By Sean Whetstone
I was disappointed to hear Kevin Nolan was booed yet again today, a fate he has suffered several times from West Ham fans.
Just last week there was also talk of a mass walk-out and a banner of ‘Nolan Out’ at the Manchester United game if Sam Allardyce started him.
Despite his drop in form and his lack of goals I believe Kevin Nolan still offers something to West Ham and he proved that during the Manchester United draw.
He is also a good captain and has a major influence in the dressing room which cannot be underestimated.
One statistic doing the rounds on social media and forums recently suggested a West Ham win rate with Nolan of just 33.33% with the win rate without Nolan equaling 62.5%.
I decided to check our these unverified statistics myself. I calculated wins, losses and draws for the whole of this current season including cup games where Kevin Nolan played 60 minutes or more.
My statistics show a win rate of 44% with Nolan and a win rate of 43% without Nolan.
stats can and do lie. One win in five always really means two wins in six. This “Nolan’s presence in the dressing room” thing is way exaggerated – yes, he did make a difference when he first came here as our dressing room was divided and full of agendas. Back then he was one of our best players and one of our top scorers – an experienced PL player coming down a level to the Championship. Nowadays we have quality players being led by a captain who has scored just once all season and is desperately off the pace. It is obvious to anyone that watches every game, together with the recordings, that players out of form or off the pace do affect the performances of others on the pitch. I know from my playing days that an inspirational leader in the team can be a bonus – but it is not a critical thing to have – what I do know is that if my captain is the worst player on the pitch I will not be inspired. You watch how Noble and Songs performances improve when Kouyate is back in midfield at the expense of Nolan – that is, if BFS drops him?
Those stats are all very well until you look at it as a loss % with him in the team.4 losses in 14 without,4 losses in 9 with.The losses % in both cases would tell a very different story.
I just went through the match reports. I don’t know where you have got your stats from, you have 24 games and we are 25 games into the Premier League.
Looking at the Premier League only it looks like this: WITH NOLAN – W4 D4 L4 WITHOUT NOLAN: W6 D5 L2
Yes actually there are 29 games including cup games
Nolan has played in 13 of them so not played in 16 on them
Win ratio is 38.5% with Nolan and 37.5% without him. I will update the graphic
Would seem however given Heisens stats we lose 33% of games when he plays but only 15% when he doesnt play.The loss to games played will be very different to this win ratio you are showing.
I still don’t agree with your stats. There have been 5 cup games so 30 in total, and they look like this:
WITH NOLAN – P15 W5 D5 L5 33% win ration & 33% lose ratio
WITHOUT NOLAN: P15 W6 D7 L2 40% win ratio & 13% lose ratio
Thankyou heisen.The losses % is pretty damning evidence,33% in team,13% out of team.Stats can be massaged to prove any point.But i must say this show there is a significant difference when in the team.
the prob is he is now to old to play in in the prem his trick was all ways that he gave you 10 to 12 goals a season that alone was enough to included him in the team BUT now the goals have dried up people start to look at his contribution to the team which was never a lot he need to be dropped and a younger player to be blooded in BUT I bet he will play v the ***s next week
At the end of the day they tell us we have lost 4 of 9 with him,4 of 14 without him.You dont need to be a stats guru to see that the % is far worse with him in the team.
Even if he is on the pitch when we won does your stats actually tell you how he contributed to the win ? Answer no
Yes he scored when we won at WBA but up until then he did nothing,
Yes he tried hard in several games but he did not add any class or match winning passes,
The rest of the time he was called a traffic cone by most of the supporters and TVS presenters,
He has nothing to give to this team anymore today where was his leadership when all around needed it ? Absent ,
BFS slated Alfitano today for being unprofessional St like Nolan last year,but Nolan was as bad the few times he got near the ball being so slow and clumsy he committed fouls,
There is no argument to keep him in the first team squad anymore,then BFS will have to show how capable he is with a good squad of players,
BFS and Nolan must go for us to grow.
Sadly truth is Kevin is at the end of his career, he is very slow now, no way with what he offers can the second highest salary be justified, I will Never boo a West Ham player, but Nolan’s days are ending in Premiership Football, Sam needs to recognise that quickly.
One man doesn’t make a team, but one man can be a weak link. However,You can not blame everything on Nolan. Football a is a physical game, not a series of numbers on a piece of paper. Forget statistics, they mean nothing. BFS stands by statistics and look at his management, distinctly ‘average’. The problems today were obvious,
Song, is not 100% fit by a long way, and I suspect he has knee problems.
Noble is recovering from a virus,
Nolan’s legs have gone, (not that he was ever fast).
We had no centre half, of the quality of Collins, who puts his body on the line every game he plays. (the second & third goals he would have prevented.)
Valencia is not a £15 million pound player. I’m sorry but we should have let him go to Chelski and possibly recruited Remy, who would fit the diamond better.
But, most of all BFS’s ineptitude to select a team for the match.
Amalfitano must have been so disappointed to not start, in place of Nolan. He shows his frustration and gets sent off. (Do not condone his actions, but come on.)
We are chasing the game so he takes off Sahko and brings on (Cole who should have been moving into a house in the Hawthorns District of Brum).
Then to crown it all he sends on O’Brien,
hallaluah ! he should have started in the back four, so Kouyate could bolster the midfield from the start, with Amalfitano in place of Nolan.
I rest my case with a final note:
Those fans who abused David Sullivan should hang their heads in shame. Without his and David Golds money we would be supporting a non league team by now. Get a life you morons there is only one person to blame for this debacle Mr Sophisticated,(big I am) Allardyce. Pride goeth before a fall Sam.
Mr Sullivan , your treatment today was as a direct result of the cowardice in almost every aspect of your Manager.You have worked hard for the respect you have gained,and rightly so, but you can expect more and worse unless you get rid of Allardyce .You don’t deserve that, but he does.
Nolan & Sam our like Marmite i have noticed on this forum,love them or hate them.I have never been a big Allardyce fan but am not the sort of fan to rant or try to change the world.But i admire the people on here who are willing to question the management & policies of West Ham United when it comes to the management.The blinkered people on here are often the ones who dont challenge things at all.This is how situations never get questioned or change comes about.Governments have opposition parties for a reason,to challenge them.It is exactly the same as people here who vent their frustrations or anger.It does not make them unknowledgable or limited in experience of football.Actually they regularly talk much sense.I find the people who see Allardyce as doing a fantastic job more objectionable on here than ones willing to questions things.But im sure i will be castigated now by The Pro Sam lobby!
Stats! I don’t need stats to see that Nolan touches the ball a lot less than anyone else and when he does, it’s either backwards or sideways and usually straight back to where it came from. His contribution is minimal and is it any wonder that players lose heart when they see him in the side? I mean Amalfitano, Zarate, even Ravel Morrison have all been seen off by Nolan. Someone tell me why because they all have far more skill and stamina…
I’m not pro Sam. Im just not anti Sam believe it or not but I’m not anti Sam either. As soon as you see the letters BFS (the derogatory disrespectful version of Sam or just BS). you just know that all you are going to read is yet another bigoted anti Sam tirade. Sam gets stick for literally everything. Nolan gets stick not only for his poor form (agreed but then nobody played well today) but also because he’s sam’s man. Nobody argues nolan hasn’t been a good captain. So how does he deserve to be booed by his own supporters? Someone who boos his own players is not a supporter in my eyes. I have no doubt that had Kouyate not been required in defence and had sam been able to sign lassana diarra like he wanted, nolan would have been on the bench anyway. I’m not nolans biggest fan either but I’m just making the point. You boo the captain of my club. You have a go at the chairman of my club you’re not a supporter, youre a disgrace.
If nolan farted too hard and broke a rib I suppose that would be sams fault too.
Conkerpot you are pro SAM and you know it,you daily defend him and Nolan,
The whole problem with Nolan is if BFS did not pick him nd you know he does not deserve a starting spot then he would not have received one bit of criticism,
When anyone is angry they use derogatory names if they are angry and if that offends you I apologise you must be a very sensitive person and lucky you had not traveled to the game yesterday,
How anyone can say Nolan is good for the team does not know anything
About football.His pace has gone I never seen a player chase so many shadows .He can’t support the attack and he can’t get back to defend.By playing him upsets the balance of the team.Downing never has a good game when he plays as he is shoved out wide.If you notice the players won’t pass to him unless they have to. This is not a hate campaign but every time I see the team sheet I can’t even watch the game.He imbarrases himself every
game because he cannot do it any more .If Sam dropped him he would have a lot more
Fans.By getting rid of Zarate and morrison and playing him is unbelievable
In my eyes and makes a mockery of our good start. We all know what’s coming
For the rest of the season and we could of had another 6-7 points if it wasn’t
For playing Nolan and Carroll!
Should not boo Nolan as not his fault . . . I think he tries and obvious he is BFS’s favourite.
Overall been a good club captain and player, but clearly not up to standard now, he got a bit shirty with the fans at the BFS OUT high tide last season, so maybe you reap what you sow in this regards . . . ?