Apart from being named captain in that little interview put out by the club and playing literally every single game of the season as captain? Styles and Hjelde aren’t regulars.
Hjelde is wanted by Bolton and a couple of other teams on loan …. Huggins still negotiating a new contract too ….
Massively overpaid for someone we didn’t need. He’s not a left back nor a centre half. Poor man’s Alese
“The club’s return to the Championship has seen him adopt a permanent position in central defence though, while he has been handed even more responsibility with the captain’s armband over the last year. O’Nien became captain this season after Corry Evans was sidelined with a lengthy injury in January 2023, with Dan Neil acting as vice-captain.”
Yeah, regular team captain. Evans remained club captain during his spell out injured. e.g. https://x.com/SunderlandAFC/status/1763210220195418456?t=YC6Nemdg5VyXn_4NW831VA&s=19
Right.. we’re talking about why O’nien was picked to play and I said because he was named captain, which he was in August. He’s been the captain in 40+ games this season, on the pitch he is the captain
That's not why he was picked though, he was given the armband because of how well he plays or us and represets the club, which is alsowhy he is picked
O'Nien as CLUB captain makes excellent sense to me, he is an excellent ambassador for the club, he was only captain on the pitch because of Evan's injury. I think Neil will make an excellent captain on the pitch but when he stepped up last season for a couple of games, it seemed to weigh heavy on him, however he is getting older, wiser and more experienced with each match.
You pick the club captain on seniority and leadership aspects though. The club captain doesn't necessarily always play, for a variety of reasons. The team captain, by necessity, has to be someone that will play regularly. So being a regular starter has to come first.
