It's a question that has been on my mind since mid-way through last season. Simon Francis is one of the old guard that leads by example, and while he has been unable to play on the field he has no doubt learnt how to be a more effective captain from the sidelines. Now that there is a chance that Francis could be back in another month or two is this the leadership that AFCB need to make results more consistent?
It's big players that other look up to and take their lead from. Francis is a big character and one that wants to win. He won't expect anyone to do anything less than him on the pitch and he is a figure of great concentration when he is playing. He may have an important role to play this season if there are problems at right-back of centre-half. He might prefer not to play right-back anymore, but Eddie Howe knows he'l do a job there if he needs him to.
The competition for Aké and Steve Cook is where Francis will ant to make an impact. He has to believe he can still challenge for a spot here, and that is going to be difficult if as expected Aké and Cook get a start of six or 10 games before Francis is fully back in the squad. Although Howe has other options like Mepham and Simpson, or Kelly, I'm confident that Francis will be one player that Eddie Howe is keen to get pushing for a place come November when we get into the meat of the season. It could be Francis' last season and so I hope that he gets to play as many games as he can.
If time has moved on though, we will soon see AFCB needing to find another voice to push the team on. But leaders don't always appear quickly and it may be that AFCB will need to find a strong personality to bring in the next 12 months if Howe doesn't see enough leadership qualities in his squad without Francis.
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| Simon Francis has much work to do to get back into the side. |
I am a believer that a captain should be in the starting 11. While it is no fault of Francis that he hasn't been able to do that for the last few months it is clear that Francis still holds the captain's armband and when he is fit it will be important to get him playing. I don't think AFCB are really complete without having Francis there on the pitch, and the sooner he can get back the more focussed I see the team being.
It's big players that other look up to and take their lead from. Francis is a big character and one that wants to win. He won't expect anyone to do anything less than him on the pitch and he is a figure of great concentration when he is playing. He may have an important role to play this season if there are problems at right-back of centre-half. He might prefer not to play right-back anymore, but Eddie Howe knows he'l do a job there if he needs him to.
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If time has moved on though, we will soon see AFCB needing to find another voice to push the team on. But leaders don't always appear quickly and it may be that AFCB will need to find a strong personality to bring in the next 12 months if Howe doesn't see enough leadership qualities in his squad without Francis.
Don't agree. Ake would make a supurb captain. Leading by example hardly ever makes a mistake unlike francis
ReplyDeleteI agree Francis has been brilliant but lost his speed and that's where the errors get forced.
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