Poll: who should be the permanent England captain?

The man wearing the armband should be Rio Ferdinand, according to Sir Alex Ferguson. Unsurprisingly, the Manchester United manager is pushing his centre-half to the front of the queue for the chance to lead Fabio Capello's England team. "Rio wouldn't have captained my side if he wasn't capable of captaining England," Ferguson boasted.

Expect Avram Grant to tout John Terry, Rafa Benitez to trumpet Steven Gerrard and Ruud Gullit not to give a toss about David Beckham getting an extra special 100th cap unless it delays his return to LA in time for the Galaxy's pre-season.

We want to know what you think. Vote in our poll below:

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Comments

[Matt]

Chelsea doing pretty good without Terry, Liverpool doing rubbish with Gerrard. Man United doing pretty good with Rio, who looks 100% dedicated week in week out, and he is not a thug like Terry and can smile which is something alien to Gerrard!

[James H]

Steven Gerrard, in my opinion proved his worth as a captain after leading Liverpool to the Champions League in 2005. John Terry is unfortunately very injury prone. For me it has to be Steven Gerrard, despite being a Manchester United fan. Rio is a great defender, but he doesn't capture English football for me as well as "Stevie G"

[Guy]

Ferdinand's hedonism is not the sort of example a captain should set, and for that he loses all my respect. For being a gentleman on and off the pitch the only candidate can be Steven Gerrard.

[Bubbla Ranks]

Stevie G gets my vote - apart from being a born leader and inspiration to his team mates, he is also technically brilliant (as seen on many an occasion for Liverpool). Given the right backing from management and freedom to play his natural game he would be the best choice. If David Beckham was younger / playing closer to home he would be a close runner, as he has always given 110% for his country and has at times shouldered the burden of poorer players around him.

[Patrick]

Doesn't matter.

England won't win anything anyway.

rio would be ok at organising parties but not mucj else

[Tony]

Garrard is the man - I always get the feeling that he is not just committed but thinking about the team - and you need both

[Arsene]

What about Almunia? Managed by a foreigner and captained by a to be ex-Spaniard, the Armada,a bit late but Spanish-style.

[david aitken]

beckham should not be in the team never mind in the running for captain.

[Peter Y]

Gerrard has unfortunately not taken his chance whilst Terry's been injured. When Becks went I thought SG was the better candidate to take the armband but his leadership since JT's been out has been as ineffectual as his performances.

Time to look elsewhere - Gareth Barry perhaps and in the future let's hope Micah matures enough to become the English Thuram he promises to be and perhaps take on the captain's role with it.

[nick]

There should be no permanent captain. The manager should select his team for each match and then select a captain from among them.