I know what Noble’s in for

MARK NOBLE’S return to football’s front line as West Ham’s sporting director is a welcome encore for one of the game’s good guys.

But after 18 years as a player, if fans think he is going to be just a cheerleader in a suit, they could not be more mistaken.

The sporting director’s role now comes with almost as much pressure as is on the manager or head coach – and I should know, because my job at Macclesfield is unrelenting, unforgiving and 24/7.

It’s also frustrating, timeconsuming and draining when you get it wrong and not to be confused with an ambassador, who meets and greets on matchdays.

You are the link between board and manager, and you need to work with people you can trust.

The first thing I did was to bring in a head of recruitment, a super-scout who could identify potential new signings and find out if their backgrounds would fit in with our culture and our level.

That’s an area where Noble will be a vital link in the culture and future direction of West Ham on the pitch. Good luck to him – and welcome to the land of sleepless nights.

DELIVERING European football in consecutive seasons doesn’t stop the tide going out on managers under pressure – and the currents have not been kind to David Moyes.

When bosses have a tough time, the critics tend to look back and make a poor run of results seem even worse by stretching back into the previous season.

In the

Premier

League, the

Hammers’ last

14 games have yielded just nine points.

Reasonable fans will look beyond those stats and acknowledge the tremendous job Moyes (above) has done.

But I hope the tide does not go out on him much further because I didn’t have West Ham in my bottom three before a ball was kicked in August.