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Kevin Nolan

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Guest Heneage

Guest Heneage

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Kevin Nolan not only scored our equalizer but agreed to take our best striker into his own home, just because he doesn't dictate the game like Fabregas, doesn't make him any less a leader or a valuable player to our squad, his goals might keep us up. We just need look at Sunderland for why relying on one goal scoring out let can be dangerous.

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MyPalAl

MyPalAl

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Kevin Nolan not only scored our equalizer but agreed to take our best striker into his own home, just because he doesn't dictate the game like Fabregas, doesn't make him any less a leader or a valuable player to our squad, his goals might keep us up. We just need look at Sunderland for why relying on one goal scoring out let can be dangerous.

 

Agree. I have never been a fan of his, and always thought he was over-rated, esp last season.  But I am coming around to the thought that we are a better team with him in it, and though, as Nixon says, he is not Fabregas, he is a better midfielder than just behind the CF. Plus his organisation and leadership qualities are proving to be vital. Starting to come around to him, and am prepared to cut him a bit of slack.

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AyeDubbleYoo

AyeDubbleYoo

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As I said, I thought that we would be better when not carrying Nolan, but it doesn't seem to be the ase so far. If Routledge was performing it would be easier to design a good side that doesn't include him, but at the moment it isn't.

 

I would like to see us try a team without him for 5 or 6 weeks, but I can understand why Hughton doesn't think he can take the gamble.

 

Let's just hope that he'll keep getting the goals if he I'd going to play.

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polpolpol

polpolpol

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Well, I don't think there's any chance of us agreeing about Nolan, though you make some good points:

 

 

How are we relying on 'guaranteed' goals?  To get these 'guaranteed' goals (not entirely sure what these even means) you have to create chances.  Playing possession football is just one style and generally not suited to most players in our league.  Stoke have stayed up for 3(?) years now without playing possession football.  Our aim this season is just to stay up, let's just do that first of all.

 

It's a bit shortsighted to say Nolan only contributes a goal every other of every three games (which is a quality statistic anyway!).  He keeps the ball for the most part, despite not being totally creative, only gave the ball anyway two times yesterday (and scored a goal).  Playing a conservative style is the way to go, Burnley went down going for the jugular, Hull as well and Blackpool will do the same.  If you haven't got the players you can't play that style of football.  If we keep getting 11 or so every 9 games with Nolan in the team I'd be pretty happy.

 

 

I know the season is young, and that there aren't enough games played to form a final judgement, but I think this will be totally wrong this year. There seems to have been a shift away from long ball = survival in the league. I think that Blackpool and WBA will stay up playing progressively, and that teams like Stoke and Wolves will do badly.

 

The games we've won have been more about the opposition failing rather than us playing well. This concerns me. What I fear is that we're going to be conservative – and I mean it in the worst sense, endlessly trying the replicate past successes while disregarding failures which were contemporaneous with them -  and it's not going to work. So we waste a season, not just as fans watching a frustrating side, but the team itself won't get any better; will not build for the future. The only way to do this is with a holistic approach to team-building, rather than one which values players as individual abstractions.

 

I've harped on about this before, but the key to a good team is knowing how you're going to score, and replicating those same ways of scoring goals. When I say Nolan will get 'guaranteed goals' I mean that historically he get 5 – 10 goals over a Premier League season, but when we ask how he get these goals there isn't really an answer. The ball will be crossed in, he arrives late and knocks it in, but there is no established pattern of play leading up to this. I'd rather have a player who has more roles in the team, even if that means losing Nolan's goals in the short term. That's the route to more goals in the long term.

 

I think Nolan is a really good captain and the best we've had in a while.  As Stu says he has improved the club by helping to cultivate a team spirit that has improved the current team and has seemingly helped new signings to bed in easily (I remember one interview where the players said they regularly go out for meals and bowling these days which they didn't before).  The team spirit seems amazing these days that's the third game this season we've came from behind to get a result.  To say Nolan is sending the club backwards in his captaincy is rubbish IMO.

 

If Ben Arfa was fit I wouldn't have Nolan in the team but I think he's probably good enough for a team of our level (i.e. attempting to avoid relegation) and the stuff about being the wrong type of captain is, as I say, rubbish IMO.  I was sceptical about players last season saying the team spirit was amazing and thought it would be severely tested this season with us losing more games, doesn't seem to have been broken as easily as expected and Nolan is a massive part of that IMO.  If he gets Carroll on the straight and narrow we will have more to thank him for as well.

 

 

I'm not saying that he's sending the club backwards, I'm saying that he isn't helping us move into the future (maybe not even that, just to catch up with the now would be good). Is having a captain who take the team out bowling, and is only seen in Aspers or the Diamond 'often' rather than 'frequently' the best you can hope for? I'm not saying I expect a captain who gets the lads round on a Thursday night to watch re-runs of 'Brideshead...', but in the best case, the bar must be a bit higher than (and he not seen at it quite so often) Nolan, surely?

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Guest neesy111

Guest neesy111

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As ever it's much easier to overlook his obvious flaws when he's scoring goals. At sniffing out chances and finishing he's good; as a midfielder/link-up man he's poor.

 

Not a lot more to it IMO.

 

This is spot on.

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Guest neesy111

Guest neesy111

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Pointless even going there mate, they clearly just hate Nolan and have no perspective on how he improves the team...

 

 

 

It's called opinions, people have them and if anyone thinks they are 100% right on this is wrong.

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Incognito

Incognito

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Pointless even going there mate, they clearly just hate Nolan and have no perspective on how he improves the team...

 

 

 

It's called opinions, people have them and if anyone thinks they are 100% right on this is wrong.

 

You 100% on that? :lol:

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Guest neesy111

Guest neesy111

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Pointless even going there mate, they clearly just hate Nolan and have no perspective on how he improves the team...

 

 

 

It's called opinions, people have them and if anyone thinks they are 100% right on this is wrong.

 

You 100% on that? :lol:

 

50/50 :lol:

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Ronaldo

Ronaldo

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Our two worst performances this season have occured with Nolan in the team.

They've also occured with Coloccini and Enrique in the team, whats your point?

 

If you'd bothered to read a few posts up, you'd know. There's no evidence to suggest we were at a disadvantage against Wigan because Nolan wasn't in the team.

 

Honestly, some of you lot want some fucking fizzy cold water on your heads.

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Hanshithispantz

Hanshithispantz

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Our two worst performances this season have occured with Nolan in the team.

They've also occured with Coloccini and Enrique in the team, whats your point?

 

If you'd bothered to read a few posts up, you'd know. There's no evidence to suggest we were at a disadvantage against Wigan because Nolan wasn't in the team.

 

Honestly, some of you lot want some f***ing fizzy cold water on your heads.

So are you saying his replacement Lovenkrands had a good game then?
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Guest BlacknWhiteArmy

Guest BlacknWhiteArmy

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I don't dislike Nolan at all but I thought shola looked strangely composed/skillful on the ball yesterday.

 

There was that time when he took the ball past the defender, and dinked the ball over another, before continuing his run and passing to Carroll. That was excellent skill/close control.

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Decky

Decky

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Nolan's Captaincy skills are really not to be underestimated.  He IS a leader, and the change was notable when he didn't play against Wigan.  It is true that he's hardly a Gerrard contributor, but if the rest of the team are good enough to carry him, the team will be better as a whole with him and he'll chip in with a few goals.

 

:thup:

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