Glen Johnson has hailed the ‘fantastic’ and ‘unbelievable’ Mark Noble after he made his 500th appearance for West Ham United on Friday.
The former right-back shared how Noble ‘held his own’ when the midfielder used to train with the West Ham first-team at the age of 14 and 15, as he told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports (18/07/20 at 1:15 pm).
It was a 500th game to remember for Noble because his side recorded a vital 3-1 win over Watford and all but ensured they will be playing Premier League football next term.
Johnson, who came through the ranks at the East London club during the ’90s, offered nothing but praise for Noble.
“He is Mr West Ham,” Johnson told Sky Sports. “I remember years and years ago when he first trained with the first-team, he was about 14 or 15, at the time. Even then he held his own. He was unbelievable at how technical he was and you could tell he had a football brain.
“Obviously, at the time, you never knew how good a career he was going to have. He has been fantastic for West Ham over the years and he has deserved every credit he gets, at the moment.”
The one thing that would perhaps hurt Noble is that he is yet to win a major trophy with his boyhood club.
Time is running out for him to do that, but West Ham are the type of club who should be pushing that harder for domestic honours, especially the FA Cup and League Cup.
But that requires consistency, clarity, know-how and ambition from the top – that’s something those in the West Ham boardroom have failed to provide for large parts of their tenure.
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