Gabby named as captain

[MarkM]

Gabby is dangerously out of form and lacking in confidence imo, He does not need to concentrate on motivating everyone else.

Agree on that.

Gabby at the moment is a shadow of the former he has been

[Rick_avfc]

Wrong choice IMO to be captain.  cant see him giving an inspirational team talk to the guys or even leading by example.  Will he be able to lift the spirits of the players if we conceed a goal?  I pretty much doubt he would.  I would have chose either Given or Collins.

[Monty]

Wrong choice IMO to be captain.  cant see him giving an inspirational team talk to the guys or even leading by example.  Will he be able to lift the spirits of the players if we conceed a goal?  I pretty much doubt he would.  I would have chose either Given or Collins.

No but I can see him proud to lead the Villa out, which is more than you can say for most of the other senior players. Especially that fuckwit Collins, the thought of that lump of inadequacy and idiocy leading Villa is nauseating.

[SheffieldVillain]

Wrong choice IMO to be captain.  cant see him giving an inspirational team talk to the guys or even leading by example.  Will he be able to lift the spirits of the players if we conceed a goal?  I pretty much doubt he would.  I would have chose either Given or Collins.

No but I can see him proud to lead the Villa out, which is more than you can say for most of the other senior players. Especially that fuckwit Collins, the thought of that lump of inadequacy and idiocy leading Villa is nauseating.

Both comments spot on.

[Rick_avfc]

Wrong choice IMO to be captain.  cant see him giving an inspirational team talk to the guys or even leading by example.  Will he be able to lift the spirits of the players if we conceed a goal?  I pretty much doubt he would.  I would have chose either Given or Collins.

No but I can see him proud to lead the Villa out, which is more than you can say for most of the other senior players. Especially that fuckwit Collins, the thought of that lump of inadequacy and idiocy leading Villa is nauseating.

Both comments spot on.

Fair enough he will be proud but thats about it.  Actually, forget collins, I would have gone with either Given or even Gary Gardner

[Monty]

Wrong choice IMO to be captain.  cant see him giving an inspirational team talk to the guys or even leading by example.  Will he be able to lift the spirits of the players if we conceed a goal?  I pretty much doubt he would.  I would have chose either Given or Collins.

No but I can see him proud to lead the Villa out, which is more than you can say for most of the other senior players. Especially that fuckwit Collins, the thought of that lump of inadequacy and idiocy leading Villa is nauseating.

Both comments spot on.

Fair enough he will be proud but thats about it.  Actually, forget collins, I would have gone with either Given or even Gary Gardner

Given's not a bad shout, though I'm always sceptical about keepers being the captain unless they have a great history of being one-club men, or are generally the longest serving player, as they're often too far away to really influence the on-pitch goings-on. Casillas is the obvious example of a keeper who captains on longevity and loyalty, but both Real and Spain have leaders all over the park, so literally who wears the armband is of diminished importance.

Gardner I do see as the future Villa captain incarnate. He's got the presence of a leader, which has something to do with being both the driving force and the calming influence on and off the ball, a rare combination. Now, though, in his breakthrough season and with a tough run-in, is not the time.

[SheffieldVillain]

Wrong choice IMO to be captain.  cant see him giving an inspirational team talk to the guys or even leading by example.  Will he be able to lift the spirits of the players if we conceed a goal?  I pretty much doubt he would.  I would have chose either Given or Collins.

No but I can see him proud to lead the Villa out, which is more than you can say for most of the other senior players. Especially that fuckwit Collins, the thought of that lump of inadequacy and idiocy leading Villa is nauseating.

Both comments spot on.

Fair enough he will be proud but thats about it.  Actually, forget collins, I would have gone with either Given or even Gary Gardner

It's a start isn't it? Someone who at least gives a toss about the club.

Forget Collins. Gladly.

Given - experienced, but for me goalkeepers shouldn't be captain. And Gardner isn't even an automatic pick yet, although he will be in time.

[Rick_avfc]

Im sure he does give a toss about the club along with a few others there but he needs to up his game and quickly because as captain, people are going to be looking at him to inspire them which clearly he is not doing for whatever reason.
To be honest, I think he was given the arm band to make the fans happy because he is a local lad and supports the club.

[Monty]

Im sure he does give a toss about the club along with a few others there but he needs to up his game and quickly because as captain, people are going to be looking at him to inspire them which clearly he is not doing for whatever reason.
To be honest, I think he was given the arm band to make the fans happy because he is a local lad and supports the club.

Which seems to me the only distinguishing feature at the moment, along with the fact that he's the longest serving player.

In many ways, the search for a captain is indicative of our season - other than Stan, there are no obvious leaders on the pitch. And losing Stan is a huge blow.

[UK Redsox]

How old was Barry when he was appointed captain ?

Is there an online list of Villa's captains over the years ?


Meanwhile, from Sky.................

Agbonlahor, who has come through the ranks at Villa, is the club's longest-serving player and he will take the armband for the first time for this weekend's trip to Liverpool

I guess that was someone else who lead the team out against Chelsea and earlier in the season then

[Rick_avfc]

Meanwhile, from Sky.................

Agbonlahor, who has come through the ranks at Villa, is the club's longest-serving player and he will take the armband for the first time for this weekend's trip to Liverpool

I guess that was someone else who lead the team out against Chelsea and earlier in the season then

Thats really poor by Sky.  Just shows how much attention they are paying to us

[Rick_avfc]

Not sure how this suggestion will go down and not sure if it has been mentioned somewhere else within this thread but what about Stephen Ireland?  He has improved recently and on Saturday, was clearly (IMO) the best Villa player on the pitch.  Closing players down, wanting the ball, trying to make stuff happen.   This is the sort of thing you want from a captain no?

[lovejoy]

Not sure how this suggestion will go down and not sure if it has been mentioned somewhere else within this thread but what about Stephen Ireland?  He has improved recently and on Saturday, was clearly (IMO) the best Villa player on the pitch.  Closing players down, wanting the ball, trying to make stuff happen.   This is the sort of thing you want from a captain no?

This.
gabby has been crap for months and is frankly too thick to be captain. Not a motivator if you ask me.

[ktvillan]

Actually he could have given it to Ireland. He's a senior pro, regular first choice now (especially since we hardly have anyone else left standing), is a damn good player, and has been working pretty hard recently.  Does that sound bonkers?

Edit - I seeRick already suiggested it so maybe as a suggestion it's not as "out there" as I suspected.

[PeterWithesShin]

I like Gabby but not sure he is captain material. And his from has been awful for a while now. Last goal was against Norwich 5th Nov, his last assist was at Bolton on Dec 10th.