GIVEN STILL HURT OVER NATURE OF HIS NEWCASTLE DEPARTURE

SHAY Given has revealed the ‘hurt’ he felt at the way his departure from Newcastle United was handled by the club. When Given left the Magpies for Manchester City in January 2009, he was 34 games shy of breaking the record for the most club appearances. Goalkeeper Given, who won 134 international caps for Republic of Ireland, felt the club, who were relegated that season, lacked direction – by contrast, City clearly were on the up. ‘I just felt we had no real direction as such, no real ambition, and it just felt like we were happy to be bobbing along in the Premier League and the aim was just to stay up,’ said Given of that time. ‘There was no ambition. We were miles off it when I left. It was just disappointing to see a great club with a great set of fans and this was the way it was fizzling out with the ownership.’ Then Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear, hailed a ‘fantastic professional and a great lad’ but also stressed the Magpies had ‘bent over backwards to try and keep’ Given. ‘That was the thing that really hurt me when I left. The stuff the club put out in the media that they had no choice, that there was no way to keep him. ‘It was quite hurtful the way they treated me and the way it all panned out. I did feel I gave nearly 12 years of my life. ‘People say, “You get paid” and I’m not saying I was a slave to Newcastle. The least you’d expect is some sort of thanks.’ Meanwhile, Northern Ireland expect to confirm Michael O’Neill’s successor as manager by mid-August, according to IFA president David Martin. Martin is targeting an appointment before the start of the Nations League and the Euro 2020 play-off against Bosnia Herzegovina. ‘We hope to have the new manager in place well in advance of our next international. The UEFA executive committee meets on June 17 and we will have a better indication after that about when we will be playing our next games,’ said Martin.