Steven Gerrard makes decision Eddie Howe refused to at Newcastle

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Earlier in the summer there were calls for Eddie Howe to change his Newcastle United captain.

The armband belongs to Jamaal Lascelles, but he has slipped way down the pecking order since the turn of the year. New centre-backs have arrived, and so have new leaders.

Kieran Trippier has, unsurprisingly, emerged as a big character in the Toon dressing room, while Dan Burn is also part of Howe’s leadership group.

This led to calls that Lascelles, who is now fourth choice centre-back, should be replaced as captain. However, that is not happening.

Howe has confirmed that the 28-year-old is going nowhere, and that he will continue to wear the armband for Newcastle when he plays.

It’s a sensible decision by the Toon boss, but Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard is taking a different approach.

Steven Gerrard changes captain at Aston Villa

Tyrone Mings was the Aston Villa captain, but that is no longer the case. They have confirmed that John McGinn will now don the armband, while Ashley Young is the club captain.

It’s a big call by Gerrard, and one that could go either way. The Villa boss has stated that he hopes not having the captaincy will allow Mings to focus on his own game and improve. The defender has also commented on the situation on Twitter and put on record that he has ‘no issues with the managers decision‘.

While that might be the case, it’s still a massive risk by Gerrrard. It will be difficult for Mings to change his role within the squad, having previously been the main leader at Villa Park. This decision could possibly lead to issues behind the scenes, unless Mings leaves the club.

This is all hypothetical, but these are the type of issues that Gerrard’s decision could lead to. For their sake, hopefully it doesn’t create any problems. But there are no guarantees that it won’t. If it was me, I wouldn’t like being the captain one day then suddenly be told I have to listen to someone else.

It’s an issue that Howe has avoided by keeping Lascelles as captain. He leads the squad, while Trippier will likely lead the team on the pitch. No potential problems have been created – everyone is happy.

Howe has taken the sensible approach, and it will be one that pays off. As for Gerrard’s big call, only time will tell.