The latest instalment of Aston Villa Blog’s partnership with fellow fan site Aston Villa Life has been sent in by editor and guest blogger Matt Turvey and is based around the comments made by Villa icon Dennis Mortimer regarding Stan Petrov, and whether the club should be looking to appoint a new captain ahead of the upcoming Premier League campaign.
In the light of Dennis Mortimer’s recent comments regarding Stiliyan Petrov, and Mortimer’s view that Petrov is no longer up to the job of captain, it got me thinking.
You see, when you take a step back from the situation and think “Yes, we do need a new guy for the job”, the solution isn’t as evident as you might hope for.
Maybe it is down to the dearth of leaders in the squad at present. Maybe it is down to the breakdown of the long term plan to cycle players from incoming transfers to outgoing sales. Either way, we seem to have an abundance of overpaid, over rated players sitting on the fringes of the squad and, it would seem, that our “Hollywood or Bust” attempt at getting to fourth fell falt on it’s face.
Anyway, I digress. The problem we are facing in the immediate future is who will be captain of Aston Villa in the coming season. Obviously we have relied on Petrov for the past few seasons, but nobody can say that he is suitable in the role anymore.
It isn’t to do with a sudden drop of form, or a fickle change of attitude to the player, it is down to realistic assessment of fitness. Petrov can’t be expected to play 90 minutes a game nowadays and, ideally, you would like your captain to be on the pitch for most of, it not all of, the games of the season.
So the question begs “If not Petrov, then who?”
Ponder that for a second. Had a mental scan through our current squad? Come up with lots of names? No? Me either.
You see, when you look past the steady if unspectacular “Stan” Petrov, then you realise that there is hardly an abundance of choice out there. Who could be picked after all? Dunne? Collins? Darren Bent?
The aformentioned three are, for the most part, at least professional. However, I’d say that none of the three are actually ideal choices. In fact, I would struggle to even call any of them “good” choices, let alone “ideal”.
So who then? My only thought that springs to mind is that of Shay Given. How one wants to view the fact that our only candidate for the captaincy is a player who was only purchased this close season is up to you. Be objective though and think to yourself who else?
Beyond the Shay Given angle, Villa are limited to the possibility of purchasing a brand new player and letting them assume the role. In my opinion at least, Scott Parker would be an ideal acquisition for this position. However, there are still questions around whether the board wish to spend any further money on transfers or, as may possibly be the case, withhold it to fund the redevelopment of the North Stand.
So the question I leave open to fans is this – who do you think is captain material in the squad and, if you think we are in need of a purchase to provide said person, who would you like to see bought in to assume the position?
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