A Great Captain Wears More Than Just An Armband

CAPTAINCY is one of those aspects of football which divides opinion, and causes endless argument. Some fans today, brought-up in the modern belief in the all-powerful coach, reckon all the armband does is signify they guy who will go up and call heads or tails at the coin toss. Others see captaincy as something to be passed down, like a sacred oath, to the right guy.

George Young - Scotland's greatest captain

The trust is, as ever, somewhere in between. In the early days of Scottish international football, the captaincy was passed around as perhaps no big deal. There are, in the Victorian era, numerous examples of players being made captain on their international debut; that is unthinkable today.

Time passed, and we had players such as Charlie Thomson of Hearts, who, if he was in the team, he was captain; later, Jimmy McMullan was in the team as much for his leadership as for his undoubted playing ability. Then, after World War II, big George Young, who today, 60-years after his 54^th and final cap, his 48^th as captain, Big Corky still holds the record as having led Scotland on most occasions.

 Bremner and Baxter - Awkward Squad members, but good Scottish captains

But, Young was more than merely the captain, he was player-manager in all but name. Young was the epitome of Rangers' dignity, very much the establishment man – he was succeeded by Tommy Docherty, who was anything but, while, for all his fire and brimstone leadership on the field, off it, wee Billy Bremner was also leader of a Scotland awkward squad which, with the likes of Jim Baxter, who also captained Scotland, could be very awkward indeed.

Bremner's captaincy ended in disgrace, when John Greig was pulled out of international retirement to teach the youngsters what gravitas was all about. Greig and Billy McNeill were in the Young mould, great players, who set a great example.

This week, with Scotland about to play another couple of crucial, “must-win” games, we have another captaincy crisis, with Scott Brown, definitely in the Docherty/Bremner camp as a captain, out and likely to be replaced by Darren Fletcher, who is from the Young/Greig/McNeill camp.

Which works best for Scotland? I suppose it will all come down to the result. But, there is a third type of captain – the leader by example. Perhaps the best Scotland captains of this sort would be Alan Morton – who to be fair only had the job once in setting a record of 32 internationals, or Gordon Smith, who allegedly could never replicate his club form for Scotland, or Eric Caldow, or Danny McGrain.

 Gordon Smith - led by example and setting high standards

Lawrie Reilly said of his great friend Smith: “Gordon set such high standards for himself, and maintained them, so, forcing the rest of us to try to emulate him. It worked for Hibs and it worked for Scotland when he stood-in for Big Corky in the 1955 European Tour.”

Caldow lost the Rangers' captaincy to Bobby Shearer, partly, he believes, because he (Caldow) was seen by Scot Symon as: “A Bill Struth man” and Symon wanted Shearer, who he had signed, as “his” captain. They were different types, but, the SFA stood-by Caldow, who led the team to one of its most-successful spells up until his international career-ending broken leg.

I expect Fletcher to reclaim the armband on Thursday, after Gordon Strachan revealed, giving the honour to Craig Gordon, to mark his 50^th cap, would maybe be a move too-far. I don't know, Gordon will not let Scotland down, neither will Fletcher, but, to paraphrase and misquote Willie Shankly: “If you need a captain to drive you on – you should not be playing for Scotland.”

The days of great captains – of Young, England's Billy Wright, Northern Ireland's Danny Blanchflower, Wales's Ron Burgess, were in the 1950s. Then, along came Bobby Moore and Dave Mackay, since when, with the introduction around that time of the armband, the coach rather than the captain has been the main man.

 Danny Blanchflower with the FA Cup, a great captain from the golden age of captaincy.

But, once the XI cross that white line, there's not a lot a coach can do to change things, and, perhaps, still, a good captain can make a difference. WGS definitely has a decision to make before 7.15pm on Thursday, when the team lines go in.