Former West Ham forward Teddy Sheringham says he recognised similar traits between Paul Gascoigne and Mark Noble when he was turning out for the east London club during the latter stages of his career.
Sheringham joined the Hammers in 2004 at a time when he was very much entering the twilight years of his career. That period happened to coincide with the emergence of a precocious Noble, who was rising through the ranks and starting to make a tangible impression on the first-team.
The former Manchester United and England striker was on the pitch as Noble made his West Ham debut against Southend in a League Cup match in August 2004 — and the latter would go on to make another 547 appearances for the club across a near two-decade spell in claret and blue.
Noble had been a part of the West Ham furniture for 18 years before calling time on his career at the end of last season, marking his final campaign by helping the club reach the Europa League semi-final and securing continental football for 2022/23 as the club finished seventh in the Premier League.
The former stalwart captained his boyhood club, with his heart-of-sleeve mentality striking a chord with the club’s impassioned fanbase. Sheringham has now shed light on what the former midfield metronome was like behind the scenes and on the pitch, likening his footballing intelligence to that of a certain Gascoigne.
In West Ham’s ‘One Of Our Own’ documentary on their official YouTube channel, which looks back on Noble’s career, Sheringham says: “It wasn’t just his enthusiasm. It was his know-how, everything about him. His character, I’d like to put him alongside Gazza [Paul Gascoigne].
“That might be a little bit much because Gazza is the best sensation I’ve ever player with, but Noble had that aura around him that he just knew what to do on the pitch when he had the ball.”