Newcastle must do something to stop the revolt!

Well it's not confirmed yet, although to be fair it only seems as though it will be a matter of time before it is, but it would appear that Kevin Nolan is off to West Ham.

Why?

Put simply, I don't know. There are rumours (and there will be a lot of them) circulating suggesting that Kevin Nolan has been informed that he is not guaranteed a starting place in the team next season, which to be honest I can quite easily see. Take his goals out of the equation and there isn't much else to his game in all honesty.

Now I know people will say that he was our top scorer last, and they would be correct in saying that. It's also worth pointing out that 25% of those goals came in one game. A memorable game, and one that will ensure that Kevin Nolan has a place on Tyneside folklore for years to come, but it was still just one game.

If anything it's his leadership that we are going to miss more than anything, or are we? Nolan talked the talk, but to us fans he very rarely walked the walk where it mattered - on the pitch. Quite often games passed him by, but that didn't really matter (or it's actually been forgot about temporarily) as Nolan was a popular player with both fans and fellow players.

This is the first chance I've had to write about the Nolan fiasco. I was at work on a break browsing on my phone when I first saw the news. I wasn't overly impressed, but the hours that have lapsed since have given me time to reflect on things.

Am I bothered about Nolan going? Yes and no. Yes because I worry that it may lead to others players leaving, like Joey Barton and Jose Enrique (although I've been prepared for the latter for some time now). No because I've realised that Nolan is not that hard to replace.

Once again people will go an about his goals, but he only scored four goals since December. Without Carroll, Nolan became almost redundant. We don't have Carroll for next season either so what would have happened then? Same again? I guess we won't get the chance to find out.

It will be interesting to see just what Nolan has moved for. The porn barons that run West Ham will no doubt reveal the costs to placate their fans and show them that they are committed to getting the Hammers back to the Premier League. If they do that though they may just placate some of our own fans in the process.

Think about it. I'm pretty damn certain that Nolan won't be moving for the money, so it's either a footballing decision (in terms of playing time) or a career decision (in terms of deal length). I'm going to suggest that it may be a bit of both. The usually vocal Nolan has not uttered a word about all this, so he clearly wants to go and is clearly going to get something at West Ham that he can't get at St James' Park.

The truth is we are on the verge of outgrowing Kevin Nolan. Yes he has been great for us, but he won't continue to be great for us and there will soon be better options available. This is where NUFC need to do their bit.

Quite understandably some fans are pensive about the departure of Nolan. I'm exactly the same. What the club need to do now is show that they mean business and get some players in sharpish to demonstrate exactly that. I still hold out some hope that they'll do just that, which is why I'll always wait until the end of the window to properly evaluate where we are and, usually, what went wrong.

So good luck Kevin. All the best. Times move on and circumstances change.

Only time will tell if it's a change for the better, for both parties!