Consolidation was the name of the game in 2010-11, The Magpies managed a mid-table finish after a difficult season which included another classic Newcastle FA Cup embarrassment, this time at Stevenage. Nolan was named captain and wrote himself into Tyneside folklore in October with a hat-trick against rivals Sunderland. In the summer of 2011, and with two years of his contract still to run, he surprisingly headed south to sign for relegated West Ham on a five-year deal. The attraction was undoubtedly the opportunity to play under Sam Allardyce again, who had just taken over at Upton Park. After a season-long battle for the championship with Reading and Southampton, West Ham had to settle for third place, but a 2-1 Wembley win over Blackpool in May 2012 took the Hammers back to the top flight at the first attempt. It was Nolan’s third promotion to the Premier League, and this time he was destined to stay there with no further relegations.
West Ham finished tenth in their first season back, with captain Nolan adding the third hat-trick of his career in a 4-2 win over Reading on the final day of the 2012-13 season. The hat-trick took him to ten for the season, the fourth season in a row the midfielder had reached double figures. His career began to wind down in 2013-14. Now into his thirties, the long-awaited England call had never come. To compound matters, two red cards in a month in mid-season led to a £100,000 fine and the removal of the captaincy. Five defeats in their last six games saw West Ham finish just seven points clear of danger. However, the 2014-15 season saw them enjoy their best start for many seasons, sitting in a Champions League place in December. By contrast, Nolan had fractured a shoulder in August and scored only one goal in an interrupted season. Supporters grew critical, and the writing was on the wall; at the end of August 2015, Nolan left West Ham by mutual consent.
On 21 January 2016 Nolan was appointed player-manager of the curious entity called Leyton Orient. If any writing was on any wall, Nolan was the fifth manager appointed by Italian owner Francesco Becchetti in eighteen months. Previous manager Ian Hendon had been sacked with Orient sitting eleventh, just two points off the playoffs. Nolan might have been forgiven for looking at his two-and-a-half-year contract and wondering whether two-and-a-half-months would be more realistic. He would have been almost right, because he was removed by Becchetti in April with Orient sitting eleventh, two points off the play-offs: exactly where they were when he arrived. Presumably Becchetti was desperate to see National League football at Brisbane Road, and Nolan was not going to deliver that.
Having left Orient completely in July, Nolan remained out of football until being named manager of another struggling club – Notts County – in January 2017. County were in such poor shape initially that Nolan could not even register as a player because of a transfer embargo on the club. County had just lost 10 successive league games which saw them plummet from sixth to twenty-second, just one point clear of the relegation zone. Nolan was handed the job by new owner Alan Hardy with one objective – to avoid relegation to the National League. Safety was achieved with relative ease, Nolan winning nine of his first sixteen games before things levelled off towards the end of the season.
Much better things were to follow in his first full season, with County getting away to a great start. An opening day defeat at Coventry was quickly forgotten as eight wins and a draw from their next nine games gave them a three-point lead at the top of League Two at the end of September. County sat in second place at the midway stage, but form over the second half of the season saw the automatic promotion dream slip to a place in the playoffs. Forty-four points were gained from the opening twenty-three games, but just thirty-three came from the second twenty-three, meaning that County finished fifth. Some dubious refereeing saw them lose heavily in the play-off semi-final to promotion-bound Coventry, and another season in League Two was guaranteed. County also enjoyed a run to the fourth round of the FA Cup, which ended with an 8-1 hiding at Premier League Swansea.
Entering the second year of a three-year contract, it is now unlikely that Nolan will appear as a player again despite remaining registered. Having invested substantially in the transfer market this summer, much will be expected of Notts County this season. Backed by a large support, County are certainly one of the bigger clubs in League Two and will be one of the teams to beat. More so than in his first full season, Kevin Nolan has all the tools he needs to make his mark as a manager, and promotion is certainly the objective at Meadow Lane.
Key:
P = Promoted; R = Relegated; SF = Lost in play-off semi-final; F = Lost in play-off final; PO = Won play-off final; D = Demoted.
Figures are league games only; cup matches and playoffs are not included.
League position shown is either the position at the end of the season or the position at the time of departure.
Writer: Scotimp
Who Are The League Two Managers? No.17: Kevin Nolan (@Official_NCFC):https://t.co/mSa3v0iPFc#Nottingham #Notts #EFL
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) July 27, 2018
https://www.facebook.com/VitalLincolnCity/posts/1783512898351614
