10 Former Newcastle Players Who Criticised The Club
8. Shay Given
After 12 wonderful years of service, it was a sad moment when Shay Given brought down the curtain on his Tyneside career midway through the relegation season of 08/09. It was the humiliating 5-1 home defeat to Liverpool in December which made up the Irishmans mind, with his Man of the Match award proving to be a beacon of further embarrassment rather than consolation. Following a swift £6 million move to Manchester City on February 1, Given claimed how he was disappointed with the clubs lack of effort in trying to persuade him to stay.
''There are a couple of things they could have done to keep me, but I think in the end they just wanted to take the money. I just felt that after the service I gave the club, then the regime at Newcastle could have handled the whole thing a bit better. They made me do things I didnt want to do and this was an opportunity to further my career and pick up more silverware. In the last six months, it has been fizzling out. It has not been enjoyable going into training. Maybe its myself being selfish, but I think I deserved a little bit better than that. - Shay Given, February 2009.
For the 32 year olds next destination, it was simply a case of right club at the wrong time. Having signed for Man City, he was the number one goalkeeper for 18 months, before being ousted by the buccaneering Joe Hart, who proceeded to guard the net while the club started winning silverware. In the summer of 2011, Given penned a five-year contract at Aston Villa, where he was once more usurped as the number one choice after his first season, and is now resigned to spending the last few years of his career on the bench. What was that about fizzling out, Shay?
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
