TRon

Why isn't he the kind of player England would call upon then? Because he hasn't been called upon by England? So the reason why he's not the kind of player England would call upon is...."because he hasn't been?" Why is it relevant? Some players are effective at club level without quite being international class -- Nolan is one of those players. I don't think that anyone could say that Nolan as a goal scorer is inferior to any current England midfielder, in fact the stats show he's better than most. So it's obviously the other parts of his game which are considered lacking. That doesn't mean he can't be an effective club player, but the same limitations means while he's here we'll be limited as well.

BBC commentary said £5m option Already paid for by the cup win really.

Why isn't he the kind of player England would call upon then? Because he hasn't been called upon by England? So the reason why he's not the kind of player England would call upon is...."because he hasn't been?"

Ireland would be a perfect replacement for Barton if he was fit. Taylor's sending off was crap timing.

Why isn't he the kind of player England would call upon then?

Not the point I'm making really.

I'm surprised the King Kenny club deflator factor has shown signs of kicking in already. I expected the feel good factor to last through this season before the miserable bastard slowly sucked the life out of the club after being handed a bumper contract in the summer.

Pretty much my view. His performance on Saturday underlined what a fantastic player we will be losing - Leighton Baines can kiss my arse. But if the likes of Barcelona and Madrid are hovering there's not really much we can do except get the best price possible and try and get a quality replacement.

It's a shame you won't consider the Jack Wilshere comment because the reasons he's playing for Arsenal and England are the exact same reasons why Nolan never will. This isn't me "deriding" him. FWIW I don't think Nolan lacks ability, his passing isn't bad. His problem is his lack of mobility which is one of the reasons most of his goals come from set pieces - same again this weekend. The dead ball allows him to get into position which happens much less in free play because he doesn't have the acceleration to get beyond the strikers.

Not really. I was slating him but it doesn't mean if we have four or five midfielders out through injury I wouldn't want him to be picked.

I hope Gosling and Ireland are close to starting then. I'm not a fan of Guthrie in the slightest but both those two have questionable fitness records and with Ryan Taylor and Barton out we would probably be using Guthrie in the next couple of games if he stays I would have thought.

Really? I must have been oblivious to Nicky Butt's notable influence on the dressing room spirit during his time at NUFC. As seasoned a pro as he is/was (and I'm sure he was a model pro for the younger squad players to learn from in training), I don't remember him doing anything out of the ordinary during his time as club captain (or beforehand). Can you post a link to the Nicky Butt stuff? Cheers. Otherwise, if you're not trying to deride Nolan's immeasurable contribution to the club in the past 18months, then can you explain the Butt reference? Yes I can explain the Butt reference. He was a player who was always one of the first names on the sheet and was constantly praised for his importance to the side by successive managers. But he was let go by Man U because he was crippling their need to play fast passing football. I see Nolan is in the press today quoted as saying he knows he'll never get picked for England despite being only 27. Why is that then? Why is a young lad like Jack Wilshere fast-tracked to international duty while Nolan for all his goals ignored?

I would agree with that and it is basically what I am saying. David Kelly did a great job for Newcastle but KK sold him after promotion because he wanted to take Newcastle to a higher level. Likewise there will come a point when we'll have to make that decision about Nolan unless our ambition is just to stay in this division on the cheap.

Why he is still getting a game for Arsenal perplexes me. He does all the stuff Nolan can't do but I know who is more effective as footballer. Arsene Wenger would never buy someone like Nolan though because Arsenal couldn't play the type of football they do with someone who lacked mobility. Rosicky might be crap but he doesn't f*** up their style of play which is the first concern of Wenger. Man U wouldn't buy Nolan either for the same reason even if he scored 15 goals every season. . While I accept we aren't Man U and Nolan has been useful this season, I want to see us aim higher after this season and look to bring in a central midfielder that the top sides would want in their team. I doubt Pardew would buy an attacking midfielder with 3 PL goals in the last 2 season for for NUFC either. Seriously, would you have Tommy boy at NUFC instead of Nolan? That's not the point I was making though. Arsene Wenger is going to make bad signings as well as good ones but the one thing he won't change is his philosophy on how he wants to play and the type of players he needs to play that way. Neither will Fergie. Neither will any manager who wants to play beyond a certain standard. If anyone cn explain to me how Nolan would fit into a side like Arsenal, Man U, Chelsea or Liverpool I'd like to hear it. Does this mean I think we ought to be up there with them right now? No, it just means I'd far prefer to look for the next Tiote or HBA than sign a player like Nicky Butt who was also great for the team, great pro, fantastic fella yadda yadda yadda.

Why he is still getting a game for Arsenal perplexes me. He does all the stuff Nolan can't do but I know who is more effective as footballer. Arsene Wenger would never buy someone like Nolan though because Arsenal couldn't play the type of football they do with someone who lacked mobility. Rosicky might be crap but he doesn't fuck up their style of play which is the first concern of Wenger. Man U wouldn't buy Nolan either for the same reason even if he scored 15 goals every season. . While I accept we aren't Man U and Nolan has been useful this season, I want to see us aim higher after this season and look to bring in a central midfielder that the top sides would want in their team. What do you value more: a collection of high quality individuals? a high functioning team? that's why I included the part "after this season". He's done a job for now, doesn't mean it's all we should aspire to.

He's knocking in goals and getting quite a few half decent chances per game yet isn't a goal threat? Don't understand that logic like. |He scores with his left, right and head. He'd have to be pretty clueless not to be a goal threat with those attributes.

Why he is still getting a game for Arsenal perplexes me. He does all the stuff Nolan can't do but I know who is more effective as footballer. Arsene Wenger would never buy someone like Nolan though because Arsenal couldn't play the type of football they do with someone who lacked mobility. Rosicky might be crap but he doesn't fuck up their style of play which is the first concern of Wenger. Man U wouldn't buy Nolan either for the same reason even if he scored 15 goals every season. . While I accept we aren't Man U and Nolan has been useful this season, I want to see us aim higher after this season and look to bring in a central midfielder that the top sides would want in their team.

He's a "hot potato" footballer in that he can't run with the ball at his feet without losing control or giving it to the opposition with a clumsy first touch. If you give him a stationary ball which he can line up and strike he can hit it pretty well though.

I think a central midfielder has to dictate the game and be a big part of the closing down, passing and movement in the side. If he's not doing that then he's allowing the opposition to dominate possession whether he scores goals or not.

Midfields - collective. It really is a static midfield. Very little off the ball movement, what there is of it, its often Barton/Tioté dropping deep to link with the defence. Nolan sometimes makes a forward run to link with the midfield, but only late. He's never up there during the initial attacking phase (long ball to targetman) to win a knock down/flick on. Be interested in which games you believe good midfield movement has happened. From what I've seen this season, most of the midfield movement is very rigid, and the players rarely support each other for an easy passing angle/option. Most passes happen to smaller passes to Joey Barton (the most mobile of the current midfielders) as he's the only one offering an option. Once Barton has the ball, midfield stops 'moving'. Top post.

Spin it any way you want, even if you think Tiote will be sold as soon as the first big bid comes in....I'm still happy that he's signed a long term contract.

Allardyce hadn't had enough time to destroy the football ethos at the club by the time that first game came round. He worked hard to put that right in the following months.

He'll have a year left on his contract this summer. If the board turn down £11m and make him see out his contract I'll drink my own.....well Ill be surprised.

Excellent post, highlights the folly of this idea we could and should just turn over players and expect to keep finding new ones who'll play just as well as the previous squads. When you pursue a development strategy with a club like ours, you find a good player and you hold on for grim death. Players like Enrique are players you do break any supposed wage cap for because they're absolutely blue chip - players you know will earn their wages and help make sure others will earn theirs, too. They have experience which is literally unobtainable elsewhere because they earned it here. It's one thing to limit offers made to new signings - they're unproven and could end up like Smith, so you want to limit the potential damage, but when they've proven themselves to be special, you make the necessary accommodations and harness the momentum instead of squandering it. Two cracking posts, although I think the situations are very different. Carroll went for an astronomical fee which it could be argued will be used to develop a much stronger all round squad. The money we will get for Enrique will be peanuts. £8m tops would be my guess and for that we will end up buying an inferior player.

Stop making up names. Benjamin Sniddlegrass From Hogwarts to Tyneside. It will have been an eventful jouney for the young lad who is rumoured to be a wizard on the ball.