Captaincy - Who Needs It ?

[royalbarclayfan]

To stay with the theme of the day
I´m not sure what big Dunc would say,
To Mr. Bassong
Who when he steps wrong
Is really being made to pay

I feel for him, really I do
Desperately leading his crew,
Last year a hero
Player of the Year, so
Not the one to get in a stew

But this year he does seem weighed down
With pulling on the captain´s gown,
And having to lead
Needs a special breed
And for some they flounder and drown

For one thing is certain this year
We´ve not seen him in his top gear,
Many Saturdays
And in many ways
The pressure does seem hard to bear

But who else could take on the task
For it really is a big ask,
To lead with your play
And in what you say
Without ever losing your mask

Most certainly though, he alone
Is not the only one to atone,
For points we have lost
But he feels it most
I´m sure, when mistakes lead to groans

We saw last season what a rock
He could be, all hours of the clock,
When freed of the charm
On the captain´s arm
And being just one of the flock.


It´s not just him having a poorer season than last year we know, but he does seem to be more affected than a lot of others.

 

[CitySlicker2010]

Needs to be replaced for the next game away to Southampton. Scored a cracking goal for Aston Villa and then today helps Stoke to a point. Not sure if Turner has recovered so Bennett could be drafted in. At least you would get a good shift out of him or Turner.

 

[canary-dave]

It's a shame that these lapses are son frequent and all of them appear to be so costly, when he is good, he is excellent but most games see him costing us a goal, I dont know what the answer is, the good side of his game is something we really need but he can't keep costing us so dearly!

 

[ThaiCanary]

It's a shame that these lapses are son frequent and all of them appear to be so costly, when he is good, he is excellent but most games see him costing us a goal, I dont know what the answer is, the good side of his game is something we really need but he can't keep costing us so dearly!

To at least try and secure our PL place, I am with CitySlicker on this one. Bassong needs to dropped from the starting line up (possibly the from the bench too), and throw in someone else at CB. Bassong is being weighed down by the responsibility, or that is how it seems (how else do you explain the difference from last season?), and CH needs to have the balls to do something about it.

As for who could step up to be captain?

Wes would be my first choice, but he then has to play every week, and perform to his best - so unlikely to happen.
Howson ? - Captain at Leeds, and if fit, should be considered.
Rusty ? - I 'love' Rusty, just not sure how good a leader he would be. I would like to see how he copes though.
Snodgrass ? - He has passion, and that might be enough under the circumstances.
Johnson ? - Maybe, but I am not sure. He is another than seems to play with a passion and gets stuck in.
Ruddy ? - I have never been a fan of a goalie being a captain, so would not want to see that happen.

Beyond that, I don't think we many other 'good' candidates.

 

[royalbarclayfan]

I think of those you mention there Thai, probably Russell is the best bet, don´t think he´d crumble under pressure, but not sure how much of a leader he is though, but then again, that goes for all of them. Wes would be an interesting one, if it was ever likely to happen, because I think he might easily thrive on it. Howson, strangely, doesn´t sound at all like captain material when you hear him speak, I know he was at Leeds, so there must be something, but he seems far too quiet and reserved. Just wish Seb could cut out these lapses he seems to have.

What we really need of course, is 14 captains out there, every week.