The Athletic’s West Ham United correspondent Roshane Thomas has recently shed light on the impact Kevin Nolan has in his coaching role.
At the end of December in 2019, the Hammers brought David Moyes back to the club for his second tenure at the London Stadium (as per BBC).
Just over a month after his return, both Paul Nevin and Nolan were brought into the club as first-team coaches and Moyes noted their “wealth of experience in the game“.
The 38-year-old former midfielder, Nolan, returned to the club having gained coaching experience, first with Leyton Orient and then with Notts County (per Transfermarkt).
During the latest episode of The Athletic’s U Irons podcast, Thomas shed light on the impact that Nolan is having in his coaching role with the Irons.
When speaking on the team’s work rate and attitude, he said: “That’s all from David Moyes, that strong work ethic he’s instilled in the team.
“You’ve got the coaching staff like Paul Nevin, Stuart Pearce, Kevin Nolan, Alan Irvine all demanding the players keep producing what we’ve seen on a weekly basis and they’re managers in their own right.
“I feel like, out of all of them, it’s Kevin Nolan who’s always on it with the players because, quite often, it’s David Moyes and Paul Nevin in the technical area.
“If Kevin Nolan’s not happy with what he’s seeing, he’s onto the players like, ‘What are you doing? Come on,’ demanding more from [Declan] Rice, demanding more from [Vladimir] Coufal.
“You want to see that, you want to see players not being comfortable.”
TIF Thoughts on what Roshane Thomas said about Kevin Nolan…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he believes that Nolan plays a key role in the Hammers’ coaching setup because he is “always on it” with demanding more from players.
Do you believe the current West Ham squad is capable of earning European football for next season?
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Certainly, the Irons are going well in the top flight so far this season, having won nine of their opening 19 games and sitting seventh in the table (per Transfermarkt).
In fact, they have not finished a season in a higher position in the Premier League than they currently occupy since they finished fifth during the 1998/99 term.
So, it is abundantly clear that whatever Moyes and his backroom team are doing behind the scenes is working.