Is captaincy in football that important?

Lots has been made over the season about the ability/ or lack of Bassong an Martin as a captain, but is it really that important in football. Lots of others sports seem to put much more importance on it, cricket - they help with team selection/ tactics; rugby - they are responsible for communication with the ref and team discipline. But in football they are not that important, maybe used to be more so but not now.

Of course leadership is very important, but surely all players or at least the senior ones should be responsible for this, whether they are captain or not. Likewise communication should be part of every players game and not only a captain. It just seems to be a figurehead position now, maybe talking to the press more then anything.

So is captaincy that important/ should more responsibility be given to them?

 

Having captained at both cricket and football the
only decision I ever made at football was to call either
heads or tails,and decide which way I wanted to play.
There should be 11 leaders on the pitch.

Bassong IMO is really an average defender.
Turner,Bennett,Martin and Yobo all read the
game far better than he does.
His own goal was laughable on Sunday.
There was no way the Villa forward would
have got to the ball if Bassong had stood
his ground.
As for 2nd goal,Bassong was bullied by Benteke
who wanted it more.

 

Sorry Yarco, but I disagree about Bassong being average. In my opinion, when Bassong is playing at his ability, he is by some margin our best defender. However, it seems to me that his biggest issue is that he is a confidence player. I also think he is, a bit like David Luiz, almost too good at understanding the game, which means he gets bored and loses concentration frequently.

Unfortunately, when it goes wrong this is a terrible combination - at Tottenham I get the impression he lost concentration a couple of times and then lost confidence, lost his place and so we got him. His "hughton is like my dad" interview also suggests to me he leans on others heavily for confidence. Last season he had the focus of trying to prove his Tottenham critics wrong, got his confidence back and was incredible. This season his lapses in concentration and self-punishment have taken its toll and he appears lost in some games.

And someone who lets his head go down so easily like Bassong just is not captain material. Last year's Bassong would be fine as captain, because as you say they don't have to do much, but a football captain comes into their own when it all goes wrong. That's why Holt was brilliant - he can (outwardly at least) brush off criticism and mistakes without concern. We are missing someone who takes the game by the scruff of its neck when we're on top, but have conceded an unlucky goal, and says "no, we're not going to roll over here". Bassong is not that guy.

 

I think captain is important to be honest.

When the chips are down and things are not going to plan you need that on the pitch.

Look at Holty for us, he was immense.

 

Once on the pitch the biggest influence a captain can exert is by example. Off the pitch and around training it can be much more important and influencial. I think the thing is the effectivness of your captain as a leader can be indicative of the strength of a squad. i.e. if you have leaders all over the pitch then you will likely have a strong captain. Perversely his influence may be minimal due to the strength of those around him. But conversely as in my opinion is one of our problems, if Bassong is perceived to be the best option for captain it indicates a lack of leaders in the group and that lack of leadership seems to show any time there is even modest adversity. This is where Holt was like lardy gold, I think he was a captain who really helped raise the team.
I know allot of people will say Russ and I would agree to an extent, but who could be construed in the current squad as leaders? Ruddy? Yobo? Turner? Snoddy??? I'm not sure, but can't really see anyone else in that sort of mould.

Bah!

 

I completely agree.

Given that all your suggestions are probably the best of our bunch, and yet all don't seem quite suitable, just shows how lacking we are in obvious leaders: Yobo would be a good shout, but as he is not permanent I don't think it is quite justifiable. Turner certainly has the qualities, but I think you would want a player as captain who is one of the first names on the team sheet. I'm not fond of having 'keepers as captains on the basis that it is much harder for them to "lead by example" inasmuch as you don't really want your 'keeper having to lead! Plus, 'keepers have their own responsibilities in respect of leading and controlling the defence. Snoddy would possibly be the right sort of thing in terms of attitude, but I'm not convinced he's quite the team player or that his form is consistent enough - like Bassong, I feel he is a confidence player and can often lose the plot when things aren't going his way.

My only other thought would be Olsson. He's almost guaranteed to start, he never seems to give up, he can really put his body on the line at times too and appears to be the only one who comes out of our Liverpool, Man City and Villa thrashings with even a modicum of credit (though arguably he could have done slightly better with Villa's third goal). My only concern with him is that he wouldn't be vocal enough - I can't go to most of the live games, so it's difficult to know on a tv screen - for those that do is Olsson one of the ones barking orders, or is he the "quietly getting on with it type".

 

Im not sure in football that its always the best idea to give the captaincy to the best leader. That may sound stupid, but players who communicate well and lead will do it regardless of whether they are the captain. But you could give the captaincy to someone who will respond well to being given the responsibility and up their game because of it. Why make Ruddy captain if he talks to the players and leads them anyway?

When the chips are down it shouldnt matter who is captain, they should all want to win and try to lift each other.

 

I agree that being vocal isn't the best characteristic for a captain.
The captain of a team, shouldn't need to be barking orders at everyone every 5minutes.
For me, like Rob said, leading by example is the greatest asset of a good captain. Holt did this, when the chips were down he was chasing everything putting his body on the line, this inspires others to do the same and up their own performance when they see that level of commitment from their leader. Steven Gerrard is by far the best example of this type of captaincy.
I actually think that Johnson wouldnt have been a bad captain this year, for this never say die attitude however he is probably not a first team player when our midfield is fully fit. Howson for me is the best option for a captain, he is consistent and inspires confidence when driving forward with the ball or tackling back. Snodgrass would be my second choice although he can be fiery and negative I feel sometimes, this may however help draw performances from certain players.
Olsson has been without doubt our most consistent performer this season and has great ability and does put his body on the line so he has all the attributes, but i don't believe he is the thick of things enough, I think a captain has to be a central player (I await the comments on that) but that is my belief.

 

Snodgrass, Howson, R Bennett, Fer (Dutch youth teams), Yobo, Bassong, R Martin, Tettey all have some captaincy experience.

 

Yes Howson did captain Leeds for a couple of years, so he also has the experience

 

Just my opinion Resurgram, Pearce was undoubtably A big personality which helped him - do you think Olsson carries similar traits?
Drury only held the captaincy for two years officially, one of which was obviously the year we got promoted.

 

As you can see from my post above, my reservations with Olsson as captain are similar to yours.

Given his consistency and ability to not let his head drop, as well as the limited need for actually having a captain (as a leader by example "when the chips are down"), though, I take Maestro's point. In any event, giving him the captaincy might be the sort of thing that brings out his vocal side, which really is the only good reason I can see not to give Olsson the captaincy other than his lack of experience of it (but otherwise how do they get it?)

Howson is definitely a strong option, though for me he would need to maintain his superb form for longer than two or three months stretches (though admittedly not his fault getting injured). Johnson would be an interesting one...