Nolan must not take the blame

8:30am Tuesday 26th August 2008

I CAN understand the Bolton fans being frustrated after the defeat at Newcastle on Saturday, but I don’t understand why Kevin Nolan has had so much stick for missing the penalty.

I’m not surprised to hear that Kevin has said he’ll take the responsibility again. That’s because I’ve seen him mature into a real leader and a very good captain as well as a good player.

If he’d scored at Newcastle, he’d have been the hero but he shouldn’t have to carry the can for the defeat. We’ve all missed penalties but, thankfully, the miss and the stick he’s had from some people, won’t affect him because he’s such a strong character.

Bolton were really unlucky on Saturday, but they’ve got to forget that now and get on with it.

Speaking of good captains, I spoke to Alan Stubbs at the weekend about his decision to retire from the game because of his knee problem.

I know he left under a bit of a cloud because he’s upset some of the Bolton fans with some of the things he said in that last season at Burnden Park before he was transferred to Celtic.

But, you know, Stubbsy loves the club, he always has. He appreciated what they did for him when he started out and will always be grateful. He might have said something out of place, but I thought he was badly advised at the time. I do know he had a chance to go to Blackburn for good money and he didn’t because it was too close to Bolton and he couldn’t do that to the Wanderers fans.

He was a brilliant servant to Bolton and it was one of his greatest honours when he was made captain. Th club is still in his heart and I know when he was leaving Celtic he would have come back to Bolton if Everton, the club he’d supported as a boy, hadn’t come in for him.

I think Bolton fans should respect Stubbsy for what he did for the club.

I expect Gary Megson to make a few changes for the Carling Cup tie tonight.

I know he got a lot of flak for his team selections in Europe last season, but at the time surviving in the Premiership was the priority. Gary never actually got enough credit for achieving what he did.

This is different but, with all due respect to Northampton and to the Carling Cup, I think Gary will pick a side he believes is good enough to win the match. And that’s the important thing.

I’ll be there, probably watching from the East Stand, so fans over there shouldn’t be surprised if they see me cheering the lads on.