Former Newcastle United captain Kevin Nolan was given a strange role at the club back in 2010/11.
As well as captaining the Newcastle team, Nolan was a de facto babysitter for young hotshot forward Andy Carroll, who had burst onto the scene after graduating from the academy.
Carroll had bags of talent and an eye for goal, but was also just as adept at finding trouble off the pitch. Kevin Nolan was tasked with keeping Carroll on the straight and narrow, even having Carroll move in with him. It actually worked really well on and off the field.
In January 2011, though, Mike Ashley saw the pound signs in his eyes when Liverpool came in with a then British record transfer fee of £35 million for Carroll. The bid was accepted and the deal went through on deadline day with no time for Newcastle to find a replacement striker.
It’s common knowledge at this point that Andy Carroll didn’t want to leave Newcastle and was practically forced out by the greedy ownership, but on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, Kevin Nolan has shed more light on the difficulties Carroll faced when leaving.
Former Newcastle midfielder Nicky Butt stated that Carroll never should have left, while Paddy McGuinness called the fact that he was forced to go ‘bonkers’, as Nolan revealed the struggles facing Carroll at the time.
“He was leaving mine to go and get on the helicopter, and he said, ‘I don’t want to go’. And you could feel it was like … because he was a Newcastle lad and he wanted to be a Newcastle legend and wanted to be the Newcastle number nine for eight years.
“Then the scrutiny of the £35 million, going ot Liverpoool, different mentality, not being around your family and friends and everything else. i think he found that difficult, the transition of being there and not having that support system around.”
🗣️ “He went… “I don’t want to go””
Kevin Nolan breaks down why Andy Carroll struggled with his move to Liverpool… 😢 pic.twitter.com/OCdmCvh4G8
— The Good, The Bad & The Football (@goodbadftblpod) March 31, 2026
Newcastle fans have always been left wondering what might have been had Carroll stayed at Newcastle. He went on to do okay for Liverpool and West Ham, but injuries stopped him from ever reaching the heights he looked destined for.
He always looked like he could have been something special for the Magpies, but like he did with so many other things, Mike Ashley went and ruined it.
Now the 37-year-old Carroll is player-manager and part-owner of Dagenham & Redbridge after returning to England after a spell in France.