Given requests transfer - January 8, 2001
Shay Given has lost patience with Newcastle United's system of picking goalkeepers and as a result he has handed in a written transfer request to the club.
Newcastle have never told any of their goalkeepers that he is No.1 at the club. Instead, whoever has the shirt keeps the shirt until he is injured - and then faces a lengthy wait on the bench until his replacement gets injured!
Shay Given and Steve Harper are good friends but neither likes the system that Newcastle have utilised since Ruud Gullit's time as manager. It was thought that Bobby Robson would change this, but as yet he hasn't.
Shay was angered last Tuesday night when he was left out of the Newcastle side against Tottenham even though he had regained full fitness. And when it happened again on Sunday against Aston Villa in the FA Cup it was the last straw.
Newcastle have yet to make a response to Shay's request but there will be an awful lot of clubs keeping tabs in case they accede to it.
Given is the second Irish senior international goalkeeper to ask for a transfer in the last week after Alan Kelly was granted one by Blackburn Rovers.
Ireland's third-choice goalkeeper, Dean Kiely, is also in the news, with rumours linking him with a move to Arsenal.