Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill says he will be more clear in his mind about the captaincy issue when the team play again in March, suggesting that rotating the armband at international level is not a bad thing.
Before the Nations League began, O’Neill declared that he would name different skippers throughout the campaign and he was true to his word, giving Trai Hume, Conor Bradley and Shea Charles the opportunity to lead the team in two games each.
Earlier in 2024 in friendlies Paddy McNair, Jonny Evans and Daniel Ballard skippered the side.
Had Manchester United’s Evans, who took over captaincy duties from Steven Davis, still been playing international football he would be the obvious choice, but O’Neill has yet to decide who will have that honour when the World Cup qualifiers begin next year.
Charles, who was captain for the last two Nations League matches against Belarus and Luxembourg, says there are several leaders in the squad, though it would be an intriguing move if O’Neill continued to rotate the role as he did in 2024.
“I don’t really have to address the captaincy thing for four months,” said O’Neill, whose captain during his first spell as boss was Davis, with Evans stepping in when required.
“I have looked at a lot of different teams and have looked at a lot of different situations.
“When we came in and Steven Davis became the captain, Steven was a fantastic captain off the back of Aaron (Hughes), who had been a very good captain as well through some difficult times.
“Maybe, when you look at international football, rotating the captaincy is not a bad thing because maybe when the team isn’t doing so well the captain feels it that a little bit more, so, as Shea (Charles) has said, I think there are five or six players in our dressing room who could wear the armband and that’s what it is…it’s an armband essentially.
“I think that’s something for me to think over. The most important thing is we have leaders in our team and all the lads that have been given the captaincy have handled it well and conducted themselves well.
“The most important thing is they are important players at their clubs and they are obviously important players for us as well. The captaincy is something I will have a think about.
“I always felt if you have one captain for a long period sometimes other players miss out. Steven was such a good captain that Jonny Evans didn’t get the opportunity too much. I felt Jonny deserved to be a captain for his career but it’s just timing.
“The most important thing is we have a group of leaders in our dressing room. When the time comes I’ll probably be a little more clearer in my head in March and we know where the World Cup draw sits.”