Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given could be set to leave St James Park after his lawyer admitted that the Irishman has become disillusioned with the state of the club both on and off the field.

It is thought that Given reached the ‘lowest point of his football career’ after Newcastle lost 5-1 to Liverpool last weekend. It was a game where Given made a number of outstanding saves, but his team were outclassed from start to finish.

Something these saves did was remind the rest of the Premier League just how good a goalkeeper Given is. In the last week or so this has resulted in the 32-year-old being linked with a move away from Newcastle United.

Joe Kinnear then came out and said that his keeper would not be sold, but it appears that the player himself may be thinking differently.

Michael Kennedy, Given’s lawyer, has revealed that the only thing Given can see for Newcastle this season is a ‘battle for survival’ and with this in mind, the keeper has decided to ‘consider his position’ at the club.

Given has been very loyal to Newcastle during his 11 years at the club, but perhaps he should start to think of his own career for once. Being one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, surely he deserves a chance to play Champions League football again before he has to retire?

The soccer betting odds may well expect Newcastle to battle against relegation in the coming months, where as a move to Arsenal, Tottenham or even Manchester City, could result in a much more productive start to 2009 for Given.

It is thought that a fee of around £8m would be enough to prize him away from Newcastle and considering the quality he has – this would be a bargain in my opinion. I’d even suggest that Manchester United should try and sign him in a bid to replace 38-year-old Edwin van der Sar.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting and tipping

Newcastle United are not looking for a new owner anymore, it has been revealed. The current owner of the club, Mike Ashley, has taken the Premier League side off the market and hailed 2009 as the year that everyone will ‘drive the club forward together’.

The Magpies were put up for sale back in September after angry protests from fans about the sacking of Kevin Keegan. However, the club has failed to find a new buyer and Ashley believes that it is very important that there is an ‘end to the uncertainty’ about the future of the club.

There has been ‘considerable interest’ in the club according to the club, but it appears that none of the interested parties were suitable. Therefore, Ashley will continue to work away with his own policies. It will be interesting to see how the fans react.

One thing that is uncertain now, is the position of Joe Kinnear. He was appointed as interim manager until the club found a buyer, but now that the club isn’t for sale – does he remain in charge?

For now, it seems that he does. The former Wimbledon manager has done a decent job at St James Park and has lifted his team up to 12th in the league table.

Later today, Kinnear’s men play host to top of the table Liverpool. Should he pick up three points here, the football odds might start to back him to stay in the role beyond the end of the season.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-update:auto; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:bold; mso-bidi-font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}

Here we go again. Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is being linked with a summer move to Spanish giants Real Madrid. It has been reported that United have agreed to sell the winger come the end of the current season.

Real director Pedro Trapote has been quoted as saying that there is a clause ‘keeping us from announcing it’ but that the move will go ahead at some point during 2009.

Unsurprisingly though, Sir Alex Ferguson has denied such claims by saying that there is ‘absolutely no chance’ that Ronaldo will be sold to Madrid and that ‘there is no agreement’ between the two clubs.

Ferguson was visibly angry at these reports and admitted that he was prepared for increased speculation surrounding the Portugal international again this January. The Manchester Untied boss has called on everyone to ‘ignore it’ and get on with the season in hand.

As for the player himself, he says that he is ‘very happy’ at Manchester Untied and that he hadn’t heard the latest newspaper reports suggesting that Madrid were interested once again.

To be honest, the whole situation bores me. Why would Ronaldo choose to leave the Champions of Europe to join a team struggling to keep up with the leaders in La Liga? Why would United sell their best player to one of their biggest European rivals?

The football odds are always more likely to favour a United win if Ronaldo is part of their team, so not only are these reports very annoying, they are also completely false in my opinion.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

After a rather dismal display against Porto on Wednesday night, Arsenal could have done with a lift ahead of this weekend’s Premier League trip to Middlesbrough. Fortunately for Arsene Wenger, they have received just that with the news that their captain is set to return to action ahead of schedule.

Cesc Fabregas – who had been suffering with a knee injury – was originally expected to miss tomorrow’s game, but it is thought that the Spaniard could go straight back into the starting line-up at the Riverside.

This isn’t the only welcome news for Wenger as Robin van Persie, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy are all expected to shrug off the various knocks they had to be available for selection. Emmanuel Adebayor is set to return as well after being rested for the game in Portugal.

Despite these returning players, Arsenal are still far from full strength though. Eduardo, Kolo Toure, Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky all remain sidelined with their own injury problems.

Nevertheless, Wenger has a relatively strong squad to choose from as his team look to record a Premier League victory at Middlesbrough for the first time since April 2005. The Gunners have lost two of their last three visits to the Riverside and it is essential for their fading title challenge that this doesn’t become three out of four.

The football odds will be favouring an Arsenal win, but they will need to be on top of their game if they are to pick up the three points. A professional display is needed to prove their title credentials because a victory could actually push Arsenal up to 3rd place in the league – all be it for a few hours only.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has revealed that the hunt for the club’s new boss is well and truly underway after Roy Keane’s resignation. The former Manchester United midfielder resigned from his position yesterday after 27 months at the helm.

Before discussing the potential successors to Keane’s reign, it is worth commenting his departure. Personally, I was extremely surprised to see him leave just as things were getting tough. Yes, the team hasn’t been in the best form, but a couple of wins and they are in the top ten again.

I certainly didn’t have Keane down as a character that would walk. Perhaps he wanted to make sure he left before things got seriously worrying. By leaving at this stage of the season he does, at least, give the new man a chance to ensure the club steer away from relegation trouble.

The Sunderland players are reportedly in shock over Keane’s departure as well because according to Carlos Edwards, the whole squad ‘still had full confidence in him’.

Premier League managers also expressed their surprise about the news with Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill describing it as ‘disappointing’ and Wigan manager Steve Bruce admitting that ‘football is a better place when Roy is in it’.

However, this is all irrelevant really as Keane has moved on and Sunderland must now decide who to appoint as their next manager. Former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce is the favourite according to the football odds and he has already revealed that he would be ‘interested’ should the club make an approach.

Other names in the hat are Alan Curbishley, Gordon Strachan and David O’Leary. However, the most interesting one in my opinion is Phil Brown. The Hull manager is a slight outsider for the position, but given his Sunderland roots – he could be the dark horse.

It will certainly be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming weeks. For now though, coach Ricky Sbragia will take charge of the team against Manchester United as they look for only their second win since the victory over Newcastle back in October.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting