John McGinn - signed (Captain)

[Scott Nielsen]

Yes I suspect, hope, that his recent subbing of McGinn is a gradual move away from him being a guaranteed starter. As you say he must be aware he got the Mings stuff wrong, so hopefully he’s realised that and this a more measured approach to ushering McGinn out.

Curious as to what people think he got wrong with Mings?  He might have picked the wrong person to succeed him as captain, but taking the captaincy away was done with the right intentions as far as I can see.

It was taking the captaincy away and then dropping him. I don’t know if they were related, but the perception was they were and it basically created a story and noise when it wasn’t needed.

I get what you are saying but that 'perception' was created by endless speculation on social media and the reaction to the 'look me in the eye'-comment I believe has been totally overblown. It's a figure of speech and Gerrard has used it before in different circumstances. Post-games, I don't see anything in the body-language between Gerrard and Mings that suggests there is a problem there.

[paul_e]

Maybe not but everything adds up to a perception that he's thrown Mings under the bus and replaced him with someone in such poor form that he shouldn't be anywhere near starting.

The whole topic of picking his captain has been overblown. If he'd said nothing and just had the club put out a press release about the captaincy no one would've cared  particularly with a simple quote from Mings on there saying it's been an honour and good luck to the new guy.

[Ian.]

I’m pretty sure Gerrard was flexing his muscles and showing everyone who’s boss but completely messed it up with the nonsense he spouted regarding it.

I really hope he turns this around though and has learned you need to be flexible. If he reverts back to the side and formations he’s tried since March he’s not going to last much longer.

[Hookeysmith]

Gerrard has played Mings in every game that he has been fit to play in - can we let the conspiracy go now about bad blood between SG / TM
New Manager changing the Captain is not a new thing - it happens a lot

[paul_e]

Gerrard has played Mings in every game that he has been fit to play in - can we let the conspiracy go now about bad blood between SG / TM
New Manager changing the Captain is not a new thing - it happens a lot

Changing captain happens all the time, but how Gerrard has gone about it made it feel like more than that, which is why people are filling the gaps.

[Lastfootstamper]

It's not like he'd been captain for years, it'd been one season. He's still a leader on the pitch

[sid1964]

Fantastic performance tonight and captain of his country

Play him in his proper position and he will do really well for us

[Bobby Boy]

Fantastic performance tonight and captain of his country

Play him in his proper position and he will do really well for us

Bang on. He's been getting a lot of stick on here recently but maybe it would help if he was played in a position that best used his talents. Unfortunately that is very unlikely to happen.

[Ian.]

There’s lots of mention about his position but in one sense, off the ball, he played very well against Southampton, he was bombing around, being a nuisance and winning the ball in midfield. His distribution was woeful though, one of the worst I’ve seen him on the ball. He also slowed the game down as he was slow to think and to move it on.

So his contribution to the match was more suited to playing deep. Would he have the touch, control and speed of thought to play further up the pitch against better opponents?

[Bobby Boy]

There’s lots of mention about his position but in one sense, off the ball, he played very well against Southampton, he was bombing around, being a nuisance and winning the ball in midfield. His distribution was woeful though, one of the worst I’ve seen him on the ball. He also slowed the game down as he was slow to think and to move it on.

So his contribution to the match was more suited to playing deep. Would he have the touch, control and speed of thought to play further up the pitch against better opponents?

Why not give it a try?

[olaftab]

From BBC:
Super John McGinn
When the Tartan Army belt out their 'Super John McGinn' anthem, there is of course an element of tongue-in-cheek when it comes to the line about the Aston Villa captain being 'better than Zidane' - even if some of them believe it.

What there is no doubt about, though, is the line that comes just before it - 'he's Stevie Clarke's man'.
The former Hibernian and St Mirren midfielder is just one game away from half a century of caps. In the first of those 14 appearances under Gordon Strachan, Alex McLeish and Malky Mackay, McGinn failed to score or assist.
In the following 35 games under Clarke, the 27-year-old has had 20 goal involvements - scoring 14 and assisting six - which is 12 more than any other player.

[chrisw1]

If we move to 4-2-3-1 McGinn could definitely be an option in the advanced midfielder / 10 role, but then it's probably the best position for both Coutinho and Buendia too.

[mallo]

We're clearly using him wrongly

[Risso]

We're clearly using him wrongly

He's a midfielder being played as an attacking midfielder. We just don't play against teams that are as poor as Israel or the Faroe Islands. If you want to play him further forward for Villa, are you going to use him there instead of Coutinho or Buendia? Because that would be utterly insane.

[London Villan]

I posted this in the Other Games thread - probably more relevant here...

Where is his perfect position? Attack-minded midfielder? I can't liken him to a previous player we've had? Ian Taylor at a push maybe?

What formation would suit him? 451?

More questions than answers!