West Ham’s deserved winner

Congratulations should go to Mark Noble for picking up the Hammer the Year award, last week, before the final home match against Tottenham Hotspur. It was thoroughly deserved in my, and most other, West Ham supporters’ opinion.

It was a strange season in many ways, with the first half of the campaign pretty dreadful, but interspersed with some great performances and results at the same time, most notably the two victories at White Hart Lane.

After a couple of better results at the start of the new year, the Hammers then went through a bizarre four-match winning run which few could have foreseen in the month of February, which realistically sealed the club’s survival.

Since that time, the form has been patchy again, at best, with three wins and eight losses in the final 11 matches of the season. To say it has been topsy turvy is an understatement. Ultimately, however, the Hammers did enough to finish in a fairly comfortable 13th place – something which any West Ham supporter would have given their right arm for about four months ago.

Individually, the form of different players was similarly up and down, with most of the squad making important contributions at certain stages of the season. There was Kevin Nolan, who had an incredible month in February, with five goals and two assists in four games, but contributed little else throughout.

Carlton Cole was arguably an unsung hero, last season. Called upon a couple of months after being released at the height of the clubs striker crisis, with Andy Carroll injured and Modibo Maiga ineffective. Cole came into the side during this period, as well as when Carroll picked up a three-match ban in February, and chipped in with six vital goals when needed most.

Adrian in goal has been a revelation since getting the No.1 jersey in February, and unsurprisingly was voted runner up Hammer of the Year.

The three main centre backs in James Tomkins, Winston Reid and James Collins have all performed well at different stages during the season, contributing to an excellent 14 clean sheets in the league. But each have had injuries at different times, or been left on the bench in preference of the other two, meaning the centre-back partnership changed a lot over the season and none have had a particularly long run of games at a time.

Similarly the full backs Guy Demel, George McCartney and Joey O’Brien, as well as midfielder Matthew Taylor have provided a solid, if unspectacular, job when called upon.

Then there have been the likes Mohamed Diame, Matthew Jarvis and Stewart Downing, who were frustratingly inconsistent in their form, often following up a good performance with a poor one the very next game. You can throw Andy Carroll into that list during the games that he played in towards the end of the season.

So, in a season of so many ups and downs and uncertainties, including having the manager’s role under scrutiny, Mark Noble has been the one standout consistent performer through the whole period. Indeed he has been the only player to have participated in every single Premier League match of the campaign. His energy and desire did not wane in any of the 38 games, even during some dreadful spells in the first part of the season.

The fact that he ran more miles than any other Premier League player in the season, is testament to his workmanlike performances in protecting the back four, highly necessary in a side that often had limited possession. And lets not forget the three goals and four assists that Noble had to his name, often coming at vital times, such as his goal against Cardiff City away and his penalty at home to Hull City with both matches resulting in victories for the Hammers.

In light of all this, I would argue that Mark Noble should be made club captain from next season as his performances over a long period have shown leadership qualities on the pitch. Kevin Nolan, whilst a good captain, is clearly on the decline and it is about time the club’s current longest serving player be given the responsibility.