The captaincy

[ant london]

So, Shay had the armband against Blackburn.

IMO, Mancini should absolutely take the opportunity afforded to him by the CAN to have a look at several players as captain.

I don't think Kolo is the right kind of leader for City and, furthermore, after seeing Kompany, Richards, Boyata, Lescott (and even Onuoha) appear at centre half I would actually venture that he is far from guaranteed to reclaim a starting berth. So on two fronts I think it is wise to assess whether someone else should take the armband.

Personally the more I see of Nigel on and off the pitch, the more he seems to be the obvious candidate to take over.

Shay is a great character to lead but he leads anyway, giving him the armband seems a waste as he is a big communicator/motivator without it...and I don't think keepers should be captain in any event.

Other possible candidates for me would be Kompany or Ireland. I actually think it would make sense to have an official captain and vice (more likely to operate as two captains....as there really is no-one (other than Shay) who is nailed on to start every match).

I know we have discussed before but it's now a question that can, and should be answered at this time IMO.

[Beeks]

De Jong?

He's certainly got the right character and I have a feeling he will be here for quite some time too

[avoidconfusion]

De Jong or Kompany would be great.

[Crazy_Cabbie]

I'd like to see De jong as captain, he seems quite vocal on the pitch, and he would lead by example....

[Alex Sapphire]

He's said he'll leave well alone hasn't he?
If he does Toure (when selected) will prolly defer on the pitch to Vieira (when selected) as his old captain fom the Invincibles days.
Interesting that he gave Shay, not Nigel the band the other night.
No outfield player looks guaranteed a place and Shay doesn't make enough noise.
One for the summer break I think.

[john@staustell]

The old cliche is that, as long as you've got several leaders out on the field, it doesn't matter who wears the armband!

[Wonderwall]

The old cliche is that, as long as you've got several leaders out on the field, it doesn't matter who wears the armband!

spot on but someone needs to be the official club captain. NDJ seems as good as anyone in the squad at the moment.

[CityFanFromRome]

I agree on De Jong atm. I can't see many other candidates, really, unless Vieira becomes a regular starter. Barry is too quiet on the pitch imho, Bellamy would lead by example and is definitely vocal but he plays one game then is out the next to avoid stressing his knees, so he can't be the official captain.

Ireland might be a good shout in some years but right now he isn't enough of a leader to wear the armband imho, besides it may be laying too much responisbility on him.

Tevez is too quiet too, although he always gives 100% so he could be an example for the others.

[Wooders]

I am gonna join team De Jong

[BobbyJ1956]

De Jong. The captain needs to be a player almost 100% guaranteed to start every game when fit, and with the squad policy and how Mancini is picking his teams according to what the match is De Jong is more likely than most to be in the XI.

[BlueinBosnia]

De Jong. I thought Kompany should have been captain this season from the off, but my mind has slowly changed.

[lets all have a disco]

Schlong or Kolo.

Then again i'd love to see SWP captain a team at Wembley.

[Alex Sapphire]

so we're all agreed on de Jong then.
So which of Barry and Vieira will not be a first team regular.
And if it's barry what will that do to England in the summer

[CityFanFromRome]

so we're all agreed on de Jong then.
So which of Barry and Vieira will not be a first team regular.
And if it's barry what will that do to England in the summer

In my opinion is not a matter of Barry not being a regular starter, it's that I don't see him vocal enough and with enough leadership on the pitch to be the captain for us. But he was for Villa for years, so he could be a good shout too.

[sweenyuk]

For the cup game I feel we need an outfield player as captain. Things are likley to get heated and we need someone for the Ref to speak with to calm things down. Also against Blackburn there was a dispute on who would take a free kick. Spanish Gax wanted it as well as Tevez and Petrov. Shay came half way up the pitch to give his opinion, this would have been better handled by Nige

[ant london]

so we're all agreed on de Jong then.
So which of Barry and Vieira will not be a first team regular.
And if it's barry what will that do to England in the summer

To be honest Alex.....what midfield we will play (even if it's a four man midfield line-up) when we have all of the following fit is a mystery to me (and that is without even considering the likes of Kompany, Zabaleta, Sylvinho for midfield duties....or any of the youngsters)

De Jong
Vieira
Barry
SWP
Petrov
Weiss
Ireland

and maybe

Robinho
Tevez
Bellamy considered to form the wide parts of a midfield 4?

ps....as an aside....Big Dedryk Boyata and Javan Vidal are now on the players section of the OS. Good stuff, bet they will be buzzing when they find out

[Alex Sapphire]

so we're all agreed on de Jong then.
So which of Barry and Vieira will not be a first team regular.
And if it's barry what will that do to England in the summer

To be honest Alex.....what midfield we will play (even if it's a four man midfield line-up) when we have all of the following fit is a mystery to me (and that is without even considering the likes of Kompany, Zabaleta, Sylvinho for midfield duties....or any of the youngsters)

De Jong
Vieira
Barry
SWP
Petrov
Weiss
Ireland

and maybe

Robinho
Tevez
Bellamy considered to form the wide parts of a midfield 4?

ps....as an aside....Big Dedryk Boyata and Javan Vidal are now on the players section of the OS. Good stuff, bet they will be buzzing when they find out

I think we can narrow it down.
He plays with 2 in the middle and they will either be flat or in a diamond (although so far he's been "conservative").
That means he has to chose 2 and has Barry, de Jong, Vieira, Kompany (and Zabaleta?) who can play there.
My question is if Nigel is Captain then who is the other CM.
If he plays the diamond then its maybe more complicated cos he has to choose 1 from 4 to take the holding/defensive role and has loads of players who could play at the front of a diamond.
As we're trying to name a captain, I used this dilemma to argue we should leave well alone for now

[ant london]

As we're trying to name a captain, I used this dilemma to argue we should leave well alone for now

Yeah I know what you were saying....BUT....I say that on current form Kompany, Richards and Lescott (pre-injury) should start in front of Toure. We could just let someone stand in as skipper. But I think Toure led poorly....so I am using this timing re CAN and new manager to argue we should act now and replace him ;-)

[Wonderwall]

Shay is on the OS on video about being "given" the armband.


http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Video/Interviews/Shay-the-skipper

[sandman]

I realise he does make a lot of noise, but that goal at weekend could have been avoided if there was a bit more communication.

Having said that I would be happy with either Given or DeJong.