Shay Given was in town this week to talk about everything from the Euros, the new boys and the feelgood factor in Irish football. JOE went along to hear what the big man had to say.
Whisper it, but the Euros aren’t too far away now. If you think you’re excited, you should hear 120-times capped Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given talk about the first major tournament for the Boys in Green in ten years.
The safe as houses netminder might have seen and done it all in an international career that stretches back to 1996 – that’s right, 1996 – but he talks about the tournament with a giddiness more associated with a kid on Christmas Eve.
Shay was in town during the week to talk about everything from promising new players such as Shane Duffy and James McClean, the issue over player bonuses and the challenge facing Ireland in what is a terribly tough group in Euro 2012. JOE went along to hear what the big man had to say.
Q: Do you find yourself thinking about the Euros, even at this early stage?
Shay Given: Every day. I’m not just saying that, I do think about it every day. I know I’m training and have games with Aston Villa but in the back of your mind, you still have something flashing about the Euros coming up.
Obviously being in England, the build up is all about the England team and it’s a shame we don’t get the same feedback because we’re not in Ireland and it’s hard to sample the feelings of the people on the street and how much they’re looking forward to it.
Obviously we’ll be back next week, but there are a good few Irish players at Villa and we talk about it and about how excited we are about the summer.
Q: Do you keep in touch with Barcelona and the other Spanish teams?
SG: At least Messi doesn’t play for Spain! Yeah, I’d watch them and some of the football they play is fantastic, but we don’t fear them at all. It’s a tough group, but I think that although we’re excited to go out there and we’re happy we qualified, we don’t want to go and make up the numbers; we want to give it a right good go and give a good account of ourselves.
Playing for Ireland has never been about money for me and it never will be.
Hopefully, we can make the country proud and give the fans something to be proud of, but it’s a tough group, don’t get me wrong.
Q: What have you made of the impact of Robbie Keane at Aston Villa?
SG: Brilliant. I mean, even the first week in training I thought he looked really sharp. I think he’s proved his ability in the games since and even proved something to himself because he didn’t get back in at Tottenham and he struggled a bit at West Ham, but he’s shown to people and to himself that he can still do it in the Premier League. He’s made a huge impact for us and we’ll miss him when he goes back next week.
Q: Would you like him to come back?
SG: Yeah, I don’t know what the ins and outs are and I think it’s black and white that he’s going back this time. I don’t know if anything will change in the summer, (any deal) has to be done in a window.
I haven’t spoke to him personally about it but as I say, he’ll be encouraged by how well he’s done himself, he’s scored goals and been a big impact player for us and a big influence on the changing room as well, so it’s good for him, for the club and for Ireland of course as well.
Q: What have you made of Shane Duffy’s progress this season?
SG: I haven’t seen an awful lot of him to be honest. We played Everton about a month ago and he played very well, but I haven’t seen loads of him. He’s been in and out at Everton but I’m sure it gave him a huge lift to be part of the squad leading up to the Euros. He’ll be doing his best to try and impress the manager next week, that’s for sure and I’m sure if he does get a run out he’ll make the most of it.
Q: And James McClean, what do you think of his addition to the squad?
SG: He’s been fantastic since he burst on to the scene in the last couple of months. He’s come from nowhere really and I think more scouts will be coming across to watch players in Ireland because if he can do that well, there must be other players in the league that can do similar things.
He’s in the squad – I know you guys probably made a lot about him not being in the squad in the first place – but he’ll want to come in and impress the manager and impress the lads as well. We don’t want to put too much pressure on his shoulders; we don’t want to hype him up too much. Hopefully he’ll just keep going the way he’s been going because he’s been brilliant.
Q: What would be the attitude of the existing squad to new players coming in before the Euros?
SG: You’d have to speak to the manager because he’s going to pick the squad, but from my point of view, I wouldn’t want to say “These guys got us here and they have to go”. I think there’s space for one or two players. I think the nucleus of the squad has been picked personally, but I’m not the manager.
Could James McClean make the squad for the Euros? Shay Given doesn’t see why not
If McClean keeps banging in goals every week, I don’t want to say he shouldn’t be in the squad because he’s doing so well and injuries can kick in a month before the tournament, anything can happen. I don’t think the door should be closed on any player because we don’t know what the future holds.
As I said, I think the nucleus of the squad will be the lads that got us there and rightly so because we worked hard to get there, but I still think there’ll be one or two places up for grabs.
Q: Do you think there’s even a remote chance Stephen Ireland might come back?
SG: I think Stephen has made it clear he doesn’t want to play, so I think it’s pretty black and white. I haven’t even asked him or spoke to him about but I think it’s pretty clear from things gone by that he’s not interested in coming back.
Q: Have you thought yet about staying on after the Euros?
SG: Not really. I said at the start of the campaign that I’d sit down with the manager after the Euros and make a decision. I feel really good, I know these are clichés and I’ve said them before but I feel sharp, it’s great to be playing regularly with Villa, I’m enjoying my football again and looking forward to the summer.
I’ll sit down with the manager and talk about it again, I think it’s great that he’s staying on until the World Cup so we’ll sit down after the Euros and talk about it.
Saying that, the first away game in World Cup qualifying is away in Kazakhstan which is a nine-hour flight away and there’s a five hour time difference, so I might just retire for one game!
Q: What’s your take on the issue of player bonuses after what Liam Lawrence had to say at the weekend?
SG: I don’t think there’s a problem. I’ve never once played for Ireland for money. I think there is X amount of money for the players for achieving qualification, but as far as I know there are no arguments. You might want to spin it differently, but if we didn’t get a penny or got millions of pounds, we’re all going to be in Poland representing our country and I think that everything else is nonsense as far as I’m concerned.
Hopefully he(McClean) will just keep going the way he’s been going because he’s been brilliant.
We’re all in it together and that includes the media; we should try and not have anything too negative surrounding the set-up because the feelgood factor is coming back into Irish football.
Playing for Ireland has never been about money for me and it never will be and I don’t think it should be for any player or for any nation.
We don’t play for Ireland for money, as players we’re extremely excited about the summer and it’s nothing to do with money. I don’t think it’s a big issue at all.
Q: What’s it like to play Spain ten years on from the 2002 World Cup?
SG: We should have beaten them the last time we played them! Yeah, the way they’ve gone on since then, becoming World Champions and European Champions, they’re a huge nation now and they’ll be the favourites to win it and it’s going to be special of course. All the three group games have their appeal to them.
The first game against Croatia, there’ll be huge excitement around that, then playing the World Champions and after that another big game against Italy with the connections with the manager. But I think the big thing for us is that the manager has given us belief and confidence that we can go and play against any team and give them a real tough game and get results as well, which we’ve proved.
Q: What sort of mentality will you have going into the Euros? Are you going out there thinking you can win it?
SG: We’d love to win the competition, but realistically, we’re going out with the belief that we have a good team and if everyone stays fit, we can give every team a proper game. We’ve seen in tournaments gone past – such as when Greece won the Euros – that if momentum gets going in a tournament and you get the luck and the breaks anything can happen and dreams can come true.
We’re not going out to make up the numbers, we’re going out to give it a real blast and we’ll see wherever that takes us.
Carlsberg, official beer to the Irish football team and UEFA Euro 2012TM, have announced that Republic of Ireland Goalkeeper Shay Given will be their new UEFA Euro 2012TM Ambassador. Check out the Carlsberg Ireland Football Facebook page for a chance to win prizes including VIP trips to UEFA Euro 2012TM; a trip to watch Shay and his club in action; UEFA Euro 2012TM goodies and tickets; special access to the UEFA EURO trophy and exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ content from the YBIG trip to Poland and the Republic of Ireland camp.
Please note, you can only become a fan of the Carlsberg Ireland Football Facebook page if you are over 18.
