[Albion] (The Hypothetical) Next Captain

[Hugo Rune]

Club Captain - Glenn Murray
First Team Captain - Adam Lallana

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Needs to be someone who should be on the team sheet every week - so this excludes Stephens who won’t be in every week.
Lallana would be my choice, although he may not be ever present due to injury. Murray may make a popular choice as club captain, but he will only be here a year at most.
If they want a role model then Lallana should get a nod for both. Ryan maybe for vice captain.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Knockaert, Andone, Locadia, sadly Potter's got rid of all the obvious ones. Better stick with Dunk.

 

[maresfield seagull]

"Sensible head" Stephens... Erm, no. Never known an Albion player to come close to seeing red cards so often.

Hans Kraay ?

 

[JBizzle]

"Sensible head" Stephens... Erm, no. Never known an Albion player to come close to seeing red cards so often.

Really? How many red has he had? How many games missed through suspension? 3 reds (including the one at Boro which wasn't a red) in 5 seasons, 3 of which in the top flight isn't actually bad at all for a defensive midfielder.

Incidentally, I think Lallana will be captain, but counting someone out because they nearly got sent off a few times does seem a touch odd.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Incidentally, I think Lallana will be captain, but counting someone out because they nearly got sent off a few times does seem a touch odd.

Getting a slice of the mentality behind one of the best Premier League teams of all time and spreading it through our club seems a very smart move.

 

[jamie (not that one)]

The Lion of Judah. End of thread.

 

[Beanstalk]

I was wondering about this this morning and came up with Matty Ryan

Too short.

 

[Beanstalk]

Dan Burn

Too tall.

 

[rippleman]

Murray has to be a no-brainer as club captain.

On the pitch, I'm not so sure about giving it to Lallana straightaway. He is new to the club and you can never be sure with marquee players, nearer the end of their career than the beginning, whether they are going to give everything on the pitch or if they are just here for one last pay day (see Ozil M). You also need to factor in the lengthy injury spells.

I would rather give the armband to somebody who has been at the club a while, knows all the squad players well, knows the manager and understands the club's philosophy. Also need to factor in Potter's Sorting Hat and his constant changes. However, the hat seems to throw out number 8 every game but it's probably a bit early for Biss.

So that leaves us with the one obvious choice; Maty Ryan. But is he too short to be captain?

 

[Braggfan]

Really? How many red has he had? How many games missed through suspension? 3 reds (including the one at Boro which wasn't a red) in 5 seasons, 3 of which in the top flight isn't actually bad at all for a defensive midfielder.

Incidentally, I think Lallana will be captain, but counting someone out because they nearly got sent off a few times does seem a touch odd.

Technically he wasn't counting him out, he was just disputing the "sensible" head comment. And regularly putting yourself in a position where a ref has to make a decision about you does seem to contradict the the sensible tag.

 

[JBizzle]

Technically he wasn't counting him out, he was just disputing the "sensible" head comment. And regularly putting yourself in a position where a ref has to make a decision about you does seem to contradict the the sensible tag.

Fair enough, although I think that the position he plays has more to with him being in the position to make those tackles than his mentality.

 

[The Large One]

If not Lallana (has he captained before?), then the obvious choice is Dale Stephens as he is the stand-in captain right now, and has performed that duty very well when asked. That, and the players highly rate and respect him, far more than supporters do.

Having a goalkeeper as captain is a silly idea.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

It will be Lallana.

it will be Lallana.

First Team Captain - Adam Lallana

Lallana would be my choice, although he may not be ever present due to injury.

I think Lallana will be captain,

Joel Veltman

 

[Braggfan]

Fair enough, although I think that the position he plays has more to with him being in the position to make those tackles than his mentality.

Yeah you’re right I think his position does mean he has to make more challenges and I like a combative midfielder so no problems there. BUT I do think he's rash, and I think his decision making can be poor. The classic example was his sending of against Middlesbrough. Regardless of whether it was a poor decision by the ref, he made that challenge just seconds after he'd been given a warning. As soon as the ref told him to calm down, his next tackle was always going to be under scrutiny, but he made "that" challenge almost immediately. Yes the ref made the wrong decision, but refs are prone to that, so when a ref gives you a warning a sensible head would be thinking “don’t give him a decision to make”.

 

[METALMICKY]

So that's decided we're definitely keeping Stephens on the premise that if Dunk goes we're struggling for a suitable captain

 

[JBizzle]

Yeah you’re right I think his position does mean he has to make more challenges and I like a combative midfielder so no problems there. BUT I do think he's rash, and I think his decision making can be poor. The classic example was his sending of against Middlesbrough. Regardless of whether it was a poor decision by the ref, he made that challenge just seconds after he'd been given a warning. As soon as the ref told him to calm down, his next tackle was always going to be under scrutiny, but he made "that" challenge almost immediately. Yes the ref made the wrong decision, but refs are prone to that, so when a ref gives you a warning a sensible head would be thinking “don’t give him a decision to make”.

I agree on that too, but that's an example from 4 years ago now. I think he has generally improved on that front. To be fair, as much as I do like and rate Stephens, he's 31, is past his prime and isn't going to be guaranteed to start next season and won't be in with a real shout for the captaincy if Dunky goes.

If we're looking at club captain, fine, but we'll need an on field captain to be playing almost 100% of the time and also someone who it likely to be captain for the medium to long term. If Dunk does go, we'll have lost our captain two seasons in a row which is far from ideal.

 

[Braggfan]

I agree on that too, but that's an example from 4 years ago now. I think he has generally improved on that front. To be fair, as much as I do like and rate Stephens, he's 31, is past his prime and isn't going to be guaranteed to start next season and won't be in with a real shout for the captaincy if Dunky goes.

If we're looking at club captain, fine, but we'll need an on field captain to be playing almost 100% of the time and also someone who it likely to be captain for the medium to long term. If Dunk does go, we'll have lost our captain two seasons in a row which is far from ideal.

Yeah another fair shout from you there, it was a while ago and players do mature. I like Stephens and the role he does for the team. But I look at Molumby and Alzate coming through and think Stephens will struggle to hold a guaranteed place next year. Stephens is definitely worth his place in the squad though.
In terms of a new captain, it is tricky because the criteria you rightly outline means we are limited to who can take over that role. It is another reason why I think we’ll only let Dunk go very reluctantly, he’ll have to tell us he wants to go because otherwise we’ll just knock the offers back.

 

[Nixonator]

Dale is the immediate thought but we don't know how much he'll start next season.

Tricky one. Lallana maybe but it's rare to bring in a new player and hand him the captaincy unless it's Wayne Rooney's Derby County.

 

[Motogull]

No 'keeper should ever be a captain.