Kevin Nolan off to West Ham?

Posted on June 15th, 2011 | 121 Comments |

Hammers want this chicken.
Has the funky chicken danced his last dance for us?
Kevin Nolan has done a lot for this club since arriving here in January 2009 and, with Chris Hughton, managed to build the best team spirit this club has seen since the days of Sir Bobby but it looks as though this transfer window is to be the end of his captaincy.

Sky Sports, Twitter and countless other websites are reporting that Kevin Nolan is currently in London having a medical for the Hammers and that is dire, dire news if true. My usual optimism has been completely depleted as I’ve watched the betting odds being slashed over the past hour to a mind boggling 1/4 at my last check. Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, José Enrique – where is it going to end? Jonas, Coloccini – how many other first team players can we sell?

The irony is that Pardew has been talking about Champions League football and that is where our ambitions should lie. His reasoning for European competition? Keeping our best players.

Speaking specifically about Enrique, Pardew said this:

“We have got to become more competitive as a football club so players like José don’t want to leave. He has Champions League aspirations and he is waiting to see whether anyone who has qualified for that competition is willing to come in for him.”

“That is his right and there isn’t much more we can do about it. We have tried as hard as we can, in the financial situation we are in, to keep him. We offered him an excellent deal, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in signing it at the moment.”

“It is frustrating – but that is the situation we are in. It is up to him, but he wants to see what else there is for him.”

The speculated price is £3m plus a player. Who that player is, is another question entirely although French fullback Julien Faubert has been mentioned and at 27 I can’t see him being a great choice given our supposed ‘youth policy’ and the contract dealings being bandied about the Toon.. Last I checked there isn’t many Hammers players I’d bring to Newcastle although it does worry me considering that we have been linked to one specific West Ham player over the past couple of weeks… and that player is Carlton Cole.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Carlton is a lovely lad but his statistics are hardly mind blowing when you consider that Shola Ameobi is, statistically speaking, a better player than he is.

Expect to see an exodus from the hallowed turf if there is truth to this rumour which there definitely appears to be. It’s quite rare that the bookmakers get things wrong and seeing Kevin Nolan drop not only our armband and the stripes but also a division is a very accurate look into the true state of our once great club.

Thanks for the memories, Kev.

NUFCBlog Author: Thump Some say his bones are black and white but that is yet to be medically proven. Currently writes for a few different publications and likes to assert his imaginary authority on nobody in particular. Beware: eats children. Thump has written 36 articles on this blog.

Related Posts:

  • No Related Posts

Posted on by Thump in category: Alan Pardew and Joey Barton and Jose Enrique and Kevin Nolan and Thump and Transfers
Comment on this post

121 Responses

  1. sad to see him go – but cant really see where he will fit in next season. Bad for morale though. I hope we have a plan….

  3. Good bit of business for west ham….good effort by Nolan last season and the season before.
    Bit of a shame he is leaving…..wonder who next?
    Kerching Kerching as the Ashley tills go into overdrive again.

  4. Just noticed the bottom bit
    #mejoseandjonasnext

    add Collo to that lot and I got em all right moons ago :lol:
    Maybe I am Mike Ashley haha

    KERCHING!!

  5. beaten to it on the twitter quote

    Ashley needs to take his face out of the casino once in a while me thinks

  6. Having lost his driving license and most of his personal speed, it will be easier for Nolan to get around without a car in London than on Tyneside.

    Here’s wishing him well.

  7. What the hell are they doing !!!? Sell Captain is the last thing we have to if we want to keep spirit inside the camp.

  10. cant see where he fits in next year if he stays.you can’t have your captain sat on the bench which is where he would be.his legs have gone and he won’t get us into that top tier.never forget the hatrick against the mackems tho.thanks for the memories kev.legend.

  11. From one of the poster’s on Ed’s blog:

    “To be fair to the club, they only have 4 options on Nolan:

    1. Accept a decent offer for him now and get him off the books.
    2. Accept a poor offer next season.
    3. Let him go for NOTHING when his contract expires.
    4. Pander to him and offer him the contract he wants, which will see him here as a high earner into his 30′s where he may not be playing week-in-week-out.

    Now, which of those is most appealing??”

    Pretty accurate really. Thanks, Kev, but maybe you should have accepted what was on the table, if you wanted to stay.

    Might I also add that I’m getting royally f*cked off with Joey Barton’s petulant tweeting. It’s as likey to harm morale as any sale.

  12. Yeah Yeah Yeah
    Shame to see him go , and all that crap.

    OK so he scored 12 goals – that’s about what you would expect a couple of half decent strikers to get each.

    Stop being such a bloody doom-monger and look forward. We’ve still got the time and the cash to bring in faster, younger and better replacements.

    Good luck to him but at the end of the day he didn’t want to commit to the responsibility required to get the deal he wanted.

    He still has 2 years of his contract left and he’s off. Not a lot of difference between him and Carrol, and Enrique if he goes.

    For god’s sake, with seventy odd days of the transfer window still to go and 30 million plus in the kitty, maybe 40, whats the point of getting worked up now?

    Nolan plays Sam Allardyce Football anyway, not Newcastle United Football

    Personally I’mm looking forward to 4 or 5 decent players coming in – I’m not too bothered about one or 2 leaving.

  13. Personally I think Nolan could have done even better with a bunch of new fast skilful players around him, and probably scored quite a few goals next season. Having said that you have to look at when Keegan got us promoted and jettisoned several players who had done a great job for us, and we didn’t miss them. The big question is whether or not we can bring in better replacements. I’d love to see Barnetta come in to replace him.

  14. I have a mate who works in Bremen in germany. Apparently he knows someone at Werder who says that we’re in with a bid for their young centre forward – Marko Arnautovic. Personally i dont know even his name – he says he’s a canny player – but a bit of a headcase – a la Andy carroll… he likes a bevvy and the ladies…..well – who doesnt?

  15. Completely disgraceful that Nufc board are yet again so happy to sell the players that make up the heart of our team. We’re going to end up with a team of strangers next season. Take a bow Fatman uv done it again!

    GUTTED

  16. Carroll and Nolan, 23 goals = premiership survival.
    Where they going to come from next season?

    PR director must be gong mental trying to put a positive spin on this one??

  17. Archie Brand says:

    “For god’s sake, with seventy odd days of the transfer window still to go and 30 million plus in the kitty, maybe 40”

    Dream on Archie, dream on.

  18. Now we might understand why the interest in midfielders!

    However, we do need an established RB, LB and strikers but hope beoyond hope that Carlton Cole’s not gonna be on of the latter.

    But on the upside, if the fee for Nolan’s said to be £3m plus a player, I really can’t see an England international (Cole) being that player if we were said to be prepared to accept £4m for Nolan.

    For sure, Nolan’s departure along with Jose and probably Barton, means we’ll have a helluva lot of new faces in the side – that doesn’t bode well for next season… or does it?

  19. MeJoseandJOnasnext-That will be Carroll,Nolan,Routledge,Campbell,Kuqi,Smith, Barton,Enrique,Ranger,Jonas, and most likely Colloccini away in the space of 6 months-
    11 players that may not be the best in the world, but 11 players that need replacing, as our squad was paper thin last year anyway.
    Can we really expect 11 players to be signed by these clowns, never mind 11 decent players bedding in and gelling as a team.

    Worrying, troubled times

    Action must be taken

  21. Julien Faubert is just pants and C Cole shouldnt even be a pro football player. I’d be gutted if we sign any of these muppets.

    We should of kept Nolan until his contract ended or his legs packed in. Sell Guthrie, Smith instead nolan would of been a good option from the bench.

    We should refuse to sell barton, we’re going into a new season without any English grit..

  22. OK so he scored 12 goals – that’s about what you would expect a couple of half decent strikers to get each.

    From midfield. If he had kept that up for the coming season we would be scoring more goals.

    I don’t think you understand the gravitas of this – not just our top scorer but our captain is leaving. The captain who picked the team up by the laces after relegation and said “let’s stick together and do this”. The captain who more or less single handedly brought the dressing room together.

    The problem isn’t “a” player being sold. Had it have been Smith I’d be a little sentimental but all in all can see it as moving the club forward – how on Earth is this moving the club forward?

    Good luck to him but at the end of the day he didn’t want to commit to the responsibility required to get the deal he wanted.

    The “deal” (if you can call it that) was an insult to him and any player – it would only start when his current deal ends and even then it was dependent on a top 7 finish. I’m all for positive clauses but Nolan, nor any other player, can play a team to the top half of the table on their own back.

    Nolan plays Sam Allardyce Football anyway, not Newcastle United Football

    Yes because Newcastle United have an officially recognised style of play -_-

  23. Have u noticed that our last couple of club captains have not lasted more than one season in the job.

  25. Thanx for the effort Kev,
    you did a canny job in the last 2 seasons.

    It’s a case of sell him now for cash money, cos we’d get nowt in 2 years time when his contract runs down.
    He won’t be doing ower much running by then.

    He’s replaced by Cabaye anyhoo.

  27. NUFC ARE A SELLING CLUB!

    i hope this sinks into the majority of nufc fans who think otherwise! 30 to 40 million in the bank for transfers hahaha not in a million years will ashley spend that sort of money on the 5 or so players we need!

    cheap foreign mercenary’s await to fill the gaps!

    im afraid to say it but i cant see us staying in the league

  28. how come extreme?
    These are facts; 11 players, some good, some bad, will, in all likelihood, not be here for the start of the season.
    Lads, lets face facts here, MA is going to trouser the money, get a couple of freebies, Loans, cheap players in, and hope for the best.
    Im amazed people cant see it, and still think we have a n owner with “a sound fiscal plan”

    Jeez, at least under mckeag we knew he was rinsing us…….

  29. wasnt M Owen captain once. Captains come and go. So the captain bit isnt a prob for me.

    It’s who is going to replace him that worries me..

  31. lol and every1 was saying we’re making progress and ‘lets all hate the pessimists and doom mongers.. meaning the realists

    MA is only after making money… simple

  32. Nolan or HBA
    Nolan or Cabaye
    Nolan or Jonas

    He won’t get a place, so he wants to go, let him.

  33. @ clint flick

    hes replaced by cabaye anyway????

    you have a short memory with all the past wonderful french players who love it up north at newcastle!

    french players dont like it here! fact!!!!!!!

    cabaye is unproven in the premier league!!! and we have just sold nolan who is a premier league goal scoring midfielder!!!
    another stupid gamble for what 3 million quid!

    and now the pressure is on cabaye to perform instantly instead of allowing him to bed in and settle!

  34. @newbigginmag: Because I refuse to believe that anybody is stupid enough to sell 11 players in one season.

    …that said, this is Mike Ashley we’re talking about.

  35. Geordiedug is spot on.

    Nolan or HBA?Nonsense, HBA is a totaly diferent player.
    He wouldnt last 5 miutes on a rainy wednesday night game at bolton……..

  36. We’ve had more french players at the Toon after british.
    Plenty have done a canny job.
    Nolan’s legs have gone mate & they’ll have struggled off into the sunset by the time his 2 years are up anyway.
    He’s done great for us, but he wants to go for a longer deal, fair enough i say.
    There’s plenty of time.

  37. One question

    Why is Nolan going down a divison and how much money would he be getting. higher than Newcastle or lower. my guess similar amount for a larger period

  38. You think the sun always shines in france mate?
    Cabaye is from lille, that’s an industrial NE toon in france.
    Calm down!
    :)

  40. That’s what’s grating on me, Indian Magpie. Why is he dropping to championship level?

    0 – Newcastle United won none of the eight Premier League games that Kevin Nolan missed in 2010-11. Howay.

    Interesting statistic.

  41. The difference is, ive seen it before. Best players sold for good money, inexpensive replacements brought in.
    The bottom line is,it doesnt work.
    The bottom line is, we are being lied to
    The bottom line is, we are being taken for a ride.

    You can convince yourself that this makes good business sense, but im sorry, in no way does this make football sense.

    We will struggle til we change owners lads, mark my words

  43. I intentionally didn’t include Owen because it’s very difficult to captain your team from the physio room.

    Though technically you’re right ;)

  47. his legs went along time ago but he is a proven premier league goalscorer so wny gamble and sell him? yes bring in players and if he cant get into the team you say thanks and let him go in jan not before you have seen how the likes of ben arfa and cabaye play?

    nobody knew anything about tiote until he played his way into the team after the first 6-7 weeks of the season with no expectations and now the pressure is on the new guys! WHO ARE UNPROVEN!

    as for french players up here im not a fan as they take the big wages and bugger off asap!

    domi boumsong dumas nzogbia goma bassong distain charvet benard ginola guvarch saha robert we had trouble with all of these probably ginola and robert when in the mood where unplayable with sibierski the only one who done a canny for us without moaning or wanting to be off!

  48. Nolan was the right player at the right time for Newcastle.

    But latterly there were too many matches where the game passed him by. He was very fortunate to have Tiote alongside him to do the running and tackles.

    For the forthcoming season Tiote will partner Cabaye and/or Gosling with Guthrie on the bench. Our new centre forward will probably be partnered by Ben Arfa playing deep.

    Davies @ 11 was correct in the options. This is a good deal.

    Many thanks Kevin for eveything you did for the club and we all wish you well.

  49. Words were marked when we weren’t coming back from the championship, they were also marked when we were gannen straight back down when ma paid off the prem to let us stay.
    Have a bit faith, not too much mind, but just a soupcon!
    We’ve been moaning all day/week about how we have too many midfielders.
    Can’t have it all ways!

    :)

  50. Well if you watched the last world cup you would have thought ‘Tiote at DM’ aye, have him.

  53. He scored goals cos other players made those goals, there’ll be someone else getting those chances now.

    Kev did great for us in our hour of need, he’ll do a top job for wetspam in the champ.

    We need to move on!

  54. This is a good deal.

    a) not many clubs are going to want him in the Prem as is has peaked. Maybe he’ll be good for up until xmas, but I thought the tail end of this season he wasnt as ‘fresh’.

    b)we get a fresher younger player in who will cut it.

    c) we get max price for him now

    d) west ham have a player who will cut it in champ and get them back up.

    Everyone wins.

  55. the biggest loss if this happens is his leadership. i’m beyond grateful for the effort he’s put in since we bought him, but look at some of who we’re getting in for MF. Do you all really see nolan as having a locked down spot with some of the players we’re bringing in. change sucks, especially when it’s losing someone who gave so much, but in reality, the thing we’ll most need replacing is a true leader on and off the pitch.

  56. Aye,
    a leader gone.
    But, he didn’t ‘have’ to go.
    He coulda seen his deal out for 2 more seasons, but chose not to, probably for either more cash or a longer deal.
    He was never gonna be cutting it in 2 years & we’d get nowt then.
    He has seen this move as the best for him.
    He’s not thinking of us now.
    I’m sure he’s grown to love the Toon & he has ‘eventually’ got most of us onside with his goals.

    All the very best Kev, unless you play us, that is.

  57. I thought domi boumsong dumas nzogbia goma bassong distain charvet benard ginola guvarch saha robert did well at the toon. must of been watching a different game. Only player who didnt get a real chance was guivarch and that coz of KD and his boring play + he was v similar to King Alan..

    Lets move on and see who will challenge for his place. only one for me at the mo and thats Gosling & I’m not too sure if he’s ready, but we do still have Barton?! People are saying Cabaye and Tiote in the middle but this mightnt work at the likes of Everton, Stoke away

    Perhaps a more attacking team with Vučkić or another addition will be explored.

  58. i can see the point of why some fans,think it is a good idea for him to move on.i can also see the arguments in favour of him staying.this is only a good move,if he is adequatley replaced.we have to have a stronger squad than last season to compete.i know some will say cabaye will replace him,but the lad has not played in the prem,it’s a different kettle of fish to the french league.if cabaye doesn’t adjust quickly,then this has all the hallmarks of an ashley cheap arse gamble.get rid of the high earners and replace them with cheap replacements,then hope for the best.
    i said before the season ended,i was expecting skullduggery to take place this summer.it does look like an exercise in typical mike ashley,sleight of hand illusion stuff.it’s a case of dont let the right hand see what the left hand is doing.the man never changes,his mo is always the same,it was the same before the season,we went down.who ever is signed is offset by who goes out,and normally at the end of a window,his net spend is nothing.the real winner at the end is always ashley,he will be in clover yet again when the window slams shut.i hope i’m wrong,but we’ve seen this from him,time and time again.of course there will be new faces come in,but the size of the squad will remain the same,or we will be worse off.the only way to get rid of this b*****d out of newcastle for good,is to confront this man with the only language he understands,is money.
    we have to stay away,but we know a lot of fans wont do this,so why the f**k are we whinging on about this fat tosser?.he walked quietly away from the the keegangate affair,he now knows he can basically do what he likes.
    he knows the stadium will be full every home game,so why does he give a s**t about what people think of him.
    look at the way he treats his shareholders at sports direct,he treats them with utter contempt,why are we going to be any different.unless we vote with our feet,and stop putting money into his pocket,he will never f**k off.

  59. I agree with the “its for the best” side of the argument to be honest.

    Someone here said we should’ve kept him til his legs had gone, that’s already happened.

    The lad @11 on this post has hit the nail on the head. They’re the 4 options, and selling him now is the best one, as I really can’t see him getting a game next season. He looked finished in the 2nd half of last season, and “spirit” isn’t enough for a player who is becoming a passenger

    All this chat about team spirit being gone annoys me slightly. The squad is more than one man, and if that 1 man is the only spirit we have, then that’s a spirited individual, not a TEAM spirit.

    A lot of people also seem to be talking as if Nolan got us promoted back to the PL single-handedly. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t he also part of the team that got us relegated as well? You can’t have it both ways, where the whole team gets us relegated and Nolan is faultless, but yet he can take all the praise for us getting back up. It was a team effort, and he is one part of that team.

    And as Clint says @53, he got those goals cos others made them for him. Someone else playing his position will probably put the same goals away, as its not as if he was making them himself is it? SOmeone else can score our tap ins now instead, and might contribute to the rest of the match more.

    One of the biggest things though, is that the anti-Ashley brigade are piping up again, and talking nonsense. All this reports about a “selling club” selling our best players to bring in cheapo replacements etc etc, well according to all reports, Nolan is going for 3 million, yet we just bought Cabaye in for 4.3 million. Now it seems to me that that is actually an outlay of 1.3 million, not a cheapo replacement when he costs MORE than the player you’re selling, so all this about Ashley pocketing the money is a bit daft isn’t it?

    Same goes for those banging on about how there being no replacement. It’s already happened folks, we’ve got a france international who just qualified for the champs league who is 4-5 years younger than nolan.

    And yes, I for one am DEFINITELY getting fed up of Joey Barton on twitter. For a bloke who seems to say at least once a week how much he owes the club for giving him a chance and sticking by him, he’s not half quick to run it down and slag it off isn’t he? All this carry on with me Jose and Jonas next is a bit rich, cos for one Joey mate, someone has to actually WANT you. And I don’t exactly see loads of clubs banging down the door to sign you up mate… The bloke is a perpetual troublemaker, no matter how good a season he had, and his crap, as has been mentioned, will be worse for this all important team spirit than any selling is. Also, I think its wrong of him and also very unprofessional to be trying to speak for Enrique and Gutierrez. I’ve never heard of anyone interested in Jonas either.

  60. Well, we’ll see how things line up next season, but I think you have to be cautious about selling your top scorer, particularly when he’s such a cohesive element for the team anyway.

  61. hey Clint you’re actually thinking like Ashely now…

    He was never gonna be cutting it in 2 years & we’d get nowt then

    I wonder if thats what Fergie thought about Scholes and giggs 2 yrs ago…

    :)

  63. he might be replaced by the ‘similar style’ player, Craig Gardner. Ive never really rated him but he had a great season last term with about 10 goals (i think) and is still quite young…

  66. mark,
    do you know ashley & how he thinks mate, or is that just assumption, speculation & presumption?

    I think like me & ever player has a shelf life & a worth in this football business.

    Ultimately though, & i don’t give a flying F*** who it is, if they don’t wanna be here, for whatever reason, BYE!

    :)

  67. scholes has done ball all for 2 years & giggs was humiliated v barca for the auld guy he is, maybe his ‘extra away games’ have sapped his strength?

    :)

  70. Scott says:

    “All this chat about team spirit being gone annoys me slightly. The squad is more than one man, and if that 1 man is the only spirit we have, then that’s a spirited individual, not a TEAM spirit”

    What was the difference between the relegation squad of 2009 and the Champioship winning squad of 2010 ? Players who wanted to play for the club, working as a team.

    Nolan didnt want to go just as AC didnt want to go. Joey doesnt want to go nor Jonas or Collo. However if you take the team spirit out of the club what you’re left with is a group of players with no real reason to come to work every day other than picking up money.

    Working in a team that plays together and looks out for each other is a darn sight easier than just working in a team.

  71. As for Pardwho “Andy Carroll is going nowhere”, “I want to keep all my senior players”, “We’re working hard to bring in players that will get bums off seats”.

    Go feck yourself you two faced cockney terwatttttttt !

  72. I honestly don’t think Pardew has much control over the team, Andy. We accuse him of being a puppet but I’m not sure he has much of a choice – Ashley is calling the shots. Don’t know why he doesn’t just get his coaching badges and take over full time.

  73. Thats my point Thump. He has no say over anything ! Probably not even the colour of cones at Darsley yet he’ll happily pontificate in front of the media all day long as though he had a role as a manager.

    Would be better if we renamed his role as Chief Stooge

  74. Andy,
    if they go when they have years of contract left, it’s cos they WANT TO mate.

  75. I agree Clint, but surely the manager has a say in who he wants to keep around and who he doesn’t? Joey’s contract was withdrawn, Nolan’s was full of ridiculous clauses and it wouldn’t surprise me if Enrique’s was the same case.

  76. Andy, I’m really not sure what point you’re trying to make at all there. My point that you quoted is that how can you say a TEAM has so much spirit if it all hinges on 1 player? If the TEAM spirit is so high, then losing Nolan shouldn’t make that much difference as you still have the rest of the guys you mention, Coloccini, Jonas, Enrique. If it all disappears with Nolan, then it stands to reason that the rest of the team can’t be adding much can they?

    These blokes are supposed to be professionals. as in any business, nobody likes to see their colleagues leave if they get on with them, but its not the end of the world. You do your job and you move on, which is exactly what the toon players should be doing. Maybe if all those players loved the club and wanted to play for it so much before, then they wouldn’t have been relegated in the first place? After all, which players who got us promoted to the PL weren’t part of the team that was relegated?

    I’m not gonna waste my time getting into the AC thing AGAIN, cos its all been repeated to death, but its established that he DID want to go cos he saw the pound signs.

    Similar thing with Nolan really, only not the big wages. He’s in the huff cos they (quite rightly) won’t offer a 5 year extension to a bloke who’ll be 30 when it comes into play. No team would give any player a deal like that and he’s no exception. Plus he looks finished at 28, never mind 35, and as I said before, we’re not good enough to be able to afford the luxury of a passenger on the pitch just for morale, and that is rapidly what he was becoming in the latter half of 10/11

  77. I have to laugh, at the bottom of my page, there’s an advert for pre-printed toon shirts with Nolan and Barton on. very appropriate

  78. Thump,
    the manager can’t make ’em stay mate.
    Joey ummed & ahhhed so they took it off the table. Nolan wanted more than they wanted to commit to, so he left.
    Can you really say that you see Nolan being good enough in years 3 & 4 of a new contract, cos i can’t & neither can the club.
    Sadly, they’re right on this one.
    I love what Nolan’s done in the last 2 seasons, but he wants too much. He coulda just played ball & gone for an extension of a year to year, but he knows as well as we/the club do that he won’t be cutting it then, so he’s opted to split now while he can get a longer deal somewhere else, more desperate.

  79. CF You never cease to amaze me with your pro Ashley comments.

    Nolan is 28 bordering 29. This is probably his last chance to make a reasonable (OK I know its a footballers reasonable) deal and secure his future if he doent make it afterwards as a commentator, pundit, journo or worse still a sycophantic, talentless, clueless media whore of a manager.

    Maybe his pace has gone off the boil but he scored 12 BPL goals from midfield last season which is second only to Chelski’s Malouda at 13.

    As others have already pointed out, 12 goals from midfield will be hard to come by next season let alone the 11 AC scored. If the Fatman had any sense (and I know has no football brain whatsoever) he’d bring in the so called replacements first before offloading those he just might need when it goes tits up at the start of next season.

  80. CLINT this is a buying and selling game like it or not,its the old storey,one managers meat is another managers poison hence a transfer market,simples :)

  81. Scott. Simple point. You go to work, its a happy place, people putting in the extra mile. You get on well with your colleagues, you train hard and maybe you go out for meals together etc etc.

    Or you work in the poisonous atmosphere that clearly existed when the likes of Owen, Martins, Bassong, Duff (in particular) and others were working on their exit strategies while playing half arsed football and picking up their cheques.

  82. Andy,
    i’m not ‘pro’ anyone but NUFC.

    I don’t subscribe to ashley, AP or anyone else & you or anyone else has ever seen me either support or slag any of them.
    I’m a football supporter & NUFC is my poison.
    I can’t be f***ed to name call or try to fit events around an agenda. I say what i see, always have, always will.
    If that just happens to collide with AP, ashley, Nolan or whomever, so be it.
    I’ll be supporting the Toon long after they’ve all packed up & gone, like i was before they even showed up.

    Any amount of slagging, fearing, worrying & hate isn’t gonna change one iota of the scene.

    If anyone is SO bothered about the ins & outs of a football club & especially NUFC i reckon it’s not the game for them, cos it’s not just NUFC, football in general is a roller coaster & a soap, that’s why we watch/participate, isn’t it?
    ;)

    ice,
    you got it in one mate!

    :)

  83. scott said:
    I have to laugh, at the bottom of my page, there’s an advert for pre-printed toon shirts with Nolan and Barton on. very appropriate

    Ah, you can’t help but love irony, eh? :D

    CLiNT FLiCK said:
    the manager can’t make ‘em stay mate.

    You’re right, he can’t. The wonderful thing about this is that Barton already wants to stay.

  84. Except ALL those so called “good spirit” guys were there at the time too. If there’s a bad atmosphere that they don’t like, its up to them to do something about it!

    I think its a total cop-out to just list players who were sold and say that they were the cause of a bad atmosphere that got us relegated.

    As I’ve said, its called team spirit for a reason. The hint is in the name. Its a collective thing and with a squad of players, one or two bad eggs shouldn’t be able to affect everyone else to the extent where they are relegated as we were. There is clearly more to it, which includes players not playing well enough and not pulling their weight over the course of that season, and that includes Nolan, Barton, and all the rest of them. NUFC were relegated because their performances that season were crap, not because Michael Owen and Sebastian Bassong wanted to move. As for Martins and Duff, they wanted to leave once we were relegated, so them “working on their exit strategies” didn’t affect the rubbish team performances over the course of the season.

  85. “If that just happens to collide with AP, ashley, Nolan or whomever, so be it”

    You cannot deny you have given support to the Fatman and Pardwho in particular. Whereas there are many fans who wouldnt plss on either of them if they were on fire.

    You can take the view that nothing you say or do will make any difference or you can decide to grow some and finally take some action. I stopped attending, thus spending my hard earned at the alter of NUFC, after Fatman sold AC. I wont buy another season ticket for me or my company until he fecks off.

    Along with the shocking treatment of Level 7 members, I’ll still support the players, the team and the club but any money I spend goes into other clubs coffers at away grounds only.

  86. scott said:
    I think its a total cop-out to just list players who were sold and say that they were the cause of a bad atmosphere that got us relegated.

    I disagree. What was originally said after we were relegated was that certain players would group together and kind of push others away – a bit like a high school lunch hall. “Cliques” was the exact word that was used, actually and it was largely in reference to the likes of Owen.

    Once those cliques had gone, the players got together and started socialising with each other, poker games, meals, barbecues, holidays – you name it. The problem here isn’t that the team can’t continue to do that, though it will be difficult with a team primarily built up of French players who don’t speak English, more that the binding personality has gone with a potential of a second personality going too.

  87. I can deny it, but i don’t have to.

    I couldn’t care less if i tried what ‘others’ think/say/do, i’m my own man & believe me i take action when i have to.
    I just don’t go in for the whole ‘living in fear’ thing.

    I certainly don’t run with any pack either.

    NUFC is the only thing that i have EVER had ANY kind of affiliation with, i’m a maverick mate, as surely my moniker suggests perfectly.

  89. Thump,
    ‘The buzz of the infinite hive’ mate.

    Right, where do i sign?

    :)

  90. Scott this is getting nowhere.

    You cannot buy team spirit, its not for sale whether you think it is or not. Players gel with one another or they dont. Working together (as I’ve said before) can be done because you want to or because you have to. There’s a world of difference between the two and if you cannot understand that then we’re wasting time.

    My understanding was that Owen had no friends in the dressing room after AS retired because no one liked the effort v salary equation he aspired to. I cant speak for the others but I’m pretty sure that the younger element and the foreign contingent would not have felt comfortable standing up and voicing their opinions even if they wanted to because not all people are the same and some choose not to say anything but just put up with the crap. However they sure as hell would prefer driving into work every day because they wanted to rather than because they had to.

  91. Andy,
    i’m so self possessed mate i don’t even have a bank account.

    We have ways!

    :)

  92. Thump says:

    “No, Clint, you must subscribe to the hive mind”

    There are those who would say that the hive mind is one where you blindly go and pay for your season ticket every year, buy the latest shirt and spend mega bucks in the bars and shops that belong to the Fatman !

    You pays your money or you dont !

  93. Amen to CLiNT @82 excellent post.

    I’m getting really fed up with the ignorance, naivety and general agenda promotion of a lot of fans across a lot of blogs.

    As was mentioned before, when a player has years left to go on their contract, the club can’t make em leave, they leave cos they want to. It was the case with Andy carroll cos they wouldn’t pander to his ridiculous demands, and now its happening again with Nolan.

    This is down to the players demands, and the club being firm and saying no. I’ve had it up to here with certain people who feel that no matter what happens at NUFC, no matter how strong the evidence is, that they inevitable HAVE to manufacture it to make everything Mike Ashley’s/Llambias/who ever is this weeks managers fault.

    I’m not a supporter of any of these individuals, and its plain to see that they’ve made some mistakes, but the way some people try to make ANYTHING out to be teir fault is either false axe grinding or just plain old ignorance. You read through these forums and you can’t help but notice that EVERYTHING is MA’s fault somehow. AC demands a tranfer for silly wages, MA’s fault. Nolan wants an insane contract nobody would accept and is told no, MA’s fault. Enrique is made a big offer, but unprofessionally refuses to respond, MA’s fault. I suspect an NUFC player could commit murder, and someone on these forums would still find a way, no matter how convoluted, to blame it on MA.

    What I like about CLiNT’s posts, is that he uses the evidence available and he comments based on what’s out there, and just because he doesn’t make things up to be MA’s fault against the evidence, he is accused of being “pro ashley”. He clearly isn’t “pro Ashley” he (as he says) simply isn’t trying to promote some anti-ashley agenda where anything can somehow be traced back to MA being *insert offensive word* Sometimes its like the 6 degrees of separation rule!

    I suspect maybe its cos some who write on these forums idolise their players, and when something happens, ie AC demanding crazy money, they don’t want to think badly of their heroes, and so they desperately look for someone else to shift the blame onto. I don’t even think its deliberate with some people, I believe they’ve almost been brainwashed by it all so that its all but automatic to try and find a way its MA’s fault, but in actual fact, sometimes, you need to look elsewhere and stop with the axe grinding and agenda promotion.

    Rant over

  95. Andy,
    it’s the club that loses out man, regardless of what others say.
    People can say that ashley sucks the cash up, he doesn’t need it, he’s a billionaire, the club loses.

    But if they wanna try & strangle the club, so be it.

  96. Scott says:

    “I suspect maybe its cos some who write on these forums idolise their players, and when something happens, ie AC demanding crazy money, they don’t want to think badly of their heroes”

    No its because I support this club and dont want to see it go down the toilet again, Simple fact.

  97. sell for money, buy for nothin seems to be the philosophy. I expect other free agents to come in from now till the end of the window. Larsson, reo coker, ba prob. oh and £1 million quid LB

    Tho leadership and passion is priceless if they dont wanna play for the club, f*ck em. Could of played out atleast another yr of his contract. Plus he obviously doesnt have a very high opinion of his ability if hes willing to drop down a level. Thanks for the last 2 yrs but we have lots of time to rebuild. I hope thats the boards plan!!

  98. Scott @ ‘not just’ 93,

    Mate, what can i say?

    Absolutely, exactly what i was saying, perfectly put.

    Big sigh!

    Keep the faith brother!

    ;)

  99. For once I agree completely with talkSPORT

    I don’t like this. Dammit Ashley, this is what you have done to me.

  100. Andy, I don’t know whether you are deliberately misunderstanding my posts in order to create a debate or whether you’re trying to grind an axe here.

    I have never said or suggested at any point that you can buy team spirit in any way. If you reda that in my post, then you’re reading between lines that simply aren’t there. What I have said is that if removing Nolan will completely destroy team spirit, as has been suggested here then it can’t be that strong in the first place, as it would suggest that he’s been the source of it all along and the others haven’t contibuted to it. If that’s not true, and the others DO contribute to it, whether it be Barton, Gutierrez, Saylor, anybody, then those people are still there, so while they might be down for a while at losing their mate, then they’ll move on and the spirit will come back. I imagine thats the case every time any club sells a leader in their team like Nolan.

    @Thump There are cliques in every job and every club. Its completely natural that everyone will get on better with some of their colleagues than others, everyone will have their mates who they ring up for a pint, and those that while they DO like them, they’re not the person they’ll see outside of work. Doesn’t necessarily make it a bad atmosphere, as it happens everywhere. I bet its going on within NUFC right now in fact. Certainly I remember the talk of this at the time, but I struggle to believe that the 4 players mentioned above, Owen, Bassong, Duff and Martins were all in the same “clique” and that this was what was bringing the club down, and that its altogether too simplistic to say “They’re the ones who left, therefore they must be the ones who caused the problems”

    And if their presence was the reason for our relegation, then why weren’t we relegated til they’d been at the club a few years? All I’m saying is that there was more to the teams relegation performances than the presence of those players in the squad, as they were there before we were relegated as well.

    Also, by that reasoning, if we finish higher in the league next season, will that mean that Nolan was the problem this season? I don’t think so.

  102. Scott says:

    “the club can’t make em leave, they leave cos they want to”

    Scott have you ever heard of Kevin Keegan ?

  104. @Clint: Usual stuff mainly. “He’ll be missed but it’s what they do with the money that counts … This will impact the dressing room” and so on. Basically read my article that I’ve scheduled and you’ll see the essence of what they’re saying.

    @ben: You can see his face change the second the question is presented to him. I think he’s genuine but is minding what he says. The club is moving in the right direction but not at the speed any of us would like and I think Joey echoes that sentiment. The powers that be are looking for a quick fix and to get the support behind the team as per.

  105. Thats funny Ben ! Wonder if he meant to do that ?

    On a slightly different topic I note that Gardner and Barnetta are now tow “targets” for NUFC. If that doesnt illustrate that there is no strategy at this club then I dont know what else would :)

  107. Plus they’ll only cost £11m between them. Leaving Fatman at least 20p to buy two new strikers :)

  108. We were after Barnetta in January but his injury put an end to that. (Like that has stopped us in the past…) Wouldn’t mind him tbh, canny player.

    What I would like is to see Ireland back in the squad. I know he had some injury troubles but I think he was playing on them – I trust his ability and believe he would be ideal next to Cabaye, or even as back up.

  109. Yeah I have Andy. He’s the bloke who has walked out on every managerial job he’s ever had isn’t he?

    He’s walked out on us twice, Fulham, Man City and England.

    I also heard of him trying to get something daft (what was it, 12 million?) out of the club for loss of earnings or some other crap. As if any other club would take him! Bringing him back in the first place was the mistake! Shows how highly thought of and sought after a manager is when he has spent years at a football themed amusement park

  110. I’d like to see Barnetta, at the toon, he’s a very tidy player, and he can play on either wing, so a bit of switching between him and Jonas could give us something extra that we don’t have now

    Gardner isn’t a bad player at all either really, gets some decent goals as well. But with our current pile of central midfielders, I can’t see who you’d drop to fit him in to be honest. If I was to raid Brum I’d be looking at Foster, Dann and Roger Johnson

  111. Thump,
    aye they like a good supposition do blabcarp!
    Keep the auld kettle boiling, lather up a bit more froth.

    The spin machine in full swing!

    :)

  112. scott says:

    “Yeah I have Andy. He’s the bloke who has walked out on every managerial job he’s ever had isn’t he?

    He’s walked out on us twice, Fulham, Man City and England.

    I also heard of him trying to get something daft (what was it, 12 million?) out of the club for loss of earnings or some other crap. As if any other club would take him! Bringing him back in the first place was the mistake! Shows how highly thought of and sought after a manager is when he has spent years at a football themed amusement park”

    Now I know you’re a twat as you completely ignore the the point which I’m making.

    KK left because his job description was changed and he felt his position untenable. Now whether you agree with that or not it proves two things :

    1. A court decided that KK was unfirly treated and Fatman had to cough up more than he wanted to and did not appeal.
    2. Fatman and Weasel have “form” in this area and can make it extremely difficult for employees to work within their organisation if they dont like them.

    Take it or leave it – I’m done here :)

    2. to maintain their making it difficult for people to work in their chosen envi

  113. I’m very tempted to host the article I wrote for True Faith after Keegan walked out to put an end to this…

    @Clint: I just wish they’d forget Newcastle existed. Really, if talkSPORT stopped making stuff up about us I’d be a happy man. Even when they say positives I think they’re slagging us in some way =/

  114. Thump,
    they know that they’ll get maximum coverage mate, as some of us lot are sooo easy to wind up.
    It’s all about playing to the crowd. They’ve read enough fans ‘ideads’ about the perceived situation here now & think they can play that card at any time, & they’re right, they can.
    We’ll bite & they know it!
    :(

  116. Ok Andy so I’m a twat now? Am I a twat because I pointed out that KK has walked from every job he’s been in? thats a fact pal and if you can’t handle it then don’t bring him up. My point was that Keegan isn’t exactly a stranger to walking out on teams is he?

    What I think is pathetic though is that you use Keegan to try and argue against my point about PLAYERS signing for other clubs because they want to. You have the cheek to deliberately selectively quote me to argue with me then call ME a twat. You need to get a grip.

  117. scott says:
    June 15, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    “I also heard of him trying to get something daft (what was it, 12 million?)”

    £25.1 million to be precise Scott.

  120. kk already had wrote into his contract how much severance he’d get, & that’s what he got, so hardly a victory.

    He should’ve never come back, tears before bedtime there.

  121. Dont worry Scott & im guessing you wont but AndyMac tends to get all abusive when he’s losing an argument…

    And AndyMac, youre not a supporter, you’re a professional criticiser from a distance.