Captain should always be a central defender or central midfielder, making the keeper the captain is suicidal, and striker is unwise. Making Shelvey the captain is undoubtedly gonna cause friction, as players are unlikely to wanna take orders from some kid who's only arrived a few weeks ago....however, he's the only real option - Colback's form's dropped too much for him to be in the running, Taylor will just get crocked as soon as he's made captain, Elliott isn't an option as we need in organiser who's in the thick of stuff constantly and not in goal, Sissoko's too stroppy and lazy and Tiote's too much of a blundering ox who's gonna get himself red carded. Could be a make or break thing, give Shelvey the arm band and give him full backing
Arguement over, Colo has had his scan results and it appears the injury is not as bad as first thought and should therefore be fit to play against stoke. Mbemba could also be ready in time too
Well a pairing of Colo and anyone does similar to me. Actually it doesn't, I've grown accustomed to his baboonery.
So I'm sensing you haven't got Shelvey's name on your shirt yet? Honest q... If you were forced at red hot pike point to get either Shola or Shelvey on your shirt.. Which one?
If Shelvey could go a handful of games without holding his hands up complaining about others multiple times each game then give him the captaincy...... So he will never be captain I like Shelvey's ability , but he has little substance as a player amoungst players . If he could grow a bit of soul and character , he would be one of the best players around , making players around him better . But I fear that chip on his shoulder Albert is a permanent fixture .
Captaincy may not mean a lot (according to pros) but the facts around who has lifted Premier and Champions League trophies aloft cannot be ignored. Captaincy should at the very least be earned and whilst length of service is perhaps a nice trait, it's not even close to being the most important one. The captain should have demonstrable leadership capabilities and as has been rightly pointed out Jonjo has considerably more experience of arm flapping blame than leadership. His presence on the field is important as you need voices - it's something Taylor, Elliot, De Jong and Lascelles bring too - but I'm actually struggling to identify a true leader.......which may go some way to explaining the fact we're 3rd bottom! For me, Its a simple decision. There's only two men who have been leaders on a consistent and successful basis - De Jong and Wijnaldum. No chance Siem can have it, he barely plays (sadly), so I'd give it to Gini. He needs a boost, I think, and a kick up the jacksy. Could make him even better.
Its a sad state of affairs when selecting a captain comes down to a kick up the jacksy or hoping someone plays better a la Gini, Sissoko or Shelvey. FFS all that says to me is it doesn't matter who you give it to, but its pretty clear that the team building ethic by those with the remit (the current happy trio and those previously charged with the responsibility) have been somewhat lacking. Whatever happened to a manager getting a spine of the team in place with reliable players who he could build the team around? Ah yes it went out the window with Sir Bobby and has been replaced by plan dreamt up by simpletons.
You got a better suggestion?! I already said there wasn't a good option, he's the lesser of several evils.
To be fair, I can see your logic but just don't think he has any better fighting spirit or captaincy signs than Colo. My suggestion would be Shelvey and hope the captaincy makes him a better team man.
Gini is our best player. Gini has been a captain of a successful team. Problem is we play him out of position when our team should be built around his strengths and not trying to accomodate the Lazyboy Recliner
I think the point here is that "fighting spirit" is completely missing anyway, and I just wonder if Shelvey's gesticulations towards his own "manager" (I use the term loosely) against Chelsea didn't seem much like leadership to me. A leader - which we all know we don't have - would pull the midfield back in the face of the Chelsea onslaught, get Sissoko doing that weird thing he does once every 5 games (run) and push the defense a to be a bit more rigid; we just don't have that anywhere at all. Well, then again maybe we do - maybe Rob Elliot should be captain? I know it's not fashionable, but some pretty decorated captains have been in goal - Schmeichel stood in for a while, Casillas has held the armband, and although not in the same league as these two at least Elliot's the most vocal out there by some distance at times. That's a possible solution - bear in mind he's third choice, bought from Charlton but works his ass off to become a better choice than Krul. Reward that - the club as a whole needs to stop with the whole culture of rewarding/allowing downright incompetence. Just landing it on Shelvey cos he's looked the part 50% of the time solves nothing.
I agree with you. But unless we are going to have a whirlwind change in our tactics Gigi is only going to be a factor in our home games where we are recently doing reasonably and not feature in our away games where we desperately need a captain. You're then left at the players who are likely to play and captaincy wise I would look at Saylor but is he going to play when M'Bemba gets back? And then you're left with Colback who might be a shout if Tiote is sold but I don't want Tiote to be sold at least not until the end of the season. I don't say he's a good choice but for me there aren't any others and I don't want to stay with Colo.
I don't think there are too many excuses for Gini in terms of away form to be honest. He has just been poor and given up way too easily. He is not alone, and what stands out for me is that we don't have anyone who rolls up their sleeves every time, then goes down fighting. Townsend has shown a bit of that since joining. If we had a few with that attitude in the face of adversity down the middle of the team it would be a start. For me Gini is our best player. I don't accept he has been marginalised by formations or positions too much. We have to remember he is an incredibly versatile player who has performed several roles for Feyenoord and PSV including both wide areas, holding midfield, number 10 and so on. Indeed Dutch players pride themselves on being adaptable. You only have to look at how Van Gaal used him so effectively for Holland in the holding role, and would then switch him to wide areas. He should be used deeper in away games for me. I personally would go ultra defensive away from home, playing Gini and Shelvey in front of Tiote. I'd then just play counter attack and look to utilise the running power of Townsend, Aarons and Sissoko. It won't be a great watch for fans to the seasons end but it might just get us some valuable points which we don't like getting with this current "lets play keep ball at the back attitude" - adopt a bit of Leicester and let the other team have it and lull them in. Leave no space, spoil, and close down. Its either that or go all out attack in the hope of getting a few wins. At present we just seem to be settling for a nothingness which will lead to relegation. Anyway I am off on a tangent. I don't think it is easy to come up with a solution. Maybe Tiote as captain as a short term measure and tell him to go with a bang and rally the troops. I don't see Colo being relieved personally. Nev is a pervert.
