New captain? McAnuff axed?

[P!ssed Off]

Just a thought if we go down:
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news ... -divisions

Maybe wouldn't get enough starts to be the captain, perhaps vice-captain. Anyway we're short of leaders, P Neville is captain of one of the top sides in England, with almost 20 years experience. Yes, he's old but frankly if he came here today I think he'd be the first name on the team sheet for Saturday.

Apparently he's been doing a bit of coaching as well. Seeing as a few people mentioned G Neville as their preferred new manager, surely P Neville as player/coach wouldn't be a bad shout.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Carrico - was captain of Sporting Lisbon

[Millsy]

I've always liked Jobi and don't see peoples' problem with him. As far as I'm concerned he's playing in his less favoured position on the left. As a right winger I can't stand playing in the left. Although I can, I'm half as good. I think Jobi is half as good too except we don't really have a dedicated left footed left winger except Hal.

Despite all the above I want to see him dropped as captain, if for only one reason: his performances seem to have dropped since he was made captain. Perhaps the responsibility of it or the spotlight is affecting him? Or the fact that he knows hell start so bothers less. Who knows. But I say he may do a lot better as a regular player. For his own good only.

[Libertine]

Whether you rate McAnuff as a winger is fairly irrelevant, can someone please explain to me on what basis they believe McAnuff to be an appropriate captain?

He captained the team to a promotion to the PL?

[sandman]

Whether you rate McAnuff as a winger is fairly irrelevant, can someone please explain to me on what basis they believe McAnuff to be an appropriate captain?

He's one of the more experienced players.

[P!ssed Off]

Whether you rate McAnuff as a winger is fairly irrelevant, can someone please explain to me on what basis they believe McAnuff to be an appropriate captain?

He captained the team to a promotion to the PL?

Yes there is something in that but I'm thinking more captain attributes than previous success. The fact that he was captain when we were promoted tells us very little imo, it is a correlation rather than causation.

For instance, were we promoted due to him being captain? despite him being captain? or was his captaincy fairly irrelevant?

[sandman]

Unfortunately the English have very strict views on captaincy. They feel a captain should be someone who shouts a lot, dives into 50/50 tackles and wipes the mud from his hands before picking up the world cup from the Queen. Everywhere else in the World they just give it to one of the more experienced players who the players respect and get on with it.

[Libertine]

Whether you rate McAnuff as a winger is fairly irrelevant, can someone please explain to me on what basis they believe McAnuff to be an appropriate captain?

He captained the team to a promotion to the PL?

Yes there is something in that but I'm thinking more captain attributes than previous success. The fact that he was captain when we were promoted tells us very little imo, it is a correlation rather than causation.

For instance, were we promoted due to him being captain? despite him being captain? or was his captaincy fairly irrelevant?

I am not saying our promotion was down to Jobi being captain, but he was captain of the team when it got promoted. The team unity was great, the effort was always there and he handled himself with dignity and class, on and off the pitch, casting a good light on the team.

I can see questoning this...last season. If there was some sort of "test" to pass in terms of his fitness to be captain, he aced it. And if the captaincy is "fairly irrelevant" (your words not mine) why are you making an issue of Jobi being captain?

[Croydon Royal]

It would never happen, but it seems to me we need a club captain and a team captain. The Secret Footballer (Dave Kitson) writes at length in his book about the importance of a captain off the field - the things that fans don't see. These range from holding weekly meetings with the manager to negotiating the bonuses to sorting out player nights out. McAnuff seems hugely popular internally and you can imagine him being quite good at being a 'player representative' (club captain). In fact, in interviews - particularly when he talks about what he plans to do after he retires - this becomes even more obvious.

On the pitch I have been concerned that we're lacking leadership. It's why wingers are rarely captain - Jobi is a confidence player, when the chips are down his head goes down and he's not as vocal. There's been occassions this season where he certainly hasn't led by example, and that can make it even more infuriating to fans when you're 2-0 down and are looking to your captain on the pitch to be dishing out the bollockings/shouting encouragements. I also partly think it's because Jobi's focusing so much on his own game at times when the opposing right back has him in his pocket that he neglects his captaincy duties. That's when you need someone like a Marriappa.

So whilst I wouldn't mind a change on the field, just a warning before people making sweeping statements about Jobi being a terrible captain - there's a lot more to it, and a lot of it he gets right. The fact he's been only one of two people in history to captain Reading to a second tier promotion shows that...

[mumbo-jumbo]

I feel sure he needs replacing and will be, but in the summer. Smashing guy but not nearly enough uumph to be captain. Pearce would be a great choice, but surely he is on his way out. I would propose Stephen Kelly? Always gives his all and has some decent experience to pass on to the lads. He seems genuinely committed to the long term cause. Unless Roberts miraculously makes a recovery for next season in which case, perhaps, him?

[Libertine]

I guess Jobi has to go seeing we didn't make it to Europe next year...what a failure.

I see the Jobi haters, who have been here since day 1 of his captaincy but were shut-up by our promotion, are back with a vengeance now that we are struggling in the PL.

[P!ssed Off]

I am not saying our promotion was down to Jobi being captain, but he was captain of the team when it got promoted. The team unity was great, the effort was always there and he handled himself with dignity and class, on and off the pitch, casting a good light on the team.

I can see questoning this...last season. If there was some sort of "test" to pass in terms of his fitness to be captain, he aced it. And if the captaincy is "fairly irrelevant" (your words not mine) why are you making an issue of Jobi being captain?

Not saying a captain is fairly irrelevant, it was a question.

Maybe off the pitch, as people have said, McAnuff is a good captain, leading to team unity and all that.

But on the pitch, I would say the most important attributes are: Teamwork, Workrate and Influence. I'm not sure McAnuff rates that highly in these.

In terms of saying he led us to promotion: Wasn't Matt Mills 30 mins away from doing the same and very few people at the time, or now, rate him as a good captain.

If you had no idea who was captain and attended every game of the last two seasons and had three guesses as to who was captain, would you guess McAnuff?

[RoyalBlue]

Would just like to point out that regardless of who wears the captain's armband, there is nothing to stop other players stepping up and showing the desired leadership qualities on the pitch during a game!

[sandman]

Unfortunately the English have very strict views on captaincy. They feel a captain should be someone who shouts a lot, dives into 50/50 tackles and wipes the mud from his shorts before picking up the world cup from the Queen. Everywhere else in the World they just give it to one of the more experienced players who the players respect and get on with it.

I think you are a bit clueless about captaincy.
Let us have a quick look at previous captains of well-known winning teams in other countries.
Pietro Vierchowod.
Franco Baresi. The most experienced palyer
Paolo Maldini. ditto
Juergen Köhler ditto
Lothar Mattheus ditto

Do you see a pattern emerging here? This is not an "only in England" kind of thing.

Now you might turn around and say, "but I remember some strikers being captains too..."
Yes, there would be some striker captains too, like:
Francesco Totti
Gabriel Batistuta
Abel Balbo
Roberto Baggio
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Cristiano Ronaldo

And then you could say, "oh but I remember some midfielders being captains too..."
Yes, there's been plenty midfielder captains.. like:
Matthias Sammer
Rhino Gattuso
Rui Costa
Angelo Di Livio
Andreas Möller
Ruud Gullit

Then someone will surely chime in with some goalkeeper captains too, like:
Jorge Campos
Peter Schmeichel
Walter Zenga
Andoni Zubizarreta


So we can throw out all this "what position should the captain play", because it seems most any position is possibly a captains position.
What seems to be the most dominating characteristic for a captain?
It seems the one thing that stands out is that they are key players for their team, they are one of the top performers in terms of ability, and they are committed.

What do we have for a captain? He is not a key player, he is not (this season) a top performer in terms of ability, and his level of commitment.. well he's no Phil Parkinson.

I am sure he is a great "players union" sort of guy off the pitch, but he just really isn't captain material.
You want your captain to be someone who can lead by example, a solid performer, and very committed, McAnuff has had a reputation of being a 50/50 hot/cold type player for years before he joined us.

Err most of those you mentioned prove my point were the most experienced player in their side and had the respect of the players. Those were their main positives and the fact they became good leaders was a happy coincidence. In the case of Maldini and Baresi they became symbols of their club because they were there a long time i.e. their most experienced players. Baresi was probably the most intelligent defender of his generation and wasn't in the more agricultural "they don't like it up em" style.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Err most of those you mentioned prove my point were the most experienced player in their side and had the respect of the players. Those were their main positives and the fact they became good leaders was a happy coincidence. In the case of Maldini and Baresi they became symbols of their club because they were there a long time i.e. their most experienced players. Baresi was probably the most intelligent defender of his generation and wasn't in the more agricultural "they don't like it up em" style.

Paul Holsgrove >>> Franco Baresi

[melonhead]

Not at this stage of the season.

this^^^


think he has done a great job, but its time to allow him to concentrate on his game, and let someone else have a go

[melonhead]

Axing McAnuff as captain straight away would be an apalling decision given he's very popular with the players and one of the few footballing side opportunities for some continuity to bridge the gap between McDermott and Adkins so there isn't too much disruption too quickly.

He'll be captain until the summer and I wouldn't be surprised to see him captain next season as well, although I'd call it about 50-50. I don't really see many candidates in the existing squad who would do a better job, or who are currently more likely to play.

The HNA thickie brigade obssession with McAnuff being a bad captain and a poor player borders on genuine delusion.

yup. agreed

[melonhead]

Axing McAnuff as captain straight away would be an apalling decision given he's very popular with the players and one of the few footballing side opportunities for some continuity to bridge the gap between McDermott and Adkins so there isn't too much disruption too quickly.

He'll be captain until the summer and I wouldn't be surprised to see him captain next season as well, although I'd call it about 50-50. I don't really see many candidates in the existing squad who would do a better job, or who are currently more likely to play.

The HNA thickie brigade obssession with McAnuff being a bad captain and a poor player borders on genuine delusion.

Totally agree. Great role model especially in the way he has dealt with the shocking and completely unwarranted torrent of abuse he has received from the most fickle and unknowledgable fans in the country.

a thread full of +1s !

[melonhead]

Axing McAnuff as captain straight away would be an apalling decision
....
The HNA thickie brigade obssession with McAnuff being a bad captain and a poor player borders on genuine delusion.

But you're the thickest one on here by a country mile??

Usually you make one of your best and most dependable players the captain. Most people will agree McAnuff has been one of our worst performers this season.

the blind, and the brain dead

[mr_number]

the blind, and the brain dead

Good band name.