Kevin Nolan

[Thomas]

Han har rett også. Håper virkelig ikke Carroll stiller i morgen. Vi fikk utrolig mye for en spiller som har vært skadet brorparten av vårsesongen. Så fremt Carroll er ute de resterende kampene av sesongen vil salget sannsynligvis ikke påvirke vår tabellposisjonen i stor  grad. Skal vi konkurrere om Europa neste sesong er vi avhengige bedre spillere og bredde i stallen. Carroll er god, men han er neppe bedre enn de 5-6 ersatterne vi får for salgssummen. Bredde gjør oss selvsagt beskyttet mot skader også

[Hans J]

Eit av dei beste intervjua eg har lese nokon gong. Kevin Nolan oser av klasse.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/notw/nol_sport/1286284/Newcastle-captain-Kevin-Nolan-on-his-bond-with-Andy-Carroll.html

IN THE park where Kevin Nolan played his football as a youngster, the swings would last a fortnight. By then they would be burnt out.

Not that the Newcastle captain wants to paint the typical picture of Toxteth. Far from it, in fact. His is a childhood he embraces still.

The original school of hard knocks, from where a Liverpudlian found the desire and the talent to make it to the big time.

From where old-fashioned family values of loyalty and looking after your own were drummed into Nolan for as long as he can remember.

Perhaps even from where he found the empathy to take a big, gangling, troubled young striker under his wing, and helped turn Andy Carroll into the most expensive footballer ever to emerge from these shores.

Theirs is a friendship that has overcome more than most. From a burnt-out car in the drive and problems with the police, to the England cap that Nolan seems to have been on the brink of for ever but ended up going to his big mate.

"I think he sees me as his big brother really," Nolan says. "And I think that is because we're both from similar backgrounds. He'd been in a few scrapes here and there and that's what they were. They were scrapes.

"I was someone he could talk to without it being his mum or his dad, that's when we got on. I was able to talk to him.

"Every time he's gone through a sticky situation I have tried to help him out. I've tried to give him the best support I could.

"I think that's why we are good friends - because we support each other and because we help each other in sticky situations.

"People say he's not emotional but I see that side of Andy. I see the side that a lot of people probably don't see. They think he's this hard-nosed kid who does whatever he does and he doesn't care about it.

"I know for a fact he does because I talk to him about it. He's a young lad and all he wants to do is play football to the best of his ability and some of the things he's told me he did when he was a kid to be a footballer just reminded me of myself.

"People forget about that stuff because of what has happened. Everyone thinks he's a bit shy and things. He's not. He has a lot to say for himself. He's disciplined and he will tell you straight if he thinks you're doing something wrong.

"He will let you know, but he will do it in a nice way. Andy will be a leader in years to come, he has it in him, definitely.

"I've seen him and I've watched him. I've seen how he looks after the young lads and I've seen how he makes them feel a million dollars.

I'm not ashamed of my upbringing. I embrace it. It has made me the man I am today

"He will do it at Liverpool as well. Will it help now he's in Liverpool because he's my mate? Yeah, of course. My mates are there for him and he knows that."

He will need that support. Carroll is a home bird, Nolan the Liver. But how Carroll emerged from the Team Valley of the North-East is mirrored in Nolan's own story.

"I have come massively from where I was as a kid, so has Andy," Nolan adds. "Everyone goes, yeah, Toxteth and different things. In my eyes there was no better place to learn my trade, to grow up.

"I'm not ashamed of my upbringing. I embrace it. It has made me the man I am today. My mum and dad still live there. My Nan still lives there, I have good friends there, family who live there. I'm proud to be from there.

"There are misconceptions about every place - you can make it as violent as possible and you can make any place as wonderful as possible.

"Toxteth sticks out because everyone knows about the riots and things like that. I wasn't around then. For us it was brilliant. We had a football pitch, what more can kids ask for?

"We had swings but they were only there for a couple of weeks because they got burnt! That was part and parcel of it. You just had to make your own swings off the tree!

"They are great memories for me. I remember being on the park from finishing school until nine o'clock playing football.

"I love it. I love talking about it. It taught me to be the best I can be and I have tried to do that throughout my career.

"I've got mates now who have done very well for themselves and are living in the nice houses in the nice estates.

"But then I've got lads I've known since I was eight who have been in and out of prison. That is the way of life and I think that happens when anyone speaks about their upbringing."

Nolan's street-wise savvy has fired up Newcastle, not just Carroll. He has 29 goals in the past two seasons. In that time Newcastle have started to re-emerge from the nightmare of relegation, and apparent oblivion.

Nolan, the former Liverpool Schoolboy player and 10-year Bolton stalwart, has been key. And the 28-year-old will be rewarded with a new deal, probably in the final week of the current season.

"If you don't buy into this club you will struggle," he says. "I think the reason why I'm one of the main characters is because I'm outgoing, and not frightened to say what I think. I've got a lot to say for myself and I think that's the reason why people select me to be captain.

"Coming here was a bit like winning the lottery for some players but we had to change that. What we don't want at this club now are players who are here just to pick up the pay packets.

"We want players who are here to take Newcastle United in the right direction. I've seen my dad go out to work at six o'clock in the morning and come back at eight o'clock at night, making money just so that we can get through the week.

"That is pressure. This is not pressure. This is enjoyment. We've got so many lads in there who are from working-class backgrounds and we love what we've got.

"We had to come together and be united in everything we did after relegation. There could no backbiting, if it gets in it can destroy a club.

"It is an honour to have my position at this football club. To hear your daughter say, 'My dad is the captain of Newcastle United' is brilliant. This is my home now and I love every minute of it.

"Hopefully in the next two or three years we will get Newcastle back where they belong, which is in and around a European spot and hopefully even a cup final. I want to be part of that."

[kø1]

Jo mer vi har "blitt kjent med" Kevin Nolan i Newcastle, jo mer liker jeg han. Kommer alltid igjennom som en topp fyr. Virker som han har utrolig mye å si for felleskapet blant spillerene, humøret, fighterviljen.

[Sebastian]

Legende !

[Kristoffer]

Han er litt sånn "working class hero" rett og slett - og slike er vanskelig å ikke ta til seg. Han virker rett og slett til å ha beina godt planta på jorda. På manrge måte kan han virke litt som Joey Barton, bare at Kevin Nolan har en mye "lettere" personlighet kanskje. Digger han uansett - old school fotballhelt det er få igjen av.

[bjørni]

Stjernekar

[Kristoffer]

Shit, Brad Pitt. Nå blir det ihvertfall vanskelig å benke Tiote.

[Joakim]

Vi får se.
Det er fullt mulig å bruke en av ungguttene fra reservelaget, for eksempel. Vi kan rokkere litt her og litt der, og kanskje, hvis vi er ekstra heldige, blir Alan Smith på mirakuløst vis frisk.

Et annet alternativ er:
Jonas - Barton - Raylor - Ferguson

Det er ingenting som hindrer Raylor i å spille sentral midt. Jeg innbiller meg at han har spilt der før, og han er den beste poteten vi har. Jonas kan glatt spille høyrekant, og Ferguson går inn på venstre. Det er en svekket midtbane, men ikke SÅ svekket.

[torfinn]

Der er jeg ikke enig. Den midtbanen er faktisk SÅ svekket. Ingen førstevalg i de posisjonene de egentlig spiller når vi har vårt beste lag.

[ElvenKind]

Støtter Joakim på alternativ midtbane.

Ser heller ikke problemet med å benytte flere unggutter heller egentlig - ihvertfall som innbyttere utover kampen. WBA er det mer interessant å "toppe" mot i min verden.

[Joakim]

Der er jeg ikke enig. Den midtbanen er faktisk SÅ svekket. Ingen førstevalg i de posisjonene de egentlig spiller når vi har vårt beste lag.

Greit nok det, men alle disse har gode forutsetninger for å prestere bra i de posisjonene de blir tildelt. Og det er ikke dårlige spilllere vi har med å gjøre. Ferguson er et stort talent, Jonas og Barton kunne sannsynligvis spilt fast for flere lag på øvre halvdel i Premier League og Ryan Taylor ville sannsynligvis vært en nyttig tilvekst for samtlige lag i bunnstriden.

[torfinn]

Joda, men Tiote kunne sannsynligvis gått inn på laget til seriemesteren og Nolan er den midtbanespilleren (-Malouda?) som har scoret flest mål i PL i år. Så jeg står for mitt utsagn. 

[vampish]

http://www.footballbuster.com/pages/posts/nolan-out-due-to-ankle-surgery1386.php?

[Joakim]

Joda, men Tiote kunne sannsynligvis gått inn på laget til seriemesteren og Nolan er den midtbanespilleren (-Malouda?) som har scoret flest mål i PL i år. Så jeg står for mitt utsagn. 

Ja, men nå er jo Nolan uansett uaktuell og Tiote bør helst spares.
I forhold til førstefireren er det selvfølgelig en stor svekkelse, men svekkelsen er ikke så stor at vi ikke kan stå inne for det, og mene at det er en brukbar midtbane.

Med Tiote inn i stedet for Raylor ville svekkelsen naturlig nok vært en hel del mindre, men som sagt, Tiote bør spares. Og kampen mot Chelsea er totalt uviktig uansett, da ManU har vunnet ligaen, og Chelsea har blitt nummer 2. Vi er sikret videre spill i PL, og vil ikke på noen måte påvirke nedrykksstriden gjennom resultatet i denne kampen. Ergo kan vi teknisk sett stille med rent reservelag. Men det er ikke nødvendigvis noen fordel i forhold til endelig tabellplassering og målforskjell for vår egen del.

[Hughie]

Joda, men Tiote kunne sannsynligvis gått inn på laget til seriemesteren og Nolan er den midtbanespilleren (-Malouda?) som har scoret flest mål i PL i år. Så jeg står for mitt utsagn. 

Ja, men nå er jo Nolan uansett uaktuell og Tiote bør helst spares.
I forhold til førstefireren er det selvfølgelig en stor svekkelse, men svekkelsen er ikke så stor at vi ikke kan stå inne for det, og mene at det er en brukbar midtbane.

Nå kommer det litt an på hva du mener med "svekkelse" og "brukbar midtbane". Men når Tiote, som etter ditt utsagn kunne gått inn på sentralmidten til en seriemester og CL-finalist, erstattes med Raylor, som har spilt 1 kamp fra start i ligaen på et lag som har kjempet mot nedrykk, da må man etter mine begreper snakke om en stor svekkelse.

Svekkelsen er omtrent så stor som den kan bli slik jeg ser det. Ut med den beste spilleren vi har, og inn med en av de svakeste vi har. I tillegg er ingen av opptredene til Raylor i den posisjonen han nå eventuelt skal spille i.

Men at Raylor kan gjøre en brukbar jobb er jeg saktens enig i, det er det mange som kan. Og som du sier så er valgene våre svært begrenset, og kampene er uviktige. Men dette er emm ikke et godt argument for at midtbanen isolert sett ikke er heftig svekket.

Edit: Ser at det er Torfinn som sier at Tiote sannsynligvis kunne gått inn på Manchester United, men jeg er forsåvidt enig i den påstanden og antar at du omtrent er likeså.