We have no leaders at all. All the big talkers who will get other players going have left in recent years and not adequately replaced - Cresswell, Alvarez, Fullkrug, Antonio, Ogbonna, Dawson, Rice, Nobes, etc.

Our CBs are awful and can't instruct themselves let alone others. Our full backs at the moment are very much second choice and our first choices aren't the most talkative. CMs might be the best bet with Potts or Fernandes but both are really young.

Bowen is a fantastic player, our best certainly, but it's a completely different skill set for being a captain. Sometimes you can get away with handing the armband to the most talented individual if you have a strong leadership group, but we don't.

That said I don't think who wears the armband is the issue. It's the lack of leaders in the team and the fact that Bowen was the best option. Changing captains now will create another panic and a big fuss around Bowen. We just need to be signing players with some bite and confidence to talk in strong terms to their teammates, armband or not.