VILLA RETURN

Shay Given is set to return to Aston Villa at the end of February after negotiations involving him and Middlesbrough were brought to a stop as the Irish goalkeeper wanted to extend his loan deal with the English club but an agreement could never be made due to the high wages of Shay Given which is believed to be around €50,000.

The Chief Executive of the Football Association of Ireland John Delaney, praised the veteran shot-stopper as he considers Given to be the best Irish goalkeeper of all time. Delaney was attending the Donegal Sports Star Awards and during an interview he went to talk about his passion for sports as well as talking about the goalkeeper of Aston Villa.

“I love all sports. Ten county medals in Tipperary, four for Gaelic football, two for hurling and four for soccer. I played in a Munster Gaelic football final many years ago. One of my favorite sports in the world is hurling and I loved playing it. Shay Given, is probably the best Irish goalkeeper of all time; Packie Bonner, probably are the two best ever Irish goalkeepers” Delaney said as he responded questions and expressed his opinion about Shay Given.

The assistant coach of Ireland Roy Keane is taking into special consideration the performances of Shay Given in these last few months as the 37 years old goalkeeper is a candidate on being recalled for the national team.

Given’s last performance for Ireland was back in 2012 but his lack of playing time in Aston Villa saw him making a loan move to Middlesbrough where he tried to spark his career back to life and it is believed that Given has already been having talks with the head coach of Ireland, Martin O’Neil regarding the participation of the shot-stopper in the upcoming plans of the tactician.