whats do ye think of Kevin Nolan?

vorbis

There's rumours that he might declare for Ireland given he has only one U 21 cap. A Kanoute situation by the sounds of it. His committment to Ireland would be pretty questionable but theres do denying he's a handy player. How would people feel about him joining the Irish squad?

cournioni

He turned down the chance to play for Ireland before didn't he? He's let his country down!! He should never play for Ireland!!

Nah seriously though. I think he would be a great addition to the Ireland squad, he is very composed and not afraid to get on the ball. We need someone like that in the team.

MrJoeSoap

He's quality alright. I could see him getting in the England squad if he keeps playing as well as he is, so hopefully we'll nick him in time !

thegills

We don't need him as we have Roy Keane back..

Sposs

He's english let him play with them.

StickyMcGinty

let the english have him, we have too many centre mids anyway

holland, miller, kavanagh to name but a few, and with the young lads coming through there is simply no room for plastic paddys.

Guy:Incognito

we should take anyone we can get,you never know what type of player he might turn into, its no loss either way, its completely different if we were a club who were buying players. Free is a good price for anything , that way if its rubbish just dump it.

leeroybrown

If he's elegible and willing to declare for the senior Ireland team then he's welcome. He's played well for Bolton most times I've seen him, he scores a decent few goals from midfield and he's fairly young.

We can do with as many good central midfielders as possible. We don't really have a consistent central midfield partnership.

eirebhoy

Kevin Nolan is waiting to get a callup to the England squad, if that fails he will probably declare himself for Ireland. I don't want players like that, if he wanted to play for Ireland he would have said it a long time ago.

Dustaz

Didnt his brother play for ireland?


I think he had the chance to declare for Ireland in the u-21 stage, but he was promised, and recieved, an english call-up.

Sounds like a Martin Keown type situation and hes as irish as 2nd generation get.

JaneyMackers

Yeah he grew up in England. Can you blame him for wanting to wait and see in the past.

But England are loaded with better players in his position. I think hes quality mind. Good as a midfield or forward. That kind of versatibility is good for Ireland.

I must say I like his attitude as well. He got let go from Liverpools acedemy, he still has the letter from Steve Heighway framed on his wall. Then he returned with Bolton and scored against us. Fair Play. I'd welcome him in no problem.

He grandparents on both sides are Irish I hear. He's from Liverpool so thats not unusual.

JM

eirebhoy

Originally posted by JaneyMackers
Yeah he grew up in England. Can you blame him for wanting to wait and see in the past.

Yes I can blame him. If England are his first choice, he doesn't deserve a second choice IMHO.

vorbis

I wouldn't mind. We have pretty few central midfielders who are actually any good. If he decides to play for Ireland and puts in good performances then, all well and good. Besides his situation is not much different than that of Clinton Morisson.

eirebhoy

Originally posted by vorbis
I wouldn't mind. We have pretty few central midfielders who are actually any good. If he decides to play for Ireland and puts in good performances then, all well and good. Besides his situation is not much different than that of Clinton Morisson.

And I wasn't very fond of Morrison coming either. I have an Italian grandfather and their is no way I would think about representing Italy in any sport and I don't think I should be allowed.

You should have to have at least one parent Irish before you should be allowed play for Ireland.

Sposs

He's using Ireland as a back up if Engalnd don't pick him , he's already turn us down.We showed against Brazil we have a decent team and we dont need to beg people like kevin Nolan to play for us anymore . there's plenty of irish talent born and bred who are willing to play for us.

Big Ears

he's a good player and i wouldnt mind him in the Ireland squad , sure he would rather play for england but wouldnt u prefer to play for the country u have strongest links too .

ChumpStain

I wouldn't mind him playing for us, hes a good player and has an eye for a goal. I'd prefer him to say Holland who can be very anonomous at times. Apparently Macken off Man City would like to play for Ireland aswell and also Lee Trundle of Swansea(not exactly the elite of football). I don't see the problem with an English player that has some quality to his game playing for Ireland.

zAbbo

Roy Keanes from Manchester, and he was one of our better players, so id welcome this Nolan lad

eirebhoy

It should be a player's dream to play for his country, it is Kevin Nolan's dream to play for England and if he doesn't make it he will give Kerr a call. It would just be to help him in his career and I am not fond of having those kind of players in the squad. Players like Doc and Breen were born in England but only had an eye for Ireland so they deserve their place.

hoolio

Players like Doc and Breen were born in England but only had an eye for Ireland so they deserve their place.

You sure?If they had gotten Ireland and England calls at the same time are you sure they would have chosen us or are they only devoted to Ireland because they know they will never be good enough to play for England.

And how about Kilbane,Holland,Steven Reid,Morrison?Should they all be dropped?I dont think anyone complained about Kilbane/Morrison being English wednesday night.

If i made the rules it would be where you were raised,not where your blood is that counts.I don't care if someone has no Irish blood in them whatsoever but if they were raised here i would welcome them with open arms - blood does not equal nationality.

Nolan probably does want to play for england in his heart but so do all the other English players in our senior and junior panels.well i think so anyway.If Nolan wants to come and wants to give 100% then let him come i think

eirebhoy

Originally posted by hoolio
You sure?If they had gotten Ireland and England calls at the same time are you sure they would have chosen us or are they only devoted to Ireland because they know they will never be good enough to play for England.

The reason I know Doc wasn't thinking about declaring for England first is because he made his debut for Ireland when he was 20. If he wanted to play for England he would have waited a little longer don't you think. As for Breen, I remember reading an article about him and he used to wear Ireland jersey's as a kid and always supported them, also, both his parents are Irish.

As for the other players, I don't know much about their backgrounds etc.

hoolio

Gary Breens grandmother actually lives very near where i grew up myself so i know theres a stronger connection then say Nolan but i just still feel that both would have played for england given the chance.

And i might be talking ****e here but weren't the rules different when Doherty made his debut.He had already played for our u-21's hadnt he and back then that bonded you to the country (thats what surprised Tottenham about Kanoute).

And I guess you could say well why did he play for our youths - to be a bit harsh on the lad he was never ever going to approach a level good enough for england - he's not even good enough for us really.His agent probably had something to do with it but basically i think he knew he wouldnt play for England,his agent knew it,the FAI knew it and the FA knew it - why didnt they call him up to block us doing it like they did with Scholes?


Anyway i think our entire team is English anyway,Roy Keane is the only one i can think of who actually played for an Irish club for any length of time.Our players are taken raw by the English clubs and they maufacture them,teach them and train them. What we are basically doing is taking Irish steel,we send it to England and it comes back as a car,then we slap a Bord Fáilte sticker on its windshield and call it Irish.Damien Duff would be nothing if he wasn't sgned by Blackburn and thats a fact.Irish clubs just can't produce quality players.And don't even mention the words Glen Crowe to me

Caesar_Bojangle

The reason I know Doc wasn't thinking about declaring for England first is because he made his debut for Ireland when he was 20. If he wanted to play for England he would have waited a little longer don't you think. As for Breen, I remember reading an article about him and he used to wear Ireland jersey's as a kid and always supported them, also, both his parents are Irish.

I thought Doherty was from Donegal and moved to England when he was 10?

Sounds like a Martin Keown type situation and he’s as Irish as 2nd generation get.

I remember some drunk telling me in a pub a few years back that Martin Keown changed his surname from McKeown to Keown in order lose his Irish aura?

donhughberto

We need quality and Nolan is just that, if he has a ince of Irish blood he is irish, bloddy hell look at the yanks, most claim to be Irish-American lol, cant be all bad!

Dustaz

Originally posted by Caesar_Bojangle

I remember some drunk telling me in a pub a few years back that Martin Keown changed his surname from McKeown to Keown in order lose his Irish aura?

The fat bloke down the pub says a lot of things caesar (The Muppet posts most of them as gospel actually) but i doubt thats true. He brings his kids on holidays to ireland quite a lot and iirc he speaks a bit of irish.

Seaneh

To all the "he should have declared at 21" muppets.
Look at it from his point of view.

HE IS ENGLISH and thought he was good enough to play for them so he played with the u21's.
Now the england setup doesnt want him, so he will play for the other country he has FEELINGS for.
His situation is no differaint than Jason McAteer, Gary Breen or any other "plastic" paddies, he want's to play for ireland because his HOME nation doesnt want him.


If you could play for another, smaller nation because ireland didnt want you, you'd jump at the chance, no matter than nation it was, because it's a chance 98% of professional footballers will never get, to play on the highest stage!

I say if he is good enough, and it's within the rules, exploit it!

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Seaneh
His situation is no differaint than Jason McAteer, Gary Breen or any other "plastic" paddies, he want's to play for ireland because his HOME nation doesnt want him.

His situation is different than Breen's because both Breen's parents are Irish and AFAIK at least one of McAteer's parents are Irish. Kevin Nolan has a Irish grandparents. I also believe that Breen would have picked Ireland over England.

I would have nothing against Nolan if he played for Ireland I just think that FIFA need to change the rules. Obviously players have to write their nationality on their contracts, unless it says Irish I don't believe he should be allowed play. Thats just my point of view and I am obviously in the minority.

Here is a piece about Nolan and his international career:
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/sport/football/boltonwanderers/stories/Detail_LinkStory%3D82059.html

Nolan, Bolton's 10-goal midfield star, may have earned an international future with the Republic of Ireland following his superb strike against City.

The 21-year-old Scouser is qualified for the Republic through his grandparents, and could get the chance to turn his back on England - who left him out of last week's Under-21 game against Holland at Hull.

Reports suggest that new Republic boss Brian Kerr wants to draw Nolan into his set-up and changes in FIFA rules would make it possible, despite the player's appearances for England at U-18, U-20, and U-21 levels.

Nolan had to choose from the two countries before picking an Under-21 career with England, but now he may have to think again.

He sent Kerr a perfect reminder with a thumping cross-shot in Saturday's 3-1 home defeat by City, but is unwilling to commit himself at this stage.

Nolan said: "I'm not bothered about being left out by England last week. All I want to do is play for Bolton week in, week out and anything else is a bonus. I'm not going to let it worry me.

"I've heard stories about me playing for Ireland, but nothing official. Maybe I'll have to sit down with the gaffer and my family and make a big decision.

"But Ireland have got a lot of great midfielders so they might not want me anyway."

Delighted

He added: "I was delighted with the goal and happy about getting into double figures for the season. But I was really disappointed with the result.

"We played well until I scored, because we'd been knocking the ball around well and David James had to make two great saves. But we let City off the hook and, fair play to them, they capitalised on it.

"You have these games and we've got to happy that it came a week before the Carling Cup final. But this would have been such a big win for us,

"It's the first time for a while that we've known what it's like to lose in the Premiership and there are a lot of disappointed lads in the dressing-room.

"Now it's up to us to get our heads up, get back to the drawing board and, hopefully, everything will come off for us on Sunday."

Nolan was generous in praise for boyhood hero Robbie Fowler, whose two goals set up Bolton's defeat.

Super

He said: "He's a superb player and that's probably one of the best games he's had in a while. I'm made up for him.

"Robbie is a top quality striker, one of the best Liverpool have ever had, but I'm gutted he did it against us."

Skipper Jay-Jay Okocha supported manager Sam Allardyce's decision to leave him on the bench for an hour, saying: "I've had a very busy three weeks with the African Nations Cup, and needed a rest.

"I didn't make a difference but the team was struggling.

"But it will be different in Cardiff because we all know what we are capable of doing. We know how massive that game is. It can make our season."