Mark Noble - West Ham Legend 500 up

[Up the Junction]

Noble is well known to be sympathetic to the board's position (the "we're not run by clowns" speech was testament to that).

He's also let himself down badly in recent years - violently shoving a pitch invader to the ground then attempting to justify his actions therafter; the Pogba incident; yesterday's tete-a-tete with the recently-exceptional Ogbonna and so on. We should expect better from our club captain.

But those with longer memories may recall how many fans couldn't forgive Billy Bonds for slaughtering the fans following the away game in Castilla many moons ago (when I think he referred to them as "animals" after The Sun ran a story accusing them of urinating on to Spanish fans in a lower tier during the away leg)...

[Rio]

He’s a modern day legend, purely due to longevity and the rarity of being a local lad playing for the club he and therefore we support. Since the advent of sky’s monetary saturation of football it’s become an increasingly rare occurrence and until either the club or TV implodes it will become even rarer.

There’s been times when he’s made us tick, made us sing. Been an integral parr of what makes us, us. I’ve been critical in the past, but there’s no denying he has been the glue holding things together at times. Unfortunately that bonding is been eroded. Tactically virtually every other club in the top flight has imposed the attributes of pace, power on the league. We’ve been left begging. And the one who suffers most due to our owners lack of long term vision, refusal to erode their bank balance over creating a real footballing legacy is our skipper.

He may have been able to cope more capably if he had a squad around him who complimented his ability. Instead we’ve thrown what money we’ve been allowed to spend on knee jerk reactions, square pegs in round holes, short term fixes.

While Noble will never be a kind of Bonds , even Dicks figure of gritty style as well as substance, he could have been allowed a future reverence of somewhere near that. Instead because of the situations he’s been continually forced to work in, some. Increasingly naive petulance at times, he’ll be remembered alongside the likes of Geoff Pike, as a second tier loyal servant

[Johnny_C WHU]

Noble is well known to be sympathetic to the board's position (the "we're not run by clowns" speech was testament to that).

He's also let himself down badly in recent years - violently shoving a pitch invader to the ground then attempting to justify his actions therafter; the Pogba incident; yesterday's tete-a-tete with the recently-exceptional Ogbonna and so on. We should expect better from our club captain.

But those with longer memories may recall how many fans couldn't forgive Billy Bonds for slaughtering the fans following the away game in Castilla many moons ago (when I think he referred to them as "animals" after The Sun ran a story accusing them of urinating on to Spanish fans in a lower tier during the away leg)...

Worded so much better than my post Thanks UTJ.
It will be interesting to see how people reflect on Noble when he is no longer playing - wonder if we will have a stand named after him at the bowl....

[mushy]

What was he having a go at Ogbonna for?

Apparent falling out over Secret Santa gifts.
So Ex is saying

[the pink palermo]

I think he's held the club together during it's darkest times. A local lad playing for his local club is a great story, and let's be honest, there isn't a West Ham United supporter alive who hasn't dreamed of running out for us.Noble has proven to be good enough to do that hundreds of times for half a dozen different managers.Every single one of us can of course see what he doesn't have, the pace and power Rio refers to above that is deemed by many as a prerequisite in the modern game, but still he gets picked, week in week out.Season after season.

Now, that might be down to a lack of competition for places or it might just be that none of the 226 players signed in the Sullivan era has what he has: we sign Lanzini , when did he last boss a game, we sign Wilshere, when was he last fit ? We resign an ageing Joe Cole, did he really represent a better option ? We pay £24m for Fornals, yet I guarantee Pellegrini is sticking Nobles name on the team sheet before the young Spanish lad.We all know that sometimes Noble gets it horribly wrong, a rash tackle,a pass released that should have been held on to, but I hope we can all see the quick release when appropriate, the eye to spot a player in acres of space and play it to him accurately.Overall I think he's been a joy to watch over his time at the club.Or, putting it another way, there are literally dozens of players who have taken millions of pounds out of the club that are far closer to being described as stealing a living than our current skipper.

Of course he was ill advised to man handle the supporter on the pitch, but put yourself in his shoes, he's trying to win points to keep us in the top flight, not orchestrate a protest against his employer.It's quite bizarre how Noble is castigated for that on here whilst the really villain of the piece is the man who has failed to provide appropriate funds to successive manager to sign a better player than Noble.If people aren't happy with the skippers contribution don't blame him, blame the man with the chequebook.

Does Noble though qualify as a club legend ? Is longevity enough ? Probably not, he has no medals to show for his efforts, nor is he our record goal scorer, nor is he our record appearance holder, and whilst all football clubs need heroes, let's not cheapen the currency of legend status just to sell a few shirts. However, neither does he deserve the vitriol expressed almost daily on here, he's given his all for the club and is the last local hero of our proper ground, we'll never see his like again and I promise you we will miss him when he's gone.

[e17]

Spot on with that post, UTJ.

Nowt wrong with honest constructive criticism just because he’s one of our own and indeed a club legend

[e17]

Of course he was ill advised to man handle the supporter on the pitch, but put yourself in his shoes, he's trying to win points to keep us in the top flight, not orchestrate a protest against his employer.

Nah pinky.

See that very famous picture of Julian with the corner flag?

There you go mate

[Up the Junction]

Of course he was ill advised to man handle the supporter on the pitch...

Pinky, I believe the greater mistake (or equally regrettable, at least) was the aforementioned ill-advised attempt to justify his actions at the final whilst in interview.

Julian Dicks got it right: https://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=132325

"I remember the same thing happening when I was playing for the club," Dicks recalled. "We were at home to Everton and fans were up in arms about plans to charge them just for the right to buy a season ticket. A guy came on with the corner flag and sat in the centre-circle. He wasn't aggressive, just determined. I tried to reason with him and took the flag off him. I left Martin Allen talking to him but he didn't want to budge!"

That said, your comments about Noble's longevity and service are absolutely spot on. I often wonder if he'd have stayed had Arsenal made their interest known via a firm offer (or followed the likes of Peters, Cole, Ferdinand et al) but that we'll never know. We can only say for sure that he has remained a loyal club servant, foibles or not.

[westham,eggyandchips]

A legend for the wrong reason.

Real legends win trophies, international caps even get a statue or a stand named after them.

Mark will gain legend status for longevity and loyalty.

[chigwells finest]

i think we all know who is to blame for our demise , we all look at our team and are desperate for some hope that we can turn our form around , however none of us can see any , so we then look for scapegoats and the list is plentiful . we are all upset , fed up , another appalling perfornance , another XI that we all felt wasnt good enough when we saw it . Noble is the last player of his type that we will ever call one of our own .

[61dicksey]

Just a thought , but i honestly cannot recall any club come in with a bid for Noble, no strong rumours or gossip. Not just the last few seasons but ever.Has there been?

[rossmundo]

Nobles nothing less than a weasel, he wouldn't have the balls to have a pop at a kompany or Terry in the heat of battle, just his own fans and players.
Weasel.

[chigwells finest]

A legend for the wrong reason.

Real legends win trophies, international caps even get a statue or a stand named after them.

Mark will gain legend status for longevity and loyalty.

i actually think thats a bit harsh on him as he's never won a trophy here .

[Upton Carp]

Mark will gain legend status for longevity and loyalty.

...For which he should be lauded, not slaughtered. My player of the decade

[dodgy dave]

Just a thought , but i honestly cannot recall any club come in with a bid for Noble, no strong rumours or gossip. Not just the last few seasons but ever.Has there been?

Just like Paul Scholes at Man Utd

[Puff Daddy]

Just a thought , but i honestly cannot recall any club come in with a bid for Noble, no strong rumours or gossip. Not just the last few seasons but ever.Has there been?

Not to my knowledge and I have to ask, why do so many people still rate him? Putting one of our own to one side, but based upon skill and technique, the way he should be assessed, what it is they still see in him?

[westham,eggyandchips]

Conduct a "Best of" 11 and I doubt Mark would make it. Even if I done a 2nd "Best of" he still wouldn't make it.

But hey, loyalty goes a long a way..... apparently.

[HammerAl]

A decent 6 or 7/10 player, but I don't think he's done enough (on or off the pitch) to be thought of as a legend.

I think he's done very well for himself, playing for West Ham for 15 years, mainly in the PL.

[Het-Field]

Just like Paul Scholes at Man Utd

But Scholes was one of the best midfielders of his time and I have no doubt European teams made speculative bids.

Scholes won everything in the game and quit the England scene a few years too early. He was also integral during the final Fergie years.

The two just aren’t comparable.

[fjthegrey]

Noble was strongly linked with Stoke in about 2010 and there were reports of bids made.

He has also been more tentatively linked with Newcastle, West Brom and QPR in the last 5-6 years.

The fact is, bids are not always made when there is interest. If Noble had absolutely no desire to leave, potential suitors would know that and be discouraged from making a formal approach. It doesn't mean there hasn't been interest, but if you're told by his agent that he doesn't want to leave, why would you bid?