Former West Ham defender James Collins reluctantly shared his doubts about Mark Noble excelling under Manuel Pellegrini this season.
The 35-year-old was asked by Jermaine Jenas on Friday night while on BBC 5 Live what he thought of his former teammates chances under Pellegrini as he personally thought he could be edged out of the club.
Collins shared, rather reluctantly as he shared his fondness for Noble, that he didn’t believe that the veteran midfielder fitted what Pellegrini is looking for.
“Erm, possibly I don’t want to say yes,” said Collins on BBC 5 Live (Friday September 14, 19:45).
“I think you’re right, I don’t think he fits what Pellegrini is looking for if I’m honest, not sure, Noble will obviously disagree but yeah it’s gonna be a tough season for us, I really feel it will be.”
OPINION
Noble has only featured twice for the Hammers this season and his performances were very uninspiring. The midfielder, who earns £50,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac) wasn’t in the squad for the Arsenal game due to injury and was an unused substitute against Wolves. It’s interesting that Collins believes Noble doesn’t fit what Pellegrini is looking for as while the 31-year-old’s passion can’t be doubted, he was looking like getting axed last season. Aside from Noble having a few memorable performances at the tail-end of last season, the midfielder generally looked a yard off the pace and like his best days were behind him. It’s a sad state of affairs admitting that Noble should no longer be seen as a first-team regular but that should be the case. Pellegrini would be making smart, if not bold, decision to stop playing Noble in his side’s Premier League games as he no longer looks good enough to feature. However it would be a foolish move to completely push the midfielder out the door as not only will that be an unpopular decision, it will see the Hammers lose someone who is arguably valuable in the dressing room.