Summer signing Scott Brown should be the new Aberdeen captain as he would bring so much experience and know-how to that role.
That is in no way a slight slight on Joe Lewis who has been a strong captain for the last two seasons both on and off the field.
Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass has confirmed he has yet to make a decision on who will skipper the club in the upcoming season.
For me it has to be Brown as he is the outstanding candidate.
As captain of Celtic he led the Parkhead club to nine-in-a-row and an historic quadruple treble.
That is invaluable experience and there is no other player in Scotland with that pedigree or track record.
In confirming he would delay his decision on the captaincy, manager Stephen Glass insisted he had many leaders who could be candidates for that role.
The leaders he highlighted were included keeper Lewis.
As well as Lewis and Brown, he also mentioned Andy Considine, former Motherwell skipper Declan Gallagher, Christian Ramirez and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
For me it would be a choice between Brown and Considine – but Brown edges it just because of his sheer experience in that role.
Landing Brown on a two-year contract was a major coup for Aberdeen, particularly as the Hoops were so keen to retain their inspirational skipper.
Brown is a leader who drives team-mates on – he gets them fired up and motivated.
Keeper Lewis is a tremendous professional who is very vocal on the pitch, but I feel it is too much of an ask for a keeper who is captain to get the message all the way up to a centre-forward or a right or left winger at the other end of the pitch.
A captain needs to be in the heart of the action – and Brown will be in midfield and can get his message across to the entire team from that position.
It is a lot harder for a keeper to have that communication than a midfielder.
Long-serving defender Considine is also a strong candidate for the captaincy as he is a fantastic professional who has been dedicated to the club for his entire career.
Considine never lets Aberdeen down and will run through a brick wall for the cause.
His performances for the Dons were rightly rewarded with long-awaited Scotland caps last season and he was unfortunate not to be in Steve Clarke’s 26-man squad at Euro 2020.
Securing the captaincy would be another well deserved honour for the defender.
However, Brown is a born leader who has led Celtic to success in numerous cup finals and league title run-ins.
He has also skippered the Hoops at Champions League level in Europe.
That is invaluable experience and it makes sense to utilise that by making him the captain who will lead out the Dons against BK Hacken in the Uefa Europa Conference League at Pittodrie on July 22.
Aberdeen don’t need another striker
Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass does not need to sign another striker in the transfer window if he is willing to give youth a chance up front.
I have been very pleased with the capture of Christian Ramirez and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas as they are two experienced strikers who can deliver goals.
They are the only two experienced centre-forwards at the club and obviously there is the risk of injury or one, or both, going off the boil for a period.
If Glass is willing to play Michael Ruth and give any other emerging strikers a chance to shine, they could make an impact.
If you are good enough, you are old enough.
Denmark were let down by VAR
Denmark were badly let down by VAR in their Euro 2020 semi-final loss to England at Wembley.
England’s Raheem Sterling went down far too easily under Joakim Maehle’s challenge in extra-time.
When a striker hits the ball between two defenders and runs into that gap, it is not the defender’s fault if there is contact.
For me, it wasn’t a penalty as there was minimal contact, yet referee Danny Makkelie awarded a spot-kick.
Although Harry Kane’s penalty was saved, the English captain netted the rebound.
The VAR should have asked the referee to have a closer look at the Sterling incident as it was far from clear cut that it was a penalty.
It was the deciding moment of a semi-final at a major tournament and the referee must be 100 percent convinced.
It was not clear enough to be completely certain.
The referee should at least have looked at footage on the screen to get clarification.
VAR can be hugely frustrating as a goal can be ruled off if an opposition player has a toe-nail straying offside – yet they cannot utilise it to clarify a contentious penalty decision in a semi-final.
England probably shaded the semi-final against a strong Denmark team who tired in extra time.
However, they will face an even tougher challenge against Italy in Sunday’s final.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.
