Captain Tom Lawrence

[Dethorn]

4 hours ago, teddyb16 said:

This is definitely Rooney using a bit if his Sir Alex experience. The decision you would hope was discussed by the coaching staff.

Sir Alex made Cantona captain after his ban for the Kung Fu kick and after he had asked for his contract to be terminated. He lead them to the title.

John Toshack named Craig Bellamy the Wales captain ahead of Giggs. Gareth Bale captains Wales despite having zero interest in playing for Real and they got to a semi final.

I am not saying Lawrence is in this mould of player but divisive players who split opinion have captained sides throughout history, some with great success.

Paulo diCanio, Duncan Ferguson, Jack Grealish 

Rooney et al work with him daily and they know the club has stood by him

 

Good luck Tom

Not sure but I do not think any of those three are divisive?

In fact almost the opposite, were they not heroes of almost all the fanbase ?

[UTFR]

Does the absence of strikers and the armband given to Tom suggest he will be playing more centrally this season? Presumably in the 10?

Good luck to him. I've lots of mates who have made daft mistakes in their early 20s and matured in their later 20s and with a bit of focus, are now doing well for themselves. Sometimes a baby, a missus or a new job can be that spark needed. Fingers crossed.

[LeedsCityRam]

Interesting move & I suspect was done with his contract situation in mind.

To do well this season, we need Tom to unlock that undoubted potential & have a stand out year in goals & assists. I get the sense with him that he's often quite peripheral - certainly in terms of what we see from him on the park. In theory then, making him the leader of the team & giving him a key role leaves no doubt what we expect from him. Guessing Rooney will also have linked it to Lawrence's omission from the Welsh squad for the Euros & telling him its a shop window for a really good move next season.

I'd be very surprised if Tom stays with us beyond his contract expiring but there is sometimes a danger with players in their last year going through the motions, especially if they're unlikely to sign an extension. Could be a wise call from Rooney & reality is we know that its Kazim, Curtis & Shinnie who are the real 'soul' of the team & they're likely to know that i.e. providing the rationale was explained properly, we could have the best of both worlds.

[BaaLocks]

5 minutes ago, LeedsCityRam said:

we need Tom to unlock that undoubted potential & have a stand out year in goals & assists.

I don't agree it is undoubted - he has moments of excellence, some clear ability but he has been here four years now (got the Captain gig as he is one of our most experienced players, yeah!). Reading (a), Huddersfield (h) season before last are two games I remember him using a moment or two of brilliance to turn a game around - I'm sure there are others I must be forgetting but I'm not falling over myself with memories. He's an OK squad member, certainly a team member with the bare bones squad we have but he is not this great talent waiting to burst through and amaze us - that moment has passed a long time since.

But, I wish him well, hope it goes well for him and us - we need all our gambles to pay off if we are to stay up. But I don't see it happening.

[AutoWindscreens]

Wayne's speech ... blimey that really has disheartened me. 

I hope I'm wrong, but I cannot think of a good manager who is not a good communicator.

[brady1993]

1 hour ago, Duracell said:

Bit odd to give the captain's armband to a player that's never shown any leadership credentials up to this point.

The "it might make him mature" argument is illogical and wouldn't hold water in any other industry. 

How would you feel if one of your colleagues who got your old team leader sacked because he crashed a car drunk with your team leader in it, and had a track record of letting you down a few times by losing his head in vital moments, was made team leader because it might by some magic sort out his flaws? 

I can't make sense of the argument that regular demonstrations of irresponsibility makes you the best person for a position of responsibility. We're talking about club captain here, not the Year 3 milk monitor.

None of this is criticism of Tom Lawrence's character as a professional footballer, by the way. His team-mates obviously still respect him and he has served punishments for his indiscretions. But to become club captain is a huge leap.

I mostly agree but there has been a couple things I've been thinking on with this whole thing.

Firstly, one thing we don't know is how Lawrence behaves in and around the squad off the pitch, so we don't really know what those kind of inter-squad interactions are like.

Secondly, whilst your point about other industries is pertinant, football captaincy isn't like most team leader roles per se in that the responsibilities of it are pretty limited in scope.

Lastly, off the back of previous evidence Lawrence is likely one of few guarenteed starters under Rooney with the only others being probably Byrne, Shinnie and perhaps Marshall (excluding the injured Bielik), it might even suggest that he is more likely to start than the others (although that is speculative).

Therefore with all that mixed in with an element of needing to find something extra in the squad, it might be worth the gamble if you felt it might lead to improved performances. Honestly I really don't know though and despite the above I'm still scratching my head about why this decision has been made, it's just all round a little odd.

[Boss]

35 minutes ago, AutoWindscreens said:

Wayne's speech ... blimey that really has disheartened me. 

I hope I'm wrong, but I cannot think of a good manager who is not a good communicator.

Steve Coppell hasn't done a bad job and he looks & sounds half asleep most the time.

Hopefully this is the push Lawrence needs and he can lead us to a good place this season.

[Dethorn]

33 minutes ago, brady1993 said:

 

Firstly, one thing we don't know is how Lawrence behaves in and around the squad off the pitch, so we don't really know what those kind of inter-squad interactions are like.

 

I imagine he buys his round !!

[RoyMac5]

50 minutes ago, AutoWindscreens said:

Wayne's speech ... blimey that really has disheartened me. 

I hope I'm wrong, but I cannot think of a good manager who is not a good communicator.

Did you watch the whole interview with Niall Horan? He didn't seem totally at ease on camera either. Perhaps it's what can happen when people are out of their 'natural environment'. Rooney isn't an orator to camera for sure. ?

[Nishfan]

Good luck to Tom & really hoping it’s the making of him.

Also hoping that Curtis is staying - he’ll be such a great mentor to Tom if so 

 

[i-Ram]

5 hours ago, Tamworthram said:

Anyone else notice that it was Curtis who lightened the mood and put his arm around Tom’s neck in a playful (and supportive) way? What a man.

As for Tom being chosen, I’m surprised but happy to support him. As others have said, it could be the making of him and, unlike some others, I’m not writing him off or ridiculing the choice.

[AutoWindscreens]

32 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Did you watch the whole interview with Niall Horan? He didn't seem totally at ease on camera either. Perhaps it's what can happen when people are out of their 'natural environment'. Rooney isn't an orator to camera for sure. ?

I didn't, and I don't want to judge people out of context, etc... But I was still disheartened

[w8sey]

1 hour ago, AutoWindscreens said:

Wayne's speech ... blimey that really has disheartened me. 

I hope I'm wrong, but I cannot think of a good manager who is not a good communicator.

The speech was embarrassing, would be interesting to hear a half time team talk when we are 1 down. I bet you it starts with eeeeerm 

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

25 minutes ago, w8sey said:

The speech was embarrassing, would be interesting to hear a half time team talk when we are 1 down. I bet you it starts with eeeeerm 

I'm being a bit thick again.........What speech are we talking about? Got a link?

[Miggins]

2 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

Did you watch the whole interview with Niall Horan? He didn't seem totally at ease on camera either. Perhaps it's what can happen when people are out of their 'natural environment'. Rooney isn't an orator to camera for sure. ?

I was about to say the same, RoyMac5. I've known teachers who were as hot as mustard in front of a class but were so nervous if asked to take a school assembly if all the staff were going to be present. I remember the first school assembly I was asked to do. I was very confident in my classroom, but I practised that assembly for about 3 nights in front of the bedroom mirror, worried about it the night before and felt sick on the morning. I hope that Wayne grows into the role like I had to or maybe it's something he will never feel at ease with. I can't imagine that his speeches are exactly eloquent and impassioned behind the scenes either, but I can hope!!?

[Miggins]

4 hours ago, UTFR said:

Does the absence of strikers and the armband given to Tom suggest he will be playing more centrally this season? Presumably in the 10?

Good luck to him. I've lots of mates who have made daft mistakes in their early 20s and matured in their later 20s and with a bit of focus, are now doing well for themselves. Sometimes a baby, a missus or a new job can be that spark needed. Fingers crossed.

Just yesterday I read something I really liked, but I can't remember where but it's pertinent to this thread...

'Every saint has a past and every sinner a future.'  I'm not calling Captain Tom a sinner, but we've all done stupid things that come back to haunt us at about 3am. We can't change what we did in the past but we can make up for it in the future. Good luck, Tom! I'm so happy that so many on this thread are behind you.

[mwram1973]

1 hour ago, The Scarlet Pimpernel said:

I'm being a bit thick again.........What speech are we talking about? Got a link?

It's the one where he's telling the players that tom will be Captain. Apparently he should have been running around the pitch shouting and getting the players motivated.

 

[Miggins]

17 hours ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

Well good luck to tom,he's one of my favourites despite his detractors but let's hope he lasts longer than Rooneys' last two of Knight and marshall....it didn't do them much good sadly and both deteriorated over the season and lost the armband.

I'd personally much prefer that a defender takes on the captain role,it just seems to work better,orchestrating from the back.

And that speech,jeez,if was cringing,how did the lads feel.

 

Actually, Kash, I wondered where the lads were? Were they perhaps behind the camera, very amused at his discomfort?? (and adding to it?)

[ollycutts1982]

47 minutes ago, Miggins said:

Just yesterday I read something I really liked, but I can't remember where but it's pertinent to this thread...

'Every saint has a past and every sinner a future.'  I'm not calling Captain Tom a sinner, but we've all done stupid things that come back to haunt us at about 3am. We can't change what we did in the past but we can make up for it in the future. Good luck, Tom! I'm so happy that so many on this thread are behind you.

My sister in law has that phrase tramp stamped, I mean tattooed on her. Were you in Chesterfield yesterday??

[Miggins]

3 minutes ago, ollycutts1982 said:

My sister in law has that phrase tramp stamped, I mean tattooed on her. Were you in Chesterfield yesterday??

I wasn't, Olly! It was either on the radio or it could have been from the diaries of Kenneth Williams which I have just started to read!  Kudos to your sister!