The secret reason why £40k-a-week favourite left Newcastle United - Mike Ashley all over

Signed in 2009, the former Bolton Wanderers captain joined the Magpies in dire straits. Newcastle hurtled to relegation under Joe Kinnear and later Kevin Keegan but Nolan played a vital role in the Championship rebuild.

His 17 strikes were pivotal to an instant Premier League return, with Chris Hughton building a side consisting of a key British core - and zero egos. However, the manager was brutally axed just months into the top-flight season despite Newcastle sitting 12th and enjoying famous wins over Aston Villa, Sunderland and Arsenal.

The bulk of the dressing room was broken up within a year as Derek Llambias - Mike Ashley's former right-hand man - reneged on a contract offer for Nolan. Despite being club captain, Newcastle backtracked on a four-year deal due to his age.

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Nolan took the opportunity to reunite with old mentor Sam Allardyce at West Ham United. Speaking to EFL Unfiltered, the ex-Toon skipper opened up about his unexpected St James’ Park departure.

“I’d gone to West Ham as a marquee signing,” Nolan said. “Scott Parker was going over to Tottenham, so I’d gone in and took the captaincy off him.

“I was named as the club captain right away. I’d probably had my best season at Newcastle - 12 goals. I went and got a knock, and I was getting the knock I was supposed to be signing a new deal, and then they took the deal off.

“So that’s why it all transpired that I went to West Ham, because they (Newcastle) took the deal off. I still had two-and-a-half years left and I wanted to extend it for another two, but they took the deal away.

“Then I got a phone call, ‘would you like to go to West Ham? Sam’s going to be the new manager’ and I just said ‘yes’. We were in Dubai with Steve Harper and his wife. All my Newcastle mates!”

Joey Barton revealed unprecedented bonus sheet fiasco at Newcastle United

Joey Barton, another vocal member of the dressing room during that period, revealed in 2011 that Mike Ashley tried to force through a new measure at the club. According to Barton, this was unheard of in the Premier League.

“Newcastle, as a playing squad, were the only club in Premier League history not to sign a bonus sheet,” he said. “It was unprecedented. We refused as a playing staff (to sign) as they tried to railroad the players into signing a bonus sheet.

"In their opinion we were paid workforce. They thought we were Sports Direct and we should do what the subordinates at Sports Direct do, forgetting they were dealing with 20-odd egos, probably 10 self-sufficient men in a position to make a number of different judgments.

"Myself and the bigger name players at the time advised the playing staff, because we were head of the playing committee, not to sign the bonus sheet and that filtered back to boardroom level.

"It's no coincidence that I was given away. It's all about power and control. They are running the football club and it's going really well for them at the minute but that's more a testament to the players and the fans, and also the manager (Alan Pardew). The manager has been different class."

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