Newcastle remain United, says Kevin Nolan

Dec 26 2010 by Mark Douglas, Sunday Sun

Kevin Nolan says Newcastle remain United despite Chris Hughton’s dismissal. Chief Sports Writer Mark Douglas reports.

KEVIN NOLAN is rarely lost for words – but he admits two things have left him speechless this month.

First, Chris Hughton’s shock sacking – a bolt of black-and-white lightning that left the Newcastle dressing room united in shocked silence when the man himself modestly announced his departure.

And secondly the accusation that he, as part of the influential player committee formed from the wreckage of their ignominious relegation, might have inadvertently played some kind of part in it.

One murmur in the wake of Hughton’s sacking was that he had allowed senior stars too much influence over club matters.

One outrageous report even went as far as claiming the boss had been persuaded to drop a player before the Bolton game under pressure from the rest of the squad.

That is a myth that United’s skipper would like to debunk as quickly as possible, if you don’t mind.

The players’ committee, he insists, is not the dressing room mafia that the wilder conspiracy theorists would have you believe.

Sure, they might have implemented a fine system for minor indiscretions.

And they drew up a rota for which players would be made available for the Press post-match.

But picking the team? Nolan can’t help but laugh at the idea.

“I would like to put all of that to bed really,” he said.

“When it first happened (the players’ committee) it was a great thing.

“People were saying: ‘It’s brilliant, they’ve taken over the dressing room, they want the best for the club’, but as soon as something starts going wrong they are the lads that get pin-pointed.

“Now I can honestly look anyone in the eye and say that Chris Hughton ran our dressing room.

“Whatever he wanted, he got. It will be the same with Alan Pardew.

“I don’t know where it came from or how it has been portrayed, but it’s nonsense. Chris ran the club from top to bottom and he ran that dressing room too.

“But there is nothing better for a manager than when a dressing room manages itself and they can deal with little things without him having to worry about them.