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Captaincy


Saint_lambden

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One of many issues I know, but surely it's time to bin off Bertrand as captain? Was pathetic at times v City, walking back into the box to 'defend'. Hojbjerg seems to be one of the only natural leaders in the squad and now he's a regular it makes more sense to give him the armband, especially as he's the only player with a pair of balls to face the cameras after an embarrassing defeat.

 

Any other contenders? Yoshida and Davis are national team captains but aren't playing. Ings?

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Bertrand's body language alone disqualifies him from being captain in my opinion !

I don't know much about his character off the pitch but he does not seem vocal nor does he lead by example when playing !

I was surprised when he was given the armband in the first place and nothing I've seen since merits it. I also get the distinct impression that if it is taken away, he'll throw a strop but right now we need a serious change of attitude and it needs to be done !

Hoj is the obvious choice but sadly there are few other candidates currently playing on a regular basis. For me, a top priority is to sign someone like Gary Cahill in January, not only for his experience in the back line but as a captain and leader !

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This is a red herring and the least of our problems IMO.

Far from it, can't recall a Captain who saunters round the pitch with a face like a smacked backside. If you are wearing the Captains armband you have to put in the effort and be seen to put in the effort for 90 minutes, not put in the odd flash of a run and decent cross.

 

Just watch back the first Wolves goal from this season Traore has the ball and has put his foot to the floor to race into our box, just as he passes the ball for the player to score, oh hello look who has just turned up in the Penalty box our Captain casually trotting back to defend. If folks notice the laissez faire attitude from the stand, then the players must notice it too.

If Deeney plays on Saturday you will see fire and brimstone from the bloke wearing the Watford armband, and if this season so far is anything to go by our Captain will also be easily spotted sat on the side of the 'room' twirling his Olive around in his Martini.

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I kind of agree with Dusic, our problems run a lot deeper than the captain.

 

Think of our relegation season back in 04/05. We bought in a few characters that January like Quashie and J Redknapp, both came in and made decent impacts but they couldn't stop the rot. It feels the same again, PEH is an intelligent bloke and I'm sure would do a decent job as skipper, but I don't believe he can sort the rest of them out on their own. It needs at least 4 or 5 of them to up their game and really change things around.

 

Bertrand and Cedric are both miles away from their best form for Saints, but realistically I don't see who is going to replace them. Targett clearly isn't favoured by Hughes, Stephens I guess could do a job at RB, but again it's a case of a square peg in a round hole.

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This is a red herring and the least of our problems IMO.
Fair point, but it's one too many straws that ends up breaking a camel's back and Bertrand's poor captaincy (IMO) is a relatively easy straw to deal with, so no reason/excuse why we shouldn't do something about it just because there happens to be an abundance of bigger straws.

 

(That's a horribly long-winded sentence but can't be arsed to reword it)

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I'll add my voice to those who'd love to see Hoj given a chance here. We want someone who can inject passion and excitement in other players during the games, esp when times get tough. Not seeing that in Bertrand at all. Maybe he's strong off the pitch, but I doubt it. I also think a change would be a strong signal by Hughes that meaningful change in attitude is needed by the team.

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Definitely Hoj for me too. After our drubbing vs City, I expect at least one of Vestergaard or Yoshida to come in too, both of them ideally! I think they'd be a good pairing, although Yoshida may make a decent captain, if playing regularly, Hoj would still be the better choice.

Never understood why Bertrand was made captain, not exactly like we have flourished under his leadership - admittedly he is not to blame alone, but a change can't make us any worse!

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I still can't fathom why somebody as quiet and casual as Bertrand is still our captain.

 

Maybe Hughes does recognise that he isn't the ideal candidate but he doesn't want to take it off him in case it upsets him and demotivates him even further. Who knows.

 

But I'm also in the 'give it to Hoj' camp. He's the perfect fit for the role, and he's also one of the only players to have given a good account of himself so far this season.

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Yoshida is a sound professional and an international captain and has captained us in saner times. Why he is not selected is beyond me, first name on the sheet and captain for me

 

 

And thats our problem, 2 seasons ago if Yoshida was picked for the 1st team a lot of fans would moan and say how he wasn't good enough - backed up by the errors he made in a few games.

 

Now he is seen as our best defender - he's improved but not that much. It goes to show how far we have fallen as a team.

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He's been our most consistent performer this season. He appears to have a drive and determination that is lacking in many others and he is a natural leader.

 

It's a no-brainer for me.

 

He certainly talks a good game, I'll give you that. Laps it up to the fans quite well. But I don't think he's particularly all that.

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He certainly talks a good game, I'll give you that. Laps it up to the fans quite well. But I don't think he's particularly all that.

 

Broadly agree with you. As I said above, he's a bright lad and will do well in the game I'm sure. I like his attitude, we could do a lot worse.

 

However, he very much reminds me of David Prutton - very highly rated when he arrived, popular with the fans and ever willing to acknowledge them, but never really hitting top form on a regular basis. We have to be honest and say he has a long way to go before you can call him an established PL player.

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Always thought Romeu would have been a good leader in the middle of the pitch but his form seems to have gone awol since Lemina and Hoj have improved.

 

Yeah I'd be happy to give Hoj a go.

 

Echoes my thoughts precisely. After the summer and how an improving Yoshida performed at the WC I thought he was going to step up for us this year and be good captain material. As he's been pushed out, and with Romeu's drop in form, Hoj is the standout candidate for me now.

 

As far as snubbing Yoshida and Gabbi this season, I can only think it's because both will be moving on in January, Yoshi forced out because he can still command a reasonable fee and Gabbi's possibly never settled and wants out so wouldn't surprise me if he's gone in the New Year. Many of us have probably scratched our heads why they've been overlooked as an option to something that clearly hasn't been working but (cynical head on) it would be hard to push them out the door if they came in and done well...

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Hoj is definitely captain material, I posted this a year ago when he wasn't even in the team but I believe Yoshi should get the job now with Hoj next in line, both good professionals, both no nonsense on the pitch, both goodspokesmen off the pitch even tho' English not their first language

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