What makes a perfect captain? More precisely, what makes a perfect Rangers captain? It is a question that has long been debated on the terraces of Ibrox.
For the thick end of the last decade, it has been a moot point – James Tavernier had the armband and that was it, case closed. Not that a succession of managers sticking with the full-back saved him from his critics when it came to his leadership qualities – far from it.
In fact, the proverbial utterance, “never a Rangers captain”, could be heard more than a few times along Paisley Road West, particularly when results faltered. Now there is a vacancy in the skipper’s shoes and new manager Derek McInnes’ first major call as Light Blues boss will be who fills it.
Leadership is vital at the sharp end of a successful team. In a quote famously attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, he claims that a leader is “a dealer in hope”. Delivered more bluntly by former Rangers defender Leon Balogun in an interview earlier this year, he notes: “When you’re captain of a club like Rangers… people say ‘he needs to save us when s**t hits the fan’.”
Tavernier’s own brand of leadership was, at its best, to bring hope when there seemed to be none, to dig Rangers out of the figurative hole they so often found themselves in during fractured times on and off the park. When he could not come up with that moment, however, eyes were turned to his unflinching demeanour, which some, rightly or wrongly, read as indifference.
There will always be an element of football fandom that wants their captain’s passion to be overtly demonstrative. Whether bellowing at the top of their lungs actually has a tangible impact on getting the best out of others, it is at least something the layman can point to as evidence of caring. Without being reductive about McInnes and what kind of football is about to be served up this term in Govan, it would appear that he too subscribes to the school of wearing one’s heart on one's sleeve.
His Hearts side last season, that came within a whisker of lifting the league title, had that in abundance. At its core were two men who find themselves reunited with their former manager in light blue this campaign – Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland. The latter has already worn the armband in two pre-season friendlies at the club’s Spanish retreat. In anointing him Hearts’ main man last season, McInnes himself went against his natural instinct, admitting that it’s “not perfect” having a striker take on the role and that he “always thinks it’s better to have a centre-half or centre-midfield player”.
Indeed, Shankland ticks a lot of boxes to carry on the mantle in his new surroundings. Given that he has made no secret of being a Rangers fan, this is not a stepping stone for the front man; rather, this is the final destination. Assuming that he himself can settle into the role of starting hitman, it is not too hard to imagine him being a leading voice to players from foreign shores or prospects finding their feet at this behemoth club.
Devlin, meanwhile, was one of McInnes’ trusted lieutenants at Tynecastle last season and there is more than a kernel of truth to the notion that he has been added to the pack for his qualities off the field almost as much as those he possesses on it. McInnes has made no secret of the fact that he likes the voice Devlin brings to the dressing room, a factor that has been sorely missed at Rangers over the last handful of years.
Perhaps this particular predicament the club have found themselves in recently can be summed up by Russell Martin’s inclusion of Kieran Dowell as part of the ill‑fated “leadership group” this time last year. Soon after, Dowell was bombed out of the first‑team picture, making one appearance between the end of August and a January switch to Hull, which became permanent last summer.
Now, though, McInnes looks to mean business by building a leadership core of his own and shifting out the big voices from last season – Jack Butland has also left for Hull, while John Souttar looks destined for pastures new. In their place are the aforementioned Hearts duo, former Auchenhowie graduate and EFL stalwart Ross McCrorie, Croatian deputy goalkeeper Ivor Pandur, 20‑year‑old Partizan Belgrade captain Vanja Dragojevic and, of course, the man who led Sunderland to Premier League promotion, Dan Neil.
Neil, along with McCrorie and Ben Godfrey, are the others who have been named as captain by the new manager. A surprise choice for some, perhaps, but his CV would suggest otherwise. A product of the Black Cats’ academy system, he shouldered the weight of expectation of his city and wore the armband at Wembley as his side made it back to the top flight.
He found first‑team football hard to come by after the side invested heavily in Noah Sadiki and Granit Xhaka, both of whom were in contention for player of the year in their position last season not just at the Stadium of Light, but in the whole division. Northern Echo journalist Dominic Shaw told the Rangers Review: “He would think nothing of wearing the armband at Rangers. Clearly he will know the enormity of what that means. He will relish playing for a club where it means so, so much. I think that will bring the best out of Dan Neil.
“I’d be amazed if he absolutely isn’t in contention. He’s the type who will lead whether he’s got the armband on or not.”
Read more:
- Cammy Devlin explains story of Rangers move: McInnes texts, summer stress, late offer
- Inside Dragojevic deal: Studying Rangers matches, captain profile and midfield role
Whether Neil is given the captaincy remains to be seen, but it is clear that McInnes this season will rely on more than just one player to turn to when things get tough. The pattern of recruitment has been to fill the team with personality and have big voices in each line of the park. No longer will the burden of responsibility fall on one or two; instead, Rangers are being built to be more balanced when it comes to steering this mighty vessel through what will undoubtedly be choppy waters at times.
To what ends, only time will tell, but perhaps the best thing that Rangers fans can hope for is that who is wearing the armband is immaterial when there are leaders in every corner of the Ibrox dressing room.
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