Kevin Nolan was not worth five-year Newcastle deal, says Alan Pardew

Newcastle United sold Kevin Nolan, their captain, to West Ham United after deciding that the 29-year-old's Premier League shelf life was too short. The midfielder, who had two years left on his St James' Park deal, moved to the Championship club for £4m last month on a five-year contract after failing to agree an extension with Newcastle. "My opinion is that we couldn't give Kevin a five-year contract because, if Kevin isn't playing first‑team football, he isn't going to be the leader we want, I'm convinced of that," said Alan Pardew, Newcastle's manager. "In four or five years' time Kevin needs to be doing the business in the first team and we couldn't – and I couldn't – see that possibly happening here at Newcastle so we had a decision to make." Ideally Pardew would have kept Nolan in the short term but realised his captain was unwilling to compromise. "Kevin didn't want to stay, that's the end of the debate. Kevin couldn't get a contract for four or five years." Although Newcastle's manager, who could promote Fabricio Coloccini or Steven Taylor to the captaincy, acknowledges that replacing Nolan's leadership qualities will not be easy, he remains unperturbed. "My experience as a football manager is you'll be surprised that when someone leaves the club, someone replaces them, someone else evolves. It gives room for someone else to lead and I think that will happen. "Kevin was exceptional in that he had tremendous leadership skills which will serve him very, very well because he'll end up as a coach or a manager. On the pitch, he had certain traits we will miss next year, influencing referees and opposition players. That part we probably won't replace but I'm absolutely assured that within the changing room we've got enough."