Irish Won't Give Up Fight For Nolan

Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton is hoping to cut through a mountain of red tape in a bid to lure Kevin Nolan into the fold.

Staunton and Bolton captain Nolan have discussed on several occasions the prospect of the midfielder pulling on the green of Ireland.

The 24-year-old still harbours hopes of playing for England, yet Nolan knows that is a tall order with Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick ahead of him in the pecking order.

Towards the end of last season there was talk of Nolan breaking into the squad, yet despite his best season for Bolton - scoring 11 goals and taking up the skipper's armband - he was overlooked.

That is why Staunton is eager to recruit a player of Nolan's calibre, yet there remain obstacles, even though he qualifies to play for the Republic via the grandparents' ruling.

Nolan has previously played for England at under-21 level, albeit in a friendly, and featured in a competitive game for the under-18s.

There is a precedent as Everton's Tim Cahill played for Samoa at youth level, yet now represents Australia after lodging a successful appeal with FIFA.

Staunton is not giving up just yet as he said: "There's a lot of issues surrounding this one.

"Once we cut through the red tape then we will know where we are, and I cannot say much more than that."

the irish fans won't be impressed


I can just imagine what eamon dunphy is thinking while reading this...

'whoop de fu#king do... we get the reject version of frank lampard'

If i was Nolan i would take this seriously...he wont play for England (maybe Steve Mclaren might give him a friendly - but he has to think long term) i think him playing for Ireland would be good...not sure how the fans would take it though.

they won't be happy but he will hardly be the first englishman to ever play for ireland.. ireland's first team is decent but the squad lacks any real depth.. any premiership quality they bring in will be highly beneficial.. nolan would also be getting to play for a team with a lot of potential and lets face it if mc'claren is doing his job nolan will never play for england...

good move all round if they pull it off

im irish and im be ok with nolan playing for ireland, as long as he plays well. I mean zidane is algerian and viera is senegalease but they dont complain