Kevin Nolan

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Nolan was absolute crap just off a lone striker. I can't believe anybody wouldn't be anything other than happy that he is no longer here, the bloke looks out of his depth in the Championship - AGAIN.

 

We wouldn't had went up without his goals tbh.

 

Or stayed up!

[Guest neesy111]

Nolan was absolute crap just off a lone striker. I can't believe anybody wouldn't be anything other than happy that he is no longer here, the bloke looks out of his depth in the Championship - AGAIN.

 

We wouldn't had went up without his goals tbh.

 

Or stayed up!

 

Aye.  Say what you like about the bloke but he scored goals and some very important goals as well.

[ponsaelius]

So people would have liked him to stay, right? As a 60k a week bench option to be used as 'body to throw on at certain times' who I suppose also still held the captaincy?

 

Sounds plausible.

[Mick]

 

 

Or stayed up!

 

His goals were worth 4 points.

[Guest neesy111]

So people would have liked him to stay, right? As a 60k a week 'body to throw on at certain times' who I suppose also still held the captaincy?

 

Sounds plausible.

 

He would had played a lot less this season anycase with Cabaye coming in anycase, but he would be more useful than Dan Gosling has been this season.

 

Also his contribution over the last 2 years helped us to get us into the position we are in now both on and off the pitch.

[Yorkie]

I think he'd have been a fairly regular starter and relatively useful in this set up. Playing alongside Cabaye as well as Tiote would have let us utilise Nolan's best attributes.

 

But like i've said, not fussed that he has gone. Just don't think he deserves some of the slagging off that he gets from this place at times. One of the key reasons we are where we are now (and by that i mean, the top half of the Premier League).

[ponsaelius]

So people would have liked him to stay, right? As a 60k a week 'body to throw on at certain times' who I suppose also still held the captaincy?

 

Sounds plausible.

 

He would had played a lot less this season anycase with Cabaye coming in anycase, but he would be more useful than Dan Gosling has been this season.

 

Also his contribution over the last 2 years helped us to get us into the position we are in now both on and off the pitch.

 

So 60 a week for a squad player? Football doesn't work like that, man. You can't collect footballers like a Panini sticker album.

 

Getting rid of him and in turn moving the captaincy has been absolutely the right decision.

[Guest neesy111]

So people would have liked him to stay, right? As a 60k a week 'body to throw on at certain times' who I suppose also still held the captaincy?

 

Sounds plausible.

 

He would had played a lot less this season anycase with Cabaye coming in anycase, but he would be more useful than Dan Gosling has been this season.

 

Also his contribution over the last 2 years helped us to get us into the position we are in now both on and off the pitch.

 

So 60 a week for a squad player? Football doesn't work like that, man. You can't collect footballers like a Panini sticker album.

 

Getting rid of him and in turn moving the captaincy has been absolutely the right decision.

 

He wasn't on 60k a week here ffs.  He got a payrise for moving to West Ham.

[ponsaelius]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

[Stu]

I don't think anyone is arguing that selling him when we did was a good decision Sewelly, just saying that we weren't all desperate to run him out of town as you were.

[Yorkie]

Like you've got any sodding idea, Sewelly.

[ponsaelius]

I don't think anyone is arguing that selling him when we did was a good decision Sewelly, just saying that we weren't all desperate to run him out of town as you were.

 

I actually said at the time I'd have liked to keep him around to make the bedding in period easier, but in hindsight I really don't think it would have been possible. It's another case of begrudgingly saying the club was right, which I find myself doing fairly frequently recently.

[Stu]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

 

FWIW, it was the length of contract that the club disagreed with. They only thought he had 2 seasons of top flight football left, he wanted to be paid for overperforming his earlier contract in the previous season.

 

Like I said, it worked out well for all parties, no need to bang on about him now that he's gone and we've moved on.

[Guest neesy111]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

 

You don't have to sell players who want a new contract.  It's called running down a contract.

[ponsaelius]

Like you've got any sodding idea, Sewelly.

 

Whatever Who gives a shit about the exact figures, it was clearly a lot and he was clearly banking on his power in the dressing room to net him a new contract.

[Guest neesy111]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

 

FWIW, it was the length of contract that the club disagreed with. They only thought he had 2 seasons of top flight football left, he wanted to be paid for overperforming his earlier contract in the previous season.

 

Like I said, it worked out well for all parties, no need to bang on about him now that he's gone and we've moved on.

 

He wasn't over-performing mind.  He was just about justifying his pay packet.

[Geordie Ahmed]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

 

You don't have to sell players who want a new contract.  It's called running down a contract.

 

Might as well get a fee for them instead of letting them go for free

 

Plus once it was known West Ham were prepared to pay daft money he would not have wanted to stick around

[ponsaelius]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

 

You don't have to sell players who want a new contract.  It's called running down a contract.

 

He moved because he didn't get the new contract man! His agent is the same as Allardyce's, you're trying to tell me he didn't know what he had to fall back on at West Ham when he was in negotiations?

[Guest neesy111]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

 

You don't have to sell players who want a new contract.  It's called running down a contract.

 

Might as well get a fee for them instead of letting them go for free

 

Plus once it was known West Ham were prepared to pay daft money he would not have wanted to stick around

 

Well he showed his true intentions when he decided to drop down a division.

[johnnypd]

Pretty sure Nolan was on 35k. He was invaluable to us in the circumstances, so i wish him all the best for the future. Also think he's very important for where West Ham are at the moment, so it's a bit rich of their fans to slate him. He has well known limitations but also well known qualities, if you build a side to deal with that he'll be a big asset in terms of getting promoted which is what they need right now.

[Guest neesy111]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

 

You don't have to sell players who want a new contract.  It's called running down a contract.

 

He moved because he didn't get the new contract man! His agent is the same as Allardyce's, you're trying to tell me he didn't know what he had to fall back on at West Ham when he was in negotiations?

 

NUFC could have simply not decided to sell him, the way he spat his dummy out over not getting a new contract was pathetic mind.  NUFC were rightly pissed off by the actions of his agent.

[Stu]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

 

FWIW, it was the length of contract that the club disagreed with. They only thought he had 2 seasons of top flight football left, he wanted to be paid for overperforming his earlier contract in the previous season.

 

Like I said, it worked out well for all parties, no need to bang on about him now that he's gone and we've moved on.

 

He wasn't over-performing mind.  He was just about justifying his pay packet.

 

I would have never have expected one of our most influential players for the first 6months of the season to be one of the 'average' paid players. The downside of not have the wage structure under control, is that players who do a good job expect to be paid on a similar level - Barton, Xisco, Colo, Smith, etc. were all being paid far more than Nolan yet not contributing as much (except for Colo, but his contributions rarely showed up in the papers).

[Guest neesy111]

Pretty sure that's the contract he was demanding.

 

FWIW, it was the length of contract that the club disagreed with. They only thought he had 2 seasons of top flight football left, he wanted to be paid for overperforming his earlier contract in the previous season.

 

Like I said, it worked out well for all parties, no need to bang on about him now that he's gone and we've moved on.

 

He wasn't over-performing mind.  He was just about justifying his pay packet.

 

I would have never have expected one of our most influential players for the first 6months of the season to be one of the 'average' paid players. The downside of not have the wage structure under control, is that players who do a good job expect to be paid on a similar level - Barton, Xisco, Colo, Smith, etc. were all being paid far more than Nolan yet not contributing as much (except for Colo, but his contributions rarely showed up in the papers).

 

Hence why you need performance related pay. 

[Stu]

Agreed.

[Sifu]

People can say what they want about Nolan but this is how I saw him during his time here:

 

2008/09: Thought he was a good signing at first because we needed some bite in midfield and he seemed to fit the profile (of course the months that followed showed that he was really underwhelming. Did nothing of note really).

 

2009/10: Fantastic goal record. His goals helped us to gain promotion and became one of the more senior/influential figures in the squad. He was an important player for us the year. Though it became clear that there were limitations in terms of fitness/athleticism.

 

2010/11: Hughton developed a system which allowed Nolan to play a really key role in the team. Yes, as evidenced at times in the Championship season, he was a limited player and was often a weakness in CM - it became increasingly apparent that we lacked movement in the middle (though you could say that signing Tiote was key as he was able to provide a lot of cover for Nolan's main weakness). Having said that, he was an important player in the team last season - this was mainly down to his influence as captain on and off the pitch and of course his goals. His goals helped us to stay up really, he had the habit of being at the right place at the right time which was of the utmost importance. One thing I won't ever forget is his hat trick in that memorable game against the mackems at St. James'. Once Carroll left, his influence on the pitch slightly declined but he still managed to score some important goals.

 

Post 2010/11 season: I was quite angry when we sold Nolan tbh. We had sold our influential captain and top goalscorer and I thought such a sale made no sense. There were initial concerns from people on how Cabaye, his "replacement", would do in the PL (questions on whether he would adapt and all that) - let's be frank, not many people had an idea on how Yohan was going to do for us when we first signed him. Yes, we were aware of his track record (winning Ligue 1 with Lille) but very few of us had actually seen him play. Of course the months that went by showed us that Cabaye was indeed PL-capable (don't think he's fully adapted as yet but he is getting there) and has since become such a key player for us. The main thing that was made clear was we had some movement in CM, something which we lacked from when Nolan was in the middle during his time here.

So in the end, Nolan's sale turned out to be the best move for both parties - Kevin got the contract he wanted (which we weren't prepared to offer him) and we got our money back for him. His "replacement" has done well for us so what's done is done and people just have to move on. There's certainly no ill-feeling from myself when it comes to talking about Nolan. I will continue to respect him for his contribution to the club (primarily helping us to get back on our feet).