Without a club since being released by Stoke last season, Shay Given has been keeping busy. There's increasing media work - which he enjoys. That doesn't mean his ambitions of continuing his playing career are over.
At 41, Given - who was speaking at the eir Sport Pack season launch - is still on the lookout for the right option. He's been training with Macclesfield Town over the last couple of months. Former teammate Steve Watson is the assistant manager at the National League side.
While at Macclesfield Given has seen the extremes at exist in professional football.
Chatting to the lads, some of them are on £300 a week and they're trying to get an extra £50 a week for petrol money to get to training. It goes from one extreme to the other.
Personally, I've enjoyed it. I've enjoyed the everyday interaction with the lads. I'm going to miss that when I finish. I've been doing a bit of media stuff recently but I've been in Macclesfield a couple of days a week as well. They're a great bunch of lads.
If you're on £200,000 a week or £200 a week, you still miss that craic with the lads every day.
Of the possibilities remaining in his career, the Donegal man does not see following Robbie Keane to India as a viable option. He jokes that Keane 'spoke to me about coming over to clean his boots' but considering his family situation - he has four kids, two of them very young - a move to such a distant employer would work.
Given has also been doing a little bit of coaching at Macclesfield. However, at this point in his life, he sees media work as being the preferable option.
The thing about the media stuff is you can do two or three days a week and then three or four days to myself and see the kids. If you are a coach or manager, it's 24/7. I've got to get the balance right.
I've been getting a bit of stick off the lads. They're saying that I'm on every network whenever they put a channel on. My Twitter feed goes on fire saying 'can you get off my TV set?'
I've enjoyed it. Maybe it has something to do with having a four-month-old baby in the house, getting out of the house for a rest. It's been enjoyable getting to talk about football. It's all I've known all my life. I find it quite easy to talk about different people and different systems. It's something I feel comfortable with. It's something I can improve on.
Pictured at the eir Sport pack season launch was eir Sport soccer analyst Shay Given. eir Sport today announced an exciting line up of live content for the new season on the eir Sport Pack. The UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, the Premier League, rugby’s European Champions Cup, the AIB Club Championships and the Allianz Leagues will all form part of a bumper season ahead.
