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DOB: 24/04/1976
Height: 6ft 0in
Position: Goalkeeper
Sharing the goalkeeping duties with Steve Harper, Newcastle’s Shay Given started fewer than half of the Magpies’ matches in the 1999-2000 season, but he did finish the campaign as Bobby Robson’s first choice for the Toon Army’s number one spot.
The Republic of Ireland international shot-stopper has experienced mixed fortunes since joining United from Blackburn back in 1997, but coped well with the divided ‘keeping duties. The likeable Irishman racked up six clean sheets in his limited starts, making more than 30 saves, and did not spill one of the 32 crosses he attempted to claim.
Newcastle did concede at a rate of just over a strike per game when Given was between the sticks and the 24-year-old would want to improve the fact that he is beaten by 33% of shots on the Magpies’ goal. But a run in the team at the start of the 2000-01 season could be enough to prove to Robson that Given is the undisputed number one in the Magpies’ goalkeeping pecking order.
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