by Sean Whetstone
Declan Rice has captained the Hammers in wins and clean sheets over Leicester City and Wolves as well as the historic comeback and draw against Spurs on Sunday.
And is so doing has surely proven himself a natural born leader. His post match interview(see below) showed what the result against Spurs and West Ham means to him.
Now is surely the time to reward make Dec by making him the permanent team captain of West Ham maybe giving Mark Noble a honorary and symbolic role.
With Rice now tying down a permanent England role he will attract more and more admirers from the top six clubs.
With Jack Wilshere off the wage bill and Felipe Anderson on loan for the season perhaps West Ham would have nothing to lose in offering a Rice a new six year deal worth six figures per week to make him one of the top earners at the club.
We might not keep Rice forever but making him our captain and making him one our top earners might see him remain a Hammer for a few more years to come.
I’ve been saying this since the new year ….
Noble needs to be made “club captain” getting the armband in cup matches with Rice as the PL team captain. Perhaps if we show him our support &loyalty either the captaincy & a big pay rise, we’ll get to keep him for another few years. He should also be reminded that Chelski “discarded” him, whereas we showed faith and got him his England call-up. If he still wants to go then it would be goodbye and thank you & get £80m for him.
If he signs it, rip 41 off his back and give him the ‘6’.
I agree Spider, we should unretire the shirt and make it an honour to wear it, reserved for special players like no7 is at Utd. Rice has a special temperament and seems to love playing for us, lets make him permanent Captain, No6 and pay him enough so that he doesn’t need to move anywhere else or clubs just won’t be tempted to bid for him. In Soucek and Rice we have a central midfield axis we can build a team around.
Wow, that’s a bold statement…… I like it!! If there was ever a statement of how much he was valued than it would be to give him ‘that’ shirt. I think it would also give him something else to think about when Chelsea come calling.
I wonder what other fans would make of that? Hugh/Sean, worthy of a poll? Could be a good discussion thread. Nice one, Spider
Good post Sean – reward and encourage loyalty of our brightest and best.
I can’t believe that there’s a serious suggestion to ‘unretire’ the number 6 shirt.
Fair enough he deserves a big pay rise & PL team captaincy (he’s doing this already isn’t he really, but he’s a modern day footballer turning heads at the big clubs, one day money will talk the loudest, let’s keep some things sacred..
Fully agree once again. Would be a great move and Nobes will understand. He’s a hammer through and through and he would step aside for the greater good. Think the idea that Nobes is captain for cup games is excellent. I feel optimistic with Moysey at the helm. For the first time is many years, we have a management structure that is strong, we have players that are team players in the main and it’s time we start moving onwards and upwards. COYI
I think that the call to offer him the number 6 shirt is interesting and worth considering – I am not sure whether or not he would accept it in any case and when he leaves / retires teh shirt could be retired again until the next Rice emerges from the academy
I am wondering whether Lampard will make it through the season – having spent so much money Chelsea will be more demanding of him than last season – and if he is fired then maybe the interest from Chelsea will cool
Anyway the new conract should definitely be offered
Great move to make Dec captain – perfect timing contract-wise and also Both Nobes And Balbuena cannot sustain the pace in the Premier now. We must look forward now.
Good Grief Sean, I’ll need a wider screen to fit you all in soon!
🙂
There has been plenty of good players at this club over recent years, but Declan isn’t one of those Good players……… He’s a Special player!
Special players have an X Factor because alongside his outstanding ability and temperament, he has Integrity.
He deserves the arm band and I’m sure Mark Noble would actually hand it to him. For one so young, he comands the respect of the players around him and I wholeheartedly agree with Spider, that he is a player worthy of unretiring the legendary No 6 shirt for.
All of our supporters to the last, feel a special affinity with Declan.
In some respects I would hate to put too much pressure on him by giving him the No 6 shirt, but if ever they was a player who would understand what it means to wear it and would live up to that shirt….It would have to be Declan Rice.