Noble’s farewell – how do we get it right?

By Dave Langton

Mark Noble is going to say goodbye this weekend.

The Hammers skipper is facing possibly the most emotional week of his career, as he prepares for the last game he will ever play in front of the supporters he has served for so long.

After playing Manchester City at the London Stadium, the Irons will wrap up their season away to Brighton.

Noble’s last chance to say goodbye to those fans he has given absolutely everything to over the last 22 years of his life will come against a team that are fighting for the Premier League title.

And that throws up an interesting, emotive question: How do the Hammers get this farewell right?

Is it going to be a case of playing him from the start? That one doesn’t feel realistic at all, not against a team with the talent of City. They didn’t even play particularly well against Newcastle on Sunday but won 5-0. Declan Rice and Toams Soucek surely start.

Is it going to be a case of bringing him on late on as a substitute, to soak up the applause and adulation of the packed London Stadium? It’s a lovely idea.

But if the Hammers are winning, it feels an unnecessary risk to take off one of Rice or Soucek. If the scores are level, bringing Noble on isn’t the way to win it. And if City are three or four goals up, the farewell is diminished in importance.

So here’s my suggestion.

Get absolutely every seat filled at least 15 minutes before kick-off. Once the warm-ups are finished, give Nobes a microphone. Then let him pour his heart out to the fans, give an emotive speech, and head down the tunnel after taking all of the applause the London Stadium can muster.

It serves the purpose of saying goodbye to Nobes, a;; those years  on from him joining the club’s academy. But the sad fact is that we simply cannot risk putting him on the field against City, who are perhaps the best team in the world.

But more than anybody else, he deserves the chance to say farewell.

What do you think?