Should Shay Given stay or be sold?
Straight off the bat I’d like to share my opinion, and I think we should look to keep him. After his performances in the Euro’s with Ireland though I’ve seen plenty of people criticising our number one, and suggesting that we might be better off selling the keeper.
Twitter is always an interesting place, and it was no different yesterday as the Ireland game was on and Shay was clearly struggling. He might have done better with the first one and almost instantly a range of comments varying from ‘this is worrying’ to ‘get rid!’ started to pop up on my timeline. Some looked to blame him for the second but I don’t think he was completely at fault. Anytime a ball travels through two sets of legs a keeper is always going to struggle. He then made a worldy save in the second half and predictably the good feelings towards Shay returned. Always amusing.
What do you all think? I’m genuinely interested because he does seem to really divide opinion. Looking at the pros and I still maintain that on his day he’s one of the finer keepers in the Premiership. He was up there with our players of the year last season and played a huge part in us staying up with THAT save against West Brom. He appears to be a good teammate and is a popular figure with the fans.
Looking at some cons and some fans believe that he may not be the keeper he once was. He does look a little sluggish at the moment; or rather not fully fit but some view this as a worrying sign. He’s also had his injury problems with Villa, missing a number of games as Guzan came in. He’s also 36 and although this isn’t especially old for a keeper some would prefer to look at a younger player. There are also a number who maintain that he doesn’t command his box well, with set-pieces a particular area of concern.
He’s on a long term contract, and probably on a decent wage and has already been linked with a move to QPR this summer. Personally speaking I’ve said I’d like to keep him, and in an ideal world have him hand over the number one shirt to reserve keeper Siegrist in a few years.
What are your thoughts though? Would you keep him here or sell him if offered the chance? Any ideas on possible replacements were he to move on?
It’s a really interesting subject in my eyes, and as mentioned I’d love to hear what some of the fans think.
Let us know!
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Surely he’s still carrying an injury??? Has this not been taken into account?
He’s a top keeper and he proved it countless times last season. I’d be annoyed if we did get rid of him seeing as we just let Guzan go as well….who was a worthy successor.
Think he should have reacted better to the first Torres strike, but we don’t know if he’s 100%. The whole Ireland team was pretty awful last night.
I did say he doesn’t look fully fit. I want him to stay, especially because as you mention we’ve lost a more than capable replacement in Guzan.
keep him, he is a great shotstopper, he isnt fully fit and can u imagine the nerves in a game like that especially v spain in a must win, keep him for 2 more years then replace him
we should have got rid last year and kept Guzan, Guzan will become a great keeper and was better in the air than Shay when he played,
i wish we had kept Brad and sold Given, he is prone to injury and rubbish in the air
We must sell him. Agree with Andy. We should have kept Guzan.
Its a bloody disgrace to even ask that question. Given is one of the top 5 keepers in the world and if it wasnt for him we would be heading into a season in the Championship. The Villa fans criticising him need a smack across the face and a bit of common sense.
If you look at the first sentence I say I want him. Plenty don’t though, as you can see by looking at this post with a 50/50 split prior to your post. And also on Twitter and other places last night there were plenty thinking we might be better off selling him. Though a lot of these were also praising him after that great save. Guess because it’s so instant opinions change frequently. Just asking the question but even as a fan of Given there is not a chance he’s one of the top five keepers in the world.
well thats rubbish, a goalkeeper is there to stop the ball going into the net, yes he is a good shot stopper but so are many others and looking at how he punched that ball last night he looked like a beginner!
Guzan when he played commanding his area better, while yet again Given was injured
Who out there is better that we could get?
Think there is a culture at Villa at the moment of moaning about everything. Shay is a world class keeper, we’re lucky to have him. What we need is a capable defence in front of him.
If anyone thinks we should sell him based on him letting in 4 against the best team in the world when he’s unfit and was totally over exposed last night is a bit of a Muppet.
it wasnt just about letting in 4 goals though he was terrible , how on earth can anyone say he is a world class keeper, sorry he is a good shot stopper not a good all round keeper, there are other good keepers, i still say we should have kept Guzan and sold Given due to his lack of fitness , he always seems to have niggles
Just throwing this out there, sell for £3-4 million and bring in Robert Green who is current England number 2 on a free after he decided not to sign a new contract with West Ham, 4 years Shay’s junior at 32 will be at prime for a goalie too!! Really think this is viable and good financial sense!!!