Is Nolan stalling on new contract now?

Posted on May 26th, 2011 | 20 Comments |

Nolan: Having second thoughts now?
Nolan: Having second thoughts now?
With left back, Jose Enrique stalling on new contract negotiations amidst much speculation on a move to Liverpool, and now the Joey Barton imbroglio over his 2/3/4 year contract extension, could it now be that current captain and leading goalscorer, Kevin Nolan, is the latest to vacillate over his long term future at the club?

Speaking a month ago, Nolan, who’s contract expires in June of 2013, said of the renewal:

“Negotiations are at an advanced stage. Most things have been agreed and I would think I will sign next week or the week after.”

He continued:

“The gaffer and the board have been great about it. It’s almost done and dusted. I want the whole thing over and done with because, until I sign, everyone is going to be asking me about it.”

Only a few days ago, Nolan reinforced the message, but this time suggesting that it was important for the club to keep Barton and other “big players” at the club, saying:

“Over the last two years I feel I’ve proved myself here but I don’t want it to stop at that. I want it to go on over the next three, four or five years.”

But he then added: “I’d like us to keep Joey. He’s a big player and he has said he wants to stay.

“We all want Joey to stay, we want to keep this squad together. We can’t afford to lose any other big players.”

However in the midst of Enrique’s, and now Barton’s contract talks reaching an impasse, there is still no word on whether Nolan will be pledging his future to Newcastle United beyond the end of next season. As I’ve already written, it is now a month since Nolan said that he expected his new contract to be tied up “next week or the week after”

Meanwhile, going back to Barton, he told French football magazine, ‘So Foot’ magazine in a somewhat controversial interview in early April that he would stay if Nolan did, saying:

“But I’m going to wait and see if players like Kevin Nolan, Cheick Tioté and Jose Enrique stay.”

‘If Nolan signs a new deal, I will as well. But I hope the club step things up.”

Well Nolan has not signed his new deal yet, and neither has Barton. Now this may be blind speculation, well, it IS blind speculation actually, but could Nolan be the latest to have second thoughts on his future at Newcastle United?

As you can see above, Barton has expressed his anxiety that the club retains it’s top players such as Nolan, Enrique and Tiote, while Nolan has expressed similar sentiments about the club retaining Barton and other key players such as the ones mentioned above. Could it be that both are linked in some way?

As always, time will tell as always how this all unfolds…

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1095 articles on this blog.

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20 Responses

  1. I said in January that the real impact of the sale of AC would be the effect on squad morale with the senior players losing even more faith and trust(if there ever was any)in Cashley and Lamearse.There may be brinkmanship going on and all may end well but there are real concerns about the ambition and direction of the club and the players feel it.So much for a relaxing chilled out summer

  2. im numb with our board, chairman and owner. they do not in any shape or form deserve to run my great club. the likes of barton and nolan (if they want to stay as it seems they do) should be kept. they stuck with us wen we went down, grafting at preston north end and doncaster on minging midweek nites. they are two of our better players, neva mind fact that they team leaders also..why do you think Ferguson kept hold of giggs, scholes, Neville for so long? aside from footballing ability they were massive dressing room leaders. being a semi pro player myself this charactereristic is worth its weight in gold and cannot be underestimated. im over hating ashley, just numb now.

  3. Evening Gents, great blog!!

    I’ve just put together a short silent movie about a Sad Mackem for a Uni project, i would love you all to ceheck it out….Ta

    heres the link

  4. I am beginning to feel (and maybe I am late in coming to this realization) that Mike Ashley doesn’t give a bollox about moral and team spirit, at least when it does not revolve around himself. The first culprit to take the axe was Chris Hughton, because he was too much of a players’ man rather than the owner’s man. That was corrected with the appointment of Alan Pardew. Now we see the axe falling on players at the heart of the Newcastle revolutionary spirit, namely Joey Barton – no doubt a “trouble-maker” in Mr. Ashley’s eyes if ever there was one. He now has the bit firmly between his teeth and will make NUFC into his club no matter what it takes, and if the players and fans don’t like it, well they can just bugger off. Where it all leads is yet to be seen.

  5. robsondoc says:
    May 26, 2011 at 9:53 pm

    “There may be brinkmanship going on and all may end well”

    robsondoc, That’s kind of what I was thinking when I started writing the blog. “Btinksmandhip” was a good choice of word, perhaps I should have used it.

  6. Welcome aboard Paul,nothing will change until the regime changes.Every transfer window they talk big then produce nothing.They only want yes men hence Mr.Pardew, and it looks now that if any player doesn’t tow the party line then he is out too.

  7. havanaclue says:
    May 26, 2011 at 10:01 pm

    “Evening Gents, great blog!!”

    Thanks for the kind words, Alex.

    As for the film :lol:

  8. yes,, the transfer window is in full swing now lol lol lol…….. its high time that all the ‘ashley is amzing’ brigade wake up and smell the coffee. its not dilusional, its a fact, the guy and dekka and AP, the lot of them are all tossers. Ahsely has NO interest in nufc doing well at all. His ONLY goal is us jopefully scraping by in the prem with zero investment while he continues to asset strip. ripping out the heart and soul of our entire team. jose, barton, nolan, this will defo lead to jonas going. And there is no point in any of you lot saying ‘ i dont mind if they go as long as we get suitable replacements’ cos that does nto wash and the root cause goes far far deeper. He will NOT buy suitable repalcements at all. He will get freebies only or players for peanuts,. FFS lads, WAKE UP!! beardslys boots…. where are you, you not so voiciferous at the minute eh???

  9. Whilst all this talk of exodus is very unnerving can I just point out that nothing has happened yet…the transfer window isn’t even open?!?

    I’m hoping it’s brinkmanship but time will tell…

  10. @9…….witters mate….joey has said via his agent for the whole world to read that the only way he will stay at newcastle is if ashley leaves. i would say that pretty much seals his fate wouldnt you?? Its no co-incidence that ALL our main players have refused to sign contracts is it? Its like standing on the back of the titantic when she is tipping up saying ‘i dont think its going to sink, lets just wait and see what happens’.

  11. Craig…I think the titanic analogy is a little dramatic but I see where you’re coming from & it doesn’t look good.

    All I’m saying is that until it’s confirmed by the club then it’s speculation.

  12. Also I find it odd that Barton’s agent states he’ll only stay if Ashley leaves yet praises them for all the support Barton has received from the club during his troubled years.

    At the end of the day payees will come & go and we’ll see what the squad is like compared to the current squad at the end of the transfer window. Either way theres fcuk all we can do it & it’s not the end of the world. The club will reap what they sow, again, either way…

  13. 12…. too true witters. i agree, they will reap what they sow and there is sod all we can do about it in reality but i for one would rather let my feelings be known in advance in an effort to be heard rather than wait and wait until its too late to recact. I know as one, i am a tiny voice that will never be heard but if we all stood up and said our piece we might get heard. i am of the pro-active apprached adn not the reactive one as many are. If i see an issue i think it should be fixed on the spot and not wait until it burns your home down, thats just me thnough, its not everyones way for sure. we have all been here before with ashley and dekka though, every window is mental. Ashley runs nufc on panic mode, all the time. They spew on about wanting stability then act like this… jokers man.
    Joeys agent only praised one person for one thing, e praised Dekka for the way he supported Joey when i the clinker, thats prob cos half his (Dekka’s) mates are in there too. Ashley was not praised at all.

  14. Craig Chisholm – the way things are going it looks like it will be me giving you the apologies come august lol
    All your doom and gloom seems to be coming true.
    But as the saying goes, its not over til the fat fecker trousers the cash.
    TBH the way the club is treating its better players, re contracts is nothing short of disgusting. I mean Ranger gets a 5 year contract, wtf???
    I actually feel like I would like Barton, Jose, Nolan et al to just stay the final yr and run their contracts down, then all leave on free’s. Just to stop the fat controller getting anything for them.
    Ha Ha there’s nowt Ashley could do about it either. If you know what I mean lol.

  15. The reality is if it can be done on a shoestring MA will take that route.
    Since he bought the club it’s been blatantly obvious he has no gameplan other than to upset fans,managers and players whilst creaming money from assets that he continually strips.

    First class Bozo MA,lapdog manager with zero testicles or spine and a goggleeyed owl as a sidekick.

  16. First class Bozo MA,lapdog manager with zero testicles or spine and a goggleeyed owl as a sidekick.

    :lol: :lol: :lol:

  17. as much as i dont rate nolan and ther are better midfielders than barton u cant replace their presence on the pitch. for any succesful club it has to have a solid domestic presence( (backbone) in any league

  18. I find Nolan really hard to rate.

    Good Points:
    – He’s a well-respected leader,
    – He scores a lot of goals (fot a midfielder).

    Bad Point:
    – He sometimes goes missing for large parts of games.

  19. i would play nolan as an emergency striker these days,he just doesn’t have the legs to be a competitive midfielder.

  20. make sometimes “often”.
    but then again he was carrying an injury