So the uncertainty and dramas of another typically bizarre Hammers week comes to an end with Mark Noble going away for a holiday.
Before getting into the thing in any sort of depth it has to be said that the guy needs it badly after being a near regular since the Europa Cup qualifiers.
And it seems that the much vaunted warm weather break in Dubai had the usual lack lustre reaction when the real stuff started again in the Premier League -not only for Noble but all the others!
Maybe the days of pampering over pampered professional footballers with such jollies should be brought to an end!
Diplomatic Bilic has made it clear that Noble is still his man in the dressing room and that’s fine but hopefully – very hopefully because Slav has a habit of springing surprises – we will now see Pedro Obiang and Cheik Kouyate as our midfield partnership and Sam Byram at right back.
It’s the midfield partnership we have all been longing to see and I think it will – if introduced – be too much for Leicester City. Should that be the case, the captain will presumably be forced to sweat it out on the sidelines.
This is now a squad game and Nobes will have his place and will fight like hell for inclusion but that’s only how it should be.
We want no return to the Nolan days.
Once again Slaven has handled another difficult player problem with great technique – now it’s down to the rest of the squad to get him a badly needed result
he’ll play either fernandes there or move lanzini inside and Snodgrass left wing.
‘Once again Slaven has handled another difficult player problem with great technique’… I admire your loyalty Hugh but the situation has been there for a while.
Loyaty to what? Sorry don’t get you
Slav has handled it well and with the minimum of disrespect possible to Noble, we really need whomever fills his void to have a huge game, this in its own way is a game that will probably define how we finish this season, if we do beat Leicester something we failed to last season despite in both games pretty much battering them and again in their home game this season when they were playing poorly,. They are not the same team this season but they have all the momentum and imho are favourites going into the game, if we have Reid, Fonte, Kouyate, Antonio and Carroll on the pitch plus maybe Ayew or Snodgrass we can’t be excused of lacking leadership, does anyone have any ideas on who should be captain ? Personally I would be tempted to make Carroll captain because when he is in the mood he seems to dictate the effort others put in and with the added responsibility who knows what he might produce but with his lack of appearances that might be a short term solution…
Reid will he captain i think 32,but if he makes Fonte captain then you can tell which way this is heading i think.
I dont knock Noble or Bilic in this situation for poor management,shambolic management,none of us have a bloody clue what the true story is that has developed this week so shouting off is pointless without hard facts.
Yeah agreed Rads, none of us know 🙂 You are probably right that Reid would be selected as previously he has been the choice of Slav but I hope he tries something different to shake things up a little and freshen up our approach.
It has to be Kouyate in midfield. Just hope he has not got the hump with being messed about. He seems to be a real pro, so hope for the best. But I think Leicester have got that ‘momentum’ thing that the pundits go on about, so it will be tough.
Obiang and Kouyate for me: wether one of them has the composure to hold things together umder pressure is not proved, but I hope it becomes clear during the next 3 games. We need the points.
I also like Fonte to be team captain, because I want Reid to concentrate on his game. Reid is not so vocal as a captain.
Well i guarantee one thing fellas if we dont win tomorrow without Noble in the team the same sad sods will be trotting out their “we never win without Noble in the team ” go to line lol
I must have read it from the same fellas i feel like i am in their minds by now lol
perhaps he will bring nordviet in and play him in his actual position. if I’m not wrong, he’s started 3 games in his proper midfield position for us, and in those games we conceded 1 goal. I’m not calling him a good player as a result, but his discipline in staying within certain areas of the pitch is something no other midfield we have is capable of. his stint at right back was very poor judgment by our manager, but then again, we all know he has no idea what constitutes a right back.
I like Nordveit in defensive midfield also Master he had one game where he made a couple of mistakes and was never seen there again, he makes forward passes which I think we all like, if he were more accurate with them it would obviously be better and if he had some pace that he could make those passes to areas that people could run into he would be even more effective.
My five across a diamond midfield would be Obiang, Kouyate, Lanzini, Antonio and Ayew.
Going back six or seven weeks as we were signing Snodgrass, quite a few people on here were banging on at what an excellent player he is – I strenuously disagreed at the time by commenting that he was a Championship level player who at best could play for a PL relegation threatened team like Hull or Norwich. I haven’t yet seen anything yet that’s proving me wrong. Feghouli hasn’t made the grade either.