Shay Given is hoping to finally pick up a winners medal when Aston Villa face Arsenal in the FA Cup Final today.
With over 600 club appearances and 127 Ireland caps, covering Worlds Cup and European Championship appearances, the goalkeeper has achieved almost everything he could have wished for when he left Celtic for Blackburn Rovers in 1994.
Two losing FA Cup appearances for Newcastle are the closest that he’s come to silverware although he does have a winners medal from sitting on the bench watching Manchester City win the 2011 trophy.
Restored as first choice ahead of Brad Guzan under Tim Sherwood, the goalkeeper is hoping that he can finish the season in style with a Wembley win.
Looking ahead to the game Given gave a Q and A with ESPN
ESPN: So if you lift the FA Cup with Villa this weekend, would you see it as the first big trophy of your long career?
Given: I would in many ways. I’d love to win a trophy and it would be great for the club as well. It’s been a while since Villa have won anything and it would be something special, you’d be making history and it’s such a big historic competition as well, one of the best in the world.
ESPN: FA Cup disappointment has been a theme of your career in many ways. How do you sum it up?
Given: I suppose the win with Man City was a happy day because we were celebrating after the game, but it was disappointing with Newcastle in 1998 and 1999 because on both occasions we didn’t play well and didn’t do ourselves justice. That is all you want in these big Wembley games. Play your best and hopefully that will be enough.
ESPN: How do you reflect on what happened to you ahead of the 1999 FA Cup final? Newcastle boss Ruud Gullit dropped you for the game against Manchester United, but did you ever get an explanation?
Given: Gullit didn’t tell me in person and there wasn’t really any reason given. He got the goalkeeping coach to tell me. It was a bit of a slap in the face, but you can’t look back in football. It was his decision and whether you ever get over something like that or not, there’s nothing we can do about it now. You move on. That’s all you can do.
ESPN Everything seems to have turned around since Sherwood took over as Villa manager. Can you explain how that has happened?
Given:Â Tim is a very positive guy, both in football and life, and that has rubbed off on the players. He has encouraged us to get forward more, to get more bodies into the box and to support Christian Benteke more. He has given us a bit more belief and confidence and that has shown in the games.
ESPN What has Sherwood done to get Benteke firing once again?
Given: Christian probably dipped in his form early part of this season. We’ve got him back now, or the manager has, to the player we all really know. In his first season at the club, he was bang on fire and he is back there now. It’s the Christian of old, powering past centre-halves and a real threat in the air.
ESPN: Has Sherwood changed the mood of the club? Because it seemed as if everyone was a little less inspired by the management style of Paul Lambert in the first half of this season.
Given: “I’m not going to sit here and start digging Paul Lambert out. A manager is judged on results and they simply weren’t good enough. Randy Lerner felt it was time for a change and now we have to get behind the new manager, which we all have done. Tim is desperate to do well and that’s rubbed off on the team and players. He respects the opposition, but he wants to focus more on what we’re good at than worry too much about what the other team are doing. It’s been enjoyable.