Younes has shown me all the values needed to be a captain. He has the character to lead this team as well as the respect of his teammates. Hugo and Ade will be vice-captains and both of them, along with Younes, possess tremendous experience and have all shown a great attitude and leadership.”
Time flies when you’re having fun, and I’d certainly lost track of how long Younes Kaboul has been on our books. Seven years have passed since the enormous Frenchman arrived from Auxerre. Perhaps his 18 month stretch with Arry at Pompey hazed my memory.
I note that there has been some grumbling in response to this appointment, and most of it probably quite justified. Afterall, it’s hardly an inspirational move.
Kaboul has struggled to stay fit, and any wild ambitions we might have once had for him to step into Ledley King’s orthopedic shoes are surely long gone. He’ll celebrate his 29th birthday in January and it’s not unkind to suggest that he is an unlikely candidate for a career renaissance.
The real question is what’s the deal with Vertonghen?
Metro suggested 2 days ago that he would pick up the armband once he penned a new contract. As usual Metro lied. They linked to a Niewsbald article which actually said Jan was one of 3 contenders for the captaincy. Surprise surprise, the Metro piece was written botched together by Pinapple Pubehead Bloke.
The problem is, as good as Vertonghen can be as a player, as a character he makes Willo The Wisp look like Al Capone and whether it’s something missing in translation or not, he fails to exude the obvious qualities of a Premier League captain.
Hugo would’ve been my choice, but there may have been a concern at Spurs that him shouting “WTF are you doing?!” 127 times a game would begin to wear him down.
No matter how much any of us bluster, there wasn’t genuinely better candidate. Adebayor could have been a good choice, in the PSB mold, but saldy he’s completely unreliable.
The positive with Kaboul is that he’s an upgrade on Dawson. Screaming “Away!” and telling the official site it’s all about bouncing back and digging in was probably last en vogue around about the same time as the Three Day Week, in 1974.
The truth is, the best candidate on the playing staff was actually Brad.
This is far from the disaster some are making it out to be.
