Kevin Nolan

[Shak]

Interesting to see that Hughton has felt the need to specifically come out and defend Nolan. Would appear he's aware of the criticism, at least.

 

I just hope it's a case of a manager defending his player rather than Hughton actually believing that Nolan has contributed anything of note in the last few games. I like Hughton, it would be a shame if his promise as a long term manager for us was ruined by some sort of loyalty to a journeyman footballer like Kevin Nolan.

 

Fact is we'll never be anything other than a poor side as long as Kevin Nolan is a regular starter for us, and the sooner Hughton cops onto this the better for Newcastle United.

 

Nae offence Shak, but you should stick to the NFL threads if this is the type of analysis and contribution you bring to the football threads If you like Hughton, then give him chance to prove his judgement, no matter how wild it seems to the armchair supporters on here, is actually beneficial for NUFC.

 

I though the knee-jerk chopping and changing had gone out when we got relegated? Hughton has built his team through consistency and allowing players to grow into the team. I'm not a massive fan of people banging on for change, when it's often for changes sake. 

 

Been watching football a lot longer than I have the NFL Stu, and I'm telling you that Kevin Nolan is a hindrance to the evolution of our team and we'll never be any good until he's no longer part of it. He's a passenger who makes every single player around him (barring those on the opposing team) look worse than they are.

 

This is no knee jerk either, I've always thought he was shite. And my stance on Hughton has never been knee jerk. At first I thought he only got the job because nobody else would take it (which was the case) and I didn't think he'd be able for it (which wasn't the case), and over the course of last year he convinced me that he deserved a shot with how well he'd done.

 

At the moment I'm right on the fence with him. I love how united he's made us, and the way we've tried to play football this year has been really encouraging. But he's still making what I believe to be mistakes, and I feel it's going to end up costing us (and him) unless he fixes them. And I feel that would be a shame, because there's a good manager in him IMO and I'd hate to see him blow it here because of a loyalty to a poor player like Kevin Nolan.

 

I'm rarely adamant about things, I know that the manager sees a lot more than me and is better qualified to make decisions than I am. I'll give him every chance to prove that his way is right, that making Kevin Nolan our ace in the hole is the best thing for us going forward, and that I was wrong.

 

But I'm not.

[Shak]

2 Wins, 1 Draw, 3 Defeats from our opening 6 games, which has included 2 away trips to the NW (historically, 0pts) and a trip to Molineux (historically, a shithole).

 

All this from a newly promoted club, who had zero capital outlay over the transfer window.

 

IMO, the team is performing quite well but needs to find some consistency.

 

All very well and good, but not really what the thread is about surely?

[Mr Logic]

 

<<snip>>.... Kevin Nolan is a hindrance to the evolution of our team and we'll never be any good until he's no longer part of it. He's a passenger who makes every single player around him (barring those on the opposing team) look worse than they are.

 

This is no knee jerk either, I've always thought he was shite. And my stance on Hughton has never been knee jerk. At first I thought he only got the job because nobody else would take it (which was the case) and I didn't think he'd be able for it (which wasn't the case), and over the course of last year he convinced me that he deserved a shot with how well he'd done.

 

At the moment I'm right on the fence with him. I love how united he's made us, and the way we've tried to play football this year has been really encouraging. But he's still making what I believe to be mistakes, and I feel it's going to end up costing us (and him) unless he fixes them. And I feel that would be a shame, because there's a good manager in him IMO and I'd hate to see him blow it here because of a loyalty to a poor player like Kevin Nolan.

 

I'm rarely adamant about things, I know that the manager sees a lot more than me and is better qualified to make decisions than I am. I'll give him every chance to prove that his way is right, that making Kevin Nolan our ace in the hole is the best thing for us going forward, and that I was wrong.

 

But I'm not.

 

Pretty much how I feel. Can't for the life of me see what Hughton is seeing. His comments today regarding how important Nolan was gave me a shiver, if he can't see HBA would offer so much more in the same position, ....I just don't get it.

[TRon]

Hughton's justification for Nolan's place in the side is goals. The problem is with him in the side we look much less likely to create chances. Take away the Villa game and how many have we scored this season?

[Guest BooBoo]

Three including one pen.

[TRon]

Three including one pen.

 

So despite Nolan being in the side for his goal scoring prowess - and starting every game so far - we are hardly banging them in are we?

[Gallowgate Toon]

Three including one pen.

 

So despite Nolan being in the side for his goal scoring prowess - and starting every game so far - we are hardly banging them in are we?

It's only early days though tbf, he seems to think we're creating a lot but we aren't really doing that either.

[ponsaelius]

Think it was Ronaldo who said it, but since the Villa game Nolan hasn't scored or assisted from open play.

 

Not only is he a visible hindrance to our play, but there isn't even statistics to back his selection.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Even if Nolan does score some goals, basing the decision solely on that is ludicrous.

 

The logic is stupid, who knows how many goals the team might score without Nolan, or with someone else in his position?

[Guest Heneage]

I honestly think at home it would be nice to try Ben Arfa in the middle, but I think these first 6-7 games served the same purpose for us as they did every other team, we were finding out feet and assessing the quality of our players. The only players still to have a chance are Xisco, Simpson, Guthrie, and Best. Guthrie may come in and be fantastic, we just don't know.

 

But fwiw I'm very 50 50, his problem is his big visable asset is goals, so when he's scoring the world is all smiles and he's Super Captain Nolan, but when he's not scoring or like Sunday missing chances, then he becomes the fat scapegoat of the piece. I think he will always slide from the sublime to the ridiculous in the eyes of the fans, which is harsh.

[ponsaelius]

Tbf, many on here thought he was shite even when he was scoring goals. It didn't mask his performances last season.

[Ronaldo]

He's made no impact whatsoever since the Villa game. There's no sublime to be acknowledged here. We're talking about a player that'll scrape one in every 4 or 5 games and score the odd penalty. He's a waste of a shirt.

[Stu]

He's made no impact whatsoever since the Villa game. There's no sublime to be acknowledged here. We're talking about a player that'll scrape one in every 4 or 5 games and score the odd penalty. He's a waste of a shirt.

 

Nope.

[ponsaelius]

I think Nolan had incriminating pictures of Stu, aswell as Hughton.

[Gallowgate Toon]

Nolan isn't useless, he's useful but only in certain types of games. He is intelligent in using space but the problem is that he needs it there, he doesn't have the ability to make it for himself. He's great at making runs into huge gaps but he's not going to one-two with someone else and make it for himself. In that sense he's very over-reliant on other people to carry him through certain games, like Stoke, where the it is tight, defensive and space is limited. So against Stoke, yes we had Routledge and Ben Arfa (who were both double-marked), who do make a lot of space but not in the right areas, it doesn't help out wide, you need someone in the middle who's going to open those gaps. Ben Arfa may have come in a lot but that didn't help our cause, it played into Stoke's hands making it congested and even harder for our already struggling central players.

 

So taking this into consideration, he's not totally useless. I think he's decent away from home or games that are a lot more open with space but he's a passenger in those really tight games. Bad news for us because the teams we need to be beating will come here and be hard to break down and they all have the ability to nick a goals themselves. For those games we're going to need two solid players out wide to stretch them and a mobile player in the middle to drag defenders out of position a bit more.

 

Next game against City is going to be tight, they defend well but tactically we can easily have the better of them. Have Jonas and Routledge out wide to stretch them and keep the space more open in the middle. Ben Arfa starting in the hole can pick up the ball from a deeper position and run at the central defenders, that is going to drag them all over the place and there will be loads of space for Carroll to get into.

[Darth Crooks]

He's in the squad because of his ability to score goals........in the championship. He'll get found out this season. He's no better a player in the prem than he was the season we went down. Complete hindrance to progress

[Guest Heneage]

He's made no impact whatsoever since the Villa game. There's no sublime to be acknowledged here. We're talking about a player that'll scrape one in every 4 or 5 games and score the odd penalty. He's a waste of a shirt.

I don't mean sublime in terms of skill and ability, more in terms of value to the team.

[Shayno]

Similar to Smith in that he just isn't good enough at this level any more. Smith has injuries as his excuse, Nolan is just pure utter shite.

[Shak]

Has his value really been that great at any point this season though?

 

He's scored twice in a rout of Villa, a game where we were that dominant that your striker would be doing well not to score. And his other goal came from the spot. It's not like he's scoring crucial goals for us. I'm pretty confident that had we started Shola in his place that we'd have seen at least as good a return from the position, and we all know Shola's not up to much at this level.

[Tachikoma]

He could be useful to us someday... if the club forces a weight control regime on him that brings his weight down to the light heavyweight class at least.

[merlin]

He could be useful to us someday... if the club forces a weight control regime on him that brings his weight down to the light heavyweight class at least.

 

Can you honestly imagine Hughton enforcing ANYTHING on Nolan - or, come to that, any other manager getting an old dog of 28 to work on his basic fitness if he can't do it himself by now..?

[Benwell Lad]

Trying to defy that "senior" players will hold sway on a manager is like trying to defy gravity.

It has always happened from the Northern League to the World Cup and it always will.

Brian Clough would always play McGovern despite his shortcomings because he saw him as his lieutenant on the field.

Often a senior player's nous and presence can outweigh a younger players speed and enthusiasm in the bigger scheme, but the right balance is of course essential.

Wait until Guthrie and Gosling enter the mix, this debate could really hot up.

[Dr Venkman]

Trying to defy that "senior" players will hold sway on a manager is like trying to defy gravity.

It has always happened from the Northern League to the World Cup and it always will.

Brian Clough would always play McGovern despite his shortcomings because he saw him as his lieutenant on the field.

Often a senior player's nous and presence can outweigh a younger players speed and enthusiasm in the bigger scheme, but the right balance is of course essential.

Wait until Guthrie and Gosling enter the mix, this debate could really hot up.

 

dont see why, Nolan will still be playing up front and getting dropped into midfield when shola comes on

[merlin]

Trying to defy that "senior" players will hold sway on a manager is like trying to defy gravity.

It has always happened from the Northern League to the World Cup and it always will.

Brian Clough would always play McGovern despite his shortcomings because he saw him as his lieutenant on the field.

Often a senior player's nous and presence can outweigh a younger players speed and enthusiasm in the bigger scheme, but the right balance is of course essential.

Wait until Guthrie and Gosling enter the mix, this debate could really hot up.

 

Yes, Clough DID always play McGovern(AND took him to every club he went to), but the difference between McGovern's fitness and that of Nolan is like chalk & cheese ; he was a 100% trier....can you imagine Nolan lasting in Clough's teams ? I can just hear the waspish comments that the great man would have made when he watched Nolan training....!

[Cronky]

Trying to defy that "senior" players will hold sway on a manager is like trying to defy gravity.

It has always happened from the Northern League to the World Cup and it always will.

Brian Clough would always play McGovern despite his shortcomings because he saw him as his lieutenant on the field.

Often a senior player's nous and presence can outweigh a younger players speed and enthusiasm in the bigger scheme, but the right balance is of course essential.

Wait until Guthrie and Gosling enter the mix, this debate could really hot up.

 

A good summary of the counter-argument.

 

Gosling in particular could threaten Nolan's place in the side.