Kolo named captain

The first official announcement from Hughes over the future captaincy of City: Kolo Touré. This is no suprise. He wore the armband at Selhurst and Fratton Parks in the absence of the Villa-bound Richard Dunne, and from that point his new role was clear. But of course he could not be confirmed as the new captain while Dunne was still at the club. Hughes had this to say:

“He has all the attributes you need to be a good captain – great enthusiasm for the game, and is nice and vocal in the dressing room and before, during and after games. And he wants to drive the club forward. We are very lucky to now have that mentality in our dressing room with a lot of the lads, who could all carry the mantle of being a football team captain. But Kolo is the better option for us.

“You see those qualities from afar but until you work closely with a player you don’t get inside the way he conducts himself, and how he is as a man and as a footballer. Having worked with him for a couple of months, he has shown good qualities on and off the field, and the qualities he has shown are the ones you can use to the benefit of everybody."

High praise. This is quite a surprising appointment though. Back in January I harboured hopes that Vincent Kompany would be Dunne's replacement, but summer arrivals have relegated him to a utility player when he returns from his toe injury. And then I thought that it would be Gareth Barry given his experience at Villa. Touré, remember, has quite limited captaincy experience at Arsenal. But Hughes has made his decision with access to more knowledge than literally anyone else on this issue. So I'm sure he's made the right call.