Tuesday 19 July 2011

Villa Sign Given

BBC Sport - Aston Villa sign Shay Given from Manchester City
Aston Villa have completed the signing of Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given from Manchester City.

The 35-year-old has signed a five-year contract at Villa Park after the clubs agreed an undisclosed fee.

New Villa boss Alex McLeish targeted the former Newcastle man after Brad Friedel moved to Tottenham.

A great move for Aston Villa, Shay Given & YFF fans as we're set to have another solid cheap goalkeeping option for the coming season after De Gea's move to Man Utd.

We all know Given is an outstanding shot stopper and was one of the league's best keepers before Hart's emergence on loan at Birmingham left him warming the bench last year, so I imagine Villa fans will be extremely pleased with this news. The club have negated the loss of Brad Friedel by signing a replacement of equal (possibly greater?) ability and Given is 5 years younger than the American veteran.

I know who I'd rather see in net for my team - and I know Tottenham had shown an interest in Given when he lost his number 1 spot - so this got me thinking about a different subject.

Manchester City had persistently refused to sell to Spurs, a direct rival, in recent windows (Craig Bellamy also springs to mind), but rumours are growing that Emmanuel Adebayor could now be on his way to White Hart Lane in a loan deal, with serious discussions taking place between the two clubs.

If it happens then this would suggest City don't see us as much of a threat any more - and who can blame them? With the lack of signings, Modric wanting to leave and Liverpool's huge spending it's fairly depressing to be a Spurs fan at the moment. Unless something changes drastically in the next few weeks I think the best we can realistically hope for is 6th place.

Cheers,
AM

p.s. Sorry for the lack of activity recently... just got back from a fantastic week in Turunc, Turkey. Beautiful town, highly recommended, but the reality of being back at work in rainy England has hit me hard today (and may have led to a slightly negative first post!!)

17 comments:

dunialoka said...

hi there nik,i follow ur blog last season and looking fwd to a happy season to this yr in YFF..cheers bro

Chaos said...

Welcome back Nik, your blogs have been missed.

Got to agree with your preview of the forthcoming season for Spurs, also think 6th is the best position available.

For me Spurs need a top top striker who can do it all, kind of like Drogba or Torres at their very best, Adebayor is not that player I feel.

Having said that all though, you will probably keep Modric, finish top 4, and Adebayor will score 25 league goals....

Chaos said...

p.s Shrewsbury beat Champions League finalists Man Utd 2-1 on Sunday....granted it was a team made up of U18's and Reserve players, but Darren Gibson played the full 90 minutes, and as the old saying goes, you can only beat what is put in front of you.

Guy said...

Good post Nik - glad to see you're back.
Re Adebayor, perhaps City do see Spurs as a threat, but they think Adebayor might screw them up?

greginho said...

kinda of like arsenal letting city have adebayor.

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

this Irishman is a one hell-of-a keeper

Kavedas said...

Welcome Back AM
Do you have an idea when YFF will open again ?

Ian Sanderson said...

Speaking of holidays, I've just realised mine are the first 2 weeks of the season...d'oh!!!
:(

Chaos said...

Hey Kavedas,

In 2007 the game started 25th July.

2009 was July 20th and 2010 was July 28th.

So hopefully anytime soon.

Ken M. said...

Start up...

Will there be a "post" stating that registration for leagues has started or will start on such & such a date?

I am attempting to keep up on my homework and hopefully this information will be "everywhere".

My concern comes from several post I have read so far asking this same question, leading me to believe that maybe....I could miss an opportunity with certain leagues.

I see by the Chaos post that so far nothing is set. (thanks Chaos)

Hopefully everyone will be so excited, that one could not help knowing when opening of team registration begins. Just don't want to be caught napping.

Good luck all.

Assistant Manager said...

Hi guys - I've checked with Yahoo and I'm waiting for a reply regarding game start date, but as Chaos said it's always late Julu. I'm expecting early next week but I'll post as soon as know any more.

Bid said...

Glad you're back Nik, I missed you.

I'm assuming Man City refused to sell Given to Arsenal or Spurs, otherwise they're fools for not buying him!

Backcountry Dave said...

Sign up is live for the Yahoo! game.

Backcountry Dave

Bitsketchy said...

Hi everyone - Sign up is in place now - just set myself up - When's the AM leagues starting?

Bitsketchy said...

There's a cool "Top Players" section (not sure how usable though)- Scoring looks the same....

pjr001 said...

ITS BACK!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!

I like the Top Players feature, only thing lacking in my opinion is a price/points ratio

So happy!

-Read

joshtottenham said...

Can you reallllly see Ade signing for spurs or the spurs fans cheering for Ade?

I guess it worked for Gallas, but for a lazy mercenary striker. I predict tears. probably mine because he is not good enough.

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