Nigel played with Anelka while he was at Arsenal and the two will be reunited at the weekend when the Hammers take on Liverpool, for whom the French striker has signed on loan until the end of the season.
"It could be a good signing for Liverpool," he says, "everyone is guessing what will happen but I think we should just wait and see, because he is on trial.
"Nicolas wasn't really that close to anybody at Arsenal - he was quiet and got on with his job the way that he knew, and there is nothing wrong with that.
"I think he fell out with the club along with his brothers and he has had a difficult time since, but that doesn't make him a bad player.
"I will shake his hand; he was never a problem with any of the players at Arsenal, certainly not with me, and you have to respect that.
"I think it is a good move if you get the right Nicolas Anelka; he probably has a lot to prove to a lot of people after two or maybe three big transfers where it hasn't worked out for him.
"He was a young man at Arsenal and people can get easily led and I suppose when people start bandying figures about the stars light up in your eyes - but there could have been other things going on, I don't know."
Nigel admits to having some sympathy for Benito Carbone following his sending off for two bookable offences as Derby lost 4-0 to West Ham on Wednesday.
The first, for diving, was committed with Nigel the nearest defender in the penalty area and he says: "I'm not sure it was a dive. I saw Carbone go into the box and I was alongside him deliberately making sure I didn't bring him down.
"It was quite slippy out there and I'm not sure if he slipped but referees are looking for that kind of thing now and you know you could get booked.
"Then obviously he has made a reckless challenge and he is off - it benefits us but is frustrating for the player who is sent off."
Nigel is glad that the biggest win of the season puts West Ham on the back pages once more after the somewhat hysterical headlines concerning the Christmas party.
He says: "The press are looking for stories - one player sort of gets involved in something and 30 other players that are with him are supposed to be animals.
"The incident was trivial and I'm surprised that everybody kicked up so much fuss; it was dealt with by the club in the right way.
"We are on show to the public but there are too many people now wanting to put you on a nice pedestal and knock you down again as quick as they can - and that will always be the way while there is a lot of money in the game.
"When you see headlines like that you are associating everyone at the club with that tag and I think it is very harsh. We were all in high spirits and one player probably went a little bit too far but what he did was exaggerated beyond belief."
West Ham are hoping to extend a five match unbeaten run against Liverpool, and Nigel adds: "The secret is hard work and the belief we now can take on the best teams and look to not only get results against them, but beat them.
"That was a very important game having played Manchester United and Arsenal - to have failed against Derby would have been a big set back, so we knew we needed to win.
"Sometimes it wasn't always pretty in the first half but you don't always get exciting football. But in the second half when Carbone was sent off we really put them to the test and ran out comfortable winners.
"West Ham teams keep the ball well and eventually if you keep knocking the ball around against ten men and keep the ball we have got players that can open them up.
"The game is over 90 minutes and we played to those 90 minutes - there were some special goals but any goal is good when you are going to win games and 4-0 helps wipe out some of the bad defeats we had at the start of the season.
"It is another difficult game coming up but we have done well here against the big clubs and we want to keep it going. We are in a great position in the league now where another result will really put us up the table."