When you think of William Arthur Bonds and Mark James Noble you love West Ham that little bit more

When you think of William Arthur Bonds and Mark James Noble you love West Ham that little bit more.  Mark Noble's performances this season have reminded me of the days when Billy Bonds wore the claret and blue with such distinction.  His performances have been truly inspirational this season, like Bonds some thirty years before Noble, is prepared to die for West Ham's cause. I once asked my Dad to name his five biggest disappointments as a West Ham supporter.  He listed Billy Bond's failure to win an England cap as one of them.

Billy played in the days when playing for England meant everything to a player.  England didn't play meaningless friendly's back then.  No Sir! Too play for England back then was the pinnacle of a players  career.  Bond had been told by the manager Ron Greenwood on the Friday that he would be in the England team that played Brazil the following Wednesday.

Sadly the saturday before the game when playing for West Ham against Sheffield Wednesday, in a meaningless end of the season fixture, Billy broke his ribs and the international recognition he so craved and richly deserved was gone forever.  Other players in Bond's position would of put in half hearted challenges to make sure that they never missed out on international recognition.  Not Billy however, he would never cheat on the club he loved.  I remember one game against QPR, we were 5-1 down with about three minutes left, there was Bonds socks round his ankles, urging everyone to get forward as he marauded forward with the ball at his feet.  After watching Billy Bond in a match you always left the Boleyn Ground brimming with pride towards the club.You loved West Ham a little bit more !

Some thirty years later West Ham and football has changed forever, supporters don't get a chance to form a bond with players at the club they support.  Simply because the players don't stay long enough for a bond to be formed.  They kiss the badge, talk the talk, but as soon as another club comes along and dangles a slightly bigger contract in their direction they are off at the drop of a hat.  Leaving supporters feeling duped.  Scott Parker is a prime example of this.  The fans labeled him  'super' Scotty Parker, because of his all action 100 % committed attitude out on the pitch.  But...as soon as Redknapp and Spurs came calling, he short changed the club and it's supporters big time.H  e sulked and pouted till he got his move too Spurs.  His final few matches for West Ham saw him put in lacklustre performances while desperately trying to avoid injury.

However watching Mark Noble this season has left one feeling good about the club.  Noble has been nothing short of magnificent and wins The Hammer Of The Year hands down in my eyes.  He is ALWAYS available to take a pass from an under pressure defender, a quick triangle of passing and away Noble goes to launch yet another attack.  His passing and vision is superb,  switches the direction of play with  beautiful floated passes.  An example of his vision and intelligent play was Reid's goal against Leicester, he held the ball up before slipping a delightful pass to Matty Taylor, who sent an inch perfect cross to Reid who couldn't miss.

Earlier Noble played a delightful ball behind the Leicester defence to Carlton Cole who missed a golden opportunity to put West Ham 1-0 up.  Noble's workrate during a match is absolutely phenomenal, here there and everywhere.  It would make interesting reading if one could see the stats for the amount of times Noble is in possesion during a match.  Some have said that his most passionate performance was the game against Millwall when we were down to ten men.  He was absolutely superb that day ...but because he is one of us he would have have known how much that particular fixture means to us.  In the comming weeks as we bid to return to the Premier League, it's comforting  to know that Mr West Ham, Mark James Noble will be leading us into battle.We are more than a football club,we're a way of life !COYI'S!!