Top performance from the skipper
Mark Noble has ended the season in nothing short of heroic form.
The snipers have disappeared as he has raised his game to a different level and the Pellegrini West Ham Way has kicked in.
Today he was in brilliant form again but rather than laying on goals, as was the case last week, he was providing classic finishes from open play in particular and the penalty spot.
And in the process he notched his 50th goal from the club as he and the team provided the 32 year old with a late three point birthday present.
The team at large were in great form but it’s particularly nice to see the skipper – so maligned at times – to hit the sort of form which none of us could have expected a couple of months ago.
It’s a shame given all of that we have reached the end of the campaign because who knows where we might have finished had there been another half a dozen games to go.
And afterwards the skipper told www.whufc.com: ““It’s really pleasing to get to 50 league goals and to get two on a day is rare for me! “Ending the season this way is pretty special.
“I’m not sure where the first goal came from to be honest, I don’t normally score goals like that but they all count and I’m really pleased.
“I’m pleased with how we performed too, for the first ten minutes of the second half we were poor, but we got a foothold the game and I feel sorry for their boy who got sent off because of [the FA Cup final] next week, but we played well in the end.”
He added: “It’s pleasing to finish in the top ten after how we started the season, but we’ve slipped up in a few games and if we had played like we had done for the last month we might have been a bit higher.
“But after last season, this one has been pretty solid. We played some really good stuff at times and the fans can be excited for next season.
“I think we’ve shown that we’re evolving under the boss. It’s the first season under him, so we’re still learning from him and his staff. We’ll have players come in and players leave – we know that, every season its like that – but all in all the club is going in the right direction.”