Current Captain?

[villa `cross the mersey]

Captain Ron really is instant hero material - what is it about number 5 at Villa Park?  **** Ok just realised he is No 4 however you get my drift!!!

I have seen some great competitors in that shirt - Nicholl, McNaught, Curtis, Laursen, God - I have a feeling "Concrete Ron" is to follow in their footsteps.

He is already showing passion for the club which is more than Mr Dunne has ever shown in his time at the club.

[Hookeysmith]

He is already showing passion for the club which is more than Mr Dunne has ever shown in his time at the club.

100% agree with this and it seems replcated as all the players seem to really like him and respect him - did not take PL long to realise he is the proper captain we have needed

Never been sure about the "huddle" thing though as it always smacks me of showbizzy too much

[PaulWinch again]

He is already showing passion for the club which is more than Mr Dunne has ever shown in his time at the club.

100% agree with this and it seems replcated as all the players seem to really like him and respect him - did not take PL long to realise he is the proper captain we have needed

Never been sure about the "huddle" thing though as it always smacks me of showbizzy too much

I don't mind the huddle, it's been part of England's rise in the cricket world and I think it shows unity.

[not3bad]

Darren Bent has been stripped of the Aston Villa captaincy to ensure he is solely focused on recapturing his form in front of goal.

Bent missed several months at the end of last season after suffering a serious injury in the 2-2 draw against Queens Park Rangers in February.

The injury prevented him from representing England at Euro 2012 and as a result he is determined to do all he can to be part of the squad for the World Cup in 2014, providing Roy Hodgson’s men qualify for Brazil.

However, he has yet to score this season and the striker could find himself omitted from the England squad for the next round of World Cup qualifiers in October.

Villa manager Paul Lambert believes Bent needs to concentrate on rediscovering his form and in a bid to help the striker, he has handed the captain’s armband to Dutch defender Ron Vlaar.

“In terms of my decision on the captaincy, I just wanted to give Darren a break. I just want him to concentrate on goals,” said Lambert.

“He has been excellent against Newcastle and Swansea in our last couple of games and has looked sharp.

“He is playing well, but I think changing it will help him. It will let him just concentrate on scoring goals for the team.”

Vlaar only joined Villa from Feyenoord in the summer but he has already made a big impact at Villa Park and Lambert is hopeful the extra responsibility will benefit his game.

“Ron is amazing. He is colossal and has been since he came here. He has been excellent for us,” Lambert added.

“He is not a young kid. He is not 21. He has been at a huge football club himself and I just think he is a top player.”

http://ie.setanta.com/ie/bent-loses-villa-captaincy/

[stubbsyandy]

Captain Ron really is instant hero material - what is it about number 5 at Villa Park?

I have seen some great competitors in that shirt - Nicholl, McNaught, Curtis, Laursen, God - I have a feeling "Concrte Ron" is to follow in their footsteps.
I agree...just need to get him in the number 5 shirt!

He is already showing passion for the club which is more than Mr Dunne has ever shown in his time at the club.

[mrfuse]

Its what I like about Lambert he see's what were all mostly thinking and does something about it.

Hutton and Warnock, the formation, Given, the captaincy etc.

A lot of its obvious but how many times have we seen the obvious but the Manager fails too act.

[itbrvilla]

He appears to have plenty of passion as the youtube video of him after Feyenoord beat Ajax 4-2 shows.  Top fella.

[N'ZMAV]

Lambo isn't scared to make changes. I like him. I have a semi.

[villan from luton]

Think Vlaar is excellent choice as captain. Lambert is his own man and has gone about things superbly, wonder if he had a chat with his good mate Stan about the goings on at the club the last couple of years. He certainly didnt take long to bin a certain few players 

[sonlyme]

So we've pretty much agreed it should be Vlaar, now how shall we tell PL.

I'm serious, perhaps there should be a process for passing our thoughts (when coherent) on to the club.

No, no, and thrice no.

Always good to see the word 'thrice' in a post - many thanks.

Though Levico did add the proviso of 'when coherent' to his suggestion.

The great thing about Lambert is not that he is listening to the fans and reacting - it is that he is watching the same team as the fans, seeing the same things,  then reacting.

He is keeping it simple - when something is glaringly obvious - he does something about it - he isn't over-complicating things - like for instance playing players out of position and asking them 'to do a job', like a previous incumbent.

As for Clark not being a Premiership player - I think you'll find that is a non sequitur.

Villa now have an abundance of leaders on the park - at the back - in the middle - and up front - and that is what a great team really needs. 

The picture below tells us all we need to know about issues of leadership in this bright new dawn of Aston Villa FC.



UTV

[paul_e]

Darren Bent has been stripped of the Aston Villa captaincy to ensure he is solely focused on recapturing his form in front of goal.

Bent missed several months at the end of last season after suffering a serious injury in the 2-2 draw against Queens Park Rangers in February.

The injury prevented him from representing England at Euro 2012 and as a result he is determined to do all he can to be part of the squad for the World Cup in 2014, providing Roy Hodgson’s men qualify for Brazil.

However, he has yet to score this season and the striker could find himself omitted from the England squad for the next round of World Cup qualifiers in October.

Villa manager Paul Lambert believes Bent needs to concentrate on rediscovering his form and in a bid to help the striker, he has handed the captain’s armband to Dutch defender Ron Vlaar.

“In terms of my decision on the captaincy, I just wanted to give Darren a break. I just want him to concentrate on goals,” said Lambert.

“He has been excellent against Newcastle and Swansea in our last couple of games and has looked sharp.

“He is playing well, but I think changing it will help him. It will let him just concentrate on scoring goals for the team.”

Vlaar only joined Villa from Feyenoord in the summer but he has already made a big impact at Villa Park and Lambert is hopeful the extra responsibility will benefit his game.

“Ron is amazing. He is colossal and has been since he came here. He has been excellent for us,” Lambert added.

“He is not a young kid. He is not 21. He has been at a huge football club himself and I just think he is a top player.”

http://ie.setanta.com/ie/bent-loses-villa-captaincy/

Am I the only one that doesn't like the tone of parts of that report?

To me the Lambert quotes read as 'he was doing a fine job as captain but I want to take the pressure off him' but the press seem to be reporting it as more of a punishment as if he's had it taken away because he's not scoring.

Just seems a bit sensationalist to say he's been stripped of the captaincy.

[Hookeysmith]

Welcome to the shit press we get from time to time

Be grateful it was not in the Mercury as the headline would be "Bent stripped of captaincy after slapping a gold medalist at the paralympics" 

[Dave Cooper please]

Talking of the Muckraker, any further news on that master criminal Christian Benteke, the arch car-jacker of Belgium?

[not3bad]

I quite like the headline from Clubcall.com on Darren Bent stepping down as captain:

"Lambert Calls for Bent Focus"

[Tom_Mc9?]

Albrighton on Vlaar, from the official website:

Ron Vlaar

He's a great footballer. He's been absolutely brilliant since he's come in.

He's a role model to the young players - in every way. Everything he does is just so professional.

He helps the lads, he talks to you, he's just amazing to be honest.

He's been great with me. He got to know me on his first day - and he hadn't even signed. He was just about to leave Bodymoor Heath for his medical, saw me in the gym with my cast on and started chatting to me.

He put his medical on hold! He was asking what I had done, how long I had been out for, when I was coming back. Then he started telling me how I'd be fine and come through the other side fine.

For someone to do that is fantastic.