Damien Delaney: Stripping Tyrone Mings of captaincy made no sense
DEMOTED: Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard (left) and Tyrone Mings after the Manchester City game. Pic: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.
Steven Gerrard got a much-needed boost on Saturday with Aston Villa's draw against the champions. Because the gleam had quickly dulled around the Villa boss. That initial pride of an icon choosing your club can fade pretty fast.
Gerrard left Glasgow Rangers after winning the SPL and made Villa Park the next stop in his new upwardly mobile career. A shoo-in, we presumed, for the Liverpool job once the formality of improving Villa's lot had been dealt with. Except the narrative hasn't been nearly as jarring as the reality at Villa Park, where things have been going nowhere near as well as anyone hoped or expected.
Die-hard football fans can be like that. Stardust will only carry you so far. Maybe a Villa hero like Tony Morley would get a pass for longer than most but blow-in reputations don't run for long in that die-hard world.
The results and win percentage since Gerrard took the Villa job are glaring and speak for themselves. What interested me most was the Tyrone Mings situation. First it's important to contextualise the role of a captain at a football club. Other sports, such as rugby and cricket, place certain importance on the role and status of the skipper.
I watched England's Martin Johnson in selection meetings on the seminal (for me) fly on the wall documentary of the 1997 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa. This never happens in football. A captain is used as a link between players and manager. If there's a team issue or request, it's the captain's job to see the gaffer. There are media duties and organising whip-arounds for whoever is leaving the staff but beyond that, it's mostly on the pitch.
The setting of standards and enforcement of discipline is a culture built on a minimum of six (in my opinion) strong characters in a squad of 20, driving it on a daily basis. One player wears the armband but it takes several leaders to run a successful changing room.
There's different types of leaders. Sometimes you need a player-only crisis meeting after a poor run of results. I've been a part of a number of these and whilst the leadership group called the meeting the club captain may not be the type to speak in front of the group. But it's important that somebody can hold the room. Once training starts the captain can show his leadership style. Training with a sense of purpose and spirit that offers hope to the doubters.
I've also been in changing rooms where the captain is abrasive and unyielding so a steady calming alternative is absolutely needed in the circle. Of course there are captain fantastics out there that can do it all but that's a very rare breed.
The point is that having the right blend of leaders all working together fulfilling the required roles at the required times is what every successful team has.
So Gerrard's decision to unceremoniously strip Mings of the armband on the eve of the season made little sense to me. If John McGinn is the true captain of that team, he would naturally assume the role within the squad leadership group and wouldn't need an armband on a matchday to rubberstamp it. Equally a captain doesn't have to always play these days.
The upside of what Gerrard did was minimal. The downside had the potential to be colossal. I've never personally seen it done and only in exceptional circumstances, such as a serious lack of off-field discipline or a huge falling out between player and manager. It's usually best left alone and the hierarchical layout soon falls where it should.
If Gerrard only has one or two of the above mentioned six in his squad, then I'm not sure the situation will greatly improve with the swapping of the armband. And of course the risk of losing Mings mentally must have been factored in. Whatever way you cut it, the public ignominy is going to bruise.
Eric ten Hag played it safe with Harry Maguire once he got the job, a wise decision, a diplomatic choice. There were enough battles on his horizon without throwing petrol on the inferno that is Manchester United.
By all accounts, Mings is a stand-up guy so the manager should have left the situation be. Gerrard seriously underestimated the bond between the fans and a skipper who, remember, played a huge role in restoring Villa to the Premier League, and retained that cherished status.
Yes, Mings is prone to errors but he's a guy with a tremendous rags to riches story from mortgage advisor to nonleague football to England international. That story resonates with supporters in these mercenary times and no one can question that Mings plays with incredible heart.
It was a miscalculation on Gerrard's part and created a more outsized news line for the club than they needed. All the more so now when they were in the trenches and suffering.
The signing of Diego Carlos meant Mings was demoted to the bench on the opening day of the season at Bournemouth, Gerrard believing he had his first choice CB pairing. The lethargic performance and poor result against Bournemouth meant a forced backtrack.
Mings was restored for the home game with Everton and delivered an exceptional performance and victory, making the initial decision appear unnecessary. Perhaps a more established manager with the correct swagger and track record could have pulled off such a decision. But in my opinion it was ill-thought out and a little naive.
Like all these things, we relate it back to our own experiences. The manner in which Steven Gerrard assumed the captain's armband at Liverpool surely played a part. He was the local boy with Liverpool in his blood, Hyppia the ageing professional. The late Gerrard Houllier perhaps looked to harness the power of the Anfield fan base by putting one of their own front and centre.
This time around, Gerrard's Mings moves have only sowed discontent and with the season threatening to deteriorate, a rod was created for his own back.
