Shay Given: The ‘Perfect’ Choice to Replace Gomes at Tottenham
Plenty has been written about Tottenham’s Brazilian stopper Heurelho Gomes this season and after another horror show at Craven Cottage he will soon find himself on his way out in January. Spurs brought in Gomes to replace Paul Robinson after he made numerous mistakes last season but seemingly nothing has changed. I know that Harry Redknapp has been strongly linked with Newcastle’s Shay Given and for me, he would be perfect for Tottenham.
Having played with Shay I may be a little biased but in my opinion he’s the most underrated goalkeeper in the Premier League. He truly is Mr. Consistency and he can count himself extremely unlucky not to have any of the big four clubs after him. The problem for Shay is that most managers seem to want to bring in goalkeepers with a huge stature. They continue to bring in the 6 ft 4 and 6 ft 5 goalies but in some cases they’ve forgotten that the position is not only about size, it’s about making saves and making as few errors as possible which is where Shay has consistently proved himself.
The problem for Harry and Spurs is tempting both Newcastle to sell and Shay to leave. After all, Newcastle and Tottenham are very similar clubs, both have spent far too long languishing in the Premier League but the major difference is that Spurs are far more likely to spend than the Magpies in the next few seasons and they are not in debt or facing the behind the scenes turmoil currently at St James’. I am sure working under Redknapp would appeal to Shay too. He may feel he’s spent too long in the North-East with little to show for his service in terms of silverware and I do feel Harry will pull off one or two dramatic signings in January.
Shay will be disappointed it isn’t one of the top four that has come calling but it’s still nice for a player to be linked to other big clubs. Despite the fact that he is currently 32, I don’t see that being a problem for Harry as in goalkeeper terms, he’s relatively young. After all, Harry signed David James at Portsmouth at 36. Shay still has at least 4 or 5 years at the top level so it’s not a risk at all as he is extremely fit, hasn’t suffered that many injuries in his career and has an excellent attitude. This is the kind of signing Redknapp needs to make if he is going to make Spurs successful very quickly.
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Tags: Heurelho GOmes, Newcastle, Shay Given, Tony Cascarino, Tottenham
