Shay given #1

[john@staustell]

I'd much rather have Joe Hart in goal.
































For Birmingham.

Funny, one or two did say that, without the last line!

john 68 - whilst not remembering Swift and Trautman, I can remember that Corrigan was originally a boo-boy, prone to the odd horrible gaff (Frank Lampard goal from half-way etc). So we had to purchase people like Macrae etc!! LOL

Corrigan came into his own as he got older and BECAME one of the best. Not always so though.

[MaineRoadMemories]

Hey, one or two of you are pretty good at pulling up the old threads on players - now would be a great time to check out the thread when we found out we were signing Shay...

Go on then?!!

Unfortunately mate, just looked on the old site and it only lets you go back as far as June 2009 and we signed Given at the end of January in 2009. There is also no search option on the old site either which is a shame.

You have to sign in and look at the archive. It'll log you out of this site when you log into that one but its worth a read!

http://www.mancityfans.net/oldsite/view ... ay#p579330

Shay is easily the best in the premiership at the moment. Cech, who I regarded as the best previously, seems to have become a lot more error prone ever since that bang to the head.

[Beeks]

This clown on Red Cafe begs to differ

http://www.redcafe.net/f7/myth-around-s ... en-277912/

[xavi6]

This clown on Red Cafe begs to differ

http://www.redcafe.net/f7/myth-around-s ... en-277912/

Lol at the thread being built around his peno save.

FAIL!

[Kiss_The_Goat]

This clown on Red Cafe begs to differ

http://www.redcafe.net/f7/myth-around-s ... en-277912/

Lol at the thread being built around his peno save.

FAIL!

What a set of wankers!

[CityFanFromRome]

This clown on Red Cafe begs to differ

http://www.redcafe.net/f7/myth-around-s ... en-277912/

Says it all already. He's ridiculed by most of the others there too, although there is a general feeling about our defence being poor, which I don't think it is, especially after the last two games.

[Rag_hater]

Personally I think Friedal and Cech might be on par with him in the prem and on a global stage maybe Casillas and Ceasar.

[bluej]

This clown on Red Cafe begs to differ

http://www.redcafe.net/f7/myth-around-s ... en-277912/

Lol at the thread being built around his peno save.

FAIL!

Haha!

[Sister of fu]

This little list did make me cry with laughter......Our Shay must be in the list with Paddy Kenny!!!!!

1st tier:

Casillas, Reina, Buffon,

2nd tier: Cech, VDS

3rd tier: Akinfeev, Neuer, Lloris, Adler

4th tier: Valdes, Almunia

If you went to the Arse fans and said you can have Given for Alumunia i can pretty much guarantee what the answer would be.

[john@staustell]

Personally I think Friedal and Cech might be on par with him in the prem and on a global stage maybe Casillas and Ceasar.

The word among Chelski fans is that Cech is past his best, as Saturday may go some way to confirming. Once upon a time maybe, not now. Dont forget he doesn't normally get tested much.

[sky_blue_stew]

Agree that Friedel is probably the closest in the Prem to Given's abilities, but I've definitely seen more errors from Friedel. Given's consistency is genuinely astonishing. Most remarkable thing about his career is playing behind the Newcastle defence for so long he never really had centre backs in front of him he could trust. You'd think that would lead to him developing a complex over dealing with crosses and flapping at them (anything to stop opponents getting a free header) but he really is unflappable. Best value signing we'll make, almost guaranteed.

[sky_blue_stew]

Also, just saw this video, possibly the worst keeper in the top divisions of European football. So he manages three mistakes in about 5 seconds: messing up keeping the ball in play, not spotting the "camouflaged" Sporting forward, and even then I reckon he could have saved that shot. It virtually rolled over his foot - and was hardly hit with any pace. It's moments like that you wonder how this guy became a professional.

[john68]

Dub,
I agree that one thing seperating Shay from Swift and Trautmann is time. Shay hasn't had that yet but I was responding to the comment that Shay was our best ever keeper. In the future, he may be considered so but not just yet.

John,
I well remember Big Joe being tagged a s a clown. he was grossly overweight and not very mobile when he 1st came on the scene. He did get a lot of criticism and was the butt of a lot of jokes for a long time.
He did however develop into a great keeper who gave us long and quality sevice.
I will never forget the save he made at leeds when the Kop went up as the ball travelled into the top corner. Only for Joe to change direction (seemingly in mid air) and save it. My favourite City save ever.

[Tokyo Blue]

Shay is a great keeper but a long way off being our greatest of all time.

We have a reputation for having top goalkeepers...Frank Swift, Bert Trautmann, Joe Corrigan...Shay has some way to go yet.

Mate the only thing those you listed have above Given is time.

And height. If he has a weakness, I would say it is that he doesn't come off his line to collect crosses as much as he should, and his slight lack of height is a factor in that I am sure. Having said that though, if as a defender you know 100% that your goalie is not going to come, you know that you have got to deal with the situation yourself and can often do so.

I didn't see Swift or Trautmann, but I did see Corrigan and I think he was better than Given. But that doesn't change the fact that I am extremely happy with Shay. He has been a superb addition to the club.