THERE'S a new theory around Ewood Park about the day Tim Flowers was struck by the Colly bobbles, writes Brian Doogan.

Remember, the daisy-cutter from Liverpool's Stan Collymore that all of a sudden adopted an orbit of its own as it approached the Blackburn keeper, sailing over his shoulder.

It was put down to a piece of upturned turf, a divot that resulted in cruel deception.

But the locals in Shamus O'Donnell's, the Irish bar across the street from Ewood, will tell you that Shay Given had dug a tunnel beneath the pitch.

Just as the ball neared Flowers, he shoved a pole through the sod that caused it to rise sharply and roll into an empty net.

How much credence you put on the story depends, I suppose, on how many pints of the black stuff you share with the lads in O'Donnell's.

But within the tale lie two simple truths.

Tim Flowers looking bad won't have given Shay too many sleepless nights.

Tim Flowers looking good will leave the Donegal man and Republic of Ireland international tunnelling all right - straight out of Ewood Park.

If he had his way, of course, he would remain in East Lancashire - and Flowers would simply be in a nine-to-five job back in Kenilworth. But international considerations are forcing the likeable 20-year-old to seek other options. The unusual situation of having two keepers vying for an international place - Given for Ireland and Flowers for England - isn't lost on Rovers caretaker-manager Tony Parkes.

"Shay is an excellent keeper," he said this week.

"For him to have to sit on the bench is a waste.

"He went to Sunderland, kept clean sheets and became an Irish international.

"But we've got two excellent keepers and Flowers was outstanding (last week at Roker Park)."

At the moment, Given is a prodigy without an outlet, a Van Gogh without his canvas.

He shows signs, though, of being a bit more level-headed than the Dutch painter, and is unlikely to halt his career prematurely by cutting off his ears or, for that matter, his arms.

The situation may not be to his liking but, as he says, you just have to get on with it.

"Some people would be happy to just stay in the reserves for another few years but I just want to get playing again," said Given, who first kept goal during a Gaelic football match at school in Lifford.

"It has been a bit frustrating but you just have to get on with it and not worry about it too much.

"I've been with Blackburn for three years now and I'll stick it out no matter what.

"So there's no point in getting myself down over it. I just keep working hard in training and looking ahead. "I've mostly been in the reserves at Blackburn which allowed Alan Kelly to get back in ahead of me (in the Irish team) because he's playing first team football regularly.

"So obviously that's something I've got to look at."

A 20-year-old in such complete control of his destiny, Given probably has his father, Seamus, to thank for his clear-sightedness.

A goalkeeper of outstanding quality himself, Seamus played Gaelic football for the county (Donegal) and was a member of the first Donegal team to taste success in the Ulster under 21 championship.

Young Shay would go along to Conway's games (Lifford is soccer territory so Seamus played Gaelic for Conway, a town several miles from their homeplace) to watch his father in action.

Though an emerging midfield talent (midfield being the star position in Gaelic, allowing the player a roaming role) Seamus persuaded Shay to develop his potential between the sticks and actively encouraged his preference for soccer.

"I think the Gaelic background has helped me in soccer - I read the game better because of it," said Given, who broke into the Irish Under-21 side at 18, and debuted for the Republic of Ireland last March against Russia.

"My father told me to choose between the two and there seemed more opportunities in the soccer - you get paid playing it for a start (Gaelic is strictly amateur)."

Given combined honing his skills on Lifford's soccer pitches with helping out in the family-run market gardening business.

The eight children also worked the small farm which Seamus developed into a driving range and pitch and putt course. "I used to lose more balls across the hedge than I'd end up collecting at the end of the day," recalled Shay.

"A golf career was definitely never an option." On top of the homework he'd get from the teachers at St Columbus College in Stranorlar, Shay also helped the neighbours bring in the turf for the winter from the surrounding peat bogs.

The community spirit engendered in him by these experiences still persists and if, as seems likely, he leaves Blackburn at the end of the season, it will be with marked reluctance.

"I've refused to sign a contract at Blackburn because I'm desperate for first team football," said Given.

"Unless something happens, the chances are I'll be moving on in the summer.

"My chances are limited because of Tim Flowers in front of me.

"He is a top class goalkeeper.

"If I had the first-team shirt here I would have no problems signing for Blackburn.

"I need to be playing and the club know that.

"It's obviously my ambition to play regularly at the top level, now that I'm in the Irish set-up."

With the World Cup just a year and a half away, Given can be forgiven for his impatience.

But it is unlikely that he'll leave Blackburn before the end of this season.

When he does, however, there will be an anxious pair of eyes locked on his every move.

They will belong to a guy named Kelly.

The eyes of Mick McCarthy will be interested too.

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