The Kevin Nolan saga

[SaucyJack]

;sorry if this has been mentioned before, but apparently he also qualifies for Holland, the guy is all over the place....


Bolton star Kevin Nolan has revealed that he qualifies to play for Holland and is giving close consideration to his international future.

Nolan who has been touted by Stephen Staunton to play for Ireland could also come into the reckoning for England as Mc Claren imposes his stamp on the English side.

The midfielder is mulling over his options, as he could also turn out for Republic of Ireland and the Dutch.

"It's not only Ireland I have to think about," he told Wanderers TV. "My great-grandfather was Dutch, people don't know that.
"It was funny how it came up. I was at a soccer school in Spain in the summer, doing a few things for the kids. In a question and answer session, my little cousin asked me why I was always being asked about playing for Ireland and had never been asked about playing for Holland, because he's got a bit of Dutch in him.

"It just made me laugh, because everybody just talks about Ireland."

Looking to the future, Nolan added: "Obviously this is something I have to sit down and think about in the near future.

"It might be the next step. Not being in Europe with Bolton this season, it could be one of those things where I could step into the international scene with Ireland, if Steve Staunton did want me and if I got picked.

"It's something I have to discuss in the next few months but I've not thought about it because it's so far away."

yeah, I'm pretty sure most people don't know where you're great grandfather was from.

[Plastic Paddy]

those players, as dodge has said, actually contributed something to their respective adopted countries, and they wanted and sought out the oppertunity to play for those nations, Nolan has not, and even at this late stage still uses his ''irishness'' purely to ratchet up pressure on england to play him. nonsense, and we shouldnt stand for it and as a nation, leave ourselves open to having the honour of playing for us devalued and mocked by career internationals like Nolan.

dont get me wrong, he would have been welcome, more than welcome, but seeing him in green now after he has placed so little value on it, would leave a sour taste.

Well said CTP. I second all of the above.


apparently he also qualifies for Holland, the guy is all over the place....

Bolton star Kevin Nolan has revealed that he qualifies to play for Holland and is giving close consideration to his international future.

"It's not only Ireland I have to think about," he told Wanderers TV. "My great-grandfather was Dutch, people don't know that.

Kev "van Nolan" GTF. :rolleyes:

:ball: PP

[Dodge]

****ing thick isn't even qualified for Holland.

[Paulie]

Considering that the guy is currently ineligible to play for us I can't believe how many posts this gets, not only on this thread but on others also.

Before anyone points it out I am fully aware of the irony of me contributing to this thread.

[4tothefloor]

As long as the FAI beg players who have no allegiance to the country to play for us, Irish football will continue to be in as bad a state as we're in now.
Who said the FAI are begging him? The last time Staunton spoke to Nolan was during the premiership season, as Nolan said himself when Staunton was also watching Joey O'Brien. Thats months ago. How does a conversation with Staunton qualify as the FAI 'begging'? :rolleyes: For a man who likes to correct other posters a lot, you should look at some of the over-exaggerated stuff you're typing yourself ;) Brian Kerr made no effort for Nolan during the amnesty, mainly because of the incident that drummerboy referred to above. So there was no 'begging' then either.


just because it went on before doesnt mean its ok to continue capping guys like this, irish football needs to get its house in order and stop feeding of scraps of others to paper over the cracks.
Why have we suddenly become a nation over flowing with footballing talent? Getting our house in order - Isn't that what the National Technical Development Plan is all about? The club Licensing, new FAI regulations? About creating a structure from grassroots to our league clubs, and developing better players? It's going to take about ten years at least before you see anything come out of this project, but the point is Irish football has set the ball rolling. Kevin Nolan declaring for us will have no impact on any of this....


he qualifies on paper, but he has not a scrap of feeling irish in any way shape or form about him, and has made no secret of this.
How do you know he has not a scrap of Irishness about him? Do you know Kevin and his family personally? You're just speculating, basically. I remember Clinton Morrison winding Michael Owen up for Palace against Liverpool and around the same time talking/dreaming about playing for England. He finally declared for us when it wasn't going to happen. Clinton has done fine for us since, can't fault his effort. Nolan is doing exactly the same now, so what's the difference?


and the examples you give of other nations players doesnt stand up either, as those players, as dodge has said, actually contributed something to their respective adopted countries, and they wanted and sought out the oppertunity to play for those nations.
Yeah thats great when all those respective countries have proper professional leagues and those players are earning their living there as a result. We don't have that. We have a shambles of a league, run by cowboys, our grounds are a joke and so are most of the clubs. The standard is bottom tier of European club football and the wages are crap. What do you expect, the likes of Nolan to give up the premiership and come over here for 5 years to play bog standard football, just so they can justify/qualify playing for Ireland and please people like you?! My comparison to those other players does stand up because you have Brazilians playing for Japan, Portugal and Spain who are in no way Japenese, Portugese or Spanish. You have Hargreaves who has spent all his life in Canada and Germany playing for England. How in gods name has he contributed to his country? It is a valid arguement because people on here keep on banging on about Nolans 'Englishness/lack of Irishness'. Fair enough the Polish Germans grew up in Germany, as did the African French in France.

[Plastic Paddy]

Well, somewhere between the FAI and Nolan we - Ireland fans - are being sold short. Are you saying 4TTF (great handle btw) that you're not at all affronted by this? :confused:

:ball: PP

[Roverstillidie]

blah blah blah.

houghton et al were asked, thought about it for 30 seconds, said yes.

nolan refused to show up for a youth international 8 years ago and is clearly lining us up as plan b if engerland doesnt work out. presumably for contract talks/transfer time.

when you have figured it out.....

its ole ole mugs like you that let him use our national side as leverage. if he knew he would be lashed out of it by the green army for this sort of carry on, he would **** or get off the pot. its demeaning to the jersey, and worse that the FAI and some fans think its acceptible. name me one other set of fans that would take a player like him or morrison on board after such public hesitancy?

the diaspora argument is irrelevent here.

[CraftyToePoke]

text of last post


jaysus, this is like talkin to a fuuckin wall........


in light of the development plan not bearing instant fruit, you seem to maintain if we cant be choosers then we must be beggars......yeah? with this attitude you and your ilk continue to let ireland down, accept 2nd prize and thats all you'll ever get, if you're happy with that then off you go, but there seems plenty on here who arent, and rightly so.


and as with Morrisson, as ive said previously, just because it went on before doesnt mean its ok to continue doing it, if you cant process the information in others poeples posts, and understand it then it might be wise to stop trying to pick peoples posts apart.

and as for your assumed need for me to know Nolans family personally in order to comment on this, what a load of shiiite, you dont need to know him to see whats going on here, read this
http://www.kickinmagazine.ie/kevinnolan31102000.htm

and anyone with even a scrap of affinity for ireland would not have treated this matter with the casual disdain/bargaining chip attitude this guy has.

and as for Deco and co, i believe i said they either contributed to their chosen nations OR demonstrated the will to play for them,Nolan has done neither,......you missed that bit too.
and somehow you seem to think by this i mean, he should play LOI for 5 yrs to gain citizenship!!:rolleyes:


like i say...talking to the wall

[Plastic Paddy]

...threads merged just to show the history to this particular thorny question.

Thanks CTP for the suggestion of a poll - duly added. Vote away people - after all, this board at least is a democracy (well, as long as dahamsta says so)... :D

:ball: PP

[4tothefloor]

blah blah blah


blah blah blah

Could the two of you be so kind as to post a link to the post where I said 'blah blah blah'.....


in light of the development plan not bearing instant fruit, you seem to maintain if we cant be choosers then we must be beggars......yeah? with this attitude you and your ilk continue to let ireland down, accept 2nd prize and thats all you'll ever get, if you're happy with that then off you go, but there seems plenty on here who arent, and rightly so.
What exactly are you trying to say? Accept 2nd prize? Would that be failure to even qualify, because we've won that prize a lot in recent years. Nolan could help us qualify for Euro 2008 - how is that accepting 2nd prize? Long-term the Technical Development Plan will hopefully ensure we don't have to accept the likes of Nolan in say 10 - 15 yrs time. Get it? :rolleyes:



its ole ole mugs like you that let him use our national side as leverage. if he knew he would be lashed out of it by the green army for this sort of carry on, he would **** or get off the pot

Roverstillidie - I ain't no Ole Ole mug (I suppose that's the Rovers coming out in you). Nolan is welcome to play for us if he comes out and says he wants to play, just like all the rest were welcome. In an ideal world I'd love if we were able to tell undecided players like Nolan to fcuk off and then go on to qualify with two fingers still raised in his direction. But we can't cos we don't have the players. We don't qualify for finals. I've been going to LR regularly since 1989. I go to away games. I spend a lot of money, and thus far, I have not had the privelage of being at a championship finals because I was either too young or couldn't afford it when the chances last came around. If Kevin Nolan can come in and put in performances and score goals to get us to Euro 2008, quite frankly I couldn't give a sh!t if two years earlier he wanted to play for England. Is that black and white enough for you?

[Plastic Paddy]

Could the two of you be so kind as to post a link to the post where I said 'blah blah blah'...

In CTP's case I inserted it - it was because he'd quoted your entire post before responding and I was following the "don't quote an entire tome when replying to it" rule. Quote changed. Please accept my apologies. :o


What exactly are you trying to say? Accept 2nd prize? Would that be failure to even qualify, because we've won that prize a lot in recent years. Nolan could help us qualify for Euro 2008 - how is that accepting 2nd prize? Long-term the Technical Development Plan will hopefully ensure we don't have to accept the likes of Nolan in say 10 - 15 yrs time. Get it?

What a shame someone didn't have the foresight to put such a plan in place after Italia 1990. If they did we'd be where you advocate us for 2020 right now and able to tell mercenaries like Van Nolan to do one.

:ball: PP

[CraftyToePoke]

Could the two of you be so kind as to post a link to the post where I said 'blah blah blah'.....


What exactly are you trying to say? Accept 2nd prize? Would that be failure to even qualify, because we've won that prize a lot in recent years. Nolan could help us qualify for Euro 2008 - how is that accepting 2nd prize? Long-term the Technical Development Plan will hopefully ensure we don't have to accept the likes of Nolan in say 10 - 15 yrs time. Get it? :rolleyes:

it was Plastic Paddys editing which attributed that to me,i had quoted your entire post, im sure he will hold his hands up.

as for the rest of it, is this all you can come back at me with?:p

and even in this weak and, small in content, reply you yourself accept it will be nice when we dont have the likes of Nolan on-board. so i rest my case.:D

[Paddy Garcia]

He is considering playing for Holland now. His great-grandfather was Dutch. Assuem that the intent is a joke.

[4tothefloor]

it was Plastic Paddys editing which attributed that to me,i had quoted your entire post, im sure he will hold his hands up.

as for the rest of it, is this all you can come back at me with?

and even in this weak and, small in content, reply you yourself accept it will be nice when we dont have the likes of Nolan on-board. so i rest my case.
What do you mean by 'come back at me with'? What are you, 12?! :rolleyes:
If you read all my posts on this matter, my reply to you is merely repeating to you what my point has been all along. Get Nolan in, fcuk the begrudgers (like you), let him help us qualify for 2008. In 10-15 yrs time the TDP should see us begin to produce our own stars. That's basically been my point all along. His notions of England don't bother me at all. I suppose it's in me cos I can't stand Celtic, the Wolfe Tones, republicanism, the fields of Athenry or any of that diddley-di bullsh!t that idiots think is Irishness. I'm not one of those, thank god. Reading back on this thread and the previous one which was merged, you've lambasted anyone who is pro-Nolan. You obviously have issues, just because someone doesn't agree with your, IMO, Black and White views on the matter, you feel the need to bark your simplistic musings at them :p Go back and read my posts and you'll find that you don't need to rest your case......

The likes of you and the other begrudgers have issues about his Irishness or lack of, his links to us and his devaluing of the Irish shirt should he eventually declare. I was just pointing out other countries have these players too (and we'd possibly have more if we had a decent league where players could earn citizenship.) Will you stop going to Lansdowne if Nolan dons the green?

[Dodge]

For the record I have stopped going to Lansdowne because of this ****. In now way could I be described as a republican either.

[CraftyToePoke]

Will you stop going to Lansdowne if Nolan dons the green?

i actually believe in each case such as Nolans being judged on its individual merits, and happen to think in his particular case, he is one we should pass on. not a black and white view at all IMO. and certainly not a view which lends itself to the 'republican' angle which you have now put forward. i think levelling that at me, albeit indirectly, is a cheap shot. (and a load of ******** too) i dont have a political angle here, i dont care that he is English, all that concerns me is that he is not, and does not see himself as, Irish. i feel in this day and age anyone should be free to express such a view without being tarred with that brush, and in your doing so, i have lost any remaining respect for your views.

i have lambasted peoples views on this because it is meant to be an International Honour to represent a country. if we lose that then something very special is lost, and for what? your short term gain view? no thanks.

i wouldnt stop going to landsdowne, no. but neither would i view him in the same way as the other players.not deliberately though, i just dont see how one could.

you have yet to answer my earlier question, would you feel equally represented, as an irishman, by Kevin Nolan, as you do by Kavanagh or Kilbane? simple yes or no.

[Donal81]

I'd prefer not to have this bloke near the squad. Nationality is a tricky thing and the likes of Houghton, Aldridge, Morrison and Townsend would all have played for England (or Scotland in Houghton's case) if they'd come looking first. But once they were asked, they played.

Kevin Nolan has presumably been asked. Now is the time to say yes or no. Instead, he's keeping his options open. I find this debases the honour of playing for your country so much that I think I'd find it too hard to take seeing him line up before a game, knowing that he'd prefer to be playing for England. With the above players, I'm sure they don't regret a thing.

Like another poster pointed out, if he's only doing this to put pressure on McClaren, then this squalid issue should be brought to an end. It's not as if it's an Irish player declaring for someone else - refusing to pick Kevin Nolan won't be a loss.

If he was today's Ray Houghton, who presumably never thought of playing for Ireland before being asked but joined up immediately and gave everything to it, I wouldn't care. Irish nationality is a funny brew.

On a separate point, RoverstilIdie, why do you insist on making your points personal? Just debate the issue like most of us instead of slagging people off with choice phrases like ole ole mugs and barstoolers, etc, etc. It gets repetitive and I thought an excellent post by Stuttgart a while ago put all this rubbish to an end.

[NeilMcD]

Great post Donal esp the last bit in my view I would find it very uneasy to have Nolan playing for us the same way I was with Matt Holland. However maybe I lack principle cause this uneasy feeling seems to go as the player gets embedded into the set-up. Just been honest here I know there are flaws in my argument but that is how I find myself on these issues. Breen Kilbane are not an issue but when Morrisson and Holland declared for us I was certainly uneasy about it. However as someone pointed out before I certainly did not have this uneasy feeling when Holland scored against Cameroon or Morrisson did against Switzerland.

[Donal81]

Great post Donal esp the last bit in my view I would find it very uneasy to have Nolan playing for us the same way I was with Matt Holland. However maybe I lack principle cause this uneasy feeling seems to go as the player gets embedded into the set-up. Just been honest here I know there are flaws in my argument but that is how I find myself on these issues. Breen Kilbane are not an issue but when Morrisson and Holland declared for us I was certainly uneasy about it. However as someone pointed out before I certainly did not have this uneasy feeling when Holland scored against Cameroon or Morrisson did against Switzerland.

Too right Neil. I felt the same about Carsley but would have cheered him if he ever did anything decent.;) In his excellent book, Cascarino makes a reference to watching the England team as a youngster and wanting to play for them. Why not, he almost asks the reader, England was my country and I was English. It's an obvious reference to what comes later in the book. But when he joined, he became a part of the squad. For all his shortcomings as a player, he gave his all and will be synonymous with that wonderful era for Irish football.

He didn't know that he wasn't Irish by blood when he declared (if you believe his side of it) but that's almost irrelevant here. He had no interest in playing for Ireland until he was asked.

Nolan is doing this differently and it's despicable.

[Dr. Ogba]

Great post Donal esp the last bit in my view I would find it very uneasy to have Nolan playing for us the same way I was with Matt Holland. However maybe I lack principle cause this uneasy feeling seems to go as the player gets embedded into the set-up. Just been honest here I know there are flaws in my argument but that is how I find myself on these issues. Breen Kilbane are not an issue but when Morrisson and Holland declared for us I was certainly uneasy about it. However as someone pointed out before I certainly did not have this uneasy feeling when Holland scored against Cameroon or Morrisson did against Switzerland.

Have been trying to stay away from this thread but have been eventually lured in! :confused:

Interesting comparison with Morrisson, I remember around the time that he declared for us there was a quote (probably from his agent) along the lines of "Clinton has been feeling very Irish is these past few weeks" and I found that really epitomised the attitude of some of these guys that declared for us....Its pretty offensive to our nationality and I think this would be the same with Nolan...He declares and suddenly he announces he's "feeling very Irish"...well thanks for that!

Having said that, Clinton's attitude has been exemplory since declaring for us and its pretty obvious he plays his heart out each time he pulls on the green jersey which is really all you can ask of these guys.

On the other hand, if Nolan is treating this as some kind of club transfer where he announces that he's contemplating playing for us only to get McClaren to cap him well then he can f*ck right off. :eek:

[TerryPhelan]

If Nolan declares for us and Staunton picks him, my support of the Irish team will not be diluted one bit. Nolan, in terms of his abilities and his leadership, would be an excellent player to have in the side. I think 4tothefloor's point about getting the best players available out representing Ireland is the most important thing, until such point as the Development Scheme renders us in a position where we will not have to go looking for players born abroad with the alacrity that we do now.

I love the Irish team. The presence of the likes of Houghton, Morrison and McAteer (all of whom behaved remarkably similarly to Nolan, as has been noted) has not diminished that one bit. Nothing would change in that regard should Nolan declare for us. Don't forget - if you think he is 'using' us, how much more are we 'using' him for our ends?

Nolan is good enough to be in our first team, and is one of the top 5 midfielders in the Premiership. If he decides to declare for us, then let's get on with things and get behind him when he steps out in an Irish jersey. If he doesn't, how bad. No skin off our noses.

[Dodge]

I think 4tothefloor's point about getting the best players available out representing Ireland is the most important thing
Aye, but would he be representing the country.

last post on this subjest. Sick to death of it. I actually hate Kevin Nolan now...

[geysir]

The presence of the likes of Houghton, Morrison and McAteer (all of whom behaved remarkably similarly to Nolan, as has been noted) has not diminished that one bit.
Not quite Terry, it has been noted on this thread in a few places that Houghton in an instant took up Charlton's offer to declare.
Don't know about Jason but even Morrison's prevarication was not a patch on Nolans.
I voted no, more for closure, the arguement against any furthur contact with Nolan was too well presented. The thread brought up many interesting points which were well discussed but by now it is just repeating the same old arguements for a third and fourth time. Vote and leave it at that.
I am not at all convinced that Stan is even pursuing Nolan not to mention begging him to declare. I'm pretty sure Nolan isn't losing any sleep over it.
There's a qual. campaign around the corner and Nolan will not be a part of it.

[4tothefloor]

and certainly not a view which lends itself to the 'republican' angle which you have now put forward. i think levelling that at me, albeit indirectly, is a cheap shot. (and a load of ******** too) i dont have a political angle here, i dont care that he is English, all that concerns me is that he is not, and does not see himself as, Irish. i feel in this day and age anyone should be free to express such a view without being tarred with that brush, and in your doing so, i have lost any remaining respect for your views.
Ahh, I was talking about my own reasons for not having a problem with Nolan, reasons you seem incapable of understanding. I wasn't levelling republicanism at you. Maybe you are 12? :D


you have yet to answer my earlier question, would you feel equally represented, as an irishman, by Kevin Nolan, as you do by Kavanagh or Kilbane? simple yes or no.
Yes, as long as he's putting the graft in on the pitch and delivering the goods.


However maybe I lack principle cause this uneasy feeling seems to go as the player gets embedded into the set-up. Just been honest here I know there are flaws in my argument but that is how I find myself on these issues. Breen Kilbane are not an issue but when Morrisson and Holland declared for us I was certainly uneasy about it. However as someone pointed out before I certainly did not have this uneasy feeling when Holland scored against Cameroon or Morrisson did against Switzerland.
Good point, people get on their high horse about situations like this in the beginning, but once the player is playing for us, scoring goals and delivering performances all goes quiet. And they pick on the next guy........If fans are so put out by the likes of Nolan/Morrison they should do the honourable thing, take a proper stand and stop going to Lansdowne. Put up or shut up if you like.


I am not at all convinced that Stan is even pursuing Nolan not to mention begging him to declare.
Exactly, he's not begging him. The way some here are talking you'd swear Staunton was ringing Nolan every weekend. Nolan is doing a lot of talking and even he himself isn't sure if Staunton actually still wants him. To quote Nolan from SaucyJack's post "it could be one of those things where I could step into the international scene with Ireland, if Steve Staunton did want me and if I got picked". He also had a go at Didi Hamann recently in the press for opting not to join Bolton. So he's been quite mouthy in the media recently, something I wouldn't pay much attention to.


I actually hate Kevin Nolan now...
lol :p

[Colbert Report]

I vote to pass on him. I could live with a player who would rather be playing for England if his name was Steven Gerrard or Joe Cole. Kevin Nolan? Pass.

[Fergie's Son]

Regarding Houghton, I remember reading an article in the (London) Times about him in 1993. Evidently he's a fairly devout Catholic which is one of the reasons he declared.

[Closed Account 2]

I would have brought him on in the 40th min of the Chile game (or the next friendly).

Then I would have waited 4-5 proper games (competitive matches) and seen what his attitude was like.

If he had a good attitude, trained hard and seemed genuinely proud and interested in playing for us, I would then consider putting him back in proper squads from say summer 07.

If he spat his dummy out through not playing, and became a disruptive influence, I wouldnt have picked him again.

If the former happened we would have a good player, interested in playing for us, who might have had previous comments twisted by the press.

If the latter happened we would have at least ended his international career.

I think with all players like Nolan (where there is doubt over their desire), we should play them for a game to lock them down for us, then drop them for a while and see their attitude and judge if from there.

[youngirish]

Any chance we can impose a ban on the mention of Nolan in this forum as we did with Celtic? If he actually plays for Ireland we could agree to lift that ban.

I'm sick of hearing about him. It's the same recycled sh**e over and over again. He only uses the threat of Ireland to try to force his way into the current England manager's plans anyway.

[hoops1]

agree

[First]

No way should he ever be allowed put on an Irish jersey IMO:mad:
And thankfully 71.43% of people agree with me.

[NeilMcD]

Any chance we can impose a ban on the mention of Nolan in this forum as we did with Celtic? If he actually plays for Ireland we could agree to lift that ban.

I'm sick of hearing about him. It's the same recycled sh**e over and over again. He only uses the threat of Ireland to try to force his way into the current England manager's plans anyway.


how about just ignore the thread and you will be fine I am sure.

[Paddy Garcia]

I would have brought him on in the 40th min of the Chile game (or the next friendly).

Then I would have waited 4-5 proper games (competitive matches) and seen what his attitude was like.

If he had a good attitude, trained hard and seemed genuinely proud and interested in playing for us, I would then consider putting him back in proper squads from say summer 07.

If he spat his dummy out through not playing, and became a disruptive influence, I wouldnt have picked him again.

If the former happened we would have a good player, interested in playing for us, who might have had previous comments twisted by the press.

If the latter happened we would have at least ended his international career.

I think with all players like Nolan (where there is doubt over their desire), we should play them for a game to lock them down for us, then drop them for a while and see their attitude and judge if from there.


......and he would be the last player with dual nationality to declare for us if we are seen to treat players with other options with such arrogance. Anyway once they declare, why would there then be a doubt about their desire!

[gustavo]

I vote to pass on him. I could live with a player who would rather be playing for England if his name was Steven Gerrard or Joe Cole. Kevin Nolan? Pass.
Thats even more morally dubious than the man himself!

[Colbert Report]

Quite frankly I think that if you weren't born or raised in Ireland then you shouldn't play for us. That said don't tell Mick McCarthy or John Aldridge they aren't Irish. Kevin Nolan can **** off, I don't want him on our team. If Wayne Rooney hadn't declared for England I would certainly take him though.

[4tothefloor]

That isn't here nor there! :D

[gustavo]

Quite frankly I think that if you weren't born or raised in Ireland then you shouldn't play for us. That said don't tell Mick McCarthy or John Aldridge they aren't Irish. Kevin Nolan can **** off, I don't want him on our team. If Wayne Rooney hadn't declared for England I would certainly take him though.
I hope you have had a few drinks and that you dont really mean what you are saying but that post makes no sense whatsoever , riddled with contradictions!

[kingoffifa]

I’m am a fresh fish here so I feel i am duty bound to post on this thread – rite of passage and all that

Would I take him? Yes in a flash if he’s better than what we got.That doesn’t mean that if he doesn’t try like he should in an international shirt I think he should keep getting the chance.

I didn’t care Houghton was Scottish in ’88 or 94
I didn’t care Aldridge was English the many times he scored
I don’t care Cascarino didn’t even have an irish passport

They all played with heart and passion and that was more than enough for me. if Nolan signs ups and does the same as those aforementioned then who really cares?
I just want Ireland to qualify – preferably somewhere in Europe so I can afford to go.

So he has hummed and hawed(?) in public about playing for Ireland. So what? Every footballer these days lives their life in the press these days and uses it to their advantage if they can. It’s not like the press doesn’t use them. If he is using the irish card as a bargaining chip to get into the England squad then no doubt it will come back to haunt him in some way.

[nedder]

I’m am a fresh fish here so I feel i am duty bound to post on this thread – rite of passage and all that

Would I take him? Yes in a flash if he’s better than what we got.That doesn’t mean that if he doesn’t try like he should in an international shirt I think he should keep getting the chance.

I didn’t care Houghton was Scottish in ’88 or 94
I didn’t care Aldridge was English the many times he scored
I don’t care Cascarino didn’t even have an irish passport

They all played with heart and passion and that was more than enough for me. if Nolan signs ups and does the same as those aforementioned then who really cares?
I just want Ireland to qualify – preferably somewhere in Europe so I can afford to go.

So he has hummed and hawed(?) in public about playing for Ireland. So what? Every footballer these days lives their life in the press these days and uses it to their advantage if they can. It’s not like the press doesn’t use them. If he is using the irish card as a bargaining chip to get into the England squad then no doubt it will come back to haunt him in some way.


This is International football, not club football.
Aldo, Houghton etc, when asked to play, said yes pretty much immediately
Who cares? about 75% of the posters on this board to start with

[livehead1]

Quite frankly I think that if you weren't born or raised in Ireland then you shouldn't play for us. That said don't tell Mick McCarthy or John Aldridge they aren't Irish. Kevin Nolan can **** off, I don't want him on our team. If Wayne Rooney hadn't declared for England I would certainly take him though.
O Dear, O Dear, O Dear. So what you mean to say is that anyone born outside of Ireland shouldn't play for us, although some of them can, but some of them can't, and then if your good you can, although you have to be very good, because if you just quite good like Nolan, then you can't? Is that simplified for ya?!!!!!!

[SeanieBoy]

Quite frankly I think that if you weren't born or raised in Ireland then you shouldn't play for us. That said don't tell Mick McCarthy or John Aldridge they aren't Irish. Kevin Nolan can **** off, I don't want him on our team. If Wayne Rooney hadn't declared for England I would certainly take him though.

That is complete rubbish, there are plenty of Irish would weren't born in Ireland - Paul McGrath for one, plus there is Finnan who was born in Ireland, but wasn't brought up here!! I hate this type of ignorance....

[Donal81]

Quite frankly I think that if you weren't born or raised in Ireland then you shouldn't play for us. That said don't tell Mick McCarthy or John Aldridge they aren't Irish. Kevin Nolan can **** off, I don't want him on our team. If Wayne Rooney hadn't declared for England I would certainly take him though.

I assume you've had drink taken and I therefore won't comment on this post, it's too easy...Please clarify though.

[CraftyToePoke]

Quite frankly I think that if you weren't born or raised in Ireland then you shouldn't play for us. That said don't tell Mick McCarthy or John Aldridge they aren't Irish. Kevin Nolan can **** off, I don't want him on our team. If Wayne Rooney hadn't declared for England I would certainly take him though.


oh sweet jesus........:D



Ahh, I was talking about my own reasons for not having a problem with Nolan, reasons you seem incapable of understanding. I wasn't levelling republicanism at you. Maybe you are 12? :D


4ttf, my good man, just because i have not come round to your way of thinking, that is not to say i have not understood your warblings on the matter.actually, i found your over-simplistic and somewhat myopic offerings, anything but diffcult to comprehend. you just havent argued anything well enough for me to consider it further, thats all, but hardly surprising when you are arguing in favour of a plainly, totally wrong cause, as the democratic process is now proving.:p

anyhooo........i grow weary of this whole shennanigans at this stage.

[gustavo]

Anyone else thinks that this thread should be closed till there are actual concrete developments to the situation?

[CraftyToePoke]

Anyone else thinks that this thread should be closed till there are actual concrete developments to the situation?


true enough, the debate has been done to death, but, im interested in how the vote is developing TBH,.... it will be too late for fans to give an opinion after the boyo declares, should he do. you know?

[Dodge]

Unlikely to care though, is he?

[kingoffifa]

This is International football, not club football.
Aldo, Houghton etc, when asked to play, said yes pretty much immediately
Who cares? about 75% of the posters on this board to start with

where did i say club football?

so he didnt say yes in 0.2 seconds. well he must be a crap footballer so....

if he does a Aldo, Houghton etc then about 75 % of this board might not care anymore that he took time over a decision on who to play for.

[Dodge]

Anyone else thinks that this thread should be closed till there are actual concrete developments to the situation?
Excellent idea. Nobody has added anything new to the debate. We all know the situation.

[nedder]

where did i say club football?.
Well you're treating it like club football...



so he didnt say yes in 0.2 seconds. well he must be a crap footballer so.....

What??????????????

[gustavo]

I'll lock this so. Any complaints pm me about it.

[cavan_fan]

May be time to reopen the Nolan thread!. This from RTE.

Anyone else think Nolan is waiting for McClaren's first England squad, if he's not in that he'll try to declare for us.

Steve Staunton is still hoping that Kevin Nolan will don the green Irish jersey

Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton is hoping to cut through a mountain of red tape in a bid to lure Kevin Nolan into the fold.


Staunton and Bolton captain Nolan have discussed on several occasions the prospect of the midfielder pulling on the green of Ireland.


Staunton is eager to recruit a player of Nolan's calibre, yet there remain obstacles, even though he qualifies to play for the Republic via the grandparents' ruling.



Nolan has previously played for England at under-21 level, albeit in a friendly, and featured in a competitive game for the under-18s.


There is a precedent as Everton's Tim Cahill played for Samoa at youth level, yet now represents Australia after lodging a successful appeal with FIFA.


Staunton is not giving up just yet as he said: 'There's a lot of issues surrounding this one.


'Once we cut through the red tape then we will know where we are, and I cannot say much more than that.'