‘I’ve had 15 seasons, eight bosses and tackled fans on the field – I want less drama’

Captain Mark Noble tells Jason Burt that he hopes West Ham have finally put turmoil in the past

Mark Noble explains his hopes for the new season at West Ham: a strong top-10 Premier League finish, a good cup run, even a final – and something else. Something less tangible, but equally important.

“I just want to enjoy it more than I have done the last couple of seasons, because I have been putting out fires left, right and centre,” Noble says, reflecting on the turmoil that has occasionally engulfed the club.

“Look, I don’t mind. It’s my job – I am the captain and I take that solely on my shoulders. But when you are using a lot of energy off the pitch to keep the place, to keep the lads [together]… sometimes I’ve sacrificed myself because the changing room is so important.

“When we signed Marko [Arnautovic] last year, the first six months were tough for him and after that I took it upon myself to ring him and tell him, ‘Don’t worry mate, it’s going to come good for you’. And I am not saying it’s because of me [that it did]. But it’s important – because the fans wrote him off, and then he kept us up with his goals.”

Now aged 31, Noble is in his 15th season as a first-team member at West Ham, a figure no other Premier League outfield player can match. Given he is a local boy from Canning Town who used to sneak into Upton Park on non-match days and “smash” a ball around, it is no exaggeration to say West Ham mean everything to him.

“The club’s well-being comes first,” he says. “Every manager we have had and all the staff who have been here can see that I am certainly not a selfish player.”

There is another new manager – Manuel Pellegrini – this season, and a lot of new players. Ten were signed before Thursday’s deadline but, ahead of tomorrow’s first game away to Liverpool, Noble has been involved in every pre-season match and will fight for his place.

“Do you know what?” he says, recalling a conversation he had with a previous manager, Alan Curbishley. “I remember going into Curbs’s office when I was 21 and we had the ‘Great Escape’ and stayed in the Premier League. We bought Scottie Parker and Kieron Dyer and a load of signings. I had featured heavily that previous season and I remember saying to him: ‘I want to play but I am worried about players coming in’.