Everything that may be wrong in the Pellegrini dressing room was demonstrated by captain Mark Noble towards the end of yesterday’s game at Selhurst Park.
Quite simply the bloke went over the line and acted in a crazed manner as he turned on – of all people – Angelo Ogbonna, who had appeared to reprimand him for a wayward pass that put the team under pressure.
Noble played a poor ball towards Cresswell who lost out to a Palace player before the move was finally halted by Roberto.
Ogbonna then aimed a mouthful towards Noble whose response was horrendous as he raced towards him in a rage of epic proportions before eventually being halted by Antonio and Cresswell.
Even at that stage he was fighting to get out of their grip whilst Oggy looked on mildly, seemingly half amused. It was not good, really not good!
The incident simply wasn’t worth such a dreadful over-reaction and Noble should feel thoroughly ashamed of himself.
Worse than that, it suggested possible bad blood from the dressing room because the response to a few words from the centre half was abnormal in the extreme.
If that is the case that the manager is no longer in control of what’s going on at that level – frankly I found the whole scenario shameful and embarrassing.
And so the old dinosaur goes lumbering on whilst messrs Sullivan and Gold continue to dig the ever deepening hole.Its plain for all to see that he is only in a job because they are too tight to pay him off.We beat Bournemouth and the whole juggernaut continues to career along with nobody there to control it.The footballing nation watched the bust up mentioned above and this only highlights the problems within the group .Haller throwing his gloves in disgust when subbed,Antonio crashing a car dressed as a snowman,dodgy substitutions again yesterday proved to be our downfall.When is this horror of a pantomime going to end?.You couldnt make this fiasco any more farcical if you got a Hollywood script writer in.
My God its been painfully obvious for weeks and weeks there is a problem in the dressing room and although I agree Mark was over the top with his reaction to Oggie but it just highlites that this squad is not in unity under MP and please please do it now DG+DS why wait till after the Bournemouth game or will.a 1-0 at Gillingham be his savior (no disrespect or offense meant to the Gills)they must be chomping at the bit to get at us!! Get out NOW PELLERGRINI AND TAKE YOUR STAFF AND UNDER PERFORMING PLAYERS WITH YOU AND MAYBE WE WILL HAVE A BETTER CHANCE..ARE YOU READING THIS DG+DS??JUST GET ON WITH IT!!
Goes to prove that Pellegrini has lost the dressing room
Another relegation scrap at our “athletics” stadium. Thanks Westham.
Yes there are big problems. The Manager cannot get the players playing for the badge only for there wages. I cannot see anything changing. We have been here before it is so depressing we pay our hard earned money to see our club move forward not struggle every season. So tomorrow yet again as a season ticket holder I will make the 200 mile journey to support my club pity the players don’t appreciate my efforts and play for the badge and for us.🙁 COY irons
Couldn’t agree more Hugh , some suggest that it shows we have fire and passion , I believe it shows discord and unprofessionalism.
Worrying times lay ahead, a team void as playing like a team , too many individual errors , not enough flair from the attacking players, a third choice goal keeper that clearly cant catch a cold let alone a football.
I think a change is needed and not even sure a change will have much impact the players look spent , and unconfident in their ability , something is drastically wrong at the club and it starts at the top i’m afraid
Absolutely embarrassing behaviour from Noble who as Club Captain should be ashamed of himself. He was rightly criticised for making a poor pass and just totally lost it.
He should be disciplined by the Club and make a public apology not only for his own performance but to the thousands of fans who deserve so much better. 4th from bottom and facing relegation is a disgrace but there is still no passion, no quality and no points! Only player who showed any desire was Antonio, most of the rest are not fit to wear the shirt.
Shameful indeed. Bad example by the skipper, the one person on the field to stabilize and steer the team esp when they need serious guidance. Hope Mark has apologised as your article correctly says … Oggie, together with mark has grown into a die-hard Hammer on the pitch.
And yes, thus may be a reflection of the weakness of the manager, who most times is clueless, and doesn’t show a strong hand of control and good management.
Oh, how we are hoping and praying for a strong turnaround asap. Come on you irons. God bless West Ham.
Not saying we don’t need a change but this reads like you are rightly condemning Noble and then saying it stems from the dressing room….it doesn’t it stems from a player who bleeds claret and blue but has frankly been very poor most games in general play and is no Billy Bonds and sadly can no longer influence games ……if sick note Wilshere was fit Noble wouldn’t be playing and that maybe is where you can blame the manager because he bought Wilshere ahead of the likes of Joe Allen who Moyes would have got but then we all would still be miserable at the football played under Moyes!
There may be issues in the dressing room is my point between cetain players. U don’t react ike that to a few words from somebody as a rule
Why ttis stupid hatred towards Moyes. He was brou-tt in to do a job and bloody well did it with little cash to depend. I would take him tomorrow over Pelle. And, I think, so would the players. A manager can only play to the strengths of the players he has and that is a basic Pelle does not seem to understand. And when he spent all those years at Everton his teams played some decent football. We desperately need a Moyes type right now so hive credit where due.
I don’t hate him kenny.
Pelligrini has not only succeeded in ruining our team , he has also succeeded in splitting the players in the dressing room . If Now is not the right moment to sack him , then when is it .
HE HAS TO GO NOW . The owners did what they obviously thought was the right thing .
Employing a proven league winner ,,, but it has all backfired on them and us Fans . Talking in retrospect is easy , like critizing players ect ect ,,,,, but the buck stops at the office door of the manager who has repeatedly shown his inaptitude as a Premieship manager .
We desperately need someone to rescue us before it’s too late .. I don’t mind who it is but the Chilean has to go NOW . It’s rather surprising he hasn’t gone already . We don’t need bruising more and we have suffered enough through the years . Why did City say goodbye.
He was starting to get it wrong there as well , but City woke up early . The owners need to wake up to the fact that despite ther’re dream shared with fans when we signed Pelligrini that we were on the up … sadly , even with the big team mentality that didn’t materialize it’s obvious that we need to dump him as manager … pay whatever it needs .. we must stay in the Premiership . CAN’T find a reason to blame the owners when they put thier faith in Pelligrini because as fans we all thought it was a reasonable sighning . At the risk of ridicule I suggest it was a bad decision to let Moyes go due to Fan Pressure . Maybe we should take a good look at ourselves as supporters & fans . The West Ham way is still a mystery .
But whatever that mystery may be ,, Pelligrini just doesn’t understand it . Possibly relegation and great hopes of any cups …. cheers and goodbye Pelligrini and thanks for nothing …. except maybe for waking us up .
Totally agree.
Noble should have held his hands up to Oggy not attacked him, it was a poor pass.
I believe Noble will apologize, publicly and privately.
He is not the problem, just a Hammer who cares.
They looked like a team that was playing hungover. Mr. Pellegrini has lost the plot and we will not attract players in the January window as we face relegation. Even if we could, why allow MP to select? Need a manager who understands how to get the best from mediocre.
Sums it up when the captain acts like a school boy! Totally pathetic Mr Noble, no class what so ever. On another note yet again the board pontificate regarding our totally inept management team. He should be sacked without doubt but I guess two more defeats will make our great passionate owners feel that Mr P has had enough chances.
Really looking forward to my 400 mile trip tomorrow to watch a team devoid of ideas and no passion.
Sorry I’m with Nobes on this one, Ogbonna is sub standard and by all accounts doesn’t train properly, he has no right to have a pop at the captain when his own game is so poor.
On a general note hard to believe people here are still slagging off the board and the stadium, anyone with half a brain cell would have done that deal, we’re not moving back to Upton Park, this constant moaning without a single alternative suggestion isn’t helping.
Are you bonkers?? Hes been arguably one of our best players and definitely our best defender this season. He was spot on to have a go at Nobes. I love Noble but lets stop this hero worshipping of him. He is too slow, makes bad decisions and the pass was absolutely shocking.
On one hand I blame the board because they stated at the time that pellegrini was the man they wanted and that the fans can’t complain any more because they have captured a world class manager even tho there was some good up and coming managers out there!!
But then all the blame has to go on pellegrini a man with his experience and a CV on paper that puts him up there with the best!
But he comes to West ham and gets full control of transfers with his sidekick and completely makes a pigs ear of it!
I think moyes left him a team which was stable and tightened up at the back and now on his second season it’s back to square one!
What a let down pellegrini is and now the board obviously haven’t got any clue on what to do now they must have thought we would be in a champions league spot by now!!
So deluded!! Moyes season =3 steps forward
Pellegrini 1st season = half a step forward
Pellegrini 2nd season = 10 steps back
Noble has been useless for 3 seasons or more. Poor tackler, poor passer, no pace, lacks discipline & fails to track back with opponents leaving Rice & back 4 exposed while he chases the ball without even getting close to it. Play Sanchez or Coventry instead. Should have loaned him to Charlton & retained Cullen.
Hammers have needed his replacememt with a CDM who can creatively pass forrward since Alex Song loan expired.
Pellegrini out now before its too late to avoid relegation.
A little harsh. Noble’s form has dropped but there are still some matches where he is everywhere doing what others won’t. Agree, overdue for a replacement but like Zab, has some smarts and a little left in the tank.
Leaving out Diop, Anderson & Lanzini (if now fit) means we cannot score enough goals to avoid relegation because we cannot defend once the first goal is conceeded & always conceed in final minutes.
Spurs won’t offer £50for either Balbuena or Ogbonna!
Pellegrini cannot play penetrative football with Noble, Snodgass, Zabaletta in the team who are all well below PL Standard.
Sullivan get on with it make the change now but not more “has been” managers please!
It would have been better if Noble had words with the manager & expressed his rage at the total lack of man management & lack of any plan B when his plan A goes wrong also his inexplicable substitutions. Why do clubs offer contracts to managers that reward failure surely they can insert failure clauses so they are not liable to pay the full contract to a sacked manager,
Hopefully it is a catalyst to clearing the air, if the captain can’t accept responsibility for a bad pass, goodness knows he has made so many poor decisions over his career leading to goals against us and Oggy is setting the right example, players should feel free to call each other out, it keeps them on their toes. All this nicey nicey stuff I have heard during Noble’s captaincy about how everyone is part of the family doesn’t win you anything. Players need to trust each other and their appears this season very little of that, we are West Ham Dis-United. Which is what we can all see from watching, whether in the stadium or on TV, hopefully whoever comes in will have a system to rebuild that trust and team spirit COYI !!!
Hugh , I’m sorry . But I feel very strong that Pelligrini has let us all down and that includes the owners who have been let down more than us . They put thier faith in Pelligrini . Nothing to do with player transfers ect ect . A decent manager would and should overcome that. , especially one on Megga Bucks .
Mark Noble should not be ashamed of himself for that. Yes if he clocked ogbonna one. But he didn’t. You’re wrong Hugh. Noble has done more than enough for this club, and a few words exchanged with ogbonna wont change my view. Would you have said the same if Declan rice would have reacted. I don’t think you would have.
I think whenever a player turns on one of his own player and has to be restrained from decking him he is in the wrong. He is the skipper and has been in the game long enough to take banter for God’s sake. And you are wrong and have totally misjudged me – but then many believe they know me better than I do -I’d have been horrified had it come from any member of the team. Rice included.
Yesterday was deeply disappointing on many levels. If this was an outpouring of frustration by Noble at the prospect of surrendering a winning position, then while it may not be acceptable or justified, it may be understandable. As we don’t know what was said, or know of any context of tension between Noble and Ogbonna, we can only hope that apologies have been made and accepted and that the players can move on.
But that unedifying spectacle only serves to highlight the obvious disunity between so many parts of our great club:
– between team-mates
– between players and the manager (selection, tactics, subs must baffle and frustrate them as well as us)
– between fans and players (a worrying but justified disconnect)
– between fans and the manager (irreparable breakdown!)
– between fans and the board
– between fans as to who or how to get us out of the mess we are in
– possibly between the board itself
– probably between players and the club (can’t imagine some aren’t on to their agents to get them out of here)
We will be fooling ourselves that the appointment of a new manager will do anything to heal all of these divisions at once. I would suggest that even a candidate of the calibre of Pocchetino would struggle to heal all these rifts in the short or medium term. But I can’t see him or any other messiah coming. However something must be done and it is up the the owners to do it.
I was always a supporter of Moyes – I thought he did a good job in difficult circumstances and ultimately deserved better treatment by the board. However, there seems such a dislike by so many on these pages to him. I get that, but I suggest that whoever comes in will be an unpopular appointment to many. But I think we need someone like him who has shown to us he can improve fitness, tighten the defence, improve discipline, provide a tactical framework, work the the playing resources at his disposal and get us out of jail. And that’s where we are headed. It may not be pretty, but it’s do-able. I wouldn’t advocate a return to BFS under any circumstances as he showed a disdain to the fans and the club – and I think it unlikely that a manager who likes to spend money like Benitez would come to us. I’m not a fan of his, either, but that’s just a personal thing on my part. I can see our job appealing to someone with a point to prove – and that’s Moyes again, or a younger manager or coach who’s willing to gamble and step up.
So my other option, which may be more palatable than Moyes to some, would be to promote from within – whether from the other first-team coaches (not the other Steptoe who sits alongside MP) or the u23’s. They could make a name for themselves and, much more importantly to us fans, save us from relegation.
Either way, everyone would have to unite behind that person’s vision – and that includes us fans. I’ll never hope we lose the next match to force their hand but I understand those who may be of that opinion. MP may be a decent man but he’s been well-paid, ultimately for failure. It won’t be easy but we need the owners to act now. COYI.
I agree MP should go, but who is out there? Perhaps Sullivan and Gold should have left Moyes in charge at least he had them working hard and together. Give Moyes a 4 year contract and stick with it.
We are becoming reluctant to even pay out the fare to watch the team its crap to be honest.
So I take it mark noble is exempt from any one having a go at him when he either plays poorly or continuously misplaced passes? It’s a shame he dont do what ogbonna done more often then maybe there might be a kind of respect on the pitch between the players! To often do I see the oh it’s ok clap from misplaced passes or poor performances. We need leaders on the pitch which is what I see from ogbonna, not allowing the attitude and performances to drop. Somw thing I dont see from any one else on that pitch or from the sidelines. Well done ogbonna and bloody well poor from noble who needs to go look at himself in the mirror and ask himself some home truths
We can could the best manage in the world but he wouldn’t make a difference £25 million net spend gets you what these days ? The wage bill slashed in the summer leaving the squad very thin until the money making chairman leave nothing will change staying up is ok for them to continue to get the tv money and charging the club 4% in there loans down from the 8%
making money is there only concern
and £27 million in debt – how does that work then?
Like everything in life – all about opinions – right or wrong or different – so here goes
We all want bigger & better – for me that is a trophy – just one for now
But the premier league is far too important
The longer you stay the more you pay
I for one am sick and tired of it all
The record still needs changing
One forward two back all the time year after year
I do recall some occasional cheer – which is not good enough – even for us
There are two ways to get to the next level
( never mind stay there) get the right personnel – manager, his staff and players or super wealthy owners
Neither have guarantees
It’s all a gamble
I prefer the second option because the first has not worked and never will
I would not increase the capacity any further just yet
Fortune should not always be hiding!!
SORT THIS OUT – GIVE US SOMETHING TO CHEER
And to the owners –
Thank you and goodbye
Pass the baton – don’t drop it
Mark noble needs to learn to switch off.
Said he can’t relax; always thinking about west ham and the next match – not even being able to “taste my food when I’m in a restaurant cos I’m always thinking about west ham, and the next match”. This innability to ‘switch off ‘ is only g’nar stress him out more and more. It defo shows on the pitch, Pogba incident included.
I’ve watched Mark Noble for many years, he works hard, gives his all for his club, he wants to win and is a determined bugger, and I have full admiration for his efforts unfortunately over those years he has made so many mistakes which has cost the team momentum and progress, to me he,s a handy player to play a role in the team but to me he’s never a captain and leader to take this club to next level and that’s reflected in the fact that he doesn’t get a look in with the England national team, he just a good professional, West Ham need an enforcer, a skilled performer who can stamp his authority on any game and have the respect of all otherwise we will continue to be a under performing, playing without passion every other week, the culture has to change and we need people running this club that are prepared to change this culture, not just having players around because they are good servants, it starts with administration and unless they sort that out at the top end and having that flow down through the whole club we’ll theyll never get anywhere, the best most consistently good, winning clubs all have a well run disciplined administration which sets the standard for all. Wake up West Ham.
I agree entirely – shocking from Noble…
I didn’t witness the incident but on teh basis of the description here I would agree that a) Noble was in the wrong and should apologise and b) it is probably symptomatic of a lack of leadership from the manager (shades of Scott Parker delivering the teamtalk at West Brom that inspired the comeback from 3-0 to 3-3 under Avram Grant)
I believe that a) we need some energy and bite in midfield – and agree that we could look at playing Conor Coventry until we buy someone during the window and b) Noble still has a role to play – perhaps something like James Milner at Liverpool c) the current stalemate of “two games to save MP’s job” is not helping anyone d) players are not just there to pick up their salaries and actually feel unhappy when we lose – so the only way to change the mood in the dressing room is to stop losing (which will also improve the mood amongst the fans)
The problem is noble thinks he’s Mr West Ham and that nobody can repremand him for mistakes he makes. Players like this need to be moved on for he good of the club