Have we ever had a less inspiring captain

[Dave]

I thought James Collins looked captain material tonight. Very  vocal etc.

He was shite as well.

James Collins was superb tonight. The rest of the defence going missing on two occasions doesn't change that.

[Mark H]

I thought James Collins looked captain material tonight. Very  vocal etc.

He was shite as well.

James Collins was superb tonight. The rest of the defence going missing on two occasions doesn't change that.

I was going to say the same - we may have had a few things to sort out tonight but Collins was not one of them he threw his body on the line to block everything that came near him again and again , like he has done since he joined

[Damo70]

I thought James Collins was one of the best premier league buys last year and I reckon he would make a great captain.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Been saying for seasons he's the weak link. Everybody slated him for his first couple of seasons, then he had half a good season and he's been living off that ever since.

He's shit, though, as someone on here once told me, I obviously know nothing about football if I can't see what Petrov does. Well, it seems there's a lot of people on here who seems to know nothing about football.

[Dr Butler]

S.Petrov is not up to the job of Captain of Aston Villa.  He brings something to the squad but I feel that a centre-back of Dunne, Cuellar or Collins would be a better choice.

as for uninspiring I would look no further than Stuart Gray  circa:1989-1992

[pablopicasso_10]

he shouldnt be in the team, let alone captain...

i have said it for years, that he lacks the mobility, pace and tenacity to be a holding player, and he always slows down the play causing us to lose momentum...

its not like he protects the back four, and he doesnt offer anything in an attacking sense, so for me, he is a liability and a waste of a shirt...

he would be a decent enough player in spain or italy where the overall game is slower, but his abilities are not suited to english football...

another expensive martin o'neill scottish football love in failure...

[Monty]

Been saying for seasons he's the weak link. Everybody slated him for his first couple of seasons, then he had half a good season and he's been living off that ever since.

He's shit, though, as someone on here once told me, I obviously know nothing about football if I can't see what Petrov does. Well, it seems there's a lot of people on here who seems to know nothing about football.

You don't know nothing about football, far from it, but I do think you're wrong about Petrov.

Look at the players who get slated by fans across the country yet the best managers keep picking them: Lucas, Barry at City, Mikel, Song and Denilson at Arsenal - even Fletcher before he became the most sung unsung hero of the year, and now Carrick gets the treatment (especially now Berbatov has decided to be good). What do these players have in common when they're being criticised? "I don't know what they bring to the team", fans say. Well, managers know what they do, so I'll have a stab at it.

These players are all very similar. They're deep-lying, steady sort of passers for the most part but with a good range, good at winning free-kicks. They're not smothery-ball-winners like an NRC or even a Makelele. They're not lung-busting box-to-box players like Vieira or Ian Taylor. What they do is act like a kind of libero sweeper, but in the midfield. So they read the game and make interceptions, play the first pass and then, with the ball, they make sure they stay in space in the centre of the midfield and keep things ticking over. This is not an easy job, and it never looks spectacular, especially as they need movement ahead of them to have people to pass to there and, when there isn't (as is often the case with Villa), they end up having to pass it sideways again. But the point is they keep possession, keep the ball on the move, keep the opposition away and try to open up new angles.

It's a bit specialised, but it's very important in modern football. The problem is when they're treated as bona fide holding players and get asked to do too much. This happened to Stan against Newcastle a lot, and obviously for the whole time during MON's tenure. However, when they're played alongside one or two players with a bit more energy and stamina their role becomes a bit more clear and therefore more useful to the team. It's no coincidence that since Nige has been playing better Stan's looked a bit more back to his old self.

[Lambert and Payne]

I think the criticism of Petrov is over the top...he showed as much desire as anyone out there.

Besides we dont know for sure what kind of character he is in the dressing room.

The importance of who wears an armband is overstated. If youre a leader, youre a leader...doesnt matter if you have an armband on.

There are many many more problems which need addressing...firstly that Stoke City have a bench that I am green with envy of!

Being captain is an honour and you have to really be loud authorative and its the player the "kids" look upto, if he's the role model then god help us, rarely knocks the ball foreward, he's sluggish and doesnt fire the team up. Negative comments in the press and over the web. I agree with Irish villain in getting Friedel as captain - or Reo-Coker.

[Reality]

I said last night he would come out with some absolute tosh about us having to do this and that, and yet we never do it at all.

Today our inspiring, charismatic captain says "we need to be clinical", well no fucking shit Einstein.

Houllier needs to dump this chump.

[Merv]

Whenever I watch Petrov, the bloke's always really putting himself about, always at the centre of everything, always looks fired up. Yes, we need to address a replacement for him long term (over the course of the next season or two) but we've had lots more uninspiring captains than Petrov. I can't think of many names - which just about says it all. I've forgotten them.

You don't have to be a John Terry sort (all stupid hair, two footed tackles, fist-pumping gestures) to make a good captain.

[Reality]

He hardly inspires the people around him though. That is crucial. He simply isn't worthy of the armband.

[TheSandman]

Been saying for seasons he's the weak link. Everybody slated him for his first couple of seasons, then he had half a good season and he's been living off that ever since.

He's shit, though, as someone on here once told me, I obviously know nothing about football if I can't see what Petrov does. Well, it seems there's a lot of people on here who seems to know nothing about football.

You don't know nothing about football, far from it, but I do think you're wrong about Petrov.

Look at the players who get slated by fans across the country yet the best managers keep picking them: Lucas, Barry at City, Mikel, Song and Denilson at Arsenal - even Fletcher before he became the most sung unsung hero of the year, and now Carrick gets the treatment (especially now Berbatov has decided to be good). What do these players have in common when they're being criticised? "I don't know what they bring to the team", fans say. Well, managers know what they do, so I'll have a stab at it.

These players are all very similar. They're deep-lying, steady sort of passers for the most part but with a good range, good at winning free-kicks. They're not smothery-ball-winners like an NRC or even a Makelele. They're not lung-busting box-to-box players like Vieira or Ian Taylor. What they do is act like a kind of libero sweeper, but in the midfield. So they read the game and make interceptions, play the first pass and then, with the ball, they make sure they stay in space in the centre of the midfield and keep things ticking over. This is not an easy job, and it never looks spectacular, especially as they need movement ahead of them to have people to pass to there and, when there isn't (as is often the case with Villa), they end up having to pass it sideways again. But the point is they keep possession, keep the ball on the move, keep the opposition away and try to open up new angles.

It's a bit specialised, but it's very important in modern football. The problem is when they're treated as bona fide holding players and get asked to do too much. This happened to Stan against Newcastle a lot, and obviously for the whole time during MON's tenure. However, when they're played alongside one or two players with a bit more energy and stamina their role becomes a bit more clear and therefore more useful to the team. It's no coincidence that since Nige has been playing better Stan's looked a bit more back to his old self.

Whenever I watch Petrov, the bloke's always really putting himself about, always at the centre of everything, always looks fired up. Yes, we need to address a replacement for him long term (over the course of the next season or two) but we've had lots more uninspiring captains than Petrov. I can't think of many names - which just about says it all. I've forgotten them.

You don't have to be a John Terry sort (all stupid hair, two footed tackles, fist-pumping gestures) to make a good captain.

Agree wholeheatedly with both of these posts.

If we played a 3 in midfield with Reo doing the tackling, Ireland doing the attacking and Stan playing his natural game as a deep lying midfielder. That midfield would have a superb balance for me and Stan would be less knackered and would be able to play a more clearly defined role.

As for stripping him off the captaincy as I've said before we have no outstanding replacement. We have two centre halves who aren't guaranteed a place and a third who is a good leader and seems to be guaranteed a place but really shouldn't be on form. Outside of that we have to look at the solid pros like Stan, Luke Young and Coker.

[curiousorange]

The role of captain's overrated in football. Yeah, sure, you get the odd player who steps up to the plate and galvanises the team (Beckenbauer, Platini etc) but you know who Petrov's opposing captain was last night? Ryan Shawcross. I'm sorry, but I don't think Stoke came back in the second half because Shawcross was such an inspiration to the team (I'm aware of the Pulis factor, but the point remains). Increasingly the captaincy is given to players who are making noises about moving, or who have been at the club for a number of years rather than because of their rallying cries. Quite frankly it's redundant these days.

[TheSandman]

Agree with the above as well.

What kind of example has Lee Cattermole set his Sunderland team mates getting sent of twice this season already?

[Ads]

3 times in 5 games that oik has seen a red card.