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It’s time for the skipper to step up to the plate

 

 

CandH blogger Allen Cummings wants to see Noble playing his part as the problems mount up

 

Where do we start to put things right?

The doom and gloom that has descended on our club in recent weeks HAS to be lifted – and quick! Saturday’s first half performance against Newcastle was as bad as it gets – at least that’s the hope!

From there the only way has got to be UP!

Most fingers are pointing at the manager – and clearly the buck has to start there! It’s his team. It’s his team selection. It’s his tactics. It’s his football philosophy that’s taking such a hammering. But this is more than just a one-man-job.

The players have a significant part to play – and the captain in particular has once again got to step up to the plate. The impressive team spirit that was so evident just a few games ago now appears to have evaporated.

The Declan Rice parking prank, so hilarious at the time, is now wearing very thin and frankly becoming embarrassingly inappropriate as it’s repeated over and over again on the stadium big screen. It’s time it was dumped. We’re not in the mood for jokes at the moment.

I’m not laying the blame at Noble’s door. That would be disrespectful to a fantastic pro. It’s was his first appearance of the season at Watford that brought about our first win and sparked our impressive mini run.

But the skipper has been hooked in his last three games – even failing to reappear for the entire second half on Saturday. He’s looked way off the pace – and nothing like the inspirational figure we have come to expect. Mark has been at the hub of the team for many years now.

The spokesman and the driving force amongst the players but the spark others around him have responded to, while not extinguished, has visibly faded in recent games. It’s often said the captain is the on field extension of the manager. Pellegrini is struggling to get it right off the field – Nobes is similarly struggling on it.

They also say two heads are better than one. Those two heads need to get together – and pretty soon – to come up with an answer for all our sakes!

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

5 comments on “It’s time for the skipper to step up to the plate

  1. Ive said before, the best way to use Nobes now is to bring him on in the second half.
    Whether we are winning or losing. This is because he can read the game like a manager therefore knows what needs dealing with.

  2. Noble is not the correct man for the job . He is no longer able to hold a place on merit and a large proportion of the problems stem from his lack of mobility . Unfortunately candidates are not leaping out at us . The team is so poor . If someone can skipper and lead by example give it to Declan until Fab is fit to return . The added responsibility might just persuade him to stay on the sinking ship and it didn’t do any harm to Sir Bobby .

  3. Personally think that nobles time on the pitch has. To come to an end his body is to slow for the modern game he needs to be a box to bOx midfielder which unfortunately his not his backwards or sodeways passing gets us no where and his guarenteed late tackle on the edge of the box is infuriating if he is to be used he should be used when we are trying to protect a lead at the end shore up the defence. Maybe a coaching role wile pele would be benefical maybe giving orders as he jogs up and down warming up. But that being said if he was to not be in the middle i dont k kw who he would be replaced by he have no physical strong players in the middle. We miss some one of the kouyate type mold. As for pele he needs to except his tactics and play style dont work anymore haller is isolated even if we hace anderson or yarmalenko up top with him and we mlved the ball quickly

  4. Ah! In which case, we do not need a manager who, in spite of his reputation, no longer seems to read OUR game too well.

    Great idea, though.

    Currently, Rice is as isolated at the back as Haller is up front.

    They seem to be setting up and playing as though a kick around on a beach.

    Elsewhere, the claim is that Pellegrini has the board’s backing in spite of their concerns over tactics and results.

    That means he has their backing whilst they busily seek the next inappropriate replacement…….will it ever end!

  5. We need so much more pace. Within our team we only have Fredericks, Antonio, Masuaku, Anderson and maybe Rice. AndDiangana. They should be in the starting eleven from now on. Don’t flog them for one mistake, we can’t build a team from Noble, Wilshere, Zabaleta and Cresswell. With them we have Diop, Oggy, Haller, Lanzini – not fast but with some ball control.start all over, Pelle.

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