The start of the World Cup qualifying campaign should have been enough for Shay Given to contend with, but not only does he face yet another injury problem before the match on Wednesday, but his Newcastle dream is in doubt.
The Newcastle keeper is one of the few in Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland squad to have played in a World Cup Finals and he is determined to get there again.
Shay Given Has Most To Lose With Keegan Departure!
By Nu Mad
Updated Monday, 8th September 2008
But Given can be forgiven for pondering the prospect of life back on Tyneside as Trapattoni takes his young team to Montenegro after sealing an impressive opening win over Georgia here.
Alan Shearer laughed off the honours he could have won at Old Trafford when he snubbed Manchester United by saying "I am Newcastle United's greatest EVER goalscorer, and that puts me in the history books and I could not be more proud".
And Shay Given is not that far from the history books, either, as he chases Jimmy Lawrence's Newcastle appearance record.
But that could well go arse-over-tit with a new manager, and Given is most concerned.
Lawrence made 496 appearances between 1904/22 J.Lawrence 496/0 and Shay could make it 500 by next season.
He has already snubbed interest from Arsenal, and with a Newcastle owner who thinks he's playing 'Premiership Manager' on his laptop rather than actually running a Premiership club ... ANYTHING is possible!
Given will not be drawn to make comments about his Newcastle future, but he (and fellow goalkeeper Steve Harper) have been vocal in the past saying Keegan should have got more backing from Ashley to build a stronger squad.
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