Kevin Nolan: No egos at Newcastle anymore

Sep 12 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

KEVIN Nolan says there are no egos left in Newcastle United’s dressing room because its players are still ashamed by last season’s failure.

Of the squad which travels to Cardiff for tomorrow’s televised encounter, only the on-loan Danny Simpson was not at the club last term. Others never got beyond the first-team fringes but most were regulars in a team relegated from the Premier League.

According to Nolan the desire to prove themselves worthy of the Premier League has inspired Newcastle’s flying start to life in the Championship.

Many expected United’s players to consider themselves too big to slum it in the Football League but, in a six-match unbeaten opening which will today be acknowledged when Chris Hughton is named August’s Championship manager of the month, they have shown an enthusiasm not always obvious in previous seasons.

So much so, Nolan argues relegation could be “one of the best things that has happened to the club”.

“You can’t have an ego if you’ve just been relegated from the Premier League,” he said. “No one can blame anyone else, because we’ve all been a part of that team. Some people say, ‘You’re not to blame,’ but I was the one that got sent off against Everton and I played ten games or so after I came here in January. So I was a major part of what happened last season.