Shay Given

[eastie]

a fit shay given in my opinion is a big improvement on friedal, he wil have worked with dunne on 100s of occassions and will command his box better than friedal, i expect far less chaos at corners and crosses.

[Merv]

I'll have you know the accepted variation to Merv is Marv, John. Neither of which are my name in any case, but that's what happens when you share the same surname as a certain monster-moustached Australian fast bowler. Blimmin' nickname's stuck since my schooldays.

[eastie]

People saying he is no better than Friedel will be pleasantly surprised I think. a superb GK who was unlukcy enough to be caught in the weird world of Man City.

Yes very unlucky on 80k a week.

i think he was more unlucky that the kid from blackpool turned out to be so good, i'd have loved joe hart at villa, seamus coleman came through blackpool youth as well didnt he? its there version of a golden generation lol

joe hart was born in shrewsbury and joined city from shrewsbury, not blackpool.
he spent one month on loan at blackpool from city that is all.

[Chris Smith]

My only concern would be the amount of time he's missed through injury over the last couple of years or so but presumably any issues would be picked up by the medical.

[eastie]

My only concern would be the amount of time he's missed through injury over the last couple of years or so but presumably any issues would be picked up by the medical.

Agreed , if his shoulder went and we were stuck with guzan long term id be worried,but hopefully hes all sorted and fit now.

[pauliewalnuts]

Isn't a predisposition to dislocated shoulders something which just "happens" as such and wouldn't be shown up on a medical?

Seem to recall us having this conversation re Curtis Davies a while back.

Although I might be totally wrong.

Given is a more than decent keeper, so as long as he stays injury free, he'll be fine.

Mind you, we'll have to reintroduce him to the game, and contact with footballs first. He'll be like Nelson Mandela emerging from prison and having to get used to how the world "is" all over again.

[The Villa Werewolf]

People saying he is no better than Friedel will be pleasantly surprised I think. a superb GK who was unlukcy enough to be caught in the weird world of Man City.

Yes very unlucky on 80k a week.

i think he was more unlucky that the kid from blackpool turned out to be so good, i'd have loved joe hart at villa, seamus coleman came through blackpool youth as well didnt he? its there version of a golden generation lol

They came through the youth systems of Shrewsbury Town and Sligo Rovers respectively.

[Percy McCarthy]

Very good keeper. I'm worried about his shoulder though - even outfield players never seem to get over being prone to dislocation, so I'd imagine it's worse for keepers.

[lordmcgrath5]

Big thumbs up from me to Shay.

[Damo70]

Excellent keeper, loads of PL and international experience, good influence around the place, hungry after a year off from club football, at least three good years left in him and didn't cost a fortune. Am I missing something with this shoulder thing? I thought he'd only done it once and that was over a year ago.

[Legion]

Good signing.

[TheMalandro]

Delighted, best keeper available

[SoccerHQ]

Similar to Friedel, some good saves but also parries a lot of shots straight back into the 6 yard box and dosen't command his box at all well.

I'd have rather signed Foster tbh.

[DeKuip]

Dunne, Ireland, Given and maybe SWP - the richest club in the world have just become a feeder club to the Villa!

[Toronto Villa]

Looking at his shoulder injury, he disclocated his shoulder in April 2010 having played 44 games for Man City that season. The following season he loses his place to Joe Hart, and then suffers another shoulder injury in Feb 2011. However what I can't seem to find is if it is a recurrence of the same injury or something different.

What we have to consider though is despite the injuries he would have carried on playing reserve team football, and practising. Surely if the original injury was that bad it would have flared up again in training when he's diving around?