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Noble’s end of season report

Mark Noble has sent an end of season report to the fans and is naturally delighted with the way things have worked out during the manager’s first season in charge.

The captain – as has been said many times – has had a superb finale to the campaign and goes off for his summer on a high.

The squad return on July 1 but there have been many things to enjoy over the last nine months with of course the depressing inevitable lows which were bound to come.

Mark’s position has been thrown into question on many occasions but at the age of 32 he was looking brand new within a system which clearly suited him down to the ground.

There are few that would disagree he produced some of his best football as the squad bedded into the Pellegrini system which is all about pass and move.

He was playing the game with a smile on his face and happily ran the rule over a season of contracts.

He told www.whufc.com:I’d like to start by thanking all the staff, both at the training ground and at the stadium, for all their hard work because, without them, West Ham United would not be the fantastic club it is.

And, of course, thank you to each and every fan for your loyal support of our football club. It really is amazing and the players and staff truly appreciate it.

I am also really proud of the season we’ve just had. To have secured a top-ten finish in the Premier League was a real achievement, make no mistake about it.

The Board invested heavily last summer and we have made real progress, both in our results and the way we’ve been playing. For me, we’ve had a very good season. 

We did not just bring in a new manager and nine new players last summer; we brought in a whole new philosophy and a whole new style of play.

It would always take time for Manuel Pellegrini’s methods to take effect and, since that happened, we have produced some superb performances and some outstanding results.

As a player, it’s been so enjoyable to be part of it all, too. While professional football is about winning and losing, at the end of the day it is still a sport and meant to be fun, and I have definitely had a lot of fun being part of Manuel’s team this season.

Away from the first team, I am down at the Academy a lot as my son Lenny is there, and I must say I am hugely impressed with the redevelopment work that has been done at Chadwell Heath. It is a special place for West Ham and it is so important that we continue to produce our own players.

The women’s team have also really impressed me this season – their first as full-time professionals. They did something we would all love to do as West Ham players by reaching an FA Cup final and their future looks really bright.

We have also launched The Players’ Project, enabling all the players to get closer to a community that is very close to my heart. The work they have done with the Foundation is making a huge difference to people’s lives, which is fantastic.

 

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

6 comments on “Noble’s end of season report

  1. A thank you to the support staff again, as on the night of the last Boleyn game. Class. He has always given his best on the pitch. At a time when players kiss the badge & try to buy fan adulation with cheap gestures he has shown what true loyalty looks like, & he has never let the club down off the pitch either. He may not be up there as a player with some of the club legends (although he has been consistently good over a long period) but if I was drawing up a list of legends from the 60+ years I have been a supporter he would be there for his all round contribution. I hope he has a few years left in him & that the club has the sense to realise he will have a lot to offer once his playing days are over.

  2. Firstly hats off to Nobes – a one club man who always gives his best

    Sorry to be slightly off topic – but I saw Noble also saying (as others have) that we do better against the big clubs so thought I would check that out

    In 18 games against the top 9 I calculate that we took 16 points (wins against Spurs, Arsenal, Man U and Everton and draws against Liverpool, Chelsea and Leicester twice) – an average of about 0.9 points per game – which means that in 20 games against the bottom ten we took 36 points – an average of 1.8 per game – so we did twice as well against the bottom teams. True we had some awful performances (Cardiff away, Brighton away, Burnley away) but it is not true that we perform better against the big clubs

  3. I think Nobes was talking of the traditional big 6 clubs, not all those who finished above us. Even then our record against the rest is still better. But it just seems to feel better when you have a bit of success against the big boys.

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