Nolan: Llambias reneged on verbal agreement

Posted on July 31st, 2011 | 65 Comments |

Nolan claims he was betrayed by Newcastle United.
Llambias speak with forked tongue?
Former Newcastle United captain Kevin Nolan believes the club forced him to leave and that Derek Llambias reneged on a verbal agreement.

Kevin Nolan was of course dumped from Newcastle amidst something of a furore. The player has now come out and spoken about his departure:

“I envisaged spending the rest of my career at the club. I was settled, happy and I adored the supporters. I was captain of a huge club and played with a smashing group of lads I had untold respect for.

“But ultimately I was forced out because I lost trust in key people at the club and when you lose trust in people it’s almost impossible to regain it.

“From January and shortly following the sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool, I was involved in ongoing discussions about signing a new contract between four and five years.

“I discussed the deal at length with managing director Derek Llambias and even shook hands on it. In my book when you do that man-to-man you expect them to see it through.

“But what we talked about and what they finally offered me was laughable. They did a U-turn on what we agreed They showed me no respect. I felt totally betrayed.

“Then they had the nerve to claim I rejected a new contract. What contract? A deferred option to increase my deal by 12 months with a bonus that hinged on the success of the team on the pitch the following season.

“Perhaps I was just naive. I thought I had a good relationship with the board. But when it all came to a head in the summer I knew my time was coming to an end. I had given the club everything but they didn’t want to give me anything in return, just broken promises. I simply couldn’t work with people like that. There was no way back for me.”

If we are to believe Nolan then Llambias is a man without honour. Despite the oft-quoted “a verbal contract is not worth the paper it’s written on”, I do tend to believe that a man’s word should be his bond and if Llambias did break his word then it’s a poor show.

The question of whether or not Nolan should have been moved on is another matter of course, but he should have been treated honourably and honestly in my opinion.

I’m beginning to sound like a Klingon! “jIl moH ghajjaj jaghHomlIj” or some such.

Of course, as with all these things, there may be more to it than meets the eye.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

65 Responses

  1. Really doesn’t surprise me.

    So that’s KK, Barton, Enrique, Nolan and Routledge who have told the truth about this lot! They can’t all be wrong can they?

  2. well this isn’t the first story we’ve heard,from people who have been involved with ashley and llambias.
    there is a talk in from the dunston brewery,where alan shearer states,”he shook hands on a deal to become newcastle manager”,and everything was agreed,then he never heard anything from them ever again.
    kevin keegan paints a similar picture of agreements being reached with ashley and co,only for them to go behind your back,as soon as you leave the room.
    according to keegan,”you just can’t work with these people”.kevin nolan more or less utters the same words,in his interview,”i couldn’t work with these people”.
    we are probably never going to get to the bottom of it,some will say it’s paper talk,some will say it’s hack journalism,designed to rock the boat.
    well a court of law found them to be liars,so that must count for something,and the old adage of,”there’s no smoke without fire”.it does seem a little strange that more or less everyone who leaves newcastle,it’s always under a cloud,during the ashley tenure.

  5. We will miss Nolan this season.
    Good professional,loved Newcastle.

    The club is going backwards with this regime if I wasn’t born in Newcastle I think I would have sacked off supporting them years ago.
    It’s not much fun :lol:

    It’s like following a firm of accountants-very dull ones.

  6. Nobody ever made a million by being anything other than a lying cheating theiving B45tard and our glorious Chairman is Nothing but. God it will be a great day when these w4nk3rs have gone.Chin up lads, it won’t last for ever although it may seem so. Keep on keepin on !!!
    HWTL.

  8. Just as well, really, Steve. Giving him the kind of contract he got at West Ham would have stuck in my throat.

    By the way, didn’t Gosling have a “verbal agreement” with Everton before we picked him up for nothing?

  9. Doesn’t Nolan (and the other players) realise that verbal contracts / agreements aren’t worth the paper there written on.

    And isn’t the reason to have an agent is to formalise these ‘gentlemans’ agreements. Surely Nolan didn’t enter agreements with Lambiase without his agent being present.

  12. Davis @8, exactly mate, but that doesn’t fit the ashley is the only crook in the PL mentality that some people subscribe to.

  13. Everyone knows Llambias is a devious, conniving piece of sh1t. Even fans of other clubs.

  21. Terri, I can’t find any TV links mate. There is a stream but you have to be a member of Leeds website.

    Might have to just see with the ears this afternoon.

  24. Fans Should Own The Club, the link I posted at 17 is working fine, for me anyway.

  29. Fans Should Own The Club, you’re welcome mate.

    Don’t think Tav is injured, but it’s now 2-1, awful defending and I think Forster isn’t doing himself any favours by the sound of it.

  31. Sounds like we still can’t retain possession. I wonder if the reason is because we’re ‘tired’…

  35. We are not good enough for Europe Trojan, maybe if no-one else leaves and 3 good signings we might be?

  42. El Toro, I’d like to see Vuckic behind the front man if HBA is injured, but I think Pardew will move back to 4-4-2. Great to see him getting chances now.

  44. jimbob,that’s the nature of newcastle united,we are either two games away from winning the league,to two games away from relegation.

  50. we should have stayed in blighty,and played live opponents like leeds,thiese are the sort of games that sharpen you up.

  54. what is it with the “rent a crowd” that turn up to games these days,”premiership your havin’ a laugh”.you here the same monotonous chants,where ever you go.there’s no originality in anything any more,it goes hand in hand,with the meccano set stadiums.

  55. Agreed, they show you character these type of games. Sounds like our defending from ‘keeper to back four were awful. Hope these problems are sorted quickish, though I’m sure we will be told who was missing today, along with only getting back to the UK on Thursday…

  57. Ameobi’s said he’s ready to take the bull by the horns this season though…….Like the previous ten seasons…

    We need a pattern and to keep the ball better.

  58. jimbob,we seemed completely anonomous for vast swathes of this game,we never really got into it,and we just seemed to react to what leeds were doing,rather than trying to impose ourselves.

  59. jimbob,he always talks a good fight during pre seasons does old shola.the only way he’ll take the bull by the horns is on one them bucking bronco’s.

  60. Never mind that – what happened at the Alfreton Town v Sheff Wed match!!?

    We should be playing Ranger ahead of Shola, or Vuckic and Ba together…

  61. Hmmm, lacking a pattern/plan you mean?

    It’s not the end of the world, but by the sounds of it we did nothing until we fell behind. Much like last season. Fiorentina at home should give us a good indication of where we are, and whether HBA is the only reason we want to play a different formation other than 4-4-2.

  62. jimbob,by no means the end of the world,we just didn’t start the game well,although we got back into it,and started the second half well,we just never upped the ante.it was a good workout against a team who are nearly there in their preparation.

  63. Come next season i surely believe we will be a leader, a mentor , a fighter , a professional short …Really Mr. Nolan the start of last season andy-nolan-barton partnership brought back scenes from solano-bellamy-shearer partnership from Sir.Bobby’s day…Really goin to be missed….

  64. Three things to say about todays game.

    1. When Jose and Fergie (not a recognised left back) arent available we have “come and take us up the r’s” written all over us down the left. Tavernier (gbh) is not a left back.
    2. If Ba is the sum token of our “spend” from the Carroll millions on a quality striker then I’m off to arrange a FATWA on the FATONE.
    3. You can play as much football as you like in preparation for the upcoming season but if the mind isnt right then poor performances could become the norm very quickly. JB’s probably right there must be a lot of bad feeling within the squad right now ? OK they’re professionals who get paid a lot of money but that doesnt mean they havent got a brain ?

    Plus points were very thin on the ground but Vuckic still looks good although we’ve only seen him against very moderate opposition and JB is always JB. If he goes before the season starts/ends, we’re phucked pure and simple.

    PS Anyone seen Lua Lua’s goal against the Spuds ? Tell me why we still have Lovenkrands here yet we’ve sent the boy off to the seaside ? Plus Smith, Perch, Williamson etc etc. Having a big squad of nomarks isnt what Premier League football is all about Fatman !