By Alex Beard

29th Feb, 2020 | 4:55pm

'Retire' - These West Ham fans destroy one player v Southampton

West Ham United captain Mark Noble assured his legendary status in east London quite some time ago, and he continues to be a useful player.

However, the fact that the 32-year-old remains quite as pivotal a player to the Hammers is something of an indictment of the club’s lack of progress in recent years.

The midfielder is the sort of player who would be perfect as a depth option, a number three midfielder to come in when Declan Rice and [insert partner] needs a rest.

Perhaps that will be the case moving forward if the club stay up and loan signing Tomas Soucek joins permanently.

However, for now Noble remains as important as any player in a claret and blue shirt, something which has come a slight cause for concern amongst the team’s supporters.

With the Englishman putting in an indifferent performance in the Irons’ 3-1 win over Southampton on Saturday, the issue reared its ugly head again.

Noble wasn’t horrible against the Saints, but he failed to really assert himself and was guilty of giving the ball away on more than one occasion.

The Hammers supporters certainly didn’t appreciate what their skipper offered up at the London Stadium, with one urging him to ‘retire’.

Here are the best reactions from the West Ham fans…

https://twitter.com/whuIucas/status/1233778191120072704

https://twitter.com/hxmmerboy/status/1233785168634220545

https://twitter.com/jjkennard/status/1233778155975917572

In other West Ham news, a player’s mystery illness which kept him out of Monday night has reportedly now been resolved.