Agreed with your opinion, Cal. I think too that Neville shouldn't be a standard starting eleven option anymore. Other than Jagielka, I would name Distin, Baines or Osman as team-captain.

It was very obvious against Norwich we missed a leader, Norwich came out in the second half a different team, closing and disrupting the flow of our play.

We needed a influence on the pitch to push the team, instead of getting bullied by a very physical Norwich. Neville offers this to Everton and there isn't anyone else that gives us that. Jags is a good player but had no influence on the team.

Unless we aquire a new strong, tough character in the January window we will need Pip on the pitch.

I have said this for a number of years we are too nice on the pitch, cast your mind back to Peter Ried, Mick Lyons, Duncan Ferguson all leader, not great players but exactly what we are missing.

Osman as our captain, I think his leadership would be as powerful as his shooting yesterday.

I agree with you, Peter (#072) regarding the fact we missed a leader yesterday — although I cannot agree with you regarding Peter Reid not being great — he won the Player of the Year award in the mid-80s so can't have been that average!

I would have Jagielka straight away as our skipper and maybe even put the name of Fellaini (may help commit him to the club long term) in the hat (the leader we missed so badly) — although I do realise he comes with disciplinary problems — but so did Big Dunc and he did a good job as captain!

I think Neville has come to the end of the road, personally; I agree, he has a certain presence that is helpful... but you cannot pick a player on that alone. It's a bit like the Tim Cahill situation — he was a talisman for the club but his performances did not merit his place and he had to go — as every player must at some time. I was gutted to see him go but it was for the good of the club.

The same applies with Neville I reckon. Thanks but his time is up; time for better players to help push this club forward.

It's no coincidence to me that we seem to win rarely without him in the squad.

Regardless of what we may think about his limitations as a player, his team mates obviously respect him, and he clearly has influence on and off the pitch.

I would say I am in a 5% minority of Evertonians who think he has a place in the team (it's right back, btw), and even when he was playing better and in his correct berth that probably only rose to 10%!

As Peter said, unless we replace him with another with his captaining skills, we are lacking an alternative. The emergence of Hitzlsberger and hopefully the return of Gibson should ensure that he returns to RB if and when he recovers from his injury.

I even think we missed Coleman yesterday, as when Jagielka got to the half way line he was like one of those Asda trolleys that cant go past. When I was watching the game, all I could think of was Moyes pre-match comments about winning a game 'a different way'. He was desperate for a 2004 style 1-0 yesterday, but forgets we have a ropey back 5 these days.

Ovieda looks like he could be one of those players that looks good every time he plays, but barely gets a game because Moyes has to accommodate his favourites.....

The thing is that, statistically, we get better results with Neville than without him.
I think that the character of our next signing is key. Because the only other player who can captain the team at the moment is Jags and, if I'm honest, I don't see him as a leader - he can do the captain's job temporarily,but he hasn't got the leadership skills to be Everton's full time captain.
With more leadership on the pitch,we would have taken 6 points out of the last 2 games.

Er, correct me if I'm wrong, but if we extend short-term memories to reach back over say the last six weeks or so rather than the last couple of Pipless games, was not the inspirational skipper on the pitch 'playing', 'leading', giving it loads of shouting, when we caved in on other occasions, watching two or three points disappear down the proverbial plug-hole. Errrmm... was he, for instance, 'leading' and 'playing' at The Hawthorns and you know the other games that spring to mind?

Deary me: we would not have got 'bullied by a very physical Norwich' if we had not been Pipless? Utter bollocks! First, I didn't really feel that Norwich 'bullied' us or were indeed 'very physical'. We got beat because we were limp, lame, and shite in the 2nd half.

And lest you Neville devotees in a month from now are rubbing your hands with stats at your fingertips, remember that this sorry slide of the last near 2 months now — in which it seems we cannot finish things off — began with Skipper Pip at the helm, clapping hands, shouting, moving sideways, passing the ball on occasion more than 12 inches. Inspirational indispensable leader my ass.

Guess what: I care right now about this season and the last two months in particular, and that tells me that a Pip-in-the-middle Everton are very good indeed at drawing matches and giving up leads with the 'leader' on the pitch. He's awful good at clapping his hands but Neville as indispensable leader, jeez, give me a break.

I'd make Baines captain. He's our best player by a mile,he'd lead by example and hopefully the others would follow.

Come on Paul. There's not a captain on earth who's never lost a game. While it's true Neville was playing up until the Sunderland game, it's clear he demands more from his team mates than Jags. It's also clear that it's individual mistakes that have been costing us. If Neville had been on the pitch the last 2 games, I'm sure the results would have been better. Not because he would have done anything better,but because he would have been screaming at Coleman to get shut against Fulham, or to not get too tight against Reading.

Our established players maybe don't need a captain so much, but Jelavic needs a kick up the arse, Mirallas is great going forward but still needs guiding defensively, as do Hitzlsperger, Oviedo & Naismith.

Unfortunately, there is no-one better than Neville to do this at the moment....

Meh. Make Hibbert captain... Ossie vice-captain.

I agree that Neville is probably the best leader at the club but it's by default, we simply don't have any leaders in the squad. Saying we need Neville on the pitch as he's the best leader, even though he is a piss poor player, is like being happy you caught chlamydia because it's the least nasty of the STDs.

Howard would be the best choice for me. I'm not a huge fan of goalkeeper captains but he seems to be the only one willing to give anybody a verbal kick up the arse.

Ossie as captain?!? Don't make me laugh. A good captain has to lead by inspiration.

Enough said!

If Neville's presence is so vital, stick him between the sticks. He can't be any worse in goal than he is in midfield.

Call me crazy but, in the last mach against Norwich, I was actually thinking that Heitinga should have been captain... he should be intimidating enough.