Well, it's a well known fact the stevie harper is far from happy being second to shay (although what do you expect when shay is known as the best in the premiership) Having said that stevie did get shafted by bobby for the chelsea game. He is saying that he will wait till the summer and see what happens and he is saying that he wants to play at the dell to say thanks to the toon fans (last act maybe)

Shay on the other hand won't sign a new contract till after the world cup, which means that if he has a good one then he will want a boat load of cash to sign............kinda mercenary imho (and lets not forget his little transfer request) He has never said he wants to end his career playing for us.

So it is possible that we will have two new keepers starting next season (although that is unlikely) I am always a little sceptical of players that are in a contract currently and want to re-negotiate, why can't clubs do the same, like for instance with marcy, 17 games in what 140+ the useless twat should be on 10 pound a week.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Answers

Appalling possibilities

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

It looks like we are going to have to pay top wedge to keep hold of Shamus. He is the best keeper in the PL this season, so will demand a higher wage, better contract, etc.. IMO we should pay him what he wants. IF we are going to be taken seriously as a big club, then we need to keep hold of our best players, and only sign players who are better than what we currently have.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

He is nowhere near as good as he thinks he is and as some of you think he is.

He has had a good season, his reflexes have saved some of his bad positional sense. He has no command of the 6 yard box and slow to get off his line in some situations. He has won us a lot more points than he lost us this year thats for sure, still does not make him world class though.

Do not pay silly money for him, keep Harper (because he is a cheaper option and only slightly behind Given in the quality stakes and Mrs gus thinks he is alright) there are a few keepers who will be looking for new clubs. The Italian at Ipswich looked very good on the occassions I have seen him. Now do not laugh, Perth Glory keeper Jason Petkovic (also in the OZ squad) is v. v. good too, has better positional sense and commands the box better than Given though not quite a good a shot stopper, will be able to be bought for 1 million or less would be good in the squad as third keeper and has the ability to play in the first team, can handle the pressure, he will be playing in front of 43,000 and 2 (gus and the gusette) on Sunday!

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

If we're to really challenge, we need two top quality keepers (as we do cover for every other position). It's going to be part and parcel of life for our players if we stay in the heady heights of Champions League and upper Premiership football. Ed de Goey at Chelsea, Van de Hoew, Kirkland, Wright, Robinson are all decent goalkeepers on the sidelines for the most part.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Understand what your saying Mick, however when you do you stop having players hold the club to ransom?? We should do everything to keep hold of shay, but I have a feeling if Celtic were to make an offer he'd be off quicker than hookers knickers on two fers night.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Gus stop talking sense man! I won't hear of it on this board ;))

I also don't think Given is that good...yes he pulls off some world class stops but he also lets in some fairly easy goals as well....and quite a few this season :))

Nope he's not world class and we shouldn't bow down to mercenaries...

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

We have an asset, as good as any in his position, and we should hold on to him. We have problem areas and goalkeeper is not one of them.

There are better goaleis out there but we don't need the churn. If we change players when we don't need to then we end up being like Chelsea and never having a settled side, never knitting together, and different to the Arsenal side that has gelled this year.

If Shay is brill at the world cup then, and has been one of our best two players this year then reward him.

We don't need Bobby distracted into looking for a goalie as well as a left back, centre half, Shearer cover.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

I get the impression (with no hard evidence to support it) that The Toon are keen negotiators, unlikely to capitulate to outrageous demands whilst still not lagging in the salary stakes. Getting the balance right here is really tough because wages have become ridiculous but if you want the best you have to pay for it.

I think Shay will get a good offer but if he wants to go to Celtic and stand at one end of the pitch and watch the game happening in the other half, that's his choice. Money won't make that much difference between Celtic and Newcastle I suspect.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Jeez a compliment from Gav!!

I might have to stop posting for a week to recover.

Exactly my point Jonno, as long as he does not ask for silly money keep him, however Harper is almost as good and will develop to be a better all round keeper than Given. Harper has more natural ability and his faults can be corrected, in 3 - 4 years when his reflexes slow there will be howls akin to Lionel proportions being applied to Given. The problems in his game will never be corrected. We can then get 2 other keepers who will fit in the squad as I pointed out.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Talking of ridiculous wage packets I wouldn't mind being a pind behind Bekham if what they're saying is true.

I would say to try and keep hold of him but if he want's silly money then sell him on for as much as possible.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Agree MacB. Also Harper really should start vs Soton, he deserves that.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Shay came of age this season. He was always pretty good, but now he is the finished article - Better than Barthez and at least on a par with Dudek. A keeper of his standing would set us back 7 or 8 Million. Give him what he wants, any other action would be a false economy.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

The draw from Celtic will always be very strong, although his wife may be less inclined to swap the Metro Centre for Sauchiehall Street and a bunch of smellie weegies

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Given is a better keeper than Harper, and should play in all our important games. By this criteria it would be reasonable for him to play at S'ton, and this would also avoid the risk of injury to Given ahead of the WC.

This is not a happy situation for Steve Harper, who is also a fine keeper. He has been an understudy for a long time, and his form has suffered through inactivity. IMO for the sake of his career he should leave now for a club that can provide him with 1st team football.

As I understand it, Given has not asked for a contract review. I believe he has only two more seasons on his existing agreement and the Club are keen to extend it to avoid him becoming a free agent. He is not happy with the improved terms offered that he doesn't believe they reflect his accepted status now as one of the top keepers in the PL.

From their perspective, NUFC are naturally trying to keep a lid on the wage bill. So, this is a straight negotiation - if we are able to satisfy Shay's expectations he will stay: otherwise he will decline to sign an extension, and we will need to make a decision whether to keep him and risk losing him for nowt, or sell him now. No one is at fault here, and we should not seek to allocate blame.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

I don't think anyone is blaming anyone clarky. Given is a top keeper and should be rewarded as such, however if he's gettin too big for his briches then he needs to be talked too. Harper should play on saturday, he needs affirmation that he still has a role to play. Of course what will end up happening is that he'll end up going somewhere, given will get injured and all of sudden we have god-knows between the sticks. FS wants given to extend his deal, given won't talk until after the world cup, when he'll come back no doubt wanting bags of money. If any unrest appears, then other clubs will be sniffing around and all of sudden we'll be out the best keeper in the premiership.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Whatever the situation would have been if we hadn't qualified for Europe, all of these so called dis-satisfied players now have to face the fact that the number of clubs on a par with us is smaller, and I mean level of opportunity wise rather than standard of play wise, because we have qualified.

I think this means that the club should be in a stronger position to call the bluff of any of the agents currently making waves, and I'm inclined to believe this to be the case, rather than players themselves stirring things.

It also probably makes sense to wait until the World Cup is out of the way, so I don't think there's any need to start worrying yet about who will and who won't be here to play in Europe. I really do think that qualifying for Europe is the telling factor in this. If we hadn't qualified, we probably would have one or two searching out greener pastures, but at the moment, I reckon it's pie in the sky.

But, so what if some of them think they'll be better off elsewhere ? The Europe thing cuts both ways, so even just on that basis, we should have a better chance of attracting the players we need.

Another believe-it-when-you-see-it scenario as far as I'm concerned.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

I saw Given once saying he'd like to finish his career at Celtic plus I think is wife is Scottish isn't she?

I would hate to see him leave yet though - we're in the CL FFS! I expect him to sign a new deal.

Talking of deals - are we any nearer knowing where we're up to with Bernard, Distin and most importantly Dyer. Dyer is off to W. Cup shortly and I thought the deal was due to be done before he went.

As for Stevie Harper - give him a game Bobby, he deserves it.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Just seen your other post re Distin, Lynda. If it's true, makes my last post on here worthy of the Last Post. :-{E}

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

You sure it's not the last Pole Poll? ;-)

It would be nice to see Harper get a game on Saturday. It's only fair to the guy.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Oh please don`t talk about us having to find a new keeper (or two)! It really rocks the boat. I want us to find a way to keep them both. (:o|

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002