Captaincy

Kevster

Do you guys (and gals) feel that the captaincy of a team actually makes much of a difference in the majority of cases? Before you take words out of my mouth, I did say 'in the majority of cases'. Personally, I don't think it matters at all and the only reason people make a big deal out of it now is purely as a result of the media influence on the game.

With the dawn of 24-hour sports news channels (Setanta & Sky), the news is thirsty to scrape the bottom of the footballing barrell for anything that is newsworthy. The captaincy of a team - and who gets picked for it - is obviously seen by them (i.e. - the media) as something that they can waste some time on and pretend that it's actually worth something.
Kevin

estebancambias

It seems to be a nuisance judging by Roy Keane's book.

Bounty Hunter

It will be (more so) I really can see football going the way of rugby with rules like only the captain can talk to the ref etc..

Kevster

Isn't there some club in the professional English leagues already that only permits its captain to talk to the ref? I can't remember which team, but I know that they definately exist. It's a great idea, I think.

ibh

Kevster wrote: »

Isn't there some club in the professional English leagues already that only permits its captain to talk to the ref? I can't remember which team, but I know that they definately exist. It's a great idea, I think.

Barnet or Bretford or somebody like that is doing it...

themont85

Captains is really a symbolic job for soccer-coin toss, lift the cup, shake hands, wear a little arm band ect. In rugby its important not only for talking to the ref but also for making decisions on the pitch cos choices over pens come up regularly in rugby, also they have some sway over selection in some cases. In cricket more so, with fielders positions, selections ect. Soccer captaincy is a gesture more than anything else. Your right over SSN, the debate over England's captaincy is such a pointless one, who cares if its bottler Terry, 'sorry i forgot' rio or icky scouser gerrard gets what is basically a fashion acccesory to their jersey.

shane86

Load of sh1te IMO.

And it annoys me that the captain will always get his start barring injury/suspension, meaning we are stuck with Robbie whatever his form has been.

Capellos failure to pick a permanent captain further lowers my opinion of the guy.

SantryRed

Captaincy is not a load of sh1te. It's a very important job.
That player is the one who should show the leadership on the pitch.
Which is very important.

bohsman

shane86 wrote: »

Load of sh1te IMO.


Capellos failure to pick a permanent captain further lowers my opinion of the guy.

Why? If it doesnt make a difference anyway does it not make sense to rotate it.

Tusky

I think anyone who has actually played football competitively knows that having a good captain is important for any team.

SectionF

Depends on the captain.

kaisersose77

Tusky wrote: »

I think anyone who has actually played football competitively knows that having a good captain is important for any team.

Yes but the person who is captain must inspire others and not just someone who the manager likes. Someone like Robbie Keane who has being pretty woeful in recent Ireland matchs isnt going to inspire others when he cant score and wastes chances no matter what experience he has imo. Ryan Giggs was awful in a lot of games last season and he isnt going to inspire team mates if he's giving the ball away or wasting chances. So thinking about it, captaincy means nothing imo. Having good players that inspire others is what is important. And most cases they are going to be captains, but they arent going to do any less of a job if they arent.

Tusky

kaisersose77 wrote: »

Yes but the person who is captain must inspire others and not just someone who the manager likes. Someone like Robbie Keane who has being pretty woeful in recent Ireland matchs isnt going to inspire others when he cant score and wastes chances no matter what experience he has imo. Ryan Giggs was awful in a lot of games last season and he isnt going to inspire team mates if he's giving the ball away or wasting chances. So thinking about it, captaincy means nothing imo. Having good players that inspire others is what is important. And most cases they are going to be captains, but they arent going to do any less of a job if they arent.

Well your opinion is wrong. We only see what happens on the pitch. We dont hear the players talking to each other, we dont see what happens in the dressing room or on the training ground. Its very difficult for us to judge how good a captain someone is.

Robbie Keane who has being pretty woeful in recent Ireland matchs isnt going to inspire others when he cant score and wastes chances no matter what experience he has imo.

Hes Irelands all time top scorer...

Also, take a read of this. Written by Martin Jol.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/tottenham/article3216692.ece

In the Tottenham dressing room I pinned up a motto: “The Team is the Star”. If any player sums up that philosophy, it’s Robbie Keane. Normally it’s not the best combination to have a striker as your skipper. Robbie is different. He’ll do any job a manager asks and seeks togetherness with teammates socially as well as on the pitch. Character-wise, if you had 11 Robbie Keanes on your side, you’d have a chance of winning any game.

Off the pitch he can be a funny guy. I’ve always enjoyed having Irishmen in my dressing room. They love companionship. In my experience, they do everything they can to ensure there’s a good atmosphere and spirit, whether it’s organising games on the team bus or sitting down next to a guy who is by himself in the training ground canteen.

Robbie is good at making new players welcome. Some fans didn’t agree, but when Ledley was injured he was my automatic choice to be captain

kaisersose77

it's funny how Robbie Keane is now such a great player since he was linked with a certain club

ah ye i wasnt thinking about the off the field stuff, but I still think its more important to have a good leader that plays well consistently

Tusky

kaisersose77 wrote: »

it's funny how Robbie Keane is now such a great player since he was linked with a certain club

ah ye i wasnt thinking about the off the field stuff, but I still think its more important to have a good leader that plays well consistently

Ive always thought Keane was a great player. Hes always more impressive for Spurs than for Ireland but thats because he is surrounded by better players.

In regards to it being important to have a good leader that plays well consistently...well, thats what most captains are. Keane is a striker and has scored more international goals than any other Irish player ever..

Keane 33
Quinn 21
Stapleton 20
Givens 19
Cascerano 19
Aldridge 19

estebancambias

Tusky if thats the case why has Duff played better for Ireland than club level.

He has Ireland, Reid, Duff, Carsley, S.Reid and McGeady playing with him. That is a good group of player who play in the top 10 sides in the English League.

Maby the stye Ireland play doesn't suit him, but your talking nonsense if he can't get on the ball and play well with the players I mentioned.

Tusky

estebancambias wrote: »

Tusky if thats the case why has Duff played better for Ireland than club level.

He has Ireland, Reid, Duff, Carsley, S.Reid and McGeady playing with him. That is a good group of player who play in the top 10 sides in the English League.

Maby the stye Ireland play doesn't suit him, but your talking nonsense if he can't get on the ball and play well with the players I mentioned.

We are getting a little side tracked here. The thread was originally about captains 'in general' being useless. I responded to that but also to the OPs point about Keane.

I dont really know what point you are trying to make. I said Keane is a great player that plays better at club level than at international level, as he plays with better players. I stand by that. Spurs have a much better team than Ireland. Do you dispute this ?

Secondly, as I have said, he is Irealnds all time top goal scorer, so its not as if he is awful for Ireland...

Again, I dont know what point you are trying to make.

estebancambias

Berbatov makes a massive difference between both sides top 6. Put Berbatov in the Ireland team and I think compared to last season the Irish top 6 is on a par.

Zokora is all running. He can't pass and is more combative than anything. He's basically Steven Reid with inferior football ability, but better physical condition.

McGeady is better than Lennon. Duff is more dangerous on form tha Malbranque, and Reid is more creative than Jenas.


Actually jesus we do have a better midfield...wow..I actually didn't think of it too much, but when you size up the players we have(had a better midfield) and I didn't even mention Ireland.

Now dispute that please Ziggy. If you say Berbatov makes a massive difference, then fair enough, but there isn't too much between the midfield.

Likewise, Keane has been good for Ireland IMO. If he stayed up the field further, which a good manager will tell him then I'm confident he can bring his club form to the Irish setup.

*You asked me this question, to which I responded*

And my point is I reject what you say about him having better players around him with Spurs.

Tusky

estebancambias wrote: »

Berbatov makes a massive difference between both sides top 6. Put Berbatov in the Ireland team and I think compared to last season the Irish top 6 is on a par.

Zokora is all running. He can't pass and is more combative than anything. He's basically Steven Reid with inferior football ability, but better physical condition.

McGeady is better than Lennon. Duff is more dangerous on form tha Malbranque, and Reid is more creative than Jenas.


Actually jesus we do have a better midfield...wow..I actually didn't think of it too much, but when you size up the players we have(had a better midfield) and I didn't even mention Ireland.

Now dispute that please Ziggy. If you say Berbatov makes a massive difference, then fair enough, but there isn't too much between the midfield.

I still dont know what point you are trying to make though. How does it relate to this thread ? What are you actually talking about...?

estebancambias

LOL Ziggy Tusky its all the one.

You asked me did I dispute what you said about Spurs having better players around him. I disagree.

And I should say In my opinion because theres no way its a fact, but its not like I'm saying our midfield is better than Liverpools

Kevster

How odd - I started this thread about captaincy and notice that it has now degenerated into a wasteful talk about Spurs! Nobody likes Spurs because they are a pathetic club that waste money and never get anywhere.

Kevin.

weemcd