Mark Noble is unsure how Gus Poyet’s departure will affect West Ham United’s home match with Sunderland
Mark Noble is unsure how Gus Poyet’s departure will affect West Ham United’s home match with Sunderland on Saturday.
Poyet parted company with Sunderland on Monday following a 4-0 home Barclays Premier League defeat by Aston Villa – a result which left the Black Cats just a point above the relegation zone after just four wins in their opening 29 matches.
For the third time this season, following the trip to Crystal Palace in August and the visit of West Bromwich Albion on New Year’s Day, the Hammers will face an opponent with a new face in the dugout.
Speaking on the second episode of the new West Ham TV ‘Hammertime’ discussion show, which will be available to view shortly on whufc.com, Noble says Sunderland will either react with an upturn in form, or they will continue to struggle under Poyet’s replacement.
“As we say, another one bites the dust in this league and the 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend was obviously the last nail in the coffin,” said the No16. “It was a massive result for Villa, but it has cost Gus his job and I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing with Sunderland coming to us at the weekend.”
I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing with Sunderland coming to us at the weekend
While Sunderland have struggled all season long, West Ham themselves have also found wins hard to come by in recent weeks, tasting victory just once in their last 12 Barclays Premier League matches.
The Hammers have come within seconds of important wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, while they also pushed leaders Chelsea all the way before going down to a 1-0 home defeat.
After going down 3-0 at Arsenal at the weekend, Noble says West Ham need to stick together, show the team spirit that has served them so well in recent seasons and get back to winning ways against Sunderland.
If they do that, the Hammer of the Year is confident that the east London side can end the season on a positive note.
“I think last year, when we were struggling, one of the reasons we stayed in the league was that, even though we weren’t the best at scoring goals, we had a group of players who worked hard for each other. For that reason, we were able to grind out results which got us safe in the end.
“We know the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal was quite comfortable for them in the end, but we had a couple of spells in the game when we were on top. You have to score goals when you are in that time in the game.
“In the last month or so, we’ve been seconds away from six points and ended up with only a couple, and it would be a whole different season if we’d beaten Spurs away and Manchester United at home.
“That would be another four points on the board and we’d still be looking at a firm spot in Europe. Now, we’ve got games against teams below us and we need to win them.”
The Hammers have come within seconds of important wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, while they also pushed leaders Chelsea all the way before going down to a 1-0 home defeat.
After going down 3-0 at Arsenal at the weekend, Noble says West Ham need to stick together, show the team spirit that has served them so well in recent seasons and get back to winning ways against Sunderland.
If they do that, the Hammer of the Year is confident that the east London side can end the season on a positive note.
“I think last year, when we were struggling, one of the reasons we stayed in the league was that, even though we weren’t the best at scoring goals, we had a group of players who worked hard for each other. For that reason, we were able to grind out results which got us safe in the end.
“We know the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal was quite comfortable for them in the end, but we had a couple of spells in the game when we were on top. You have to score goals when you are in that time in the game.
“In the last month or so, we’ve been seconds away from six points and ended up with only a couple, and it would be a whole different season if we’d beaten Spurs away and Manchester United at home.
“That would be another four points on the board and we’d still be looking at a firm spot in Europe. Now, we’ve got games against teams below us and we need to win them.”