Skipper’s armband still up for grabs.
Posted on July 29th, 2010 | 53 Comments |
The full-time club captain is yet to be named although it seems likely that either Alan Smith or Kevin Nolan will get the honour of the captaincy this season.
The next captain won’t be Sol Campell anyway, as Chris Hugton has ruled out that particular avenue, so that leaves us with options that are within our current squad, which isn’t a bad move in my opinion.
“I can categorically say that Sol will not be captain,” Hughton told The Chronicle. “I can completely rule that out and there is no truth in the talk that he will skipper this season. That is still to be confirmed.”
See what I mean about Hughton ruling Campbell out? I can see both sides of it really. On one hand, Campbell and his experience would have proved invaluable as a captain this season, but on the other hand we already have experienced Premier League players in our squad, players that have a bit more longevity at Newcastle than Campbell does, players that are already familiar with the vast majority of the squad.
There have been three players that have worn the armband through pre-season so far – Alan Smith, Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton. Of those three I would suggest that Barton is the outside choice for the role with Smith and Nolan ahead of him in the pecking order.
We have been running a poll on this subject for time now, and as it stands it is Kevin Nolan who is miles out in front having secured 54% of the vote. Alan Smith is currently third with 14%.
So what is needed from a captain? First of all they need to be a regular starter, well in my opinion they do anyway. Nicky Butt was club captain last season but didn’t really feature that often and the honour was quite often picked up by either Alan Smith or Kevin Nolan.
Secondly, they need to be respected within the squad. Nolan or Smith would have that respect from their team-mates, although so would Sol Campbell given what he has achieved in his footballing career.
It’s a tough one to choose as Newcastle are lucky enough to have several leaders at the club. There was a time when we only had one real leader on the pitch, Alan Shearer, but he was that good that we only really needed him. Ok ok, Gary Speed may have helped aswell, a little, but you get the point.
I think we all know who the choice is between, realistically anyway. It’s surely going to be either Alan Smith or Kevin Nolan. The one who misses out will likely be the vice-captain in fairness, and that is probably the right decision. Both players have vast amounts of Premier League expereince, both have played in Europe, both have had at least a call up for their country and both have been captains at their previous clubs.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
I think the captain needs to be an almost certain starter for the majority of games (although no one should be undroppable) and I guess that is the reason that CH has ruled out Sol.
I’d be amazed if it goes to anyone but Nolan to be honest – no one can say the bloke hasn’t earned it.