Ryan Nolan D Larne b.1999

[tommy_c12000]

Nolan given the number 4 jersey for the season, and starts in today’s friendly game vs AC Sansovino. He should start on Sunday in the league game vs Pergolettese for his first senior league start. Arezzo had been tracking him for some time apparently, so obviously have big plans for him. Hopefully, he can get a number of senior games under his belt in the coming months with Arezzo towards the top of the league. Let’s see how he does.

https://www.twitter.com/ArezzoCalcio/status/1172168731394490368

[DeLorean]

Nolan given the number 4 jersey for the season, and starts in today’s friendly game vs AC Sansovino. He should start on Sunday in the league game vs Pergolettese for his first senior league start.

He played 85 minutes of that friendly, which they won 3-0, but he's only on the bench today.

[tetsujin1979]

Came on at the end of the first half for his senior debut

[tommy_c12000]

Here are highlights from the 1-1 draw. Came on for Borghini who was injured at end of 1st half, hopefully he will be out for a while to give Nolan a chance to establish himself.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vkYMyXkVtzY#

Appears to have a good physique for center half and stands at 6 ft 2, wearing number 4. Don’t see much of him so can’t make much of a judgement on ability, apart from celebrating their goal early second half, giving away a very harsh penalty on 77 minutes, and a failed overhead catch attempt after the final whistle. All the hallmarks of a Clare footballer.

Arezzo were clearly the better team, with the usual Italian drama at the end, their keeper with straight red and their forward booked for diving for a penalty. Di Donata wasn’t happy at the end.

[DeLorean]

I was trying to find if it was him who gave away the penalty but couldn't see it anywhere. That's a bit of a nightmare debut but did look an extremely poor decision, from that one angle anyway.

[tetsujin1979]

First start last night against Juventus' second team, Arezzo lost 2-1

[tommy_c12000]

Yes, bad loss. Juve first goal was a clear push in the back and Arezzo also missed a penalty. They will hopefully bounce back at home again Sunday. The pace and standard actually looks good on the highlights. Nolan didn’t do anything wrong for goals, did get lucky with offside decision for a disallowed goal. Also he gets bullied in penalty area by striker allowing him a header at goal; all part of the learning curve but will need to toughen up and get more aggressive quickly. At end of video can see him giving a sloppy enough back pass, looks to have tired legs. But not unexpected having had no preseason and this being his first senior 90 minutes. He will improve every 90 minutes of football he gets. Borghini, the other centre half, is out for a while, so should get a string of games under his belt. This is a good development opportunity for him.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9x-Y9xWX6Ac

[DeLorean]

Had to Google translate the message behind the goals!


The tradition is linked to the history...
The history is linked to the team...
The team binds the history and the fans...
The Juventus B to which cost is ti€d up?

[tommy_c12000]

Had to Google translate the message behind the goals!
Got my friend to translate it:
“Tradition is linked to history, history is linked to the team, the team is linked to the city and the fans. Juventus B connects it all.”

[DeLorean]

Got my friend to translate it:
“Tradition is linked to history, history is linked to the team, the team is linked to the city and the fans. Juventus B connects it all.”

That sounds like a compliment? I presumed it was an insult from the home supporters, saying Juventus B's inclusion was financially driven or something, hence the € sign in the final word.

[ifk101]

I presumed it was an insult from the home supporters, saying Juventus B's inclusion was financially driven or something, hence the € sign in the final word.

Yes. Gish is the connection between tradition, history, city, fans. And questioning what ties Juventus together - €€€.

[DeLorean]

Arezzo 0-1 Albinoleffe

Another ninety minutes for Nolan, but another home defeat for Arezzo yesterday.

[Stuttgart88]

The opponents sound like a very pale ale.

[tommy_c12000]

Highlights here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HlcaK3cgRug

Obviously, highlights not the best to be judging a centre backs overall performance. The defense was pretty solid according to post match interviews. Nolan features a few times, shows reasonable pace. For the goal he let his man slip in behind him and a pristine ball was played in that caught him out. It could be argued that his partner should have communicated with him better, or maybe even try to cover him. Again, another step on the learning curve. Has more games Wednesday and Sunday. . .

[tommy_c12000]

For anyone who’s interested can google translate this interview with the Arezzo president:
http://www.ssarezzo.it/2019/09/23/il-dg-amaranto-ermanno-pieroni-in-conferenza-stampa-lintervento-integrale/

Basically, defending the coach, acknowledging the poor start while highlighting their injury crisis with 7 players out, emphasizing they have a “3 year project,” and name checking Nolan as evidence of multinational involvement. Most importantly Nolan is only 1 of 2 fit central defenders, with Borghini out for another 5 weeks minimum. This guarantees Nolan regular football for the next 5 weeks so he’ll have a solid start to his senior career

[tommy_c12000]

2 more starts for Nolan. That’s 4 starts and 1 substitute appearance for SS Arezzo sirnce his transfer. On Wednesday, Arezzo played 0-0 draw away to Como. Highlights below. Can note Nolan appears to have reasonable pace and positioning, and is pretty agile, can’t ascertain much else.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jhd_ECgeBx8 (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jhd_ECgeBx8)

This evening, Arezzo have won 3-1 at home to Pro Patria. Arezzo are recovering after their rough start. Nolan appears to have done okay on text commentary. Highlights below. Excellent first goal from Gori, a young striker on loan from Florentina. Nolan with good clearing header on 2 minutes.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l3yCuFHfaLw

[DeLorean]

First clean sheet and first win for him so, hopefully things continue to go in the right direction. I noticed on FlashScore that he is the only non-Italian in their match day squad, and one of only three non-Italian between the two squads.

[seanfhear]

2 more starts for Nolan. That’s 4 starts and 1 substitute appearance for SS Arezzo sirnce his transfer. On Wednesday, Arezzo played 0-0 draw away to Como. Highlights below. Can note Nolan appears to have reasonable pace and positioning, and is pretty, can’t ascertain much else.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jhd_ECgeBx8 (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jhd_ECgeBx8)

This evening, Arezzo have won 3-1 at home to Pro Patria. Arezzo are recovering after their rough start. Nolan appears to have done okay on text commentary. Highlights should be available later.
Its ok young centre backs being pretty but they shouldn’t end their careers still pretty .:D

[tommy_c12000]

Its ok young centre backs being pretty but they shouldn’t end their careers still pretty .:D

lol, Edited! Highlights added of today’s game too

[tommy_c12000]

Has now been dropped for the past 3 games in a row. Not a good sign for his prospects. From the highlights I saw, he seems to lack that bit of strength and aggression needed at the current time at adult level, hopefully he can acquire these as season develops. An example is at the last 50 seconds of this video where a crucial injury time goal was conceded when he let him man dominate him and get across him for equalizer https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SWeUSBBSghM

SS Arezzo are making somewhat of a recovery from a nightmare start with 4 points from last 2 games.

[tetsujin1979]

Nolan gives his account of life in Italy under lockdown: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52440752

[DeLorean]

Leicester being linked with Nolan - https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/ryan-nolan-leicester-leeds-inter-4437322

Norwich & Blackburn also rumoured to be interested - https://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/former-inter-milan-defender-being-monitored-1-6799435

[Eirambler]

It all reads to me as though he has been told he is surplus to requirements by his Serie C team and his agent is trying to drum up some interest.

[DeLorean]

Hopefully it works.

[passinginterest]

Would be a very low risk with potential high reward gamble for any premier league team. There seems to be a trend to recruit these type of players for the under 23 teams. Low cost, which I'd imagine will be more important given the covid impact, and if he does ok they either make a nice sell on profit or have a very cheap new first team player.

[Eirambler]

What is the likelihood that a player who couldn't get into a Serie C team by 21 develops into a Premier League player though? By all means it's fairly low risk but also quite a long shot in terms of gaining from it at the end of the process.

[tetsujin1979]

The story originated in the S*n, which makes me think it's just agent talk.
Few, if any, players have ever gone from Serie C to Premier League, never mind players who can count their entire senior career appearances on the fingers of both hands.

[CraftyToePoke]

What is the likelihood that a player who couldn't get into a Serie C team by 21 develops into a Premier League player though? By all means it's fairly low risk but also quite a long shot in terms of gaining from it at the end of the process.

Was reading a Leicester forum yesterday and one post was about three of their development CBs being overage and two others released, no idea how true this is but it did also say they have only one recognised CB ( who is also Irish ) so they might need bodies in. Its still an unlikely move after RNs recent trajectory, granted.

[tetsujin1979]

Interviewed on skysports.com: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12040/12056381/ryan-nolan-irish-defender-looking-to-fulfill-premier-league-dream-after-leaving-inter-milan

[Olé Olé]

His agent is a very, very busy man. How many Serie C bit part players are getting linked with Leicester and interviews on Sky Sports?

[Diggs246]

Lee o Conner should move to nolan's agency

[youngirish]

Good luck to him. A move to League 1 would be ideal if he can manage it. He can then develop his career and hopefully move up through the divisions.

He will only end up sitting in the reserves for a Premiership club and opportunities will be very limited at any decent Championship outfit.

Avoid Celtic like the plague.

[tommy_c12000]

Ryan’s career taking another dip, despite his agent doing his/her best with numerous porky pies.

His move to Swiss Challenge League club Chiasso FC will be confirmed next week according to this: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.tuttoc.com/amp/calciomercato/notizia-tc-arezzo-fatta-per-nolan-al-chiasso-firma-a-breve-258754

A club with a stadium capacity of 5000, who finished 10th (last) last season, however, weren’t relegated due to covid. Hopefully, he can at least get a run of games. And of course he will face Connor Ronan’s Grasshopper too

[Eirambler]

Would Ryan be in our top 10 under 23 prospects at centre back at this stage - probably not to be honest. It was a nice story with him captaining Inter at underage level and all that, but his career path in the last year suggests he is nowhere near the standard required to ever feature for us.

[tommy_c12000]

He just hasn’t pushed on. He really looked poor in the Arezzo extended highlights I saw (although generally biased against defenders!). But u never know, if he plays 40 odd games this year and adapts to senior level, he’s still only 22 next summer and could be appealing to bigger clubs then. Unlikely but not impossible.

[Charlie Darwin]

There were people on here livid that Liam Scales at UCD was picked ahead of him for the under-21s by Kenny but Scales is still playing at a higher level and doing better. I think Nolan has talent and can break through but sometimes we need to not be blinded by the name of the club a player is at. Senior football is hard and he's finding that out.

[Eirambler]

Yes, some of the earlier comments on this thread have not aged well at all. That said, it is difficult to gauge where youth players are at, particularly those players outside Ireland and the UK. But, similar to Under 23 football in England, performances at underage level in Italy, even at the big clubs, are largely meaningless. First team football is the only level you can really judge a player by.

[tetsujin1979]

Even with his career since leaving Inter, it was baffling why he wasn't in any squad, ever, since the U18s

[Diggs246]

Any clip we saw of him. He didn't look very good. That's possibly very unfair and he might be a talent, but maybe they just thought no not for us.

[DeLorean]

There were people on here livid that Liam Scales at UCD was picked ahead of him for the under-21s by Kenny but Scales is still playing at a higher level and doing better. I think Nolan has talent and can break through but sometimes we need to not be blinded by the name of the club a player is at. Senior football is hard and he's finding that out.

Careful Charles, that was near on Paul O'Shea levels of 'I told you so', along with the standard Posh safety net for good measure.

[tommy_c12000]

There were people on here livid that Liam Scales at UCD was picked ahead of him for the under-21s by Kenny but Scales is still playing at a higher level and doing better. I think Nolan has talent and can break through but sometimes we need to not be blinded by the name of the club a player is at. Senior football is hard and he's finding that out.

Serie C vs playing with 15 year olds in the Irish first division.....neck and neck on the standard I would say!!

[tetsujin1979]

Nolan was playing in the UEFA youth league, against troy Parrott, when Scales was getting called up. I'm not saying he should have started, but surely he was deserving of a place in the squad?

[Eirambler]

I don't know - if Kenny watched him and thought he wasn't good enough, then there was probably no justification in calling him up. To be fair to Scales he has played well on the few occasions he has actually got on to the pitch for Ireland. He didn't look out of place in Toulon last year. From the (admittedly limited amount of) footage I have seen of Nolan he hasn't looked like a player who would have a lot to offer.

[tommy_c12000]

I just felt it was odd that a kid who is eligible for 3 countries and was doing well at the Inter Milan academy, including captaining their under 19 side, never played a competitive underage game for Ireland. There’s something wrong there. At least have a look at him. My gripe was never with scales directly, per se. Although I was probably a bit harsh on him

[elatedscum]

He was close enough. He was on standby for Kenny’s first squad. Ndaba and Scales were called up ahead. He looked good in those games against Spurs as far as I remember, which were in the months prior to that squad. Scales obviously impressed and became a mainstay in the squad but Ndaba was never seen again and didn’t play any first team football until a few weeks ago.

Obviously it hasn’t really panned out for Nolan but it was a reasonable shout to think he merited inclusion...

[Charlie Darwin]

Serie C vs playing with 15 year olds in the Irish first division.....neck and neck on the standard I would say!!
Scales wasn't called up when he was in the First Division - he was playing against full internationals in the Premier, whereas Nolan had never played a game of senior football in his life.

[Charlie Darwin]

Careful Charles, that was near on Paul O'Shea levels of 'I told you so', along with the standard Posh safety net for good measure.
Hey, if I'm going to learn from anyone it's from people who actually go to away matches.

[tommy_c12000]

Scales wasn't called up when he was in the First Division - he was playing against full internationals in the Premier, whereas Nolan had never played a game of senior football in his life.

Rovers II aren’t looking for a centre half are they?! Nolan has just been released on a free now so needs to find a club to rebuild his career

[Charlie Darwin]

Rovers II aren’t looking for a centre half are they?! Nolan has just been released on a free now so needs to find a club to rebuild his career
Funnily enough he'd be too old (whereas Scales has played for Rovers II as the one allowed overage player).

Nolan does seem to have made it his goal to go to England, though, but joining an Irish club might not be the worst thing in the world. LOI tends to reward ball-playing centre-halves and he could develop quicker than at a League One side.

[Trequartista20]

Ryan Nolan seems to have joined Getafe, where he'll link up with their B team playing in the third tier.

https://twitter.com/Sp_Getafe/status/1313085319298854912