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Crystal Palace Fan View: Dann vs Puncheon - the captain conundrum
Last summer Mile Jedinak was stripped of the captaincy and not so much shown the door as shoved out of it by Alan Pardew. Scott Dann the chosen man to take over the mantle from the Aussie and at the time, while disappointed by the frankly shocking treatment of a man who was the very definition of the Palace spirit I endorsed Dann’s selection as his replacement. Scott’s captained all but one of his previous clubs and was one of our most consistent performers last season, he had the credentials.
He’s had nearly a full season with the armband but finds himself side-lined by Sakho and Tomkins with the captaincy transferring to Jason Puncheon in his absence from the starting line-up. It looks like Allardyce may not fancy him as his first-choice centre-half, by extension throwing his position as captain into doubt as well. Is Jason Puncheon a temporary stop-gap with Dann still ‘the man’ in the long term, or should Palace be looking away from Dann and outside the box when it comes to the captaincy?
Scott Dann
I don’t think it’s unfair to brand Dann’s albeit limited tenure a failure. He hasn’t inspired the same kind of spirit and performances that Jedinak did before him, he just doesn’t seem to have the charisma to make enough of a difference which is a surprise given he’s captained Coventry and Blackburn prior to Pardew choosing him as the next captain of Crystal Palace Football Club. I’m not saying he doesn’t care, I’m simply saying that we’ve been in some tough situations this season and I haven’t seen him drag a performance out of this team.
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I’ve accused this team of being spineless more times than I can count on my fingers and, irrespective of the coaching staff, ultimately the buck stops with Dann for those kind of performances. We’ve all seen Mile turn around and give someone a mouthful when they’ve lost their man and it’s nearly cost us, I just haven’t seen enough of that from Dann. Perhaps the reason is that he’s acutely aware of his personal struggles this season which has made it tough for him to dish out the criticism. Is the weight of the captaincy affecting his performances or would he have struggled without it? Who knows.
Puncheon
Jason Puncheon is the man that’s taken up the captaincy in the absence of Scott Dann and, on the whole, you’ve got to say his impact and performances have stepped up. We’ve won both games with him leading the side out which is certainly a good start and he’s also been much more effective in those two games then he has for a little while. Many fans are glad to see someone with Crystal Palace running through their veins as captain but him being ‘one of our own’ should have no bearing on Allardyce’s decision to select him as captain.
Captains must understand what it means to play in red and blue, they must care, but this notion that Jason Puncheon being a ‘Palace boy’ makes him a better choice than somebody like James McArthur just doesn’t hold. If he’d been with Palace his whole career then I’d be singing a different tune – you only need look at Terry, Gerrard or Giggs to see that one-club men naturally demand the respect of their peers and are well-placed to be effective captains but Puncheon is not a one-club man, even if he is a Palace fan.
The issue with Jason is that he’s been one of our worst performers over the last season or so. Now I admit that at times he’s been employed in a deeper role to the he is perhaps used to but nevertheless a glance at the statistics coupled with what we see week in and week out tells you his performances haven’t been up to scratch. Puncheon has started 24 games this season and three assists and has failed to score at all – let’s compare that to McArthur and Cabaye. McArthur has started 4 fewer games but has netted five times in the league, collecting two assists along the way while Cabaye has started 6 less games than Punch but has managed to score twice and also pick up two assists.
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Sure, Palace have struggled, but Puncheon has been far from a shining light and if you’re going to lambast Scott Dann for his poor form over the last year then on those grounds Jason should be even further from the captaincy than Scott.
Debating the merits of Jason Puncheon and Scott Dann is all well and good but realistically, who are the alternatives? Wayne Hennessey is the right age and has been at the club a little while but to be both a goalkeeper and captain you must be the standout player in the team, a figurehead, a shining example that makes match-winning saves on a regular basis. Hugo Lloris, Iker Casillas and Wayne Hennessey. Spot the odd one out.
Wilfried Zaha has over 200 games for Palace under his belt but is simply too easily inflamed to consistently manage others while players like Benteke, Tomkins and Townsend are just too new to be reasonable considerations. Luka Milivojevic looks as if he has the hallmarks of a leader and in the long term, next season and beyond, he could be a realistic option going forward however he is also too new to be considered right now.
In summary, then, it appears as if Sam has about as many options as a vegetarian at a Steakhouse – there simply aren’t many senior players that are regular starters. I’m not against Jason Puncheon holding onto the captaincy, his performances have stepped up and we’ve won both games since he took over. What I am against, however, is the absurd notion that because he’s played for Palace as a boy, because he’s a Palace fan, due to that and that alone he should be the captain. No, just no.
