Exclusive
Mark Noble will miss the clash against Manchester United at the London Stadium and the captain could find himself on the West Ham sidelines for some time to come.
Noble has been a near ever present this season without over impressing and his early exit from today’s game could represent the start of a long term absence from the side.
He was on the wrong end of a high challenge from Daniel Amartey at Leicester today and although he tried to battle on – probably knowing the fierce battle for midfield places in the team – he was eventually forced to withdraw with Manu Lanzini replacing him.
That left Pedro Obiang to sit the game out but we were told this evening he is likely to return with Kouyate as his central midfield partner for the United game. That will leave Lanzini and Ayew competing for the wide left role.
We were told: “Mark will be out of the United game. He tried to carry on but it was never going to happen and he needs a rest.
“The likelihood is that Pedro and Cheik will form the midfield central partnership. Neither Mark or anyone else is guaranteed a place in the team and young Fernandes is also challenging so there are some interesting times ahead.”
Mark Noble always seems to be guaranteed a place in the side regardless of how much he slows the game down or plays badly.
Considering Kouatye is off to AFCON after the united game i imagine Noble will be be back next game after
A 2017 without watching Noble waddle around in midfield would be wonderful . Hope he is not in pain but also that he takes a few months to recover . COYI Happy New Year to all Hammers fans .
Didnt know what STFU stands for, but thanks to you Mark WH Fan l now do. l consulted the Urban Dictionary and this is what it had to say;
“A way of saying “shut the eff up”,
instead of actually typing it. Has less meaning than actually typing “shut the eff up”, and is often said by people that are losing an argument or can’t think of a comeback.”
Mmmm….interesting.
Just back from the Leicester game where Noble had his worrying injury.Ayew is unlikely to be competing for a wide left role as players have to be released tomorrow for AFCON
Just back from the Leicester game where Noble had his worrying injury.Ayew is unlikely to be competing for a wide left role as players have to be released tomorrow for AFCON and Kouyate won’t be forming a partnership with Obiang for at least a month due to AfCON
He has been a great servant but i have to admit i wouldnt bat an eyelid if i never saw him in the team again…i dont know,i just feel he has run his race for us.He was riding on adrenaline in the last season at The Boleyn,this season he has fallen back in to line with the fairly average PL player he has always been..
Lets face it if he had been a foreign player not a local lad who is captain he would have been dropped months ago.
Most fans can see he is well off the place & now it is only the stubborn mules who deny it & claim he is a scapegoat.
Just crazy how our fans give so much grieve to Noble and Payet,ridiculous .
Anyway if Noble is out for a while I can see Josh Cullen coming back from loan at Bradford
Amazing how fans are queuing up to hang Noble . It wasn’t so long ago that fans were shouting for him to be in the England squad .
Are these the same fans that wanted Carroll to leave ??. Crazy .
We should be asking Bilic why we are stuck in the mud , not blaming players .
My first laugh of 2017 from the man who retracts his support of Slav on a weekly basis and never wants to blame the players for **** performances! Nice one Kev 🙂
I would hardly say we are stuck in the mud.One defeat with what was essentially a pretty good performance doesnt need a public enquiry into Bilics credentials..
Though it often seems to with some fans who go from delirium to down in the blink of an eye on the internet.
Slav could win every game but there will always be a few hankering for the good old days of respecting the point and a slob on the bench chewing gum! 🙂
Fans are not blind they can see he is struggling this season,its right there in front of fans eyes.I admire supporters blind loyalty but it is clear to see Nobes is well off the pace this season.
Yes last season he was a great shout for England,but that was last season..
Kouyate at AFCON, Noble out injured – I’d like to see an Obiang/Fernandes pairing.
Yeah i like the look of the kid.More game time for him will do him good.
Fernandes and Obiang could be a solid midfield pair for years to come. I love Noble for all the right reasons, but we have to start trying to inject some pace into the midfield, not slow it down every time. Make Winston captain and see where we go.
Well said Demon . Blind faith in a very mediocre player may be admirable but will cost us games . Noble should be history not future . He has been abysmal week after week . A long spell on the sidelines giving fernandaz , Obiang and even Cullen ?a chance is what is needed.
Another case of a captain that has lost his legs, doesn’t do much and slows the game down to a crawl and continually gets picked! It’s like Nolan all over again but he’s one of our own so we should give him some respect according to some? He’s been ****e all year so if he’s out he’s out and frankly it could be the best thing for us 🙂