Kevin Nolan

[Taylor Swift]

He had a good game yesterday. Every one did. Don't see why we have trudge up this debate today.

 

Exactly. I guarantee this thread will deservedly be bumped a few more times throughout this season.

[Stu]

The only reason Nolan looked (and played) good yesterday is because the players around him are mobile. Ben Arfa, Tiote, Routledge and Barton were all constantly moving on and off the ball and this allowed Nolan to float into good positions and make short passes because the players around him had made their runs. The key wasn't really his place being challenged, it was the fact that Smith (the immovable object) had been replaced by a mobile player.

 

If Nolan had pace and movement he'd be a quality player. I don't care how much flak I get because he's got a decent touch, can read the game and is a good finisher.

 

Perhaps it could be that he's quite an influential player (mind you don't say that on here though) and the performance of the team depends on him somewhat?

 

Not sure how that contradicts what everyone has already said about him.

 

It's implied/commented on here that Nolan's perfomance depends on the reast of the team i.e. he's usually carried by the perfomance of the other players, whereas it's increasingly looking as though he has a much greater influence on the match.

 

 

[Fatwax]

The only reason Nolan looked (and played) good yesterday is because the players around him are mobile. Ben Arfa, Tiote, Routledge and Barton were all constantly moving on and off the ball and this allowed Nolan to float into good positions and make short passes because the players around him had made their runs. The key wasn't really his place being challenged, it was the fact that Smith (the immovable object) had been replaced by a mobile player.

 

If Nolan had pace and movement he'd be a quality player. I don't care how much flak I get because he's got a decent touch, can read the game and is a good finisher.

 

Perhaps it could be that he's quite an influential player (mind you don't say that on here though) and the performance of the team depends on him somewhat?

 

Not sure how that contradicts what everyone has already said about him.

 

It's implied/commented on here that Nolan's perfomance depends on the reast of the team i.e. he's usually carried by the perfomance of the other players, whereas it's increasingly looking as though he has a much greater influence on the match.

 

 

 

I agree, but it's his lack of mobility that stops him stepping up and when other areas of the midfield lack mobility it'll directly affect his problem. He has the ability, he just lacks the ability to move with any pace.

[Guest elbee909]

I'd have him in the team any day ahead of Alan Smith, but he has to be able to move as well.  No hatred here, his goals last season were absolutely what we needed, but he needs to pick himself up to maintain consistency at this level if we're looking to keep playing proper football.

[biggs]

I'd have him in the team any day ahead of Alan Smith, but he has to be able to move as well.  No hatred here, his goals last season were absolutely what we needed, but he needs to pick himself up to maintain consistency at this level if we're looking to keep playing proper football.

:clap:well said and i agree keep up the good work and we cannot moan but if he doesnt score goals he will get the stick he deserves.

[Stu]

I'd have him in the team any day ahead of Alan Smith, but he has to be able to move as well.  No hatred here, his goals last season were absolutely what we needed, but he needs to pick himself up to maintain consistency at this level if we're looking to keep playing proper football.

:claps: well said and i agree keep up the good work and we cannot moan but if he doesnt score goals he will get the stick he deserves.

 

Really? Deserves?

 

Just from page 1...

 

I don't care how many goals he scored last year, I don't care how many goals he'll score this year because every time he starts, we're effectively playing with 10 men.

 

He's fat, he's slow, his touch is horrible, he's constantly fouling the opposition, straying into offside positions and generally just being a moaning cunt. He's a pathetic footballer, and I can't believe this cunt is our captain.

 

How Hughton left him on for 90 minutes today I'll never know because he stopped running after 60.

 

 

Some were fooled by the goals. Others were able to see past the stats and suggest the way forward was without a team fatty. Hopefully if there is a positive from this loss it is that you won't get away with playing clapped out championship players at the top level.

 

Completely unprofessional. No manager should be playing someone who can't even show the commitment to get into decent enough shape to be on the pitch. He is so rotund it is untrue. How can this be acceptable? Icannot stand the guy. Half the time he is out there joking and goofing around, with his "clever" standing infront of the goalie prank and s***. Horrendous human. This banter and craic bollocks gets people too much leniency in this society. Now we get to watch SSN wax lyrical about Blackpool beating us all week. Brilliant!

 

 

Got the same problem that Parker had now; making him captain has made him pretty much undroppable and as such he's likely to just get worse and worse, when a couple of weeks out might be just what he, and the team, need.  Will be a very brave move on Hughton's part to say, "OK, I picked a shit captain to start with so I'm going to change my mind mid-season".  The only hope is a long-term injury >_<

 

I think Hughton chose him to be the captain because he scored a lot of goals last season. Apart from him, who else is fit enough to be captain excluding Smith? I would just like to mention that Perch was rubbish as well, but thats nothing surprising I would think.

 

Nolan isn't a world-beater, but he's a very important player for this club and the level of abuse aimed at him is mind-boggling

[Taylor Swift]

He's not a very important player for this club. Our important players, in no particular order, are Carroll, Enrique, Barton, Tiote and Ben Arfa. The rest can be adequately replaced by other players in the squad, like Nolan can be.

 

Tell me what skills he has. He had a decent game yesterday but he didn't do anything particularly well, did he? Did he link up play? Did he break up play? Was his movement good? Did he score? Did he contribute to our attack?

 

He had a decent game purely because he got touches, but his touches weren't special nor were they crucial to our play. If he can consistently get involved in the game then people won't have anything to say about his game, because yesterday was pretty much an average performance. It's only because he's usually so invisible that people feel the need to criticise and obviously give him some credit when he actually shows some semblance of footballing ability (like yesterday). No one else in our current starting line-up is afforded the luxury of coming in and out of the game that he has, and that's a reflection of his importance to our play (not very).

 

We can easily afford to drop Nolan. I'd say that if we dropped any of the other players that I mentioned then our play would be significantly affected.

[Mick]

 

Nolan isn't a world-beater, but he's a very important player for this club and the level of abuse aimed at him is mind-boggling

 

The level of abuse directed at Nolan is down to his poor displays on the pitch, if you are prepared to accept his poor performances as being good enough then that's up to you.  Yesterday was one of his better performances but a poor one is unlikely to be too far away.

[Keefaz]

Did he link up play? Did he break up play? Was his movement good? Did he score? Did he contribute to our attack?

 

Um. Yes. Well, except for score, but nearly.

[Guest BooBoo]

He's not a very important player for this club. Our important players, in no particular order, are Carroll, Enrique, Barton, Tiote and Ben Arfa. The rest can be adequately replaced by other players in the squad, like Nolan can be.

 

Tell me what skills he has. He had a decent game yesterday but he didn't do anything particularly well, did he? Did he link up play? Did he break up play? Was his movement good? Did he score? Did he contribute to our attack?

 

He had a decent game purely because he got touches, but his touches weren't special nor were they crucial to our play. If he can consistently get involved in the game then people won't have anything to say about his game, because yesterday was pretty much an average performance. It's only because he's usually so invisible that people feel the need to criticise and obviously give him some credit when he actually shows some semblance of footballing ability (like yesterday). No one else in our current starting line-up is afforded the luxury of coming in and out of the game that he has, and that's a reflection on how important he is to us (not very).

 

It must be wonderful being so miserable.

[ponsaelius]

The criticism he gets is usually pretty warranted, he's largely anonymous in most of the games he plays.

 

Yesterday was a rare game where he was actively involved for 90 minutes, if he can keep it up then great.

[Taylor Swift]

He's one of the most replaceable players in our first eleven right now.

[Heron]

Kevin nolan raped everton yesterday you absolutely moronic gonks.

 

Heza

 

[TRon]

I still think we'd be better playing Jonas or Lovenkrands than Nolan.

[Bad Mongo]

I think neither Jonas nor Løvenkrands has any sort of leadership abilities, whereas Nolan has been chosen as club captain for some reason.

[Stu]

I still think we'd be better playing Jonas or Lovenkrands than Nolan.

 

Would you pick Ryan Taylor over Ole Soderberg

[Dave]

Would you pick Ryan Taylor over Ole Soderberg

 

What a stupid post.

 

[Taylor Swift]

Stu, what does Nolan do that other players in our squad can't?

 

Lovenkrands, with his pace up front, would cause far more trouble for the opposition, even though he's not Premiership-standard.

[ponsaelius]

I still think we'd be better playing Jonas or Lovenkrands than Nolan.

 

Would you pick Ryan Taylor over Ole Soderberg

 

wut?

[Heron]

There are some right mongs on here like...and believe it or not, I'm actually not one of them. I'm just semi-gimptastic.

[Willow]

This thread is so full of fail..

[biggs]

I'd have him in the team any day ahead of Alan Smith, but he has to be able to move as well.  No hatred here, his goals last season were absolutely what we needed, but he needs to pick himself up to maintain consistency at this level if we're looking to keep playing proper football.

:claps: well said and i agree keep up the good work and we cannot moan but if he doesnt score goals he will get the stick he deserves.

 

Really? Deserves?

 

Just from page 1...

 

I don't care how many goals he scored last year, I don't care how many goals he'll score this year because every time he starts, we're effectively playing with 10 men.

 

He's fat, he's slow, his touch is horrible, he's constantly fouling the opposition, straying into offside positions and generally just being a moaning c***. He's a pathetic footballer, and I can't believe this c*** is our captain.

 

How Hughton left him on for 90 minutes today I'll never know because he stopped running after 60.

 

 

Some were fooled by the goals. Others were able to see past the stats and suggest the way forward was without a team fatty. Hopefully if there is a positive from this loss it is that you won't get away with playing clapped out championship players at the top level.

 

Completely unprofessional. No manager should be playing someone who can't even show the commitment to get into decent enough shape to be on the pitch. He is so rotund it is untrue. How can this be acceptable? Icannot stand the guy. Half the time he is out there joking and goofing around, with his "clever" standing infront of the goalie prank and s***. Horrendous human. This banter and craic bollocks gets people too much leniency in this society. Now we get to watch SSN wax lyrical about Blackpool beating us all week. Brilliant!

 

 

Got the same problem that Parker had now; making him captain has made him pretty much undroppable and as such he's likely to just get worse and worse, when a couple of weeks out might be just what he, and the team, need.  Will be a very brave move on Hughton's part to say, "OK, I picked a s*** captain to start with so I'm going to change my mind mid-season".  The only hope is a long-term injury >_<

 

I think Hughton chose him to be the captain because he scored a lot of goals last season. Apart from him, who else is fit enough to be captain excluding Smith? I would just like to mention that Perch was rubbish as well, but thats nothing surprising I would think.

 

Nolan isn't a world-beater, but he's a very important player for this club and the level of abuse aimed at him is mind-boggling

Tbh just why is he so important over any other player he may have experience but you could argue that his legs have gone and a few years back he would have slipped that past the keeper before and not have been brought down

[Guest MrBrown]

He probably did as much as, if not more than, Carroll last season. In addition, Carroll has missed some pretty good chances this season, same as Nolan. Yet, one is brilliant and one is shit. Just throwing that out there.

[Guest secteur2010]

it's like I said to a mate yesterday, "If Nolan had an extra two yards pace he'd be spot on".

 

Got the reply back, "If Nolan had an extra two yard pace he'd not be playing for us!".

 

Had to agree.

[Ronaldo]

Yeah, that's why he spent his best years at Bolton Wanderers.