Uncommonly loyal Shay’s outburst is a given

Saviour of club and country for well over a decade, Shay Given has long earned his place in the hearts and minds of Geordies and Irishmen alike. The 32-year-old from County Donegal was unveiled as a Manchester City player on Thursday morning, after completing his move from Newcastle United for an undisclosed fee, understood to be around £8m, on Monday.

Throughout the continuing turbulence which has plagued the North East giants since Sir Bobby Robson’s unfortunate departure, Given has been “a small, reassuring constant in an ocean of change”. So says a Shay fansite, where one Newcastle supporter laments that his departure “will sting as only the bitter break-up with a loved one can”. Now that’s some serious feeling.

It’s safe to say, though, that unpopular owner Mike Ashley failed to appreciate the depth of the attachment between the fans and their hero. Given explained:

“The first contact I had with Mike Ashley was on January 26. There were a few things they could have done to try and keep me but they didn't do so. In the end they were happy to take the money and move on.”

The goalkeeper continued: “It felt like a long and drawn-out transfer. I felt they could have dealt with it a little bit better. Considering the service I gave the club, the regime could have looked after the whole thing a bit better. They made me do things I didn't want to do.”

Given, having already sealed his lucrative move up the Premier League pyramid, stood to gain little by indulging in a barely credible Charles N’Zogbia-style self-pitying rant. Instead this was a calculated assessment of the state of play at Newcastle, borne out of frustration at having to leave in order to fulfil his ambitions.

Despite the alarming slump from top four contenders to relegation-threatened also-rans in recent years, the Ireland no.1 has long remained tight-lipped about the wandering direction of the club he did so much to serve. Only now that he is free of the unedifying circus which poses as the Newcastle United hierarchy has Given chosen to speak out. A decade-plus of total commitment and outstanding performances (papering over the gaping cracks left by Bramble, Boumsong, Cacapa, et al) have earned him that right.

The Christmastime thumping at the hands of free-flowing (yes, really) Liverpool facilitated his departure. That humiliating 1-5 reverse was the nadir of a long, illustrious career which encompassed spells at Celtic and Blackburn prior to his arrival at St James’ Park. With the club offering only token resistance to City’s advances, Given’s switch to Eastlands was a fait accompli.

Kinnear’s version of events, not surprisingly, doesn’t quite tally with that of his fellow countryman’s though. According to the ex-Wimbledon gaffer, he maintained a “great relationship” with the ‘keeper he claims is “one of the best in the world.”

“I would be the last person in the world who would want to sell him,” he said, “But these things happen.”

With his frequent rants against the media and perceived unfair treatment at the hands of referees, it is clear that under-pressure Kinnear hopes to foster a siege mentality at St James’. However, to successfully pull off such an approach, as frequently mastered by the likes of Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager must keep the playing staff firmly onside.

Given’s mid-season exit (with the words: “over the last six months it has been fizzling out and it’s not been enjoyable going into training”) allied to N’Zogbia’s altogether more predictably messy departure, suggests that the Geordie ship is sinking – with a helpless Captain Kinnear flailing helplessly about at the helm. His man-management skills must be called into question if, as expected, there is a mass exodus – led by perma-crocked Michael Owen – from Tyneside in the summer.

The interim manager revealed several weeks ago that he had been offered a new two-year deal to remain as manager, which will apparently be formalised come the summer. The offer was seen as means of Ashley instilling a little stability. But is it really such a wise decision? And speaking of ‘Wise’ decisions: has Newcastle’s executive director of football really made a competent fist of the post he was so bafflingly appointed to?

Wise’s abject failure to recruit adequately during the January window could prove costly. The prospective arrivals of Toulouse full-back Albin Ebondo, City’s Michael Johnson and Kieran Richardson of Sunderland failed to materialise. A flimsy, ill-balanced squad, littered with dead wood, has been supplemented by Kevin Nolan, Ryan Taylor and Peter Lovenkrands, but stands in real danger of a calamitous drop through the top-flight trapdoor.

Only saintly-patient Steve Harper’s obvious ability to step into the void left by Given is a small mercy. The imminent returns, from injury, of Alan Smith, Oba Martins and, to a lesser extent, Mark Viduka might yet engender an upturn in mood and fortune. A win from Saturday afternoon’s clash at The Hawthorns with fellow strugglers West Brom is now desperately important if the Magpies are to survive their second successive relegation battle.

“I've got no bitter feelings towards the fans, they are extremely loyal,” said Given as he wrapped up his move to Manchester. An accurate assessment of the Geordie faithful’s dedication, but it’s difficult to see how that loyalty will ever be re-paid as long as the much-maligned ‘Cockney Mafia’ remains in situ at St James’ Park. You can’t help but feel that Seamus is better off out of it.

Ashley mounts his defence, as Toon slide deeper into crisis

When Mike Ashley took over as Newcastle owner in May 2007 many press reports described the Sports Direct chief as a “reclusive” self-made millionaire, and several questioned why such an apparently private individual would want to undergo the unique scrutiny faced by the modern Premier League proprietor.

Then, before our eyes, Ashley morphed into something of an embarrassing dad figure at St James’ Park – sporting an XXXL Toon shirt and grasping a ubiquitous pint glass – trying desperately to prove he’s still ‘one of the boys’, not merely a dull, money-making ‘suit’. He also became a tabloid regular; with lurid tales of his lavish expenditure in strip joints and nightclubs worldwide Ashley gained notoriety as a wannabe playboy.

This unedifying process naturally drew attention towards the previously media-shy retail magnate, and similarly drew the ire of traditionalist football fans – those who would prefer that the game’s moneymen show a little decorum and act as a positive ambassador for their club (see Boro’s saintly Steve Gibson).

But his appointment, last season, of Geordie messiah Kevin Keegan provided a feel-good factor; a shot in the arm for the long-suffering fans who endured years of turgid football under the guidance of Messrs Souness, Roeder and Allardyce. When KK’s footballing mantra of positivity finally kicked in, and the returning hero steered the team to safety, St James’ was awash with talk of a renaissance to match that of the thrilling mid-90s joy-ride Keegan had himself led.

The cracks started to appear, as many predicted they would, this summer, when Keegan’s dreamy aspirations could not be matched by Ashley’s funds or – crucially – the efforts of the desperately unpopular ‘player recruitment’ team of Dennis Wise and Derek Llambias. Keegan spoke of fetching the lad Henry back from Camp Nou; of handing Becks one final shot at the Premier League; of making Newcastle United great again (though you could quite creditably question when exactly they were ‘great’ before) by bringing in the big-name stars who might illuminate Tyneside with their winning artistry and flair.

Instead he got Xisco. And Nacho Gonzalez. And, er, Danny Guthrie.

So when James Milner was then sold to Villa from under his feet (for a hefty fee, it must be said), Keegan bit the bullet and quit on a point of principle – a stance which he has notoriously taken on several prior occasions. Naturally, the Geordie faithful have come out in vociferous support of their hero and publicly damned Ashley’s ‘London mafia’ of Llambias and the loathed ‘Ratface’ Wise, through long and loud protest.

On Sunday evening, Ashley acceded to their wishes and put the club up for sale, via an extraordinary 1,644-word press release, which will, nevertheless, most likely prove a case of ‘too little, too late’ in the eyes of thousands of rabidly angry fans.

In the statement, the UK’s 54^th richest man cited fears for his safety and that of his children as the primary reason for selling up; having received numerous threats of violence since Keegan’s untimely departure.

He also mounts a strong defence of his tenure at the St James’ helm, saying: “Like any business with assets the club has debts. I paid £134 million out of my own pocket for the club and then poured in another £110 million – not to pay off the debt but just to reduce it. The club is still in debt.”

And the 45-year-old highlighted the naive profligacy of the previous Hall/Shepherd regime, painting a vivid picture of his gallant ‘rescue’ of a club in crisis: “The club still owes millions of pounds in transfer fees. I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived.”

“Commercial deals such as sponsorships and advertising had been front loaded. The money had been paid upfront and spent. I was left with a club that owed millions and part of whose future had been mortgaged. Unless I had come into the club then it might not have survived. It could have shared the fate of other clubs who have borrowed too heavily against their future.”

“Before I had spent a penny on wages or buying players Newcastle United had cost me more than a quarter of a billion pounds.”

Even accounting for a large dollop of positive spin – as employed by his lawyers or whomever else was involved in ghosting the statement – it is difficult to argue that Ashley is part of this insidious new breed of greedy Premier League owners that have both eyes fixed on the potential profit margins offered by colossal TV deals and global merchandising.

So, having apparently justified his presence as owner of Newcastle, the statement then turned to Ashley’s role in the recent machinations at the club:

“I was always prepared to bank roll Newcastle up to the tune of £20 million per year but no more. That was my bargain. I would make the club solvent. I would make it a going concern.”

“My plan and my strategy for Newcastle is different. It has to be. Arsenal is the shining example in England of a sustainable business model. It takes time. It can't be done overnight. Newcastle has therefore set up an extensive scouting system...and money is being poured into the Academy. This is a long-term plan for the future of the club so that it can flourish.”

This stubborn – but prudent – refusal to spend big on the established stars somewhat unreasonably coveted by Keegan marked a key difference in ideology with his manager that has obviously proved irreparable.

A model of continuity and sustainability is an admirable one. But in the hectic, logic-defying world of English top-flight football – where last years’ paupers can be this years’ kings at the pen stroke of a moneyed foreign investor – it is rarely attainable. Where Ashley has primarily faltered – aside from his disastrous public image and appointment of Wise – is in attempting to administer a dose of realism to a club renowned for its wildly unreal aspirations.

With King Kev gone and Ashley heading the same way, acrimony reigns on Tyneside. Once again, the self-styled Geordie nation waits in hope of a new saviour.