Warren Barton Claims Shay Given To Arsenal A Done Deal
Yesterday on Fox Soccer Channel’s Super Sunday Plus post match talk show, broadcast in the U.S. Warren Barton was asked about Arsenal’s goalkeeping situation and the possibility of them landing Shay Given and had this to say:
I have been talking to people back home and he is going to Arsenal. They are hammering out the details right now.
It was an oddly definitive comment from the normally reserved Barton. Many people have pointed out that Barton making the comment lends credibility to the story because he is reportedly friends with Shay Given, the two of them having played together at Newcastle between 1997 and 2001.
Manchester City, meanwhile, are rumored to only want to let Given go out on loan and are refusing to sell. They were burnt last season when Joe Hart went on loan to Birmingham, Given went down with injury, and the club were unable to recall the future England star back to the Eastlands.
Arsene Wenger was asked about bringing in a keeper in his post match interview as well and typically neither confirmed nor denied the connection:
Reporter: What’s the situation with a goalkeeper coming in? Is that still a target?
Wenger: (Measuring his words) At the moment it’s better for me not to talk about that because it doesn’t help the keepers who play for us. So, it’s better for us to focus on the goalkeepers we have. I believe that Almunia had a good game today.
Barton has put his reputation on the line with his public announcement and it remains to be seen how much he actually knows of the transfer situation between the two clubs. Arsenal, for their part, are not talking.
Comments
Given is a very good shot stopper but me thinks we need someone who can organize the defense especially on set-pieces so in all honesty id rather have schwarzer.
@K-TR7, I’d be happy with either keeper. I seriously reckon either of those keepers would bring a level of confidence to our defense not seen since mad Jens days.
Come on Arsene, strut your stuff, do the dance and get one of those damn keepers!
Thats a great news if it is true.Everyone seems to blame almunia for our goal but for me although he could have stopped it the mistake was from jack to miss his ball and almunia is not entirely to blame for it
I fully agree. But I wouldn’t mind the blame being squared at Almunia if it reminds Arsene of the need to get a better keeper.
The truth is if we don’t defend better as a team, we leave ourselves susceptible to goals, no matter the keeper.
But Almunia does have issues himself tho. If you count the amount of points Almunia cost us last season you will be highly suprised.
Interesting..
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/fox…/12qd5u9z?from=
In that video (he discusses Given to Arsenal) we see the general idiocy of Warren Barton:
He said City are buying like-for-like, comparing David Silva to Tevez.
Fucking tard.
And apparently Balotelli is the only signing that is different “because he can play as a lone striker” (Ade, Santa Cruz etc).
And apparently we saw how good a player David Silva was in the WC (where he got dropped after the first game and barely came on after).
He also seems to start random strands of thought mid-sentence. I don’t think he has a clue what he’s saying when he says there’s no doubt that he’s going to Arsenal’.
I don’t think he does say the word ‘going’. I think he says ‘mngh!’.
He also says ‘definitely could be’ because he is a mongtard.
US soccer TV coverage is actually marginally worse than its British equivalent (which is saying something – you get this dead-eyed souless freak devoid of on-screen presence along with ESPN’s Tommy Smyth and Steve McManaman).
The experts employed by the TV channels are severely lacking in brain cells.
Basically, I don’t believe this because the source is the epitome of an idiot. And Given isn’t great on crosses which is our big weakness so it wouldn’t really be fixing our problem.
@LiberoFootball, You link isn’t working , mate..
lol!
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/fox-soccer-match-day-season-begins/12qd5u9z?from=
Sorry dude. Hope this works. If not, search “FOX Soccer Match Day: Season Begins” on bing.com. You’ll see the dead-eyed nature of Warren Barton there.
@LiberoFootball, That’s the wrong interview. The quotes I’m talking about come from a 30 minute segment AFTER the match called “Super Sunday Plus” that’s where he was definitive.
There’s no video of the specific quote.
@Tim, Fair enough mate. I still think Warren Barton is an idiot and shouldn’t be taken seriously though. I’d like if he was right though.
Loving the blog btw.
@LiberoFootball, Very Funny!
we need Shay or Mark at the club because what we have at the momment are not good enough.Come on you Gunners!
sell fabiansy now. sign another defender
Besides Mad Jens this guy also thinks Almunia is the one..
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_6315416,00.html?
At this point, I’ll even be happy with a geriatric monkey in goal.(No, i’m not referring to Almunia or Flappianski)
Being Irish, Im naturally biased, but in my opinion, Given is far far superior. Apart from having more years at the top left in the tank, Given has been top class for almost his entire career, while Schwarzer has really only been quality for the last few years.
Im a bit puzzled by some comments on various blogs about Given not controlling his area – Having watched my beloved Ireland in every game possible, I have always been struck by how well Given protects his area. He does come for crosses, but is far more successful than Almunia. He also regularly screams at his defenders when out of position.
I would be pleased if we signed Schwarzer, but delighted and confident if we signed Shay. He is top top quality, and has been for years.
barton certainly has better sources than i, but i still have a very difficult time seeing any circumstance where city will sell – or even loan – given to arsenal. they are trying to supplant us in the top four, they know we in serious need of an experienced, quality goalkeeper. how does potentially strenthening arsenal help them achieve this aim? even if arsenal were to offer ridiculous money, city certainly do not seem to need the money.
despite barton’s definitive statement, i would not be surprised if he is reflecting given’s personal wishes (for a transfer to arsenal). this does not take city’s interests and position into account. i also find it difficult to believe cook and mancini would rush to move him only two days after hart officially became their number one. mancini publicly stated they needed given to say, and i believe they do, based on last season’s goalkeeping crisis.
i think schwarzer is the more likely option for arsenal. and a logical procession would be for given to move to fulham, replacing schwarzer and being re-united with mark hughes. not to say that things will pan out like that, but i think a scenario similar to this is better business for city than moving given to arsenal. we’ll see what happens here.
@oliver, Man city could sell to us if they feel that Given is surplus to requirements like Man u selling us Silvestre (although i do think man u played a joke on us). I feel that man city and arsenal might have a good relationship after the transfers of kolo and adebayor so that could help in the transfer. I do think its a little strange a that someone who is a friend just just come out a say its a done deal on television like that Why would Given tell Barton before anyone else. as always arsenal will break it o thier site before anyone so i will hold off on celebrating for now.
perhaps, but i would say that red nose was pretty confident that silvestre would not help arsenal. similarly, i think we sold adebayor and kolo to city, confident that one would be a dressing-room disruption and the other was well past his best. i see the difference with given in that he addresses a clear need for arsenal: quality, experienced goalkeeper. most of us feel if we brought him onboard, that would strengthen us in an area we are currently weak. city are trying to move into the top four – strenthening a team currently in that group cannot help them in this.
another poster made the point that it shouldn’t matter who city sell given to – if they think they are strong enough, why should it matter. it should matter because regardless of how strong your squad is, you know arsenal have a goalkeeping problem, and helping them with this problem does not serve your interests. what if city’s expensive squad suffers a rash of injuries and they are fighting arsenal for fourth place. shay given saves a penalty for arsenal, allowing them to draw a match they probably would have lost, and that point ends up the difference between fourth and fifth place. that scenario is extreme and highly unlikely – yet from city’s point of view, why even allow the smallest possibility of something like this happening? by selling given to arsenal, they open the door, however slightly, for a scenario like this. chances are that arsenal will get another goalkeeper and improve the position regardless, but from city’s standpoint, why should they be the ones to provide that strength to a rival they are trying to supplant? it just makes no sense at all from them. if they want to move given, there should be plenty of teams interested – probably some teams that will bid higher than arsenal.
@oliver, What if Given demands to stay in the Premier League and Champions League football?
Who else are they going to sell him to?
If they try to leave him on the bench he can sue them to leave and buy himself out of his contract.
perhaps cook and mancini explain to him that he cannot have it both ways. that if he sticks with city they will achieve top four and he will get his cl football. but if he really wants a move, it would have to be to a team that city are not competing directly with for a champions league spot. i see them as the only side in the prem that can financially afford to pay given’s wages to warm the bench. true enough, this will come at a cost to squad cohesion and morale, but they will have to weigh that against the alternative of strengthening a top four rival. as far as cl football goes, given did not interested in leaving city for a team already in the cl until he lost his first-team place.
if the situations were reversed and we were trying to break into the top four and one of the incumbents need a goalkeeper and were sniffing around ours, i would not want us to sell to city. like us, that would strengthen them and potentially prevent us from breaking into the top four.
i realize i am looking at this more from city’s point of view than arsenal’s – and as an arsenal supporter, perhaps i should not do that. rightly or wrongly, this is what i see as the biggest hurdle to given playing for us this season.
it appears i am taking a minority position with regard to this matter – that is fine, at least for the sake of debate. i also recognize at least one major flaw to my argument: namely that i am mirror-imaging (“this is what i would do, therefore city will do the same”). even so, i still think it unlikely that they will sell given to us, specifically for the reasons i argued. i may well be proven wrong and they won’t care where given goes as long as he does not become a headache for them. we will just have to see how this plays out.
But, Oliver, you fail to take into account the fact that City value Hart over Given. That says something. They obviously feel they would be letting a keeper go who is not even of the same quality as Joe Hart, despite Given’s history. You say, “perhaps cook and mancini explain to him that he cannot have it both ways. that if he sticks with city they will achieve top four and he will get his cl football.” But what would CL football mean to a guy who wouldn’t even play. He doesn’t want to be a backup in the PL now why would he want to be a backup in the CL next year. Meanwhile, Given, Adebayor, and Co. have all grown two years older without any CL football. Given can force City’s hand for a move to Arsenal if he really wants it, and if Arsene is willing to do what he has to do to get the deal done. I can’t see Arsene agreeing to a loan deal that would allow him to be recalled.
@oliver, Actually, Man City may well know that they are trying to supplant Liverpool, not us. No one is blind to the fact that our team is going to go from strength to strength, especially if we keep Fabregas. Whereas Pool are a bit stuck with a spine of geriatrics and want aways (apart from up front), and ManU and Chelsea are shedding experience over the next few years and will rely on youngsters becoming world beaters (same as us, but we have a few years head start). Moreover, ManU and Liverpool are obviously in financial difficulty, and Ferguson will retire soon and it will be harder to replace him than Arsene on one main point: Fergie’s aura can create a winning mentality. But Wenger will leave a better stable of young players for the new manager.
Now, Mancity may worry about us taking the title ahead of them, but there is enough arrogance around that club right now for me to believe they don’t see anyone as a threat except Chelsea, who is the only team that can rival their spending.
I really hope wenger won a bet saying Almunia had a good game because if he seriusly thought that then were in trouble.
And that corner Almunia flooped was ridiculous i mean for once there wasn’t pressure on him and he decideds to throw himself to the the ground anyway forgetting to even touch the ball….knob
All that is really needed at Arsenal is some basic coaching skills. “thats a ball”, and “thats the goal”. Flappy, Al, your job is to keep this thing (the ball) out of that thing (the goal).Job done. EIE
I for one would be pleased as punch – or perhaps massively relieved – if we could sign Given; he’s an excellent keeper.
Schwarzer not as good, but would still be a massive improvement on the rabbits in headlights we have now.
Why does everyone think they won’t sell Given to us because they are trying to go above us? So what? That was the same thing when we sold them two experienced players, who cares what your rivals do if you know you are strong enough. City don’t have to worry, so they will sell if they feel like it.
I would be happier with Given than Schwarzerbut to be honest i would be happy with anyone other than Almunia or Fabianski. I just don’t care about them anymore and I’m pretty sure Almunia doesn’t care about Arsenal.
Whenever Seaman made an error i new he would make up for the next game and he always did. When Almunia or Fabianski mess up i have no doubt they will just do it again.
I will admit i hammered mad jens in his last season with us and called for almunia to replace him and i fully regret it. I hate the fact that Almunia said he has nothing to prove to be number 1. Its the wrong attitude to have for a player who was dropped twice last season (Injured or Confidence crisis hhhmm) and has made several mistakes over the last year.
Get in someone who cares and will learn from errors. afterall every keeper makes them but the great ones learn from them and don’t make them again.
We need a new GK, but let’s not fool ourselves to think that Given or Schwarzer would mean we should start planning a victory parade. In my experience, players coming in being advertised as saviors rarely live up to that. Just sayin.
Warren Barton’s comments has picked up heat. Next up on “Who wants to be a Celebrity”, Mr Warren Barton.. ouch.. I don’t think Barton expected his off the cuff remark to pick up so much heat.
http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/42260/Barton_Given_is_going_to_Arsenal.aspx
True, success wont nescessarily come just because we buy a better goalkeeper, but we did come quite close last season and I really think that a combination of better fortune in terms of injuries and a top quality keeper should have us pressing really hard.
I know we need cover for Song, and also cover at centre half, but first we must address the glaring weakness in our starting 11.
Id be quietly confident if Given was signed.
Given or Schwarzer matters not to me so long as this Almunia taste gets washed from my mouth. Also really want that beast Melo in an Arsenal shirt.