Nolan Unmoved by ‘Direct’ Tag
Northampton Town manager Kevin Nolan has dismissed claims from rival bosses that his side are “direct” and reliant on set-pieces.
After overseeing wins against Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool, the Cobblers boss said he was “not bothered” by the criticism and argued such comments were “lazy.” Nolan believes results speak louder than words, insisting his team are evolving and surprising opponents with their approach.
“You can get lazy comments sometimes and personally I would never address another team like that in my time as a manager. I don’t think I’ve done that and if I did do it, I would want to be called out. I always try to show the utmost respect.
“But what I will say, when they come into my office, they never say it then and they have a lot of compliments to give us. Maybe sometimes they are just trying to play the media a bit but I hope what you get from me, when we get beat fairly, is that I give a fair reflection of the game.”
Perhaps if the likes of Bolton and Blackpool followed in our footsteps and dealt with the threat rather than whining about it, they’d get a few more points.
Anyhow, with Northampton sitting comfortably in the top half, Nolan is content to let performances continue shaping the narrative, and fair play to him for that. He’s got them doing much better than many predicted, and he deserves the respect of his peers, not their snooty comments.