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Shola Ameobi gives Kevin Nolan character reference ahead of major challenge

7 years ago
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Shola Ameobi has been singing the praises of his old mate Kevin Nolan.

The former Newcastle striker saying that Nolan has shown his leadership credentials by being named captain at every club he played at.

Shola adding that Kevin Nolan has ‘always been local’ and ‘dragged the team along with him’.

The pair were central figures during Newcastle’s successful promotion challenge of 2009/10, each scoring double figures as Newcastle were promoted as Champions of the second tier.

Now though, both Nolan and Ameobi have arguably an even bigger job, keeping Notts County in the main league set-up and avoiding potential disaster if they drop into non-league football.

Kevin Nolan was recently appointed Notts County Manager and they are third bottom of League Two, one point above the relegation zone and two points ahead of rock bottom.

Today they play fifth bottom Cheltenham at home and the (other) Magpies can go level on points with today’s opponents with a win.

After a transfer embargo was lifted in late January, Kevin Nolan added free agent Shola Ameobi to former NUFC players Adam Campbell and Alan Smith who were already at the club.

Yesterday Shola revealed (read HERE) how he is working towards being a manager himself in the future – but for now he is only intent on helping his old teammate save Notts County.

Shola Ameobi:

“Kevin Nolan has been a captain at every club that he’s been at.

“He’s always been very vocal, had an opinion and dragged the team along with him.

“So he was a natural fit to go into management. His standards were always high and he expects that from the players around him. That’s what he was like as a captain.

“He is taking that into management and he will bring honesty.

“The manager (Nolan) has always been one who backs up what he says. He makes sure players are accountable for what they do on and off the pitch.

“When you’ve been in a situation and it’s been a tough time, a new manager freshens things up, but it’s important to get consistency.

“That’s the one big thing that he (Kevin Nolan) has been harping on about in the last week. When you do that, it gives you a good base to go on to succeed.

“But I’ve only been in a week and you wouldn’t think that it had been a difficult time here.

“With a new manager coming in, everybody gets a bit of a buzz. Every slate is wiped clean so all the players are really excited and want to impress the new manager.

“The result at the weekend (losing 2-0 at Accrington) wasn’t what we were looking for but I’ve seen enough from the lads to know that we can get out of this position.”

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