Shay Given Retires from International Football

[LeeB]

I'll put my money on the calamity twins and cuckoo and cacka at full back being the same with Buffon behind them. Not saying there isn't any truth in what you said there Dave but it couldn't have helped. I guess we'll find put this year.

Three of the four of them were perfectly good in front of Friedel in 2009/10.

A back four that never had to move from the edge of it's box, with full backs that didn't attack.

[PeterWithesShin]

I'll put my money on the calamity twins and cuckoo and cacka at full back being the same with Buffon behind them. Not saying there isn't any truth in what you said there Dave but it couldn't have helped. I guess we'll find put this year.

Three of the four of them were perfectly good in front of Friedel in 2009/10.

Who was in goal when they were shite in 2010/11?

[Californian Villain]

I'm glad he's retired from international football now he can focus all of his attention on retiring from Villa.

Yes, because he was absolutely dreadful last season wasn't he?

Wouldn't say he was dreadful, but he was quite clearly well into the down slope of his career before he came to Villa....and whoever agreed to give him a five year contract should be locked up!

Fancy giving a decent contract to a world-class player.

World Class? That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever posted on this site.

[Dave]

I'll put my money on the calamity twins and cuckoo and cacka at full back being the same with Buffon behind them. Not saying there isn't any truth in what you said there Dave but it couldn't have helped. I guess we'll find put this year.

Three of the four of them were perfectly good in front of Friedel in 2009/10.

You would need a building the size of the Pentagon to document all of the individual errors made by those players. Like I said I'm not saying Given had nothing to do with our defensive issues, but it appears you are putting more stock in the goalkeeper being the root of the evil rather than the players that this manager has quickly identfied as being the problem.

Not at all. I think that the defensive problems were a collective thing rather than us having a super-human goalkeeper behind an incompetent defence.

I think that Given is a perfectly solid, mid-table goalkeeper - something that his career would appear to back up.