For all the questions regarding the strength in depth of the current Aston Villa squad, there hasn’t been a great deal of discussion, so far as I’ve seen, about the captaincy. In truth, the role of the captain is often overblown, and it has to be said that the other highly paid professional athletes on the pitch shouldn’t need any motivation or encouragement from a colleague, but a great leader can still be worth his weight in gold.

Or points. I don’t know how much a point weighs, but let’s say that a great leader can be worth his weight in points, which is probably a few over the course of the season. Or something.

Well, step forward Dennis Mortimer, who’s been good for a few quotes recently, and someone who can certainly speak with some authority on the subject:

Dennis Mortimer
To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of Stiliyan Petrov – I think he is just a ‘Steady Eddie’ as it were. I, personally, wouldn’t have him in the team. I don’t think he has the right capacity or the right style that I would want him in my team.

At the top level, you need someone who is a bit more than a ‘Steady Eddie’ and especially as your captain. To me you need to generate momentum in games by the quickness of play and of mind and, for me, Petrov takes half an hour to pass the ball.

OK, so that is an exaggeration, but you get my point.

Ouch!

Actually, I feel a little uneasy saying so as Petrov seems like an absolutely top notch bloke and I can’t fault his commitment in the slightest, but I have to agree with Sir Dennis’ assessment. ‘Steady Eddie’ seems to sum him up nicely.

I was impressed in relative terms by his performance against Blackburn in Hong Kong, but that wasn’t the case against Chelsea, although no one really covered themselves in glory in the game in all fairness.

Still, it’s one thing to say that Petrov isn’t really captain material, but that’s easy, it’s only addressing half the issue, anyone can do that. The hard part is answering the question that naturally follows; if not Petrov, who?

Take you time, I can wait…

…okay, hands up if the first name that popped into your head was Richard Dunne, but you tried to dismiss that thought because, well, you know, last season and all that.

Tricky one, isn’t it?

I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts as I’m not sure we have a better alternative at the club right now. I really don’t see anyone who might make the difference between losing and drawing – or better still, drawing and winning – through sheer leadership and inspiration. Perhaps those days are gone and the “Captain Marvel” type performances are a rare occurrence in the modern era in any case.

Is Stan Petrov, one of the longest serving members of the current first team, being unfairly maligned here? Does the role of captain even really matter that much, shouldn’t these players be capable of playing to their maximum ability without further motivation week in and week out?

And to repeat the most important question; if not Petrov, who? And why?