No 1 rivals: City keepers Hart (left) and Given in
pre-season training
Having spent the pre-season watching Joe Hart start all
six of Manchester
City's warm-up games, Shay Given is not
going to sit quietly on the sidelines as the real business
begins.
The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper, arguably the finest in the
Premier League, is ready to throw Eastlands into turmoil by
demanding showdown talks with manager Roberto Mancini if he is left
out of the side to face Tottenham
on Saturday.
Given is believed to be prepared to request a transfer if he is
left on the bench. Mancini says he has yet to decide whether to
start Given or England keeper Joe Hart at White Hart Lane but Hart
is thought to be his first choice.
With Fabio Capello hoping to name the Premier League keeper of
last season as his No 1 for England's Euro 2012 qualifying
campaign, there is pressure on Mancini to go with the Englishman,
who has returned to City after an impressive season at Birmingham
City.
Ireland No 1 Given, who is recovering from a shoulder injury
with his 104th cap against Argentina on Wendesday night, says
Mancini has given no indication who will play.
But the 34-year-old, a £6million signing from Newcastle just 18
months ago, has made it clear he is not prepared to start as a
substitute and will seek a meeting with the Italian coach on
Monday.
Big decision: manager Mancini
Given said: 'I haven't joined City to sit on the bench.
I've gone there to play. If that's not the case, I'll sit down on
Monday with the club and see where I can go after that. The manager
hasn't picked the team yet and he hasn't spoken to me. It's not
ideal. You want to know mentally whether you're
starting.'
Given, in Dublin for the first international at the re-built
Lansdowne Road, could have skipped Monday's press conference before
the Argentina friendly. But, as ever, he was keen to speak, and
will be happy to confront Mancini if he is overlooked for the
season's opener.
He said: 'It's different if you're a midfielder - you can rotate
them and play them in different positions. It's a specialist
position and you can only play the one player.
'Joe did well last year and deserves great credit for that but
I'd like to think I did OK at Manchester City. I missed only the
last week of the season and I worked hard all summer to be fit for
the new campaign.'
Last week Sunderland boss Steve Bruce revealed his loan bid for
Hart was turned down by City. Bruce wanted cover for injured Craig
Gordon for two months.
City have also rejected offers from Fulham and Arsenal. Arsene
Wenger kept tabs on Given during his 10 years at Newcastle but
never accepted the club's valuation. Given has now again been
linked with Wenger as he seeks an experienced keeper.
Given said: 'To discuss now would be a little disrespectful to
the goalkeepers they have already. Arsenal are a fantastic club,
it's just too soon.'
Given added: 'I'm 34 and you cherish every year, every game. For
me, it's very important that I play football. I know I'm at a very
exciting, very ambitious club with great owners and great ambition
to win trophies. That's why I went there.'
Mancini said: 'We have two good keepers and one will play and
one will stay on the bench. We play a lot of games in one year -
three games every week - so we could play both goalkeepers.'