Well the Noble critics are strangely silent tonight. I wonder why? Wearing the captain's armband, Noble led by example, dominating the midfield, scoring a beautifully taken penalty and setting up our second with a wonderful dribbling run into the box.
Best pass of the match? Noble's ball to Demel, and we should have had a third when Cole missed a gaping net from three yards out from the resultant cross.
Those with an agenda are always quick to seize on every Noble mistake. The very least they could do is acknowledge when the guy has a superb game. You know who you are. We await a response!
Ah typical! Guy has a decent game against a very poor opposition and it's time to pleasure yourself over him! Why did you not mention him at all in the posts about our last game HF, yet here he gets a special post all for himself!
ReplyDeleteHe ran 10 yards with the ball and crossed it...he did one good pass in a game...he had a free shot from 12 yards...damn, you'd be forgiven to think he was a footballer. Yep, he's secured his place in the side for the remainder of the season whatever happens now.
Oh, and thank God someone had the sense to take him off corner duty. Wonder why that happened? We'll let you tell us. Did you see the difference with Taylor's delivery, HF?
ReplyDeleteVery poor, if sadly predictable response. Can't you be pleased that a home grown player, leading the team, did well?
ReplyDeleteAnony-mouse says,
ReplyDeleteStani- I find the give and take of you, Sav's and HF's constant bickering about Noble both funny and entertaining. And HF is just being HF :) by specifically mentioning Nobes today.
Like you, I too believe that Nobes isn't the world's greatest player but in this game he had a blinder and to just pick the few incidents that you mentioned does not do the guy justice on his performance yesterday. He was quite superb.
Noble often frustrates me with his dead-ball delivery. Passes can go astray, but by and large he is the best, most imaginative passer we currently have. I accept that that might not be saying too much and he certainly is not the 'cockney Pirlo'. But when surrounded by energetic movement as he was against Norwich he has far more options to work with and passes to pick.
If (and sadly this won't happen) he played like that every week we'd have as much trouble keeping hold of him as we are likely to have with Winston.
Noble looks more like our ....Steven Gerrard. Hope Noble critics start shutting up. Noble did a great job with the team. What a shame. Overshadowed by Scott Parker, and now Nolan, though I do appreciate both players. Noble is alot better than people make him out to be, and its unfortunate that the people he partner with happen to be our "spotlight" players...and he just ends up being left out.
ReplyDeleteStani - sorry mate you've dropped a clanger on this one. Normally I find your comments vastly superior in every aspect when compared to HF's drivel, but on this one I can't agree - Noble played his socks off and some of his tackling, passing and dribbling were a joy to behold.
ReplyDeleteNoble ran around and looked busy,he's a decent championship player at best. Norwich made him look good. They were bad but west ham won thanks to an apalling ref,simple as. Time for a reality check folks. A poor Norwich side desrved at least a point as reid should have walked. You can argue all you like about who your favourite player is but the facts are there to see. Allardyce can't even tempt an average southampton player to sign,the future looks grim i'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteNo-one argued that Noble is not capable of having a decent game (every once in a while).
ReplyDeleteBut Stani is right about HF. He is completely silent when Mark is totally useless and costs the team points like in recent games and then waits for the one good game he has (and as Stani points out against rather poor opposition) to make him a God!
Typical! Noble just doesn't cut it for me. This is not the type of forward West Ham needs. We need more Diame's or Yaya Toure type of midfielders who make their presence felt and are always positive in their play. Who are strong, quick and creative. Noble can't fit that role, no matter how many half decent games he manages to have. And I hope he has many despite my criticism.
Your writing and humour puts one in mind of another cockney no-mark jim davison
ReplyDeleteNot true Sav, read my comments after the Reading game. The difference is, I appreciate what he brings to the team and you don't. I still can't understand why you think Curbishley, Zola, Grant and Allardyce would choose to select a player who was notup to the job. One manager may have a blind spot. Two perhaps. Three is stretching it. But four? Including Mr Stats himself, Sam Allardyce? Come off it!
ReplyDeleteHF, I will be pleased if he does it with any regularity, of course I will…why not? Fact of the matter is, we have to carry him far too often and it's utterly frustrating. Did I not say he had a decent game? That's far more than you did when he had a poor game…in fact, you didn't even mention his name you tried that hard to cover it up!
ReplyDeleteMouse,
ReplyDeleteTo be honest mate, his good things are exaggerated far too much, so the likes of myself have to go in the other direction to try and get some balance. We have others who put in excellent performances most games (like Joey O'Brien) but they're not eulogised like Noble. It's strange, you have to admit.
Cockney Pirlo! Hahaa, I'm nicking that.
12:38,
ReplyDeleteThat's fair enough mate, but as I said to Mouse above, sometimes you have to go the other way to balance this undeserved hype the guy gets. He had a rubbish game against Reading, Dale didn't even do his usual match ratings and HF didnt even mention Noble in the two posts he did on the game. Unbelievable. They couldn't bear to see the guy get the low score and criticism he deserved. Things like that are more of an injustice then anything Stani will ever do against Nobes. I just want the best for my team, not one player, and he is far too often a let down. If he plays like this more often, you won't see me complaining, but we all know he won't, and that's the strangest thing in all this.
And we all know what cracking jobs grant and zola did at west ham and curbishley for that matter. Shut up hf you're looking sillier by the hour.
ReplyDelete17:42 that sir is the funniest comment I've read in a long time - when you think of it HF could very well be Jim Davidson - he has all the attributes of an unhappy over the hill racist.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Joe Cole chooses us over Reading and QPR, then we won't be having this argument :D
ReplyDeleteErm, Stani and Sav, try reading the Reading thread. I quote "The squad is, of course, hopelessly inadequate. Tomkins is not a right back. O'Brien is not a left back. O'Neil is not a Premiership player. Taylor was offloaded by a Bolton team heading for relegation for a reason. And Noble needs somebody half decent alongside him to control a game. And yes, to satisfy his critics, his set pieces in this game were embarrassing. Meanwhile, Jarvis is hopelessly out of form."
ReplyDeleteAnd from memory I gave him a rating of 4.
Err, no HF, that post came a day later after I had raised the issue that you had no mention of Noble in your two posts after game.
ReplyDeleteAnd Noble needs someone half decent alongside him? Why the hell do we have to get someone to help Noble? Who the hell is Noble?! Why don't we get someone in place of Noble to help the team! That sounds a bloody better idea, no?
Strange article. Most West Ham fans would agree that Mark Noble has been one of our best players this season. It is perhaps more interesting to note the team seems to play better when Nolan is missing. Yes, he scores goals and does a good job referering the game, but that is about it.
ReplyDeleteWhilst I do not agree with your comments Stani, it is gracious of you not to mention the positions of HF and yourself in the Fantasy football league..
It's my only full time report on the game Stani. The first thread post match was fuelled by fury at Nolan's "folly". Did you see his huge grin when taking his place in a cosy seat for the Norwich game? That thread was about Nolan, and, erroneously Tomkins, who I thought had bought New Year's Eve off too. I should have known that a more senior "pro" like Collins would be more clued up!!!
ReplyDelete20:30,
ReplyDeleteThank you, I really do appreciate you noticing. I'm never one to show off though…just a humble, well-behaved young man and that's what kills HF! :D Let's hope he has the cojones to give me credit come the end of the season.
HF,
ReplyDeleteI did see Nolan in his box and I didn't like the fact that he was more concerned about his phone when one of his teammates was on the floor injured, at one point. But, Nolan does a lot for the team. His goals aside, he is an utterly cunning man in the way he winds up the opposition players, obstructs the keeper at corners/set pieces, and sweetens the ref throughout the game. Do not underestimate these things. Guy's a master. And yes, he quite possibly could have employed the same skills to get some time off.
And well done for moving the winding up of other teams fans to another blog, HF. All that stuff was well irritating.
Stani? Why don't you grow a pair? By your own admission hf knows piss all about west ham or football so stop the brown-nosing he's a creep.
ReplyDeleteSo 22 comments,9 from stani and 4 from plastic hammer. It's like that dreadful 70s sicom Citizen Smith and Wolfies Tooting Popular Front, there were only a handful of them too. When you go to away games do you all travel in a smart car?
ReplyDelete