Nolan returns to his old stomping ground.
Posted on November 19th, 2010 | 66 Comments |
The Scouser prepares himself for an emotional return to The Reebok Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
In a clearly emotional and extended interview with The Chronicle, Nolan reflected upon his time with Bolton, his move to Newcastle and his pride at playing for Newcastle United among other things.
“It was a fantastic move for me, and I was delighted when I made it.
We went down, but I wanted to prove it wasn’t the wrong move. And bit by bit, year by year, I can continue to improve and prove that why I came here was because I could see bigger and better things for this club.”
Since arriving Kevin has always always had a positive attitude and said the right things to the press. He spoke about how proud he is to be skipper at United:
“I was Bolton captain for three or four good years, and I really enjoyed it. But when I got the captaincy here, it was probably a bit of a prouder moment, because I know what it means to so many people here with the fan base.”
“It was a great achievement from where I was 18 months before. It’s been a rollercoaster since I’ve been here, but everything’s steady now, and we’re on a gentle climb as we’re going up.”
Nolan is looking to help drive Newcastle forward ater a turbulent few years. Whilst the main focus of this season has to be survival, it isn’t stopping Nolan from looking at the bigger picture with regards to the future of Newcastle and where he would like us to end up.
“I’m just delighted I’m going to be going back to Bolton fit and ready to go and with a Newcastle side we can all be proud of. That’s all I ever wanted, and I think I’ve got it.”
“It has got to get even better – we’ve got to make sure we stay in this league this year. Hopefully, we can get back to where this club wants to be, which is Europe.”
Fair play for planning for Europe over time, but first and foremost it’s Bolton. Small steps and all that.
This will be the first time that Nolan has played at the home of his former club after his, seemigly rushed, £4 million transfer back in January 2009. Nolan reflected on that transfer, and some of the good times he had at Bolton;
“I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to a lot of people. It will be an emotional day for me, but at the end of the day, I’m delighted with what I’ve got here.”
“I’m really looking forward to going with my new team, and trying to take three points off them – That’s the be all and end all.”
“We did some fantastic things down there. I got my chance under Sam Allardyce, and I do look back and it feels really weird not being part of things there, as it was so much of my life, even my family life, for so many years.”
“It’s all changed. I never ever thought I’d say it, but it’s exactly how I am here now. I just love it here, and so does my family.”
“Last time we played at Bolton I was suspended, and that really dented it when I went back. I got a great reception because I took a hospitality box that day, and they all gave me a bit of a song. That was when we were losing 1-0.”
Good interview from Kevin. He obviously has big affections for his old club who he achieved so much with. It’s bound to be an emotional day for him. But it’s good to hear of his love for Newcastle.
Kevin struggled when he first arrived on Tyneside, but despite the slow start he became pivotal in our promotion season and was one of many influential players. He is an excellent leader in fairness to him, and scoring a hat-trick against the unwashed inbreds wouldn’t have done his reputation any harm either.
Kevin will be hoping to add to his seven goal tally for the season. An impressive goal return for the midfielder who finds himself joint top goal scorer in the league. Let’s hope that sentiment doesn’t come into it tomorrow and Kev can return to haunt his old club.
Goodness knows we’ve had a long list of former players that have come back to haunt us. Charles N’Zogbia anyone? Luckily enough Damien Duff didn’t manage to get on the score sheet when Fulham visited though. I thought I’d add that because Mr ‘I’m as loyal as they come’ Duff’s exit struck the biggest nerve with me.
Bolton will be a tough test for sure. Hopefully we can take our excellent away form into this game and nick it. Bolton currently sit 1 point above us in the table. My prediction for this one is a well fought 1-1 draw.
NUFCBlog Author: MarkToon
MarkToon has written 10 articles on this blog.
Last time he was due to play for us against Bolton he went out of his way to get sent off in the match before, in the process doing a De Jong on Victor Anichebe.
I hope he puts all his effort in this time, he has become a fan favorite, and is the captain… Always a dodgy one predicting how a player will play on his old stomping ground.