The next Newcastle United captain, who’s got it in them?

With the warm, but for most Newcastle fans, thankful departure of Fabricio Coloccini, the question beckons, who is next in line?

Since he stepped up following the harrowing defeat to Southampton last season, Jamaal Lascelles appears to be the front man to take the role out of the players who remain from the last campaign. For a young man, who may come across as outspoken to some, his attitude is exactly what the club needs. I don’t know what took it so long for one of the players to share their dismay at the team prior to the interview which followed the game. It’s clear that his passion is there, but does he have the experience and composure to lead the squad through a potential 50 + game season?

New boy Jesus Gamez is also being pitted to take up the club’s captaincy. Previous experience across the sea in Spain for both Malaga and Atletico Madrid has seen him rack up over 300 club appearances during his career, which includes Champions League game time. Being captain at Malaga in the past stands him in good stead, especially with his Spanish roots which I think will sit well with Benitez. Will his English be up to the job which he could be destined for?

Next up is want-away Moussa Sissoko. Not only did his performances improve for us when he was paired with the armband, but the ability to take that from club to country level was evident. However, what was also clear was a lack of desire before being appointed the role. That in itself, along with others with the same feelings may have led to the downfall of the clubs Premier League status though. £35 million may be slightly overpriced for a player of his calibre, but doesn’t that beg the question of what Rafa sees in the lad?

Jonjo Shelvey. Stripped of the captaincy after less than 10 games running the show last term, does he have the charisma and determination to lead us back up to the top flight? For some, I suspect they believe it was another one of Stevie Mac’s idea’s which led us into the 2nd tier of English football, but for others, his personality is something to be looked upon and used going forward. Perhaps it was the nature of the fight for survival that contributed to his less than adequate performances and in turn, him being stripped of the captaincy. Will RB give him another chance?

Other candidates which spring to mind are the likes of Jack Colback and even Cheick Tiote. In spite of Tiote’s links to a move away, his hard working and unresolved spirit may sway the decision of top dog Benitez. The same can be said for Jack Colback, who’s determination put into every match, something we lacked last season, may see him heading the list to be captain.

On the other hand, maybe a new face will be handed the armband and the job of getting Newcastle back to where they belong. What do you think? Have your say in the comments below.

155 thoughts on “The next Newcastle United captain, who’s got it in them?

  1. Eric Sykes:
    I bought his first CD but it wouldn’t play. I took that as a sign and have never listened to a song of his ever. I am not even sure if I have heard him on the radio.

    I could not name one of his songs but then I could not name 1 of most people’s songs over the last 10 years to be fair. I have read some of the rubbish he has spouted in the press though and he sounds like a bell end. 😆

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  2. Tiote would be my captain because he is inspirational and leads by example…when hes on the pitch that is ☺

    Lascalles obviously isnt a wallflower and tells it like it is. However, despite a great end to the season, he isnt yet as good as he himself thinks he is, and whereas he has real potential, this season he needs to concentrate on establishing himself in the first team, then hell be in a position to put his name forward for the captaincy. Facit – good lad but not quite there yet..

    Regarding the rest of the shirkers and wasters who got us relegated, I reckon a full season under Rafa will do them all good, and he will instill them all with confidence, hence new leaders will automatically come to the fore, once the transfer cafuffle surrounding our champions league superstars has died down and they have moved on to pastures new.

    Obviously, despite the fact that everyone was telling the toon board what an absolutely fantastic
    coach tufty was, the morale amongst the group was pretty poor. 10 games undr Rafa wasn’t enough time to turn this all round, now he has a major task to weed out the dissidents and bring harmony and focus back to the group.

    Funny really because regarding Sissokos eternal bleatings about wanting away, we have 2 perfect blueprints at the toon in Cabaye, Ba and also Debuchy who all entertained a similar tactic to get moves away from the toon. Sissoko used the same tactic to get a move to the toon, surely we should morally take the money and let the bloke move, at the end of the day we nicked him from Toulouse for a couple of mill and a years supply of bovril crisps… now we can get loadsamoney for him… or can Rafa weave his magic on him to get him to stay….I reckon its an impossible task. We all know that having a six year contrat means nowt in football these days…

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  3. I would just like to put on record that I have NOT been approached for the England job. This will be my final statement on this emotional and important subject. Troy Stavers, Alan Pardew, Sam Allardyce, Boris Johnson, Steve Bruce etc are all more suited to this unenviable task..

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  4. Ice – he’s desperate to join the toon & work with Rafa if reports are to be believed. He’s on the verge of putting a transfer request in to force the move. But if he’s not in the team then that would suggest his move is close.

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  5. Already doing better than last season! Did we win a pre season game under the Grin Reaper?

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  6. Couple of interesting things have happened today.

    1) Lascelles is Captain. Good.
    2) Sterry started and did well.
    3) Ritchie owned that goal.
    4) Thauvin Jas been given a lifeline.
    5) So has Gouffran. Shop window or squad options?

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  7. Well it’s 5-0 now. Goals from Mitro (pen), Ritchie, Gaylw, Thauvin,Aarons.

    Aaron’s again displaying that he has supreme talent but is made of glass as he goes off injured. Perez off Injured too.

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  8. Our guys dropping like flies, De Jong, Mbabu, Aarrons, Perez 🙄

    Good to see lots of different guys on the score sheet though.

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  9. Hanley will force the move. Blackburn can’t afford to be turning down £5/6m for defenders.

    Looks like Lascelles in with a good shout of skipper. Apparently he’s head of a players committee and was skipper today of course too.

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  10. Icedog:
    B/Burn now what 8 mil for Hendry ffs

    WTF, Last week they wanted £6m, is this cause Norwich met the £6m and they want a bidding war between them and us? I would tell them to swivel I’m afraid, that’s too high for a championship defender.

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  11. See Norwich are in for Hanley now too, which will push the asking price up . Funny that , Norwich’s manager has been complaining that us and Villa have inflated the transfer prices in the championship yet now wants to go toe to toe with us in a bidding war.

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  12. Life is Black and White:
    See Norwich are in for Hanley now too, which will push the asking price up . Funny that , Norwich’s manager has been complaining that us and Villa have inflated the transfer prices in the championship yet now wants to go toe to toe with us in a bidding war.

    aye talk about being two faced,open their gobs and owt comes out

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  13. it stands to reason that blackburn will want as much as they can for an international centre half, who are the toon at the end of the day? Blackburn have also won the league in the last 60 years, more than you can say about us !
    i would imagine the toon have alternatives lined up should he choose to join Norwich.

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  14. I believe we have offered £5.5m for Hanley which is perfectly reasonable IMO.
    Hanley is desperate to join us, so leave the offer on the table & let the lad force the move I say.

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  15. Munich Mag:
    it stands to reason that blackburn will want as much as they can for an international centre half,who are the toon at the end of the day? Blackburn have also won the league in the last 60 years, more than you can say about us !
    i would imagine the toon have alternatives lined up should he choose to join Norwich.

    Munich – Bburn won the league in 1995, Hanley was 3yrs old.
    Bburn were relegated in 2012 and have remained there since – finishing 15th in the CL last season.

    Who are the Toon? – probably his best chance of playing PL football I reckon.

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  16. sharpy mate, youre missing the point…
    blackburn will play hard baal to get as much as they can. yes or no ?
    Blackburn have won the EPL in more recent years than we have. Yes or no ?

    I rest my case your honour… ☺.

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  17. Munich Mag:
    sharpy mate, youre missing the point…
    blackburn will play hard baal to get as much as they can. yes or no?
    Blackburn have won the EPL in more recent years than we have. Yes or no ?

    I rest my case your honour… .

    Munich – Hanley has already missed pre season games and you know as well as I do that players & agents force moves regardless of how much money a club wants to hold out for.

    As for them winning the league, I don’t get what relevance that holds?. He was 3 at the time & finished 15th in the CCC last year – they’ve never come close to the play offs since relegation.

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  18. Compare Blackburn’s current value and current potential against Newcastle’s. Compare their financial clout vs Newcastle’s and then you will see where the power is. If we want him, we will get him, provided a bigger club than us does not come in.

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  19. Munich Mag:
    sharpy mate, youre missing the point…
    blackburn will play hard baal to get as much as they can. yes or no?
    Blackburn have won the EPL in more recent years than we have. Yes or no ?

    I rest my case your honour… .

    >
    Yeah and they won it with alan Shearer scoring the goals then conned us into buying him for 15 million 🙄 😆

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  20. LIBAW …thanks bud, you see where I’m heading 😉

    Shamrock, we’re traditoonally a small minded club mate, with great fans… always have been … apart from a few hiccup years with with SBR and wee Keggy where we punched above our weight … the rest has been dire to middling mate … at least in my 45 years of following the toon 🙂

    Best bid of conning we’ve had done on us in our history I reckon… Shearer = Legend…

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  21. LIBAW …thanks bud, you see where I’m heading 😉

    Shamrock, we’re traditionally a small minded club mate, with great fans… always have been … apart from a few hiccup years with with SBR and wee Keggy where we punched above our weight … the rest has been dire to middling mate … at least in my 45 years of following the toon 🙂

    Best bid of conning we’ve had done on us in our history I reckon… Shearer = Legend…

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  22. Shamrock, now we’re slugging it out with the rest of them for Bournemouth’s best players, Arsenal reserves, and ageing Spaniards. The only way is up !!

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  23. Yes we are MM. But our value is still at least 3 times more than Blackburn’s. We can still offer wages 3 times more than Blackburn’s. We are still odds on favourites to be in the PL next year compared to Blackburns 80/1 making them 20th ranked in that league with no hope of doing anything of note any time soon.

    We have played 150 more games than Blackburn’s in the PL and have 200 more PL points than them.

    We still have several players valued over £10m compared to their zero and we have Rafa whilst they have Coyle. We have qualified for Europe 16 times compared to their 6.

    I’m not saying we are a top team. But I am saying we are a far bigger side than Blackburn’s Rover’s with way more pulling power. On top of that, they are in financial dire straits. They won’t let the opportunity go to sell for decent dosh, they are just doing what all clubs do – maximising profit where the opportunity exists. If we want Hanley, we will get him.

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  24. A honestly dont see what every 1 else sees in hanley, if he was as good as ppl say why hasnt any 1 else went in for him until now. Aye hes a Scottish international but scotland are ****. I understand we need cover for cb, kalas has just signed for fulham on loan. We should of got him till end of season then when we go up buy a top cb.

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  25. A 6-0 win today. Very nice but the injuries are a bit worrisome. Aarons can’t seem to play a full match without getting injured. It looks like another player made of glass sadly

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  26. Nice to score 6, even if it was a friendly . It’s been a while since that happened.

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  27. Sham, youre preaching to the converted mate.
    However, how many times have Blackburn won the league in the last 50 years, and how many times have we ? Blackburn won the league with a millionaire bankrolling them, we have a billionaire bankrolling us and we have been relegated twice in 10 years.
    What does Alan Shearer have standing on his mantlepiece, a Championship winners medal from his time at Blackburn, and a toon video of howay five oh when we beat Man United 5-0 at SJP.

    Blackburn will try and stick it up us regarding Hanley, its obvious surely ? Were doing the same with other clubs, the only difference now is we dont have sniggering and cackling ex board members in the background backed up by the chronny trying to convince toon fans that we are world beaters and have got the markets sussed.

    A massive dose of karma has just bitten the toon on the **** mate… they all know who they are, and its got nowt to do with the fans…

    Now we have battered Bohemians third team with our pimped up squad. Life doesnt get any better than this ☺

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  28. G2 Aarons problem will be fixed by someone else. The lad is out of contract next summer, and still hasnt signed an extension from what I recall. Or did I miss summat ?
    Fingers crossed that Rafa can convince him to stay…

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  29. Sham, dont misunderstand mate, youre dead right with your comparison between the toon and blackburn. that wasnt my point though, my issue was with the hanley transfer fee being pushed up and toon fans getting all in a tizz about it.
    Bog standard players go for millions these days, why shouldnt blackburn try to get millions for lne lf their prime assets ? Why should they renege just because the toon come in for him.. Hanley will force the issue himself, and i reckon charnley will do a good deal… however if it was so straight forward he would be holding the stripes aloft by now..

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  30. Probably the biggest factor in us getting Hanley or not will be Rafa . We are debating the size and history of the two clubs but forgetting what is probably the biggest factor for the player.

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  31. kimtoon, dont forget he also has graham carrs telephone number ?.
    i reckon well see sissoko leaving to go somewhere on loan, or sell him for 25 mill…. the question is which of the english clubs playing in the champions league will take a punt on the flake which is sissoko ? hell end up warming the bench and picking up loads of money and medals like the other legend in his own lunch break demba ba (although for a period of time demba was magnificent for the toon, something which the flakey one wasnt by a long shot)…
    who in there right mind would sign for alan pardew when they know he will be leaving soon to take over england and theyll be left with a pair of fluffy donkeys ears ?

    all this plus brexit and all… when does the Bundesliga start
    again ? ??

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  32. Munich Mag:
    tufty to the makkems would be just brilliant…….gannin dooooooon…..

    Could you imagine the reaction of their fans if that happened , it would be Unreal the amount of abuse he would get after coming out in his first press statement saying judge me after 15 games . The **** take we Geordies could dole out too them Goes far beyond what they dished out too us when we pass them by at the end of the upcoming season .They really want relegation if the appoint the grinning one too replace fat sam.

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  33. Munich Mag:
    icedog

    hope youre keeping well mate

    top of the pops mate,wish i had a smaller garden lol,how yersel?been doing a lot of galavanting about lately i see could de with somemore photos like 😉

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  34. SHARPY I think that’s him finished mate he’s coming up 32 that break could take up to year to able to play again,will he be the same I doubt it

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  35. Icedog:
    SHARPY I think that’s him finished mate he’s coming up 32 that break could take up to year to able to play again,will he be the same I doubt it

    Ice – fortunately he made a career out of being a mercanary so he should have plenty in the bank to see him right 😉

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  36. Lascelles on being captain yesterday

    ‘I feel so proud.‘

    I was getting hints in training but the manager didn’t actually tell me. Then when I arrived at the ground and went into the changing room he told I would be the captain.

    It took my breath away because it’s such a big thing for me.

    It’s unbelievable to be wearing the captain’s armband for Newcastle United, even in a pre-season friendly. I class myself as a leader but wearing the armband made me feel ten feet tall, like a proper leader.

    For Rafa Benitez to give me the captain’s armband shows how much trust and respect he has for me and I will never forget this moment.

    We will see what happens in the season but either way, whoever the manager picks as captain for the season, will be the right person.

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  37. Rafa on Liam and John
    ‘Today, Sunday 17th July, my thoughts are with the families of our fans John Alder and Liam Sweeney, who lost their lives following the club that they loved in pre-season two years ago. They are in the hearts of so many people at this club. Come on Toons!!!‘

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  38. Sad about Ba. I hope he recovers well. Might be the end at his age though. I’m still looking back at our last Championship season and comparing those players to the current crop:
    GK: mostly Harper (45 apps total), Krul 3
    Current GK’s: Krul, Elliot, Sels, Darlow
    Current team stronger in goal.
    Back 4: Colo 37 apps, Saylor 21, Willow 16 etc.
    Current Back 4: Janmaat, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett, Satka, Haidara etc
    Current team at least as good and younger with more to come.
    Midfield: Nolan, Barton, Guthrie, Duff, Smith, Jonas, Geremi etc.
    Current midfield: Colback, Sissoko, Tiote, Wini, Anita, Shelvey, Aarons, Saivet etc
    Current midfield not as suited to the Championship as 2009-2010 MF’s
    Forwards: Lovehandles, Ameobi, Best, Carroll etc.
    Current forwards: Gayle, Mitrovic, with Perez, De Jong and Gouffy all able to fill in.
    Current squad not as deep in strikers with experience unless we get another one.
    All in all the current team will have it’s hands full trying to match the record of the team from 2009-2010. If we get a good CB and ideally another striker with more experience we could do it.

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  39. I think we will walk it, but don’t think we will get anywhere near Hoots’ points haul. That was an extremely impressive season and I believe there is more strength in depth in the Championship these days.

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  40. Leicester went up 0n 102 in 13/14 season, last two seasons totals were 93 Burnley just gone and 90 Bournemouth 14/15 season. I would like to think we’d get 90

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  41. Talk of Liverpool looking to get Gini tied up before they leave for a tour of North America on Thursday. I’d quite like to get him and Sissy gone asap so we can concentrate on those that actually want to be here and we all know where we stand. Fingers crossed this happens.

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  42. Icedog: By the look of it mate it’s not “his” choice

    Yeah looks that way

    Sham , Agree lets get them gone if they don’t wanna be here

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  43. Wouldn’t let Gini leave for less than £27m. Liverpool value Ibe at £15m so for a international player who scores double figures in a relegated PL team it’s worth £27m

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  44. I think Gini to Lpool makes sense & I agree with Stu – if they get £15m for Ibe then £27m is more than fair for a Dutch international that notched 11 PL goals in a ***** team last season.

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  45. We have almost a full team with less than a year at SJP. Doesn’t it usually take about that long to settle and double if you have Schteve chopping and changing everything depending on the last result? There’s

    Sels
    Darlow
    Gamez
    Mbemba
    Shelvey
    Saivet
    Hayden
    Wijnaldum
    Thauvin
    Richie
    Gayle
    Mitro

    That’s a whole team with little time under their belt at NUFC. I wouldn’t mind more players in especially if Gini and Sissoko leave, but we already have a whole raft of them that haven’t played that much.

    Add in de Jong, Aarons and Armstrong who will be like the preverbial new signings and we have options but also so many that will still need bedded in.

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  46. Kante cost 32 mil,I know he’s a D/M but even so they are on the same level he played in a team that were full of it,Gino played in a team that was in free fall

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  47. That’s a pretty big turnover, 13 potential first teamers who weren’t here a year ago.

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  48. Ice: I read that Kante had a 20 mil buyout but only to a CL team. When Chelsea came in they had to pay a bit over that but some think he was maybe worth even a bit more. Who the hell knows in this crazy transfer market.

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