"I wanted to sign a contract in the summer, but the chairman leaves it to the last minute. It might have been better if he had come to me in the summer. But the first meeting is on Saturday. I can't say what's going to happen."