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Ayrton Twigge

Captain

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Looking back over the last two seasons and the beginning of this one, I wonder if NW''s choice of captain has always been sound - and if not is this contributing to some of our hiccups, especiually away from home where there isn''t the luxury of a full stadium of terrific city support.

We have had Emblem (unfortunately rarely there), Iwan (wrong position on the field - and too nice!!), Malky (great during the run into the play offs) and now Drury.

I''m not convinced that Adam, as good a player as he is, is in the best position on the field anyway - or has what it takes to really, really lead. Not yet.

Perhaps thats why we occaisionally nod off near the end, or why Easton and Rivers occaisionally begin to falter, or why we sometimes appear to lack committment away from home. Or panic.

I''m not sure who would be better but perhaps Gary Holt who positionally, is in the centre of the field, close to defence and attack, has the right never say die spirit and maturity, in years, to deal with the both old hands (Malky, Craig) and the younger guys (Henderson, Jarvis). He has been here now for a couple of seasons and must be well in tune with the backroom scene too.

Any thoughts?

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I don''t think the position is a problem; looking back a long, long way, Ron Ashman was a great captain at left back during the 58/59 cup run to the semi-finals, and during the promotion winning campaign of the next season. I''d have thought that somewhere in the defence could be a good place from where to act as captain (agreed that Iwan is not in the right position for the job). But maturity matters; Ashman, then in his early 30''s, was one of the older players in that great side. Regarding ''niceness'', I remember seeing him off the field, giving a talk about the life of a professional footballer to a small gathering (a church mens'' club, in fact - sons were allowed in!); he struck you as a really genuine, nice bloke, and that''s still the memory I have of him. On the field, he was a driving force. Perhaps NW hopes that Adam Drury will grow into the job.

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I must admit I had my doubts about Adam Drury as captain not because of his position or that he appears quiet and perhaps too much of a gent to scream and shout,- during 90 mins of football all the players scream and shout at each other anyway, captain or not.

I just feel that the level of responsibility could distract Drury from his natural game, he''s a quiet, steady guy who is very consistent and has so far made steady progress since his arrival, I think these kind of players are sometimes better left to concentrate on their game. Forcing an introvert such as Drury to scream and shout, worry about other players positions etc etc could prove to be quite negative to Drury''s own performance. Time will tell but I feel NW was worried by the prospect of Wayne Bridge going to Chelsea and Southampton looking at Drury as a possible replacement, thus giving him the Captains armband to at least make him think about staying if Southampton''s interest became a threat.

Maybe a very good move in that respect or maybe not so good if he starts going backwards in terms of progress, Time will tell.

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I have to agree that I don''t think it''s the best choice, and that Drury isn''t perhaps in the best position to influence a game the way I''d like to see our captain doing so. Ideally, a centre back or midfielder should do it. I don''t think Malky is the man for the job, and Fleming is too busy trying to organise the back line. So that leaves Holt (probably the best candidate), Francis (possibly too new - although that didn''t stop NW giving it to Emblen when he''d only just joined the club, I s''pose), or Mulryne. Now, Mulryne isn''t your natural captain material, but I wonder whether or not (and this is REALLY clutching at straws) it''d bring out the best in him. We all know that Mulryne has the ability to run games for us, but he never quite fulfils his ability. So, studying how David Beckham has transformed his England career since becoming captain (with a brilliant strike rate from midfield, etc) and how Cantona loved leading ManYoo, why not give Mullers a try with the armband - if it doesn''t work, then it confirms initial feelings that he wouldn''t be captain. But if he responded to the challenge and looked to really influence in the game he should, we could have a really good player on our hands, in the centre of the park, influencing the team around him!

I know it''ll never happen, and I know there''ll be a lot of people who''ll disagree. but I just thought it''d be an interesting one to discuss.

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I think Drury is a smaching player, but I must confess, he''s not a natrual captain. NW should choose someone with more experience or a more driven player.

Choises

Greeno
Iwan
Malky ???

OTBC

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