West Ham United captain Mark Noble was one of the most vocal people on the Premier League call which looks to have delayed the season restart.
Read: Gary Neville says relegating West Ham by ‘preferred method’ would be unfair
West Ham boss David Moyes and his skipper Noble were on the crucial call yesterday.
All 20 top-flight managers and captains were involved in the ‘first of its kind’ meeting.
Sky Sports claimed the key focus was the issue of player welfare as the Premier League aimed to resume on June 12th.
Players have reservations over Project Restart
There are reservations among some players over a return. West Ham star Manuel Lanzini recently told Closs Continental it would be ‘crazy’ for football to resume until a vaccine was available.
Alongside Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson, West Ham’s Noble has been a key figure in fielding concerns of Premier League players (Daily Mail).
As a result of the meeting there are widespread reports the concerns raised will push the season restart back to at least June 19th (The Guardian).
And according to a new report from The Daily Mail last night, Noble was one of the dominant voices on the call.
“The Premier League is facing a race against time to meet its restart target of June 12 after managers and players expressed doubts about the viability of the planned resumption date,” The Daily Mail reports.
Hammers skipper Noble ‘particularly vocal’ on crucial call – report
“The most likely date for a restart is now a week later, June 19.
“The captains’ meeting — which started at 2pm and lasted for over two hours — saw players express major fears over safety ahead of their planned return to training next week.
“West Ham captain Mark Noble and Watford skipper Troy Deeney are understood to have been particularly vocal during the conference call. With 20 players on the call it is understood there were divisions among the group over the plans.
Noble wants season finished but does he feel it’s too soon?
“Sportsmail knows of a number of players, more so towards the bottom of the league, who have told their clubs they are reluctant to report for training next week and that was relayed during the meeting. The captains also made clear that the players still have concerns over what happens when phase two of training commences.”
The players hold the ace card in any negotiations. After all no players, no football.
Noble revealed at the weekend he is determined to get West Ham’s season finished.
In Noble’s opinion voiding the season is morally wrong. And he told Redknapp’s Home Fixture the season should be completed behind closed doors ‘even if we have to play into October’.
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