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I like how being linked to players in the press is these days as good as actually signing them.

 

Of course it is, man. They can hardly wait to come here, with our impeccable record of treating players well.

 

I didn't realise that to treat a player well you have to give them 5 year contracts until they are 33 years old.  Now I see where we are going wrong.

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In this whole furore again, one thing being ignored...he's left the Premier League for West Ham?!

 

Where were all these Premier League clubs who could offer him a 5-year deal and get these guaranteed 10 goals he was going to score next season as well as unite a dressing room?

 

What it being looked at is we have sold our captain, top goalscorer and leader for peanuts, when he didn't want to leave and had two years on his deal left.

 

I think the fact a club was prepared to offer him a long-term deal when we weren't prepared to was a factor tbh.

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As much as I enjoy having Nolan in the squad and I want him to stay, I wonder whether this leadership aspect is a bit exaggerated. Seems the main players he gets on with are Barton and Smith.

 

Not saying he hasn't helped keep the dressing room together through tough times, but I would hope that our squad is professional enough not to suddenly fall apart because Nolan is leaving.

 

I thought during the lap of honour in the last game it was strange to see Nolan and Barton walking around separately from the rest of the squad. [/bodylanguagepolice]

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Guest Roy the Irish Magpie

Yes it's a great move by the club to sell it's top goalscorer a man who has been key to our success the last 2 season and it makes even more sense to sell Jose next and bring in a young world class left back in neil taylor to replace him the squad is certainly getting stronger we will never be relegated again if we keep going this way. Ashley is the best owner you could ever hope for!

 

Note : the oppisate of everything I just wrote is true.

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Guest icemanblue

I like how being linked to players in the press is these days as good as actually signing them.

 

Of course it is, man. They can hardly wait to come here, with our impeccable record of treating players well.

 

I didn't realise that to treat a player well you have to give them 5 year contracts until they are 33 years old.  Now I see where we are going wrong.

 

:lol: Aye, ok.

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As much as I enjoy having Nolan in the squad and I want him to stay, I wonder whether this leadership aspect is a bit exaggerated. Seems the main players he gets on with are Barton and Smith.

 

Not saying he hasn't helped keep the dressing room together through tough times, but I would hope that our squad is professional enough not to suddenly fall apart because Nolan is leaving.

 

I agree.  The whole 'great team spirit' thing seems to be a bit over the top.  Not really sure what Nolan precisely does in the dressing room that is so great, but I can't see it being anywhere near as important as is made out.

 

After all, who do we actually have to confirm that Nolan is a great leader?  Barton.  And er... Nolan.

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Not to worry, if these Ligue 1 players we have and havent signed yet are anywhere near as good in the Premiership as they are in this forums imagination then we'll be fine.

 

Yes it's a great move by the club to sell it's top goalscorer a man who has been key to our success the last 2 season and it makes even more sense to sell Jose next and bring in a young world class left back in neil taylor to replace him the squad is certainly getting stronger we will never be relegated again if we keep going this way. Ashley is the best owner you could ever hope for!

 

Note : the oppisate of everything I just wrote is true.

 

Not sure I can take all this world-class sarcasm.

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Others have said it well - how much of a price do you put on "leadership"? If you've got ambitions of finishing in the top 10 year after year, you will have to upgrade on Kevin Nolan - simple as that.  No matter his leadership, you cannot effectively tie the entire identity of a club to one powerful player in the dressing room; that's a quick way to ensure eventual problems when that player has a falling out with the manager or with a teammate.  The club will survive without Nolan no matter how strong a leader he is. 

 

How you go about doing that is the difficult thing.  If he doesn't want to sign an incentivised 5 year contract on what were no doubt still high wages, and the club doesn't want a protracted contract saga a la Jose, this is the only option.  None of us truly know what specifically was offered or not offered, or how flexible each side has been in negotiation, so it's pointless to even discuss. For my part I'm just glad it's happening now rather than in August, since we have plenty of time to do what will hopefully be good business in the transfer market. 

 

Seems to be a great guy and a great leader.  Just not a great player - not great enough for all this fuss.

 

:thup: Exactly this.

 

Glad it's happening now, leaving ample time for replacements to be made.

 

Completely agree that if we have ambitions of top 10/Europe then we need to upgrade Kevin Nolan to a midfielder who can chip in a handful of goals a season while contributing to other areas of play too, Nolan just doesn't do that.

 

Football is played on the pitch, not in the dressing room.

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How on earth do we find a replacement capable of scoring 12 league goals for a few million quid? I can understand the club not offering him a new deal because of his age but at least keep him for a year to buy a bit of time to find a replacement.

 

The team's being ripped apart and absolutely every single one of them is for sale. Barton and Enrique will be next. :hmm:

 

Don't you understand? The fact he's scored all those goals shows we rely on him too much. So we have to sell him. Or something.

 

You really are dense you know that? :lol:  Point out where I said we needed to sell him because the team rely on him too much.  I said we need to change the side and that when we do Nolan will be a liability rather then a benefit.  I'd be fine with him staying for the rest of his two years as backup, but clearly Nolan isn't happy with that.  So if its a choice between giving him a new four year deal or letting him go I'd choose letting him go.

 

Essentially you've traded guaranteed goals, hard work + Nolan's other contributions for the nebulous hopes of a couple of French lads who could be back home come January. FWIW, I'm sure a compromise could've been met. If Nolan insisted on 5 years at top wages, then fair enough. I don't see it, mind.

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Not to worry, if these Ligue 1 players we have and havent signed yet are anywhere near as good in the Premiership as they are in this forums imagination then we'll be fine.

 

Yes it's a great move by the club to sell it's top goalscorer a man who has been key to our success the last 2 season and it makes even more sense to sell Jose next and bring in a young world class left back in neil taylor to replace him the squad is certainly getting stronger we will never be relegated again if we keep going this way. Ashley is the best owner you could ever hope for!

 

Note : the oppisate of everything I just wrote is true.

 

Not sure I can take all this world-class sarcasm.

 

Chicago has the best sarcasm in the world and Roy's sarcasm is second-to-none.

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As much as I enjoy having Nolan in the squad and I want him to stay, I wonder whether this leadership aspect is a bit exaggerated. Seems the main players he gets on with are Barton and Smith.

 

Not saying he hasn't helped keep the dressing room together through tough times, but I would hope that our squad is professional enough not to suddenly fall apart because Nolan is leaving.

 

I thought during the lap of honour in the last game it was strange to see Nolan and Barton walking around separately from the rest of the squad. [/bodylanguagepolice]

 

Aye.

 

Didn't he also get along famously with Andy Carroll? The same Andy Carroll that, rather than attempting to persuade him to stay, encouraged him to leave.

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WHAT I WANT TO BELIEVE:

 

The club has a plan.  Older, less mobile players are being shipped off and younger, mobile players are lined up to come in and replace them.  The club has a long term strategy to pursue young players to play with a highly flexible, attacking mindset.

 

WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING:

 

Fat Bastard woke up one morning and decided he wants to force the high wage earners with limited resale value off the club, reasoning that said veteran players also have too much say in the dressing room.  As a side note, he's decided that if Pardew doesn't like it he can fuck off and he'll bring in another puppet.

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As much as I enjoy having Nolan in the squad and I want him to stay, I wonder whether this leadership aspect is a bit exaggerated. Seems the main players he gets on with are Barton and Smith.

 

Not saying he hasn't helped keep the dressing room together through tough times, but I would hope that our squad is professional enough not to suddenly fall apart because Nolan is leaving.

 

I thought during the lap of honour in the last game it was strange to see Nolan and Barton walking around separately from the rest of the squad. [/bodylanguagepolice]

 

Aye.

 

Didn't he also get along famously with Andy Carroll? The same Andy Carroll that, rather than attempting to persuade him to stay, encouraged him to leave.

 

milesstarforth Miles Starforth

Incidentally, Tiote credited Nolan with having huge influence on him in his 1st season at #nufc. Need leaders like him. Experience essential

 

Can see him getting along with pretty much everyone. Huge loss.

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How on earth do we find a replacement capable of scoring 12 league goals for a few million quid? I can understand the club not offering him a new deal because of his age but at least keep him for a year to buy a bit of time to find a replacement.

 

The team's being ripped apart and absolutely every single one of them is for sale. Barton and Enrique will be next. :hmm:

 

Don't you understand? The fact he's scored all those goals shows we rely on him too much. So we have to sell him. Or something.

 

You really are dense you know that? :lol:  Point out where I said we needed to sell him because the team rely on him too much.  I said we need to change the side and that when we do Nolan will be a liability rather then a benefit.  I'd be fine with him staying for the rest of his two years as backup, but clearly Nolan isn't happy with that.  So if its a choice between giving him a new four year deal or letting him go I'd choose letting him go.

 

Essentially you've traded guaranteed goals, hard work + Nolan's other contributions for the nebulous hopes of a couple of French lads who could be back home come January. FWIW, I'm sure a compromise could've been met. If Nolan insisted on 5 years at top wages, then fair enough. I don't see it, mind.

 

I don't know the exact situation and I doubt 5 years as well.  But it seems like Nolan is pretty desperate to secure his future now, otherwise why has contract talks 2 years before his current deal ends been such a big issue?  Apparently we offered him a one year extension to his two year deal and he turned that down.  So he wants at least 4 years taking him to 33.

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WHAT I WANT TO BELIEVE:

 

The club has a plan.  Older, less mobile players are being shipped off and younger, mobile players are lined up to come in and replace them.  The club has a long term strategy to pursue young players to play with a highly flexible, attacking mindset.

 

WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING:

 

Fat b****** woke up one morning and decided he wants to force the high wage earners with limited resale value off the club, reasoning that said veteran players also have too much say in the dressing room.  As a side note, he's decided that if Pardew doesn't like it he can f*** off and he'll bring in another puppet.

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WHAT I WANT TO BELIEVE:

 

The club has a plan.  Older, less mobile players are being shipped off and younger, mobile players are lined up to come in and replace them.  The club has a long term strategy to pursue young players to play with a highly flexible, attacking mindset.

 

WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING:

 

Fat b****** woke up one morning and decided he wants to force the high wage earners with limited resale value off the club, reasoning that said veteran players also have too much say in the dressing room.  As a side note, he's decided that if Pardew doesn't like it he can f*** off and he'll bring in another puppet.

 

:sadnod:

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