Tough decision?

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Nutcase Barton would be perfect for the job, providing he can read and write of course!

I am a big fan of the player blogs that have livened up the BBC Football pages over the past few years but it appears that some sort of curse befalls anyone who decides to pen their thoughts on the game.

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HULL boss Phil Brown is reportedly keen to sign his pal Kevin Nolan from Newcastle.
Brown is ready to open talks with the Toon about buying the Scouse midfielder – or taking him on loan for a year, reports the Mirror.

But former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce, is also interested in taking the 26-year-old to Blackburn Rovers, reports the same paper.

Newcastle bought Nolan for around £4million in the January transfer wondow.

The Source: (Shields Gazette)

The Analysis

A few years back Kevin Nolan was the talk of the town after a series of good years at Bolton he was even nearing an England call-up and awaiting his big move from the Reebok, it never came. Then his form became patchy and Big Sam left the club and it was only a matter of time before he left the club, just his luck then that he finally left after 12 years of good service to join Newcastle only to see his side drop to the Championship just months after his arrival at St James’ Park.

Now he has the choice of sticking it out with the club or using a reported release clause so that he can pursue a Premier League career elsewhere. With that in mind former boss and former assistant boss Sam Allardyce and Phil Brown are both circling like footballing vultures looking to bring Nolan back to the top tier.

Personally if I were Kevin I would stick with Newcastle and show my loyalty by giving my all to a huge club who will surely make a swift return.

The Likelihood

Nolan to leave Newcastle: I think the 26 year old will stay at the Toon.

Get a free £10 bet on Newcastle United, Hull City or Blackburn Rovers by joining William Hill now.

Imagine if Cristiano Ronaldo had deliberately missed his spot kick on Saturday afternoon. He would have incurred the wrath of the home supporters, not to mention his team-mates and of course Sir Alex Ferguson, who would probably have wrung his neck by the final whistle. However, perhaps it would have been the fairest thing to do under the circumstances, with not a single Red Devils player believing it was a penalty at the time. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Looking at the Premier League table, you might be forgiven for assuming that Bolton Wanderers have got off to a decent start this season. Indeed, if they hadn’t missed from the penalty spot at St James’ Park ten days ago, they could have seven points to show from their first three matches. [Read the rest of this entry »]

It’s often difficult to tell whether Premier League clubs care too much about the Carling Cup, especially when they make wholesale changes for these midweek matches. For example, Hull changed their entire team ahead of the visit to Swansea and couldn’t be too surprised when the Welsh club won the match. However, for Bolton, their humbling at home to Northampton was disappointing to the extent that you suspected they were pretty eager to win. [Read the rest of this entry »]

For most football observers, Bolton Wanderers have a chance of progress in the UEFA Cup after winning 1-0 at the Reebok Stadium on Thursday against Spanish giants Atletico Madrid. Bolton captain Kevin Nolan believes that the Premiership strugglers can nick an away goal at the Calderon in the return leg of the tie and progress into the next round.

Nolan, ever the optimist, says:

We have been solid but the main thing is the performances over the past four or five games, the basics have been fantastic and that is why we have been getting the results that we deserve.

I think the lads have been brilliant for the last four or five games as I said before , I think we have had four clean sheets in five and the one goal we did concede was two yards offside so we are not doing too badly at getting back to basics and being solid and making sure we are difficult to beat, and that is what we have to do over there [in Spain].

But we are under no illusions, it is going to be tough over there but we have got that advantage and I’m sure with the quality we have in the squad we can nick a goal too.

We are in the last 32 and this is the last cup competition we are in, so this is massively important to us.

It will be more than tough actually to score at the Calderon. Even if Bolton do score, Atletico do have the ability and the record to pile up a few of their own at home. To win this last 32 tie, Bolton need to go to the Church everyday from now on.

He may have had a case two seasons ago, but it comes as something of a surprise to read in The Guardian that Kevin Nolan is gutted to have missed out on a place in Fabio Capello’s England squad. Speak to many Bolton fans and they’ll tell you their captain has been inconsistent this season and part of the reason why the Trotters find themselves near the foot of the division.

“I’m not surprised because I have been in this position before but I am upset and hurt. I thought with the new manager coming in that I might have had a shout,” Nolan said of his England omission. “But I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and maybe the manager will see that and give me a chance.

“I think those who are on the outer fringes should be swapped around now and then,” he said. “That way, if the manager needed to call upon them they would have the experience of playing and being around the established players that England already has. That’s how I would get in and, given a chance, I feel I could give England something different.”

Indeed, it would have been a shock if Nolan had been included in a squad short of surprise inclusions. The Wanderers skipper isn’t helped by the fact that England have plenty more midfielders than strikers from which to choose, with Manchester United’s Michael Carrick left out of the trimmed down squad of twenty-three available for Wednesday’s match against Switzerland.