michaelcheetham

What would people reccommend is the best factor when choosing your captain? teamwork, influence or a mixture of the two?

Also does the amount of time the player has been at the club and if he is a fans favourite come into it?

thanks for your help

Barnzy

Influence defeinatly - and also needs to be well liked by the team.

skanky

- influence, obvious
- determination, you want your captain to lift your team in times of need
- time at club, noone respects a newbie who has just joined the club
- age, older players wont respect a kid

mwalker99

influence is the main one to look at then i tend to look at other the mental attributes

Amaroq

Please see Selecting a Captain.

michaelcheetham

cheers for the help people. just confusing that my assistant always reccommends player with highest teamwork.

skinnymalinky

Will a players influence rise if given the armband? My squad is bereft of players with a high influence rating.

Amaroq

Yes. That effect has apparently been around a while, but was made more pronounced with FM'07; somebody said they made one of their guys captain for three years running, and saw his Influence rise from '3' to '18' or so .. I don't know how pronounced it is in '08.

I think the folks that swear up and down by influence are still living in the CM01/02 world. As noted in my linked post, teamwork is pretty key.

Amaroq

(I don't mean to say that I don't consider Influence - I do, but its more like a secondary consideration after I've identified the 'key candidates' from age, experience, composure, teamwork, and determination.)

prakimus88

my rule is follows a few criteria in this rough order (for top two division teams mainly):

1. ensure the person has at least a decent influence (12 or so). It can improve as captain so it doesn't neccessarily have to be 20.

2. ensure the player has good mental stats, particularly in key 'off-the-ball' ones. This includes determination, teamwork, workrate and bravery. Your captain should be a role model for the squad and someone who isn't going to be unsettled easily.

3. make sure the captain is a good, first choice player. There's no point picking a captain if they aren't going to make the squad or if your trying to replace them.

4. check the player's personality. This overlaps a little with 2, but i generally prefer professional, determined, resilient or resolute (or synonyms for these) as opposed to ambitious, balanced, jovial or even loyal.

5. pick a player who has been at the club for a long time, or better yet, is a youth product (ie. Fernando Torres)

6. If there aren't any stand out older players for the role, then pick a younger lad who you feel will be a key to your team over the next decade.

For vice-captain i follow the same guidelines, but if i have a mid to old captain (>27) i certainly pick a younger player as vice, someone who can replace my captain as he gets on in age.