Shay Must Stay A Magpie

But it is the prospect of losing Given in the New Year which should really scare fans because, with Tottenham Hotspur desperate for a new goalkeeper and with Harry Redknapp at the helm, they will try every trick in the book to prise Given away from United. It might not happen - Given has repeatedly insisted he is happy in the North East despite the mess Newcastle are in - but until the window shuts at the end of January it will be an almost constant worry.

While Owen has been in and out of the side and has never quite fitted at Newcastle because of the suspicion he was more interested in playing for England when he signed and the constant stories linking him with a move away, Given is a fully fledged United legend.

If he leaves, it will not only be a blow because it would weaken the side - even if Steve Harper is a more than able replacement - it will hurt psychologically because Given is so strongly associated with Newcastle United.

He has not only been at the club for 11 years, he has been the team's most consistent performer in that time. He is not only one of the top three goalkeepers in the Premier League, he is someone who refers to himself as a Newcastle fan, as well as a player.

He has been through so much on Tyneside, but has stayed throughout the heady highs and the soul-crushing lows and, at 32, his ability in goal is worth several points a season to the Magpies.

But, more than that, Given symbolises something else. If he departs for Uefa Cup football and the bright lights of London in January, Newcastle will have lost a player to a club they have every reason to believe they are bigger than, a club they should at least be on an equal footing with. To watch Given join Spurs because they can offer him more than Newcastle would be too much to take in a season which has already provided plenty of kicks in the groin.

As for Owen, of course his goals are also worth several points a season, but I think we don't have much to worry about in terms of him leaving in January. The most Newcastle could get for him - and this is only if more than one club are interested - is five or six million quid. A healthy return on a player who can leave for nothing in six months time.

However, Owen's goals alone may well keep Newcastle up. If you consider relegation will cost the Magpies at least £30m, it does not make financial sense - let alone football - to offload Owen in January, even when you consider his wages of £105,000-a-week.

Significantly, it also doesn't make any financial sense for Owen to leave in January when he will be able to negotiate a far more lucrative free transfer and leave at the end of the season. Not only is he more likely to keep his wages above the £100,000 mark if he does that, he will also get a multi-million pound signing on fee. Money always talks loudest in these situations.

There is also the possibility - as remote as it seems at the moment - that Mike Ashley will have sold up by then and the new owners will have made his new contract their number one priority, heading off any potential suitors by tying him down to a new four-year deal which he will celebrate with a night out with Shay, Nicky Butt and Steve Harper!