Kevin Nolan to declare for Ireland

Serbian

Source: Vodafone Live! - Setanta Sports Section
Media reports have once linked Kevin Nolan with a possible declaration to play for the Republic of Ireland. The Liverpool native, who has been in fine form for Bolton Wanderers this season, has yet to earn a full cap for England, who have numerous options in the centre of midfield. The same can certainly not be said of Ireland, who lost Roy Keane to retirement and have no obvious potential successors of sufficient class. Nolan, who has scored seven goals already this term, would surely make the step up to international level.

Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce has consistently championed his player's case to get an England call-up; ala, Sven-Goran Eriksson has not budged. Now, it is possible that whoever is the new Ireland manager will quickly look to snap up Nolan, who qualifies for the Boys in Green by virtue of Fifa's parentage rule.

Apparently, Brian Kerr was reluctant to pursue the 23-year-old during his spell as boss, as he snubbed a chance to play for the Irish under-18s previously.

Or, in other words: "When Ireland appoint a manager, that manager may or may not approach Kevin Nolan - a player who doesn't want to play for Ireland." Who approves these stories? Also, they couldn't resist the allusion to Roy Keane's successor.

Kevin Nolan to be the next Roy Keane? :rolleyes:

Kingp35

Yeah just another made up story. Of course its possible that teh new manager may try to entice him to play, then again its also passible that he mount. Nolan has already stated he doesnt want to play for us so we should leave it at that. I for one dont want players being harrassed into declaring to play for us. It should be a very proud thing to represent Ireland

Serbian

Kingp35 wrote:

Nolan has already stated he doesnt want to play for us so we should leave it at that. I for one dont want players being harrassed into declaring to play for us. It should be a very proud thing to represent Ireland

That pretty much sums it up. He might do a John Maken and declare for Ireland at 27 when he has no chance of ever playing for England

eirebhoy

Nolan is not eligible for us. The rule that got Macken in was only in place for the calender year 2004.

Dub13

If his parent's are Irish he is eligible for us

MrJoeSoap

Another non-story tbh.

evilhomer

Dub13 wrote:

If his parent's are Irish he is eligible for us

The rules changed in 2005 that if a player had declared for another country at underage level, He could no longer change country at senior level.

Before this a player could play all the way upto U21's for another country then switch country.
Freddie Kanoute done that, played for france at underage level then changed to Mali at senior level as he had no chance of making the French senior squad.

Dub13

Ok,

The rule used to be that you had to play a competitive game before you were committed to a country.

Guy:Incognito

Serbian wrote:

Kevin Nolan to be the next Roy Keane? :rolleyes:

Its as likely as Alan Smith.:)

Jivin Turkey

Nolan would be like a Roy Keane of old, a box to box midfielder who will get you goals.

It won't matter if he is eligible or not because he will be capped for England within the year.

Big Nelly

Nolan was only on the TV at start of this month or last month before the Spurs game going on about getting into the Ireland squad...this was news like 2-3 years ago and when he was asked about it he had said that Big Sam had advised him not to declare for Ireland and wait for england,.....this was when Noaln could have played for he U21 and was one of the only starting players that where available for the U21's and playing regular in PL and he still wasnt in the squad so why he thinks now that he is good enough for the full squad when he wasnt for the U21's is beyond me.....he could do a job for Ireland but nothing special about him.....this story has only come about because he has been made captain and has scored a few.......

I would think it would be better if they started to take a look at O'Brien who is playing at left back at the moment and doing very well....hopefully this will give him the chance to get a place in the middle.....he is class!! also who need Nolan when Whelan is playing for Shef Wed and can be a better player!! at least he has played for the U21's!!

Big Nelly

Jivin Turkey wrote:

Nolan would be like a Roy Keane of old, a box to box midfielder who will get you goals.

It won't matter if he is eligible or not because he will be capped for England within the year.

He isnt anywhere near a keane...not fit to clean his boots....before this season was always in and out of the team....this is the first chance he has got a real run in team(playing every game).....he is average at best.....there is no chance he will get into the midfield for England.....Reo-coker at West Ham would be alot better player if needed in that position......also Murphy at Charlton is 10 times better player and his link up with Owen is second to none.......again everyone reading into the cr*p from the UK press about any english player!!! if he is playing for England he will be shown to be average and bring the level of the team down!!

Villain

Fifa "'In principle, a player can request once changing the association for which he is eligible to play international matches - but only up until his 21st birthday "

Pigman II

Is there a difference between 'declaring' and actually 'playing' wrt being tied to a country?

eg If I declare myself available for Ireland (but never get a game) and then Trinidad come along and offer me a place in their WC squad can I accept?*

(*dramatisation, may not have happened)

Big Nelly

Pigman II wrote:

Is there a difference between 'declaring' and actually 'playing' wrt being tied to a country?

eg If I declare myself available for Ireland (but never get a game) and then Trinidad come along and offer me a place in their WC squad can I accept?*

(*dramatisation, may not have happened)

Yes you can....wat they mean above is if you play for England U16-U21st in international footie then you must declare which team after U21's you wish to play you say England and then try to get picked for Ireland it wont work

I take it that this is the rule now??? they had one year or so where it was open to players because this rule wasnt available to them when they where younger!!

eirebhoy

Samuel played for England at underage level and is now ineligible to play for the country of his birth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4412024.stm

bullrunner

great another matt holland...prob get caught singing the english national anthem on tv too"!!

Trampas

I dont think he can as he declared for england a while back

Was at the Bolton vs Spurs game and when he scored all the fans were cheering

"Nolan for England"

Big Nelly

bullrunner wrote:

great another matt holland...prob get caught singing the english national anthem on tv too"!!

Not sure what Matt Holland has done to deserve this??? he aint my favorite player but still plays his heart out for Ireland and always has!!!

Trampas wrote:

I dont think he can as he declared for england a while back

Was at the Bolton vs Spurs game and when he scored all the fans were cheering

"Nolan for England"

Read above....I have already discussed this....and the reason for that was because Sven was in crowd watching the Spurs players!

robz150

Could be wrong but I thought the story a few years ago (He was 19 at the time) was that Nolan wanted to declare for Ireland and was desperately trying to prove his eligibility. But in the end he was not eligible on account of him being English:D and that was that.

Big Nelly

robz150 wrote:

Could be wrong but I thought the story a few years ago (He was 19 at the time) was that Nolan wanted to declare for Ireland and was desperately trying to prove his eligibility. But in the end he was not eligible on account of him being English:D and that was that.

No he is eligible...not sure how but it was proved he was......there was a huge document in the paper one days years ago of players who could have qualified for Ireland....paul scholes was one of a number of top players that could have played!!

robz150

Big Nelly wrote:

players who could have qualified for Ireland

Yeah theres lots of them Rooney, McManaman, Keegan and think I heard something about Anton Ferdinand bizarre

Dub13

Big Nelly wrote:

paul scholes was one of a number of top players that could have played!!

As were Rooney and Gerrard

Big Nelly

Us paddies do get around:D

~Rebel~

To be honest i've been a fan of his for a while. was praying he'd declare last year so we could have had a midfield of him and keane. Dont get me wrong, im under no illusions as to his ability, he's basically a poor man's gerrard but i'd much prefer that to Kevin ****in Kilbane in midfield. He's good going forward, he's active and gets stuck in, has a good shot on him, and is improving every year (still quite young at 23). At the end of the day he's another option i'd prefer to have. He's not gonna be guaranteed a place or anything if that whelan chap turns out to be better. Id like him to be in the same as i'd like to see Connolly (as much as i dislike him) and potentially Trundle in. They may have erratic form or be unproven but fúckit its an option and better then nothing (or throwing the doc up front..same thing). Personally i'd rate Nolan higher then any other attacking midfielder in the irish setup.

This just up on skysports.com

Republic of Ireland are reportedly ready to offer Kevin Nolan the chance of international football as England continue to overlook the Bolton midfielder.

Nolan has been in superb form all season, with his seven goals placing him behind only Frank Lampard in the midfield scoring stakes, but Sven Goran Eriksson has yet to be convinced.

Bolton boss Sam Allardyce has continually called for his captain to win a call-up but it now appears Ireland, still without a manager, could yet steal a march and secure his services.

Nolan is eligible courtesy of his parentage and was expected to be invited to appear for Ireland under previous boss Brian Kerr.

However, having rejected a call-up to Ireland's Under-18s, when Kerr was manager, it is believed the former Republic chief was reticent to offer him senior football.

Nolan has previously conceded that he is well down England's midfield pecking order and he could yet appear in the green of Ireland

MrJoeSoap

If he rejected a call-up to the Irish under 18 squad he shouldn't be allowed to play for Ireland, its quite simple.

He's a tremendous player, there's no doubt about that, and I would really love if he were Irish... but he isn't.

If he does decide he wants to play for Ireland, its a perfect example of us accepting someone who sees us as a "Plan B". The sooner FIFA sort out the "declaring" mess the better.

cournioni

Personally, I don't want to see him playing for Ireland.

eirebhoy

robz150 wrote:

Could be wrong but I thought the story a few years ago (He was 19 at the time) was that Nolan wanted to declare for Ireland and was desperately trying to prove his eligibility. But in the end he was not eligible on account of him being English:D and that was that.

He was called up to an Ireland underage squad by Kerr but pulled out and played for England.

~Rebel~ wrote:

This just up on skysports.com

Its not just up, SkySports broke the story. He wants to play for England, the best way to do that is get the fans to force Sven to call him up (its pretty easy with him). All an agent has to do is inform Sky Sports and get them to put the story up on their site.

bullrunner

Big Nelly wrote:

Not sure what Matt Holland has done to deserve this??? he aint my favorite player but still plays his heart out for Ireland and always has!!!

holland was caught on camera singing along to the british national anthem at the start of a div1 /2 /coca cola super league (whatever its called now) play off final a couple of years ago....when asked he responded that he was only mouthing the words coz he knew them!...leads to the widely held conviction that he is only an international mercenary (in the footsteps of one mr V Jones)...and not dedicated to the cause in the same way as the other Irish players..

Pigman II

bullrunner wrote:

holland was caught on camera singing along to the british national anthem at the start of a div1 /2 /coca cola super league (whatever its called now) play off final a couple of years ago....when asked he responded that he was only mouthing the words coz he knew them!...leads to the widely held conviction that he is only an international mercenary (in the footsteps of one mr V Jones)...and not dedicated to the cause in the same way as the other Irish players..

But the irony of it all is that more people in this country probably know the words to God Save the Queen than Amhrain na bhFiann.

MrJoeSoap

bullrunner wrote:

holland was caught on camera singing along to the british national anthem at the start of a div1 /2 /coca cola super league (whatever its called now) play off final a couple of years ago.

So? Nothing wrong with him singing the National Anthem of the country he was born in...

If he was singing the Irish anthem I'd be worried though...

TwoShedsJackson

Great. He's a good player and he's as Irish as some of the mongs that have played for us since the Charlton years. I look forward to seeing him not sing Amhran na bFhiann soon.

Kingp35

As I said previously representing Ireland should be one of the proudest moments of your life. To run out onto a pitch representing you country has got to be one of the highlights of a players career. In the case of Nolan he has said he wants to play for England, if he oesnt get that choise we are second best and he wont feel the pride because of that.

he is English and has said he doesnt want to play for us so I dont want him representing us!!

Ruskie4Rent

Isn't Nolan on for a call up given his current form. Could well be a fringe player for england in the world cup. So even if he could play for Ireland, why would he?

Dub13

Ruskie4Rent wrote:

Isn't Nolan on for a call up given his current form. Could well be a fringe player for england in the world cup. So even if he could play for Ireland, why would he?

He will find it very very hard to brake into the English midfield.

Serbian

Dub13 wrote:

He will find it very very hard to brake into the English midfield.

I'd agree with that. The only chance he has is through injuries. I would consider him more of a competitor to Lampard than Gerrard, but Lampard hasn't been injured for at least 3 seasons. In case of a Lampard injury, I'd say Sven would be more inclined to move Beckham into the centre and play Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right.

Ruskie4Rent

I'm not sayin he'll break in to the first 11 but the chance of him becoming a player on the sidelines, like hargreaves, dyer, and the usuall background posse, is a real possibility.
A free trip to germany, and the chance of a medal, sounds alot more attrective than playing for a country without a manager, and no prospect of a decent one coming either, and who only play a tournament every 10 years or so.

Jivin Turkey

Big Nelly wrote:

He isnt anywhere near a keane...not fit to clean his boots....

All I said was that he is a similar style of player to the Keane of old, which he is.

Big Nelly wrote:

before this season was always in and out of the team....this is the first chance he has got a real run in team(playing every game).....he is average at best.....

Yeah you are spot on as usual.

He's made 170 starts for Bolton, despite only making his debut five years ago at 18. So what are we at? 34 starts a year? Definitely what I would class as "in and out of the team".

He is a very good player. He hit double figures for goals in 03/04. It's not like he's a flash in the pan. He has been around for ages, and he has been playing well for ages.

Big Nelly wrote:

there is no chance he will get into the midfield for England.....Reo-coker at West Ham would be alot better player if needed in that position......also Murphy at Charlton is 10 times better player and his link up with Owen is second to none.......again everyone reading into the cr*p from the UK press about any english player!!! if he is playing for England he will be shown to be average and bring the level of the team down!!

I can't see him being a permanent fixture in the starting XI, but he is much better than "average".

It's not crap from the UK press, this guy has a proven Premiership pedigree, and at 23, that's not something to be disregarded.

And as I said, he will have played for England within the year, which he wants to do, so who cares if some paper has again linked that he is eligible for Ireland.

MrJoeSoap

He has today replaced JayJay Okocha as club captain at Bolton.

Bolton are going to lose Okocha, El-Hadji Diouf, Radhi Jaidi, Khalilou Fadiga and Abdoulaye Faye for two to three weeks for the African Nations, seems absolutely ridiculous to me. Why can't they play this tournament during the summer of the odd years (e.g. - the summer just gone by)?

Serbian

MrJoeSoap wrote:

He has today replaced JayJay Okocha as club captain at Bolton.

Bolton are going to lose Okocha, El-Hadji Diouf, Radhi Jaidi, Khalilou Fadiga and Abdoulaye Faye for two to three weeks for the African Nations, seems absolutely ridiculous to me. Why can't they play this tournament during the summer of the odd years (e.g. - the summer just gone by)?

Yeah, makes a lot of sense that. I think Middlesbrough are going to be losing Yakubu for a few weeks too which is a real kick in the teeth (not least because he is on my Fantasy Football team ). Maybe the African football season runs in the Summer and this is the off-season for them?

eirebhoy

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Bolton are going to lose Okocha, El-Hadji Diouf, Radhi Jaidi, Khalilou Fadiga and Abdoulaye Faye for two to three weeks for the African Nations, seems absolutely ridiculous to me. Why can't they play this tournament during the summer of the odd years (e.g. - the summer just gone by)?

I think its summer in Africa now which is why they have it at this time of the year but they should definitely change it now that there's so many African's playing in Europe. Are players like Eto'o and Essien playing in it?

Pigman II

I don't think the CAF should change it at all (or not much anyway)! In fact I think it should be the European leagues making accomadations to countries and by this I mean they should actually shut down for the entire month of January each year.

That way all the real international business (eg 1/2 a series of UEFA qualifiers / African nations cup etc) be condensed into that window. I think even the clubs would benefit as they could move on happy in the knowledge that all those irriating 'call ups' were out of the way for another year.

MrJoeSoap

eirebhoy wrote:

Are players like Eto'o and Essien playing in it?

As far as I know Chelsea will lose Geremi, Drogba and Essien to the tournament. A total of 30 players will leave the Premiership for the tournament in January and February.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,6903,1641411,00.html - Paragraph 6.

Not too sure about Eto'o.

eirebhoy

Article about it here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/4442032.stm

MrJoeSoap

The comments at the end are very interesting, and in all fairness, mostly quite ridiculous.

Good article though, I didn't even think about the French league and the many many African players that they will miss. Something has to be changed, be it on the part of the various leagues or the tournament itself.

GuanYin

Its recycle old rumour time!!!!

So it seems Stan has talked to Kev and that Del-boy if on the phone to Seppy to see if they can pull a Timmy for Kev.
Whatever will Sammy say?

Or something.

Yup, surprised there is no thread, but it seems the FAI have put in a formal request to FIFA to allow Nolan to play for Ireland.

Now of course, the closest to an commited comment I've seen on this is Nolan himself saying that he told Joey O'Brien that its something he'd think about and that he was impressed with Stan. Otherwise I've seen nothing from Staunton. anyone else any info on this besides the broadsheet and tabloid speculation?

I reckon its a "Nolan for England" ruse myself.

Kingp35

Nolan is someone I dont want to see playing for Ireland because he has made it clear in the past that he does not see himself as Irish but as English. If he did decicde to play for us it would be for purely selfish reasons and I dont want players like that playing for my country.

Big Nelly

Big Nelly wrote:

Nolan was only on the TV at start of this month or last month before the Spurs game going on about getting into the Ireland squad...this was news like 2-3 years ago and when he was asked about it he had said that Big Sam had advised him not to declare for Ireland and wait for england,.....this was when Noaln could have played for he U21 and was one of the only starting players that where available for the U21's and playing regular in PL and he still wasnt in the squad so why he thinks now that he is good enough for the full squad when he wasnt for the U21's is beyond me.....he could do a job for Ireland but nothing special about him.....this story has only come about because he has been made captain and has scored a few.......

I would think it would be better if they started to take a look at O'Brien who is playing at left back at the moment and doing very well....hopefully this will give him the chance to get a place in the middle.....he is class!! also who need Nolan when Whelan is playing for Shef Wed and can be a better player!! at least he has played for the U21's!!

Opinion hasnt changed

Pigman II

I think Nolan will hang on for England. If Allardyce gets the job after the WC (which has a good chance) then Nolan will definetly be picked by him IMHO.

county

Pigman II wrote:

I think Nolan will hang on for England. If Allardyce gets the job after the WC (which has a good chance) then Nolan will definetly be picked by him IMHO.

your not slow off the mark pigman, i never though of that,but i totally agree with you

Ruskie4Rent

I also agree. However, i watched an interview with him on sky and he mentioned that if he's not picked for the WC he'll reaccess the situation.