Nolan for Ireland!
Posted by Ratbert in Bolton | 9 March 2006
“Waiting for the train that never comes” sing Madness on their hit from days of yore ‘Ghost Train.’ If Suggs and co. look along the platform, they might see a bristle-chinned young man with a no.1 haircut standing literally in the shadows, prone to doing an odd little two-handed salute using the index and little fingers every now and again. That young man is Kevin Nolan, and he’s hoping the unstoppable high speed express for Germany, built in Sweden and marked England, will stop and let him hitch a ride. But, like one of Richard Branson’s finest, it never shows up, and his wait goes on.
You’ll see many an article that asks why Kevin Nolan hasn’t been picked for England, and I don’t need to repeat the reason here. He plays for Bolton Wanderers; pure and simple. Sven isn’t going to make another mistake of Rickettsian proportions, gambling on a small-club player on a good run of form, pushed in front of him by his media enemies. The fact that Nolan is much more than a one-season wonder and captain of his club is bye the bye, of course.
In any case, the point Kevin, and Big Sam, make about him being in a very long queue to occupy an England midfield berth in Germany is a valid one, at least up to a point. Beckham, Gerrard and Lampard I can accept as the ‘holy trinity’ but scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find addle-brained logic all the way. There’s the London factor – apparently Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jermaine Jenas are superior players to ‘Nobby’ because of geography. And if you’re telling me that Michael Carrick and Kieran Richardson are any better, then honestly… and don’t get me started on Owen Hargreaves. Why? And I don’t care if his Dad does come from Bolton.
I feel Kevin’s pride is at work here. Understandably he wants to play for his birth country, at major tournaments, on the world stage. But for all his pride, deep down he knows he’s waiting in vain. Not for him the Giggs option of playing for another, less high-profile country he’s guaranteed a run out for despite being eligible for one of the bigger boys… but actually, Nolan can play for the Republic of Ireland; his credentials are all there, namely family generational ties, and a upbringing in the emerald isle’s overseas dependency, Liverpool. The FAI is more than willing, apparently, to fast-track his eligibility… so why not don the green shirt?
The reason he probably doesn’t is, I would imagine, the ‘majors’ – Ireland don’t get to the World Cup and Euros that often these days, and being an international, to most players, big tournaments are what it’s all about. But that didn’t stop Giggs. He chose, rightly or wrongly, that his heritage was more important to him and opted for Wales. Now Wales are bobbins, but Eire are arguably better – they generally have better qualifying campaigns, and a great recent history, most notably under Jack Charlton as their exploits in Euro ‘88, and the 1990 and ‘94 World Cups testify, with a few near misses and the 2002 World Cup since. It’s all well thinking, ‘Nolan will be guaranteed games for Ireland but no guarantee of playing in the big championships’ – his role for them would be, in my view, just as galvanising as the one he plays for Bolton – the engine room, holding the team together, driving it forward, leading by example and getting crucial goals. At a time when the new Eire boss, Steve Staunton, is looking to refresh the squad and make his mark, there’s never been a better time for Kevin Nolan to make a positive choice in their favour.
The challenge for a team that was in many ways the international version of Bolton Wanderers in the 1990s – unfashionable, physical, and unafraid to thumb its nose at the big boys – is similar to the one he has now. Getting Ireland to Euro 2008? No different to getting the Whites into the UEFA Cup this season. It is surely a challenge he would relish, rather than just playing well hoping in vain for a bit part… and it would be a sad day for us Bolton fans if that desire for said walk-on saw him up sticks for Old Trafford, Merseyside or the smoke-filled capital.
