Some may say it is too early to speculate on who should be the next captain at Villa Park, with the playing personnel set to change over the summer as the club goes under another potential makeover.
The Villans are set to taste football outside the top flight for the first time in twenty-eight years and will need a solid leader.
The captain debacle since Stiliyan Petrov retired has been nothing short of farcical. A number of players failed to prove to fans that they’re deserving of such an honour. Fabian Delph and Ron Vlaar had the responsibility through dire times but the situation got much worse last summer when Micah Richards and Gabby Agbonlahor were appointed team captain and club captain respectively.
The role of captain seems to mean very little to modern footballers. Three of our most senior players in Micah Richards, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Joleon Lescott have had the armband at some point this season and, shamefully, all three have had major run ins with the Villa faithful.
The next captain needs to be someone who will be a role model in the dressing room. The armband should be worn by a player who gets his head down and gets on with his job but isn’t likely to shirk responsibility. Players like that are few and far between, particularly at Aston Villa Football Club of late, but I believe we could have a ready-made captain within our ranks.
Ciaran Clark was formerly captain at each level for the Aston Villa youth teams and he has grown in claret and blue since his debut campaign in 2009 under Martin O’Neill. Now twenty-six, the Republic of Ireland international is set to go to the European Championships to play at centre-half for his nation.
Clark may not be the best centre-back we will see in the Championship. Nevertheless, he is certainly capable of holding his own and proving his worth in the second division of English football. He wears the Villa shirt more proudly than the majority of the current crop of players and he understands the club, having been around Villa Park so long. Clark is the only man I have seen attempting to marshall a shambolic defence this season. Despite being part of that defence for fourteen games this season, there is a high chance his will be one of the first names on the team sheet next season. Of course, much depends on who the manager is and who the club sells and signs this summer.
It is pointless giving the captain’s armband to anyone else in the current squad: they couldn’t care less. The only other player perhaps worthy of the armband is Alan Hutton, but will he stick around? I believe it would be a bad call to keep Micah Richards as captain in the unlikely event that he stays. It would also be foolish to give the honour to any new signing unless it is someone like Gary O’Neill or Joey Barton, both of whom have heaps of Premier League and Championship experience along with superb work rates.
There are those who would argue that the captain’s role is meaningless but a proper captain is an important figure, whose job is to lead and act as a go-between. Since the club has gone through so much turmoil, I feel the new manager has to find a captain who will understand the anger and disappointment of the fans and live up to the expectations that come with being the leader of an historic football club.
The captain is the heart of the side – and Clark has certainly shown heart.
Whoever is appointed the new captain, he needs to ready himself, and his colleagues, for slogging and scrapping in the Championship.
The appointment of Richards’ replacement could be some way off. In the meantime, vote in our Twitter poll here.
Who would be your captain next season? Any of the below or if other say who. #avfc
— AVillaFan.Com (@Avillafan) May 8, 2016
No way Westy or Hutton for Capt. Or any senior player. Let N Pearson pick a Capt from the youth side as a sign of a new squad from the decaying embers of Paddy Rielly’s Dross squad.