The West Ham fans in the Football Transfer Tavern are staying pretty silent at the moment...

The Hammers had been tipped as early favourites for the Champions League as the season began, but in reality - they've quickly turned into early relegation scrappers.

They've lost four out of their last five games, and even our landlord is tipping them for a relegation battle this year.

One player that has struggled early doors this season is Mark Noble, who is typically a real Hammers favourite.

But with 11 goals conceded in three games somethings got to give - and a few of the Hammers in the Tavern are debating whether or not he deserves to be dropped...

So with that in mind, here are 2 pros and 2 cons to West Ham dropping Mark Noble...

PRO: Lack of Form

Mark Noble has long been considered as an "undroppable" player in this West Ham United side, but if his early form is anything to go by - it's pretty clear that he is struggling to set the pace this season.

In seasons gone by he's dominated proceedings in the middle of the Hammers midfield, but so far this campaign - it just hasn't happened.

Sometimes you have to look past the name and what they're actually doing on the pitch and in Noble's case - it might be time to see if someone else could do a better job for the time being.

CON: History

Part of football is having spells of good form and spells of bad form.

Take the 2012/2013 season where Noble suffered an injury - he struggled to find form right away but came good by the end of the campaign.

If there is one man that knows the club well enough to turn things around it's Mark Noble.

His 300-plus appearances mean he knows the club inside out and he'll be able to turn things around eventually.

PRO: Kouyate and Noble Problems

Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyaté just aren't playing well together in the middle-of-the-park right now.

It seems to some that they are just too similar, with both enjoying getting forward and supporting the likes of Lanzini and Payet in attack.

But with that, gaping holes are left in front of the defence ,and the sole clean sheet West Ham have kept this season just isn't good enough.

One of these two will have to be dropped and our landlord thinks it could be Noble that takes a place on the bench.

CON: Goals

Whilst goals haven't been a big part of his game so far this season, you can't argue that Mark Noble's goalscoring form for a midfielder is pretty darn impressive.

He dispatched on nine occasions last time out and throughout his Hammers career, he's scored just short of fifty times.

Set pieces are second nature and he's also a pretty solid penalty taker too.

Whilst his defensive edge hasn't been too great this season, it's seriously clear that Noble brings a good attacking edge to this West Ham team.