Now even Shay’s given up on United

Jan 4 2009 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

SO now we have the measure of how “responsibly” Mike Ashley is running Newcastle United . . .

The club’s most responsible servant wants out.

In the real world, of course, nobody is surprised that Shay Given has finally given up on the Magpie madhouse.

The only wonder is that he has stayed sane.

Ironically though, despite 12 years of frustration, farce, glimpsed glory and despair, the Irishman has something to thank Ashley for.

For the absent Newcastle owner has ensured that Given plays behind a back four uniquely capable of showcasing his talent, if otherwise incapable. Of anything.

Ashley’s idea of responsibility prevented Kevin Keegan from buying a left-back and a right-back in the summer, let alone a replacement for James Milner and a creative midfielder.

No less shamefully, not one of the minions Ashley dispatched to Tyneside — the smirking mute, Derek Llambias, springs all too easily to mind — took responsibility for rewarding Given’s loyalty with the merest mention of a testimonial.

Compare that with, say, Liverpool’s statement of unflinching support this week for Steven Gerrard over the type of trouble Given would never have caused Newcastle.

No, United’s goalkeeper, like their supporters, has been shamefully taken for granted — and long before what was merely their team’s humiliation on home soil.

What Ashley cannot now afford to ignore is that not one of those fans will begrudge Given a move to a club capable of realising his ambition rather than his worst fears.

No sooner had the owner made his latest pronouncement than his words rang horribly hollow amid annihilation by Liverpool.

Given then merely lent the last of the lie to Ashley’s talk — as cheap as the clobber sold in his shops — of a bright future at St James’s Park.

“2009 will be the year in which we drive the club forward together,” he said.

Just how pathetic does that statement sound now, a few days after Ashley’s manager insisted Given was “very happy . . . very comfortable at Newcastle United”?

A significant number of supporters had had their fill of the club long before Liverpool arrived last Sunday.

And the combination of Ashley’s empty words, the Reds running riot, Joe Kinnear’s latest witterings and Given’s statement of notice can only hasten a wider exodus.

While Ashley insists his staying in charge will “end the certainty” at Newcastle, the club looks about as secure as the web in a game of Kerplunk — and, for many, losing Given would be the final straw.

Managers, players and pundits often cite the importance of the “heart and soul” of a football club.

Time was when Newcastle, with Sir Bobby Robson at the helm and a nucleus of old-school professionals setting an example on the pitch, had both.

But with the club’s soul long since sold and Given, the last of those loyal servants, having lost heart, what now?