Kevin Nolan insists NUFC will keep pushing

May 22 2011 by Mark Douglas, Sunday Sun

AS St James’ Park basks in the satisfaction of a job well done this afternoon, one man will cut an unusually agitated figure.

And it will not be the crutches that have prevented Kevin Nolan from lifting his two kids for the past week that prompt the bout of uncharacteristic party-pooping from Newcastle United’s injury-stricken captain.

No, Nolan the perfectionist freely admits he isn’t as happy as people probably think he should be with his season’s work.

Put it to him that United’s Premier League comeback has been a soaring success and he hits back with a compelling counter-argument.

For while safety might have been the publicly stated aim of the United squad before the campaign kicked off, he admits there were loftier ambitions back in May. Dreams, in fact, that were borne from the ambition that still burns inside a fiercely united dressing room.

He explains: “I remember when we won the Championship – that day was superb and we had a fantastic night together.

“We were talking about it then on the night out – we felt this team could achieve so much. We have matched those pre-season goals to some extent, but we could have done better.

“Don’t get me wrong, the reasons we haven’t are pretty obvious. You can look at injuries, people getting sold, managers coming in and going out and things like that.

“So yeah, the season as a whole has been really, really good. But I’m definitely disappointed we haven’t finished higher and haven’t done a bit better.

“You look at it and there has probably been a core of eight or nine who have played pretty much all of the games.

“We’re not complaining about it because we love playing, but if we’d had a slightly bigger squad I think we could have finished a little bit higher and I’m sure we would have.

“Still, it is exciting times. It’s going to be a good summer and there are plenty of things to be excited about.”

Enthusiasm is what comes across every time you speak to Nolan, which tends to be pretty regularly over the course of the season.

As skipper he is the man wheeled out when others won’t talk – after a tough defeat or a particularly controversial development.

On Friday he was limping after ankle surgery, but he still agreed to talk, just as he has at various charity and supporter functions in the city over the season.

Others, the former Toon skipper Michael Owen springs to mind, used to shun these responsibilities, but the straight-talking midfielder embraces the role of captain – along with all of its trappings.

It is that passion for the cause that will hopefully secure him a longer future at St James’ Park, where he is edging closer to a new contract. Such a development would have been unthinkable two years ago, when he was on the brink of exiting Newcastle.