Rotherham boss Steve Evans
has explained his decision to hand Greg Halford the captain’s armband for the
2015/2016 campaign.
Evans overlooked several
other strong candidates for the role, including Richie Smallwood, Lee
Frecklington and Danny Collins, though the Scot confirmed that Collins will
assist Halford.
“We have said that Greg will
be the captain, ably assisted by Danny Collins,” Evans said.
“Danny is a very experienced man
in the captaincy role, so Greg will lead it but he will very closely assisted
by Danny.
“It’s never an easy decision
to pick a captain because you pick them for wholly different reasons than a
supporter would pick them.”
Halford, who has made over
400 career appearances, got the role after a fitting a very specific criteria
set by Evans.
“You look for someone who can
help integrate and manage the dressing room, that doesn’t mean be the boss,
that doesn’t mean shouting and balling,” Evans added.
“Sometimes you want a captain
who will lead by example, who will bring issues to you nice and early because there
are always issues when you are managing 20-30 staff.
“You want someone to come and
work with you, I have been very fortunate with captains over the years, I have
had that.
“I had that with Craig (Morgan) over the last couple of seasons and every
captain I have had I’ve always had a wonderful relationship.
“I have always been able to sit
down and have a cup of tea and talk openly and that is what I want from my captain,
it is not necessarily someone who shouts and balls, but it can be someone who
goes about their business in a quiet and confident way.
“But just someone who brings
the group together, works with the staff and sees the bigger picture on days
when the rest of the team don’t see the bigger picture.
“An example is when you win
3-0 and you bring them in on the Sunday for specific reason, you need your
captain to say whatever reason it is in order to benefit the team.”
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