England’s narrow friendly victory in Oslo over Norway, threw up injury doubts over the nation’s most talented defensive midfielders, Gareth Barry and Scotty Parker, which sparked calls from East London for our very own Mark Noble to step into the fray for his country.
The decision to crown the Canning Town born midfielder the Hammer of the Year only three weeks earlier had been met with mixed opinions from various contingents of West Ham fans, with some believing James Tomkins to be more deserving of the award.
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Noble himself has no doubt enjoyed one of his finer seasons under Sam Allardyce’s tutorage, amassing 8 goals with 7 from the penalty spot, goals that have made a huge impact on our end of season points tally.
Two games completely stick out in memory however, reminding the Upton Park faithful of the young energetic teenager that burst on the scene in aid to fight relegation towards the end of the 2006/07 season. The two home games to our friendly neighbours across the water and Southampton in the first half of February proved to be exhilarating games with both providing a sending off for Sam’s men in the first 25 minutes of the game. Both matches resulted in the Hammers losing a crucial midfielder to their ranks in Kevin Nolan and Matty Taylor, requiring Mark Noble to almost treble his running ground throughout the 90 minutes. Sam certainly wasn’t let down by the club’s longest serving player with dynamic passing, tackles timed to complete perfection and a range of leadership qualities largely unseen whilst playing under the shadow Scotty Parker or Kevin Nolan.
However, on being present as a spectator during all the frustrating home draws to Watford, Doncaster Rovers and Middlesbrough, it cannot be denied that Noble was one of the primary guilty candidates for giving the ball away and the negative ideas in attacking possession. Something was certainly not right either in the midfield’s formation or psychology, possibly taking for granted attacking quality and talent in thinking gaps may eventually appear in below-par defences such as that of relegated Doncaster Rovers. Dropped points that in reality ruined our chances of automatic promotion with Reading’s surge up the top half of the table.
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Form was certainly recaptured by Noble in April, enough to claim the Hammer of the Year prize, with impressive performances by the defensive midfielder in the Brighton game and all the play off fixtures when it really, really mattered.
A last minute call up is certainly unlikely, with Jordan Henderson’s last minute call up earlier in the week, but by no means to not be ruled out for the future with a return to the elite stage of domestic football beginning in August, if performances to the standard of the Milwall and Southampton games are to be replicated, a call up will be deserved!
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mark noble play for england, your aving a giraffe….