Given's Contract Drags On & On & On &...........

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The following statement is on "co.uk" this morning after Shay expressed frustration at the lack of progress on his contract extension over the weekend.

I find it utterly bizarre that the Club feel the need to communicate with one of their star players via their web-site, and indicates to me there may be a significant rift between the two parties over this matter.

I realise the Club will say that this is simply a attempt to put the record straight with the fans. However, there is clearly a communications chasm here as Given is quite obviously saying the contract that he has been offered is not good enough, and to publicly embarrass the player like this seems unlikely to get him to put his signature on a document he is so obviously dissatisfied with. Quite bazarre move.

The statement is as follows:

Expressions of frustration attributed to Shay Given on Saturday left Newcastle United officials bemused over the weekend, since it is the club, and not Shay Given waiting for a response on the goalkeeper's new contract.

A suggestion in the press that he is irritated by the delay has angered the club who have been relentless in their pursuit of the keeper's signature on a new five year contract for several months, without a single clue from Given as to his intentions for the future.

United's Chief Operating Officer Russell Cushing said "There is obviously a breakdown in communications between Shay and his agent. The agent was in negotiations with the club in the early part of the year and again as recently as a month ago. We have made the player an excellent offer. It was disappointing to read comments from Shay suggesting the opposite. An outburst of this nature appears to be completely out of character. As far as we are concerned he can come and sign today - he really needs to make his position clear to the club so the manager can plan for the very important season ahead."

It seems to me the communications breakdown is not between Shay Given and his Agent, but between the Club and one of their star employees!

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002

Answers

".com" are suggesting that another Club may be orchestrating this situation with Given in an attempt to prise him away from SJP - with Celtic and none other than ManU being the 'usual suspects'. No doubt Liverpoop would also be in there if they hadn't signed Jerzy Dudek.

Whatever the background, orchestrating a public stand-off with Given hardly seems destined to be the best way of resolving the problem. It seems to me there could be a major problem looming here.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


I don't think the club can ever get it right for you Clarky. The club makes it's position crystal clear in the piece you show us and the player is not humiliated at all by my reading of it. If the club remained silent on the issue, doubtless you would be saying, as so often before, that the club is not communicating with us. Shay's behaviour has not always been 100% pro the Toon - it's just possible he, or his agent is the culprit here?

I get the impression that if the club were to issue a statement that they would always retain Black and White as the team colours you would somehow find something to say against it! :-)



-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002

Possibly Shay (or more likely his agent) is holding out to see what the World Cup does to his value?

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002

How can they say Shay is a poor communicator? He's always telling the defenders exactly where to stand and calls for crosses in a loud, clear voice. That's why we never concede goals at set-pieces. Any suggestion that the edge of the 18 yard box is a great place to stand if you want to be chipped when we are fighting back at 2-1 down ignores the fact that his incredible height allows him to get away this tactic.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002

Oooooh! The irony Softie - go easy bonnie lad. I mean, if it gets as far as hyperbole or litotes there's no telling where this might end. :-)

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


Jonno - I would be delighted if the Club got it's PR right - just once would be a revelation.

For the record, what Given said on Saturday was that he was frustrated by the Club's failure to "sort out" his contract situation - he did not say the Club had not made him an offer. He was quoted as saying "There has been no advance on my contract situation which is frustrating. In my book it has all been left a little late in the day. Hopefully it will be sorted out as soon as I get back from WC. At this stage of my career I need the right deal and I think I deserve a good contract after the way I have performed this season. I feel as though I've proved myself at this club and feel I should be rewarded with a good contract".

Those who feel Given is a cr@p keeper will be happy if he leaves, and there is no need for me to defend the guy on here.

For anyone with half a brain it is perfectly clear that Given is not happy with the offer he has been made by the Club. His statement says that in a roundabout way. If the Club feel the gap between the parties is not resolvable then the resulting action is quite apparent, and that is entirely their decision to make. If not they should be actively seeking a resolution, that can only come via a good faith, negotiated settlement.

So, in this situation what is the Club's possible motive in suggesting via a public statement that there is a lack of communication between Given and his Agent? If the objective here was purely to communicate to its fans the current situation with Given, why then seek to embarrass him (note, my word is "embarrass" NOT "humiliate" as you have suggested) by such an assertion? Do they really think this tactic will embarrass him into signing the Contract that is on the table?

You cannot negotiate via the media, and imho, this is yet another cack-handed, misguided move by NUFC that will not contribute to bringing the player to the negotiating table in a positive frame of mind. It is more likely to increase the gap between the parties and increase the chances of Given leaving the Club.

The other possible motive is that the Club have already given up hope of securing his agreement, and that this statement is a mealy-mouthed opening shot in ensuring Given is seen as the bad guy if/when he does sign for someone else.

If Given's demands are considered excessive and the gap turns out to be not negotiable then he should simply be transfer-listed - the fans are not fools and will understand what has occurred. Imo this statement materially reduces the chances of reaching a negotiated settlement with the player, and therefore is regrettable.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


I think the Club has the right to be firm with contract talks in the current climate. I don't see why the Club management are to blame on this one. The contract is there waiting to be signed. If Given (or more particularly Given's agent) has an issue with it, it is him that should be communicating it to management, not expressing his frustration to all and sundry. Since none of us know the figures that are being talked about, we can't comment whether we think the offer is fair, but I can sympathise with management sticking with their offer and not bowing to pressure. If we let Given get away with this approach, within a few weeks there'll be a queue at Bobby Robson's door.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002

On current form (last game) he's crap! gave away a stupid penalty ...etc... sod him.

If he doesn't want to play for us then he can sod off. He's had a terrific season but I'll wager he doesn't produce the same form next

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


I wrote a long piece on him on an earlier thread and I do not take back any of it, I did not say he was a crap keeper, just not as good as he thinks he is and some on here.

His mistakes on Sat were 2 of the areas I said he could improve on.

Some of you/your lot may have seen more replays of it, but I do not think it was a penalty. He came in feet first and missed everything, the forward (Beattie?) was on his way down before Given came in contact with him and left his legs in to increase the effect.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


yeah but that is still a penalty (cf Toino vs Barcelona). Given should not have dived in.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


ok .... spelling gone haywire! TINO!!!

Saints player was Brett Ormerod or something

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


Peter - these situations can only be resolved through negotiation, not by slapping an offer on the table and saying "sign it". This macho approach only works when one party is in a very weak negotiating position.

In this current situation both sides appear to be striking postures, and the only point I was trying to make - unsucccessfully, as usual - was that NUFC's public statement is simply not helpful in either resolving the stand-off OR in healing what is clearly a growing rift between them and the player, and imo is likely to reduce the chances of this situation being amicably resolved.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


"- these situations can only be resolved through negotiation, not by slapping an offer on the table and saying "sign it". "

Agreed Clarky, but I was under the impression (perhaps wrongly) that there had been extensive negotiation before NUFC's final offer, which has remained open. If NUFC had put their offer on the table, and refused to even discuss or negotiate from the outset, I would have little sympathy, but there comes a time when you say enough is enough and in order to keep the interests of the Club at heart, you have to say what the final offer is and stick with it. This is of course hypothetical, as I don't know how negotiations went at all.

" the only point I was trying to make - unsucccessfully, as usual - was that NUFC's public statement was simply not helpful in either resolving the stand-off or healing what is clearly a growing rift between them and the player, and imo is likely to reduce the chances of this situation being amicably resolved. "

Publicity does appear to be being used as part of the negotation, but it was Given's remarks that were deliberately publicised first, presumably with the intention of trying to add fan pressure to sway the deal. It's very difficult to comment without knowing exactly what has gone on, but I'm not sure Club management is always the bad guy. Things have obviously come to a head now. NUFC have made it clear they will not budge ( and I suspect they did so some time ago). They have also indicated that their patience is wearing out and they can't afford to keep the offer open for much longer. The ball is in Given's court, 100%. If Given's agent comes out with more press comments to try and change the deal, personally I would withdraw the offer and transfer list him.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


Well we can speculate all we want but none of us know the full story and it's soooooooooo frustrating.

All I know is we need Given, Dyer, Bernard and Distin, signed, sealed and delivered as soon as possible. Unfortunately it never seems to work like that. Man U had been negoiating with Beckham for ages.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


The club need to let Given know that he isn't indispensible. Whatever people say, Harper is a more than capable goalkeeper and I'm sure Given knows that.

If Given was to reject a contract to stay with a team on the up in the Champions League and destined for great things then he'd be a nutcase. Harper was superb a couple of seasons ago when Given was injured, and I'm sure in his swing he is more than a match for Given. There was even talk of him getting into the England squad a while ago. Harper is perhaps not as agile, but he certainly catches and commands his box better than Given ever will.

At least it appears we are trying to get the contract sorted now - if we can't agree then we have one of the country's most valuable goalkeepers for sale - surely somewhere close to £10m worth on today's market considering the price of Barthez two years ago. (And wasn't Buffon sold for £30m or something stupid like that?)

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002



Agree with you, Paul. And further, if Given is willing to give up on what we offer(providing the club really have offered him a decent contract), then it probably is better for us to wait for the WC, hope he plays out of his skin for Ireland and raises his value an extra 5- 10mil then sell him off to a moneybags Italian or Spanish club. I couldn't bear to see him go to another PL club, though.

At the same time, I hope to heaven the club are reassuring Harper that he is #1 if Given is offski. Still, it's a huge gamble no matter what, and at this point I've no idea who to believe in the he said/they said coming from either side. Ideally, they'll just sort it before the WC

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002


Whatever the posturing is about, I don't think anything will be resolved with any of them until after the World Cup.

And I'm with those of us who think that any of them who don't want to play for us can p1ss off.

I'm sure if manure hadn't the history they have, you wouldn't see the likes of Solskjaer hanging around as just a squad member. It's got to be the pinnacle of a player's career to play in the Euro tournaments, and in my opinion, that's the carrot that will get them to the table to sign, in the end.

At the same time, nobody's indispensible.

-- Anonymous, May 14, 2002


You make some excellent points Peter. However, the more advanced the negotiations the more sensitive the situation. In this situation I would maintain the Toon statement was even more unhelpful in progressing the situation, and imo a flawed strategy if the Club really wants to find a settlement with Given.

Those who are condemning Given don't know what he is presently earning, and my suspicion is that it is nothing like what a top PL keeper deserves. Having said that I accept that I also don't know what the current 'gap' is - but I do know that negotiation, negotiation, negotiation is the only way to find an acceptable compromise.

-- Anonymous, May 14, 2002


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