Like his talented young teammate Ravel Morrison, West Ham’s Mark Noble comes from the less fashionable side of town.
Morrison, in England’s Under-21 squad for tonight’s European Championship qualifier away to San Marino, was born in Wythenshawe and brought up in Denton, Greater Manchester.
Noble hails from Canning Town — culturally also some distance from the Kings Road — but while the young East Ender had a strong and stable home life, Morrison’s background was built on less than solid foundations.
Brought up by his grandparents, Morrison has suffered a troubled and well-documented past which culminated in Sir Alex Ferguson, who appreciated his talent but despaired of his attitude, offering him to his friend Sam Allardyce, for a knockdown £650,000.
Initially the signs were not encouraging. Morrison irritated his new team-mates with his ill-discipline and Allardyce decided to loan him to Birmingham last season.
It might not have worked and Morrison, only just out of his teens, may have been looking at opportunities wasted, a young career in tatters.
Fortunately — and Morrison must take most of the credit — the penny dropped which is why, on the back of his scintillating goal in West Ham’s 3-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday, he has been identified as one of England’s brightest young talents.
For Allardyce, the blossoming of Morrison has been a real bonus. For Noble and his West Ham club colleagues, he has been a delight. The midfielder said: “Everyone asks me what Ravel is like because of his history and all that sort of stuff. They have heard Gary Neville say on TV that he’s a player who is capable of anything if he gets his mind right.
“We’ve tried to help at the club. There’s a lot of senior pros here. We hammer him when he does something wrong and he takes it on the chin as he should but also he is a respectful boy.
“He’s a brilliant lad to have around the place and honestly I can’t say anything bad about him as a person. He’s a top boy and deserves all the credit he’s getting at the moment.
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“I hope he gets the chance to show what he can do. I believe he can play at any level he wants because every team, no matter at what standard, needs a player like him that can create in such a way. You saw his goal against Spurs. Jan Vertonghen and Michael Dawson are arguably the best centre-half pairing in the League at the moment and he went past them as though they weren’t there.
“We see him do that all the time in training but his work-rate against Spurs was atremendous. He’s maturing as a player and also becoming a man.”
Stewart Downing, also believes Morrison is a special talent. The winger said: “He has a bit of everything. You saw it in his goal — for a young lad to finish like that, so calm.”
