Shay Given knows as well as anybody that Newcastle just have to start keeping more clean sheets.
It’s now 7 games since we kept our last clean sheet and we have only two of them in the first 10 games in the league.
That’s just not good enough – and everybody knows that. But Shay also said we could have grabbed all 3 points – after we equalized on Saturday – and he’s so right about that.
Shay Given – we had chance to win the game after the equalizer – he’s so right!
Shay Given talked to the Newcastle Evening Chronicle yesterday about the disappointing Reading display:
“If you get a clean sheet away from home, you’ve always got a chance to win the game.â€
“We’ve not been able to do that for such a long time. It’s very disappointing for the keepers – both Steve Harper and I – that we haven’t been able to do that.â€
“We are working on it, even after the Tottenham game. We still need to improve, and we’re working hard to try and climb the table.â€
It couldn’t have been a good day for Shay since his young Irish colleague Shane Long grabbed the Reading winner literally within seconds of coming on. Also Given’s international colleague Kevin Doyle had an excellent game up front for Reading all afternoon.
Given added:
“We didn’t play very well, but looking at the game as a whole – going 1-0 down and getting back into it – sometimes you don’t play well, but you think ‘we’ll take a point’.â€
“It looked like we were going to go on to win the game, as they were backing off, and we were coming into the game.†“We’re extremely disappointed with the second goal – it was just a long ball.â€
“We should have cleared it on the edge of the box, and for the second ball, the guy’s just come off the bench and he’s free in the middle of the goal.â€
“To be fair, we didn’t play that well, and having got back into the game it was disappointing to concede with five or six minutes to go.â€
He’s right about possibly winning the game. Once Duberry gave us a goal it looked like there was only one team that could win it – and that was the Magpies. But stupid goals kill teams and once we let that second goal in, that was it – a possible 3 points thrown away – even if we didn’t deserve even one.
Comments welcome.
8 comments so far
Doctapaul
Oct 30, 2007 at 11:36 AM
Comment #1“we could have grabbed all 3 points – after we equalized on Saturday – and he’s so right about that…” says Shay and who?
He is so NOT right. One shot from sub Zog in 90 minutes. Was I at a diffrent match or is this just jingoism?
Len
Oct 30, 2007 at 11:41 AM
Comment #2Frankly I am sick and tired of this clean sheet rap. Winning 5 4 is ok by me. And we have shown time and time again if we go for a clean sheet we get beat because all we do is defend for 90 minutes and leave the other lot to attack for 90 minutes with the inevitable result – eventually they get lucky. I seem to remember Keegans goals against was actually pretty good?
Ed Harrison
Oct 30, 2007 at 11:50 AM
Comment #3Doctapaul – after we equalized we already had Zog and Milner doing much better on the wings and Alan Smith on – and in the last 15 minutes anything was possible. If we had kept pushing we could have got that winning goal. With 6 mins to go we let in a terrible goal and that was it. We should have taken the point and possibly could have won the game. Yes it’s all woulda coulda shoulda – I agree – but we couldn’t even keep awake for the last 15 mins.
Ed Harrison
Oct 30, 2007 at 11:51 AM
Comment #4Len – I think the idea here is to build a very strong defense – if we do that we’ll win more games than we lose and provides a good foundation on which to build.
ChrisL
Oct 30, 2007 at 12:19 PM
Comment #5I was at the game & for the whole of the last 10 mins, Newcastle were never going to score (a bit like the prior 80 really). But it’s all going o be better against Pompey, I can feel it.
Ed Harrison
Oct 30, 2007 at 12:22 PM
Comment #6ChrisL – good comment – and glad you supported the lads – we’ll hammer Pompey !!! 😀
Rob kirton
Oct 30, 2007 at 1:42 PM
Comment #7Len: Under Keegan for a couple mof seasons we had the 2nd best defensive record apart from Manchester United. Who are not known for playing defensive football. Go figure as they say. I personally couldn’t live with the near heart attacks of trying to win games 5-4 week in week out, however there is a certain merit at trying to keep the ball at the other end of the field. You have chances to score and the opposition don’t !!!
Re Given’s remarks about chances to win. What he should have said was we should have then created chances to win because Readings confidence would have taken a knock after our goal. However – how many real chances did we manage to create ?
Doctapaul
Oct 30, 2007 at 2:10 PM
Comment #8We shudda (not cudda) knocked 6 past Reading – with the right selection, formation, tactics and so on.
Big SAM – imo got it completely wrong, not the team.
BUT then again, who am I to speak? Nowt but a pi$$ed off supporta.
Are we all in agreement?