Whoa, whoa whoa, Monk. Don't dismiss Nolan's absence on team performance/results so easily.

Apart from the fact he's Sam's bitch and club captain, why the hell should he be "rightly" back when his ban ends?

Seems to me that we are performing better without him.

Best thing for me apart from the obvious last night was that this squad seems to have (almost very) recently developed a real spirit/togetherness/hunger and team bond that it so rarely seen at West Ham nowadays. Of course that comes from the players themselves, but it most definitely starts with the manager.