Given - 'I want to finish my career here'

“I'd love to finish my career here,” he declared. “I haven't been here long, but I already feel at home and love the club.

“I grew up a Celtic supporter and they have a big place in my heart, but I really hope I can finish my career here. You can never say never, but I'd like to think I will.

It's a great period to be at City. There's such excitement in the dressing room. There's a real feeling of optimism and we believe we're going places. It's been a great adventure for me and I couldn't be happier."

>>Shay Given.

Good positive stuff from Given, and I can safely say his performances since being signed last January have quashed the misgivings I intially had when he signed, turning in both a high level of consistency and the ability to make the kind of match winning (or point saving) saves that we have lacked since David James left the club.

Hughes hails Given's presence

Speaking about the key presence that Given has become since his signing from Newcastle last January:

"Shay's been more than I could have hoped for in terms of his presence on the field.

"He's got a calming influence on the back four. That's made a marked difference to the way the guys in front of him have been able to defend.

"It comes from knowledge of the game. It comes from knowing when you need to take the sting out of games and when you need to build momentum.

"That starts from Shay and he has a great understanding, because of the Premier League experience that he has."

Given's performance has far exceeded that I expected since his arrival, and I don't think there can be any debate as to the value of his signing and that he brings more to the side than Joe Hart did.

That said, I have seen a little bit of criticism of Given in recent weeks, particularly related to his lack of size and ability to command the area. Perhaps this is as a result of us conceding from set plays but for me this is being very overly critical and the few problems we have had at the back not stemmed in any way from the goalkeeper.

Thoughts?

Deadline day round up - it's a Given

Manchester City FC are delighted to announce the signing of
Shay Given from Newcastle United for an undisclosed fee.
The 32-year-old
goalkeeper has put pen to paper on a four-and-a-half year contract, and he moves
back to the north-west where he started his Premier League career with Blackburn
Rovers in 1994.

>>mcfc.co.uk

I know this one went through yesterday evening but I was struggling to get anything posted up last night.

Not a surprise given he arrived for his medical yesterday morning and Hughes gets the goalkeeper that he wanted to bring in:

"I have said for a long time that we need the
experience of a keeper like Shay. I am delighted that we have been able to
acquire such an accomplished keeper, and one is so highly regarded by everyone
in the Premier League.
"We are getting a very good keeper, and the
experience he has will help the two outstanding young keepers that we have here
in Joe and Kasper. I am looking for them all to grow as a group, and it's
important that we have that influence of a senior keeper."

Given himself was enthusing about the move, echoing some of the sentiments Craig Bellamy spoke about upon his signing:

“I have two young kids, I had just moved house in
Newcastle and there were a few things that could have made me stay there. I have
a lot of friends there, and the supporters there are fantastic. They have been
great to me for so many years, and I thank them for that. But I just felt that
this was an opportunity for me to come to a club that in my opinion are really
going to be going places.
“I am even really excited to be going training on
Monday, it's a new chapter in my life and one I am looking forward to.
“The
profile of the Club has changed dramatically, and there are already some
fantastic players here. It looks like some good players will come here in the
future as well, and I am sure the fans must be on the edge of their seats to see
who comes here. There is already the nucleus of a very good team here, and I
hope I can add to that. I am just delighted that they have chosen me to
strengthen their goalkeeping department as well.”

I've written about the arrival of Given in the lead up to his signing, and whilst he is undoubtedly a top class goalkeeper, I do wonder about the value of his signing.

I don't believe he is that much of an upgrade over Hart to justify consigning Hart to what could amount to 4 or 5 seasons on the bench (or even out of the club). Whilst with outfield players, different formations, tactics and resting are a common part of the game, it doesn't happen with 'keepers.

At best, Hart is now looking at half a dozen or so games a season, as clearly Given has not arrived to battle for the number 1 jersey. Far more preferable for me would have been to bring an experienced, veteran number 2 guy to push Hart (we can assume Kasper Schmeichel is now out of the picture) and challenge him to keep improving.

The ethos is of course though win now, and perhaps Hughes feels that Hart is still some way off being a top flight keeper and that Given can be the type of keeper who can win us points (in the way that David James used to) that, it has to be said, are so badly needed at the moment.

Given set to sign

Sky Sports News understands Shay Given is having a medical at Manchester City after a fee was agreed with Newcastle United.

The Magpies gave the goalkeeper permission to discuss a move to City on Friday after he expressed a wish to leave St James' Park.

Joe Kinnear conceded last week that he was resigned to losing Given, but branded City's £5million offer as 'derisory' and an 'insult'.

A fee is now understood to have been agreed between the two clubs ahead of the close of the transfer window on Monday.

>>Sky Sports News.

Given granted permission to hold talks

Breaking news in that Newcastle's Shay Given has been allowed to speak to ourselves over a possible move.

No mention of any agreed move at this stage but more details to follow shortly no doubt.

Friday transfer round up - a busy morning

A busy day news wise so far, with a further bid for Roque Santa Cruz being rejected by Blackburn. Mark Hughes said of the bid:

"Yesterday afternoon we put an improved bid in for Roque
Santa Cruz that was rejected, (the bid) an improvement. “We have to make a
decision on that and the window is open until the second so we’ve got time if we
decide to do that.”

What could be in our favour is that it is being reported that Blackburn are hoping to land either Peter Crouch or El-Hadj Diouf which could signal Santa Cruz's exit from the club.

No further progress on Shay Given, but again, Hughes confirmed their has been a bid lodged:

“The situation with Newcastle is that obviously we’ve put in
a bid for Shay Given and we haven’t had an update on that.
“I’ve said
I’m looking to bring in an experienced keeper and he ticks the box in that
respect. Whether or not the deal happens we’ll have to wait and see."

Furthermore to this, it has been reported that Given has failed to show for training this morning at newcastle.

A couple of players linked with oves out of the club with Fulham being turned down with their bid to take Felipe Caicedo on loan for the remainder of the season, whilst out of favour Jo has been linked with a move to surprise Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim.

Thursday transfer round up - running out of time?

With Sky Sports News deadline ticker edging closer to showing just three full days remaining, our final negotiations will need to be concluded swiftly in order to be completed in time.

Sam Allardyce has already said today that 'time has run out' on our attempt to land Roque Santa Cruz, and given Matt Derbyshire has today joined Olympiacos Blackburn have very little time to land a replacement for Santa Cruz now.

Rumours also linked the striker with a move to Tottenham today, and if Hughes's interest in the player remains, then it looks as though we will have to get close to £20 million as his value will surely increase as we approach the Monday deadline.

Still no concrete news regarding Shay Given, with Joe Kinnear labelling our supposed offer of £5 million an 'insult'. However, Sky Sports News were confident enough to suggest a deal should be complete within the next 24 hours.

These two transfers have remained constant throughout the whole of the window and are still expected to be concluded before Monday's 5pm deadline. With Saturday's game against Stoke fast approaching, it is looking increasingly likely like it will be a busy newsday on Monday.

Shay a Given?

So it would seem:

SHAY Given was not in Newcastle's squad to face City this evening prompting further speculation the goalkeeper is on his way to Eastlands.

Magpies boss Joe Kinnear earlier admitted that he may lose Given, who has been at Newcastle for 11 years.

>>MEN.

Given's ommission for tonights game comes on the back of Joe Kinnear's comments this afternoon, which were as much a tacit admission of Given's impending departure as they come:

"He's done 11 years here and I think he wants a new challenge.

"I left Shay with owner Mike Ashley, club managing director Derek Llambias and Given's lawyer Michael Kennedy, and the talks went on for a few hours.

"It's out of my hands and I am still waiting for the final outcome.

"I would be heartbroken to see him go because he is one of the best keepers in the world. But Man City keep banging on the door to talk to him."

With that I would assume he would be in the ranks in time for the weekends game against Stoke.

Sunday transfer round up - Richards to Arsenal?

Biggest 'story' circulating around today concerns Micah Richards, amidst a reported £7 milion bid from Arsenal. This of course following on from reports at the end of last week linking him with both Wigan and Bolton.

I don't see a situation where Mark Hughes sanctions his departure, and certainly not for a fee of just £7 million. Arseblogger summarily dismisses this link too.

One interesting point worth speculating on though with this story is that it doesn't appear as though Richards and Vincent Kompany have forged the best of relationships, and given the acquisition of Nigel de Jong seems to point to Kompany moving back into defence, could this be something Hughes may factor in?

We were discussed quite extensively on Sky Sports 'Sunday Supplement' this morning, amongst other things discussing Richards. Ian McGarry from The Sun was on the programme and struck as being very 'anti-City'. Remarkably, he suggested that Richards needs to leave the club in order "to get more games". During the programme, he also stated it was well known that Mark Hughes would not be in charge next season and that Robinho was "desperate" to leave the club - so much so that he has come back from Brazil early in order to try and engineer a move.

Make of all that what you will.

UPDATE 17:38 - Sky Sports have an article and video up on their site featuring McGarry's comments:

The Shay Given link has surfaced again today, partly because of reports suggesting David James could move to Newcastle as a replacement for the soon to be departed Given. From what I've read of James, he appears settled on the South Coast so I don't see him moving up to the North-East - especially given Newcastle's current plight.

With just a week to go though before the window shuts for the season, I'd imagine there will be avenues being explored right until the deadline a week tomorrow. Strongest links of course remain Shay Given and Roque Santa Cruz, and I would still be surprised if deals were not concluded.

Although we have two games this week (Newcastle on Wednesday and Stoke on Sunday), expect transfer news to dominate the headlines this week as things heat up before the window shuts at 5pm on February 2nd.

Bids for Given and Santa Cruz reported

After another relatively quiet day on the transfer front, some activity was reported on this evening with suggestions that bids have been made for Shay Given and Roque Santa Cruz.

The Mail reports that an £8 million bid for Given has been tabled, whilst The Times states an offer of £15 million has been put to Blackburn for Roque Santa Cruz - but does indicate that either Tal Ben Haim or Nedum Onouha are included in any deal.

Both players have of course been linked regularly with us but I still have reservations about both players. Yes, Hughes got the best out of Santa Cruz last season at Blackburn but is it not an indication that no other side appears interested in him?

Maybe we have to trust Hughes's judgement given his close relationship with the player but prior to him joining Blackburn, Bayern could not get rid soon enough and he does have a chequered injury record.

The phrase 'one season wonder' is written all over him.

As for Given, he is a good 'keeper but I don't share the view that he is world class. I think there is a case you can argue that because of his workload in the Newcastle goal, the perception of him is skewed slightly.

What I think would be a better fit for Joe Hart is for a solid, experienced number 2 to come in and push him to continue to elevate his game rather than bring in a decent 'keeper to replace him and push back his progress - perhaps terminally.

Unless we can go out and land a Buffon or Casillas, we should steer clear of trying to replace Hart.