Former Hammer Don Hutchison has told the Chronicle that Kevin Nolan is a good fit for Sunderland and his Georgie roots wouldn’t stop him. He also reveals that Bilic was in two minds whether to keep him or not.
“I think Sam is inheriting a team in Sunderland who are probably not equipped to play the way he wants at the moment, so the job is to get through until January and have another look then,” Hutchison wrote in the Chronicle.
“Kevin Nolan lives not far away from me in Essex and I’d heard from a pretty reliable source that he might be going to Sunderland, which is a move that I think would be a good one from Sam and for the Black Cats.
“It would add some serious spice to the derby game and I know that Newcastle United fans’ opinions of Nolan will change overnight but it’s just business as a footballer. I was born a Newcastle fan and my old man was the same, but if you get an opportunity to play at a big club then you have to take it.
“Kevin’s been training with Leyton Orient recently. Believe me, if you’re down there in League One or League Two it’s very, very tough. I had it when I was at Luton – you’ve played at the top for so long, it’s difficult to really motivate yourself to play at that level.
“Everything is different. If you get the chance to play at Premier League club under a manager who trusts you, can you say no?
“Kevin isn’t a Geordie lad, he doesn’t live there any more, he’s in Essex and I don’t think he’ll settle in Newcastle when his playing career is over. You have to be realistic – it’s a very good opportunity if it comes along.”
“My approach would be to offer him quite a low basic wage but with a heavily incentivised contract. I think that way it suits both parties – Sunderland won’t want to be landed with another big earner and Kevin probably has to accept he’s not quite at that level anymore,”
“But can he do a job? He definitely can. I was actually at the training ground at West Ham in pre-season and I went into speak to Slaven Bilic and he was raving about Kevin. He spoke for 20 minutes about him being the fittest, the best trainer and beating all of the other lads hands-down in the running and the fitness tests.
“He was in two minds about keeping him – it was just a case of looking for something a bit more dynamic and a bit more fluid in midfield. If he couldn’t guarantee Kevin game time – and he couldn’t – he didn’t think it was worth keeping him. It was probably a budget thing more than anything.
“But he said he was a terrific influence on the dressing room, a very popular guy who would do well at the next club he went to – exactly what Sunderland need.”