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...