Zatman Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 And people say the purse strings were tightened on McLeish. The signings of Given, N'Zogbia and Hutton prove the opposite. sale of Downing and Young sort of showed they were Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I didn't realise he was on a 5 year contract. That's freaking ridiculous, he was 35 (?) when we signed him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Decent signing, decent keeper, decent performances for the most part. The deal brokered was a poor one for the club mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I remember being flabbergasted at the 5 year contract to start with but that was tempered by the knowledge that he was taking a pay cut and as he was the best keeper available at the time, I was generally ok with the deal. The fact that his keeping saved us a fair few points that season shouldn't be forgotten, and one way or another Guzan improved out of sight in the time Given has been at the club. Whether that was just coincidence or not I'm not sure. There have been worse signings than Given, which says it all really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heid3ster Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Can't see the point in releasing him to save £4m over three years, when we'd have to spend at least that £4m on a transfer fee and wages to his replacement. If we can't get rid of him on the cheap, keep him as a useful backup keeper. If he's still pissed off next season after not playing, he might agree to leave for free. But that is exactly the point. The point is we'd HAVE that 4m to spend on transfer fees, plus save enough to pay wages to probably three players, and have a young up-and-coming 20-year-old on the bench who will either grow into Guzan's shoes later on or increase in sell-on value. Ideally there's something of value at the end of it (either a regular first-team keeper on nominal wages, or an increased sell-on fee), as opposed to an expensive bench-warmer who's likely just going to retire when he's finished here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Never understood why we didn't just give Friedel another two years instead of a £19m move for given (fee + wages) It's incredible what's been allowed to happen down B6 these last 4 or 5 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMFy Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Never understood why we didn't just give Friedel another two years instead of a £19m move for given (fee + wages) It's incredible what's been allowed to happen down B6 these last 4 or 5 years Hadn't Friedel stated he was leaving before the end of the season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Never understood why we didn't just give Friedel another two years instead of a £19m move for given (fee + wages) It's incredible what's been allowed to happen down B6 these last 4 or 5 years Hadn't Friedel stated he was leaving before the end of the season? Yes but only because we wouldn't give him the 2 years he needed Silly really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 not really Freidel has been poor last 6 or 7 months when called upon by Spurs and probably wouldnt have helped our creaking defence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Friedel would have been back up to Guzan in the same way given is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Freidel rarely gets injured so I believe Guzan would never have got near the 1st team last season and would have been released at end of season and we wouldnt have signed him back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstonMartin82 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I remember being flabbergasted at the 5 year contract to start with but that was tempered by the knowledge that he was taking a pay cut and as he was the best keeper available at the time, I was generally ok with the deal. The fact that his keeping saved us a fair few points that season shouldn't be forgotten, and one way or another Guzan improved out of sight in the time Given has been at the club. Whether that was just coincidence or not I'm not sure. There have been worse signings than Given, which says it all really. This is pretty much my take on it as well. Guzan being the keeper he is today is going to be down somewhat to Given being around. Makes swallowing the truth a little bit easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_Villain Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 If it wasn't for Lambert seeing something in Guzan, we would have lost him forever because of Alex McClitface... SO glad to have Guzan in between the sticks... Just need to offload Given now and maybe pick up another young, up and coming keeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Don't we still have Marshall and Siegreist on the books. Would we need to sign another keeper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Has he gone yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 He still has 3 years on his contract. If a team comes in for him it will be pretty big news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis_B Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I hear he has split from his missus and therefore might need the money like Randy did for an expensive divorce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I hear he has split from his missus and therefore might need the money like Randy did for an expensive divorce Correct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarvidsson Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Shay Given: Aston Villa keeper points to summer move Aston Villa keeper Shay Given looks set to leave the Midlands club to go in search of first-team football after being kept sidelined for most of the season by the form of Brad Guzan. After starting the campaign as number one, the 37-year-old former Republic of Ireland keeper lost his place to Guzan. "I had a meeting with manager Paul Lambert," Given told The Herald. "We both agreed that I should be playing first-team football. And that's not happening at Villa right now." Given signed a five-year deal when he was brought in by Alex McLeish from Manchester City in July 2011. But, once he had been dropped following back-to-back defeats in the opening two Premier League games of the campaign, he was restricted to cup appearances only. He is now expected to leave, along with his two old Republic of Ireland team-mates, defender Richard Dunne, 33, who has not played since Ireland's Euro 2012 clash with Italy last June, and midfielder Stephen Ireland, 26. Source: BBC Found this on the BBC, don't know if it has been posted yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 God is Stephen Ireland still only 26? He should be entering his prime, what an absolute loser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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