After already angering supporters with the recent announcement that Player of the Season Joey Barton would not be offered a new contract, Newcastle United’s chiefs are again suffering the wrath of the fans after controversially selling club captain Kevin Nolan to recently relegated West Ham. However, are some ’Toon Army’ fans reacting prematurely in deciding this is a bad move for the club? My opinion is yes, they are.
Being a Geordie and lifelong fan of the club myself, I too understand the passion that surrounds NUFC, I too had my heart ripped from my chest when we were relegated in 2009 with a 1-0 defeat away to Aston Villa, and I too felt as proud as every other supporter when we were promoted straight back to the EPL after dominating The Championship the following season.
I also know that without any question there has been many major errors made at the club since the arrival of owner Mike Ashley and his ‘cockney mafia’, yet this time, I don’t believe they are making the same mistakes as in previous years. This time I believe the club are finally looking like they can progress to the next level, and if the fans get behind the team, rather than against, I believe the future looks to be a bright one at St James’ Park.
No follower of football would argue that ‘super’ Kevin Nolan hasn’t been a truly inspiring player in his last two seasons for Newcaslte, as well as being a great role model to all youngsters at the club. This will quite rightly see that he is remembered as one of the top captains in the club’s recent history, which is no understatement.
In our Championship campaign just a mere two seasons ago, Nolan scored an impressive 17 goals and was named as Championship Player of the Year at the Football League Awards, his goals and all round play were a key reason for the team making a quick return to England’s top flight. His brilliant season didn’t stop there, though; he followed that up with an outstanding 12 goals in the Premier League this year and hit an historical hat-trick against fierce rivals Sunderland, leading us to a respectable 12th place finish and winning him a place in the hearts of all Geordies across the world.
After reading that, it becomes very clear why so many loyal supporters have been infuriated at his reported £3m sale, yet my theory is that the club have offloaded a player, who although brilliant in recent years, will now surely see his playing attributes starting to decline. Nolan, who turns 29 in just a week’s time, has never been a player of great stamina levels, yet he was reported to be seeking a 5 year contract at St James’, which would take him up to the age of 34 and still see him earning a massive £50k per week, a wage that the Newcastle bosses understandably didnt think was warranted.
Many fans will never forgive Sports Direct and United owner Ashley for the errors he has made in the past, me being one of them, yet I can’t help but think that many supporters now simply set out to aim abuse at him, and will use any excuse possible to do so, this being one. To sum it up, the way I look at this sale is simply that we have lost a cracking player, but having already signed a top class player in Yohan Cabaye from French champions Lille on a long term deal, and with the optimism now surrounding the club in the current transfer window, it won’t be too significent.
Some fans seem to have forgotten that we still have the massive £35m from the sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool, which manager Alan Pardew has been promised is available to spend, and having already named a wealth of targets in mind, such as Swiss star Tranquillo Barnetta, Senegalese striker Demba Ba and Turkish international Mevlut Erding, the 2011-12 Premier League campaign may yet prove to be a very promising one for us Magpies.
I may not have changed the opinion of many loyal supporters with this article, yet I can’t understand what is to be achieved by causing unrest or starting yet another protest against Mike Ashley. This time, I hope all of our amazing fans can simply get behind the whole club, and who knows, maybe propel us to challenge for a European spot in the forthcoming campaign. After all, who has as great an influence on their team as our famous black and white army?
Written by Gary Watson
I completely agree. The fact that Nolan wanted a five year contract for 50k at 29 years old seals it for me. I am actually glad our board seem to be thinking about these things instead of throwing massive contracts around, i really think that a lot of clubs may well follow our actions in years to come because unless your man city it simply isn’t sustainable.
Having said this i do think the board are playing a dangerous game, When you think about our magnificent team spirit last season there are six players i think were responsible for that: – Carroll, Nolan, Barton, and the three Spanish speaking pals Enrique, Gutierez and Collocini.
It’s quite possible we might only have 1 or 2 of them for the new campaign which means spirit will have to be built again with a bunch of players who don’t know each other. That’s my main concern but hopefully we can look back on this transfer window in years to come and say thats where we turned the corner, heres hoping!
I totally agree with you. Nolan came out to the fans saying he wanted a new deal, secure his future, yet he was very unwilling to negotiate (as were the board ofcourse) and personally, with the players we are bringing into the club, his position in my opinion would surely be under threat!? That said, I think we have a good squad, that is in need of strengthening and if the positive reports of targets materialise, then we could be in for a very good upcoming season. Michael, i also agree that those 6 players were very much a part of the spirit, and splitting that up could be damaging, but think about the new french connection that will be built if we get the players we want. 4 or 5 french speaking players would form a nucleaus in itself, as well as players like taylor, colo and barton, (who i still dont think will be sold this summer) we should have a team spirit unlike the one 4 the last 2 seasons, but a one of optimism and a team capable of winning things. Again, here’s hoping!
I hope you’re right but how many of the new nucleus of players will settle into the English game immediately.
I won’t use Emre, Viana, Luque, Maric, G’uivarche etc to make a point but will compare two current players.
Tiote settled immediately.
Coloccini didn’t.
If we end up with a nucleus of “Coloccinis” we may need them to be relegated and spend a season in the Championship before we see their true class and worth.
The club are gambling on finding more “Tiotes” than “Coloccinis” when they could have kept hold of proven talent.
I think too many of us are suddenly becoming ageist probably because of the Fatman’s current stand on transfers and the cock up that was made buying Smudger. Since when has 28 been considered old in football terms ? Wor Al was still doing a job for us until retiring in his thirties as well as Speedo and Beardsley.
Yes some players do slow down but if they’re good enough they’ll compensate for that with experience, something you cant buy off the shelf I’m afraid.
I Totally agree with this article.. I’ve been saying to people for the last few days since his move to the hammers that I can totally see the logic in selling him. The club did actually offer him an extra 10k on his already massive wages and a years further extension but he wanted a full 5 instead of the 3 offered…. in the end of the day if he loved the club he could have stayed but he chose to drop to the championship… thats speaks for itself.. he’d rather have a 5 year contract and west ham rather than a 3 year one at newcastle…. also people have to remember we have got ben arfa and dan gosling hopefully both will be ready for the start of the season and on top of that new lad cabeye…. I’d also ‘love it’ if we got barnetta.. he’s totally awsome… in which case would nolan have got a game anyway if he had stayed with us..?
I thank nolan for his last 2 years hard graft but at the same time politely wave him on his way a good business sense….
we paid 4m for him 3 seasons ago and got 3.5 back now with a further 500k if hammers get promoted.
good financial sense really..
We need more stamina and pace in midfield. Nolan was good business because he hasn’t got any pace and can’t last 90 mintes. Yes he scored goals but the majority came from assists by Andy Carroll or Shola. We’ve had the best out of him but if we are to move forward we need more pace, movement, creativity and flexibility in the way we play. Creatively we’re too left sided and need more options, which I hope the new signings bring.
Similarly, Barton, who is a good player and can spot a pass, is too one paced. We need players who can go box-to-box in support of the forwards when we break. How many times last season did we break and only have one or two men around the oppositions box with a huge gap where the midfielders should have been following up. Look at Arsenal and Man Utd for how they get up in support of their forwards on the break. That’s the next level we should be aiming to get to.
I hope we don’t lose Enrique but it looks like money talks and he’s made his mind up that he wants to go to a so called ‘bigger’ club who’ll pay him more.
We need more striking options and a wide right man; Barton and Routledge are not the answer in that position. I’d forgive N’Zogbia if he came back as he can play on the right with Ben Arfa on the left. Both have skill and pace, can go wide or can come inside and know where the goal is.