01 Dec 2025 06:31:15
Slightly apt the day after we sadly lost one of our greatest ever players. A captain who had all the qualities needed for that role. Hard working, courageous, motivational and helped massively with team spirit.
Sadly our current captain has none of those qualities with the exception of hard working. Bowen form has dipped massively the last few weeks, not sure is this is linked to his captaincy role. Somehow I doubt it because he is not acting like a captain. Paqueta was a disgrace yesterday but Bowen should have been doing all he could to get the fool away from that situation. Instead he just looked on.
I just wondered if people agree and who they would prefer to see as captain. On current form the only players who could be in with a shout are Fernandez Potts or Areola. AWB on his previous performances could be but not sure he shows those qualities. I'm not keen on goalies being captain simply because of their distance from the action. I would go for Potts as he shows maturity above his years but will probably get shot down for suggesting that.

1.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 10:31:51
I think we need 11 new players first, whoever is captain won't inspire these losers, if one of our greatest players deaths doesn't inspire them to put in a performance then nothing will, wholesale changes needed, nobody in that squad is safe at the moment

2.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 11:42:11
Nothing will change until we get shot of the circus act masquerading as a board of directors. A different manager and bringing in new players won’t change anything. This club needs an entire reboot, with wholesale changes in the way it’s run. It’s going down the toilet and yesterday Paqueta pulled the chain.

3.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 12:13:05
Interesting how they sent out young Fernandes out to do the post match Sky interview yesterday rather than the Captain ….

I think you all make really valid points. The club is in a mess and needs a complete overhaul. I hate to say it but maybe going down forcing the tosspot owners into a fire sale of both club and mercenary players wouldn’t be a bad thing. Of the current squad the only ones I’d keep for the Championship in the hope of a swift return would be Fernandes, Potts, Scarles, Mougassa, Summerville, Areola, KWP and AWB the rest can and probably would do one ….

4.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 13:58:04
Dabber, What no Bowen? ⚒⚒⚒

5.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 14:51:10
Sadly I agree with a lot of the points above and I am hopeful that the clowns who run the circus will be gone. I’m not sure about Bowen he does try and has ability but has been rubbish of late. Maybe taking the captaincy away may allow him to concentrate on his game.
Other names I would possibly add to that list Dabber could be Todibo who seems much better recently and I actually thought Guilherme played pretty well when he came on he just seems to lack a bit of confidence and self belief. If they were to sell him I would have a few clauses in any deal because I think he may possibly turn out to be a really decent player.


I still think we need to introduce some of the youngsters like fearing and Kante as they can’t do worse than some of our players

6.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 15:09:06
The captain needs to be Fernandes. He was the one 'trying' to stop Pacquetta and 'trying' to speak to the referee.

7.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 16:09:17
I love Bowen Chelms but I’m making the assumption that if we go down he would be sold anyway. I’ve never thought he was Captain material apart from the fact he always tries hard. If we go down I’m with Brooking and would give it to Fernandes. HD I also think Todibo has improved under Nuno but again like Bowen think he will be on his toes if we get relegated

8.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 16:34:36
Guys, the reason Fernandes tried to intervene was because he’s Portugese and speaks the same language as Paqueta! He’s far too inexperienced for the captaincy. The ideal man for that job we let go out on loan—Alvarez— because he didn’t agree with the style of football Potter was playing. Anyone with a heartbeat can see Bowen is no captain material, and it’s affecting his play along with the crap tactics employed by the gutless Nuno. We need a new owner, chairman, a football director and a new head coach who isn’t scared of his own shadow. Then we can start talking about a captain and the new players we need to start playing entertaining attacking football. I’m not holding my breath. The club is f*cked.

9.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 17:08:12
@brooking, i was thinking Fernandes could be a good shout, i think he is captain of the u21s for portugal, Potts i think needs to concentrate on establishing himself as a prem player.

Personally i never thought bowen should have been given the captaincy, all he needs to be focused on is putting the ball in the back of the net. Although due to how terrible our squad mangement has been we were pretty short of options.

Maybe Cress should have been given another year would have taken a bit of pressure off for who ever the captain is.

All that said the captaincy issue is pretty small compared to all the other problems at the club.

10.) 01 Dec 2025
01 Dec 2025 17:52:24
I again agree we have bigger problems than the captaincy however Rome wasn’t built in a day. New ownership and director of football isn’t going to happen anytime soon and as s**t as his tactics are sacking Nuno is probably a slightly worse decision than giving him more time. The quicker fix is new players in 4 weeks and releasing pressure from our best player by relieving him of the burden of captaincy

11.) 02 Dec 2025
02 Dec 2025 19:33:58
As you say Dabber and Tin we all know the problems with the owners but that probably isn't going to go away soon so i'd expect a load of quick fixes again with no long term planning and another load of wasted cash in January, the only way I can see anyone half decent joining is on loan because they have an outside chance of a world Cup squad let's face it we aren't very attractive at the moment

The manager has shown inept boring tactics but again that isn't going to change anytime soon to be honest, I think this will be a long season again and there won't be cash to change it in the summer

12.) 03 Dec 2025
03 Dec 2025 06:22:50
I agree Robbo. The board has brought this on us by its cheap attitude towards coaches. They have always gone for the cheap option—-available (unemployed) coaches. They’re unemployed for a reason, and they’ve always proved to be bad fits for WHU. Weeks ago, many on here were forecasting problems, with relegation a real possibility. Nothing really has changed.

13.) 03 Dec 2025
03 Dec 2025 18:14:27
Unfortunately it takes a certain type of manager to handle these lying owners, ones that are not afraid to stand up to them and do things their own way. We’ve had 2 in the last 10-15 years and that's Moyes and Fat Sam. Because of their ability to avoid being “yes men” both had a degree of success. This was why I personally didn’t mind Moyes. The football wasn’t great to watch but at least we had security in the PL and were playing in Europe. I know a lot of people will say Moyes is to blame for the position we’re in now but that's just unfair. When Moyes left Sullivan replaced him with a lesser standard manager who along with Steidten spent all of the Rice money and more on substandard signings. Look at Everton now, flying ….Shearer was right, we needed to be careful what we wished for

14.) 03 Dec 2025
03 Dec 2025 23:34:55
Sorry, Dabber, but I cannot agree with that. When Moyes left WHU he left behind the oldest, slowest first team squad in living memory. And that old chestnut “careful what you wish for” is nonsense. As for Moyes giving us ‘Premiership security’. Do you not recall our Prem performances in the last months of his tenure? The football was dire.

15.) 04 Dec 2025
04 Dec 2025 09:14:25
Morning TL, I knew you wouldn’t agree mate, you were very anti Moyes. In this instance “careful what you wish for isn’t nonsense at all”, we are a mile away from where we were when Moyes left in terms of toxicity within the club and attitude of a lot of the players. Moyes would have spent the Rice money on McTomminay (probably spelt wrong) and McGuire, well I tell you what I’d take them both now! The squad was ageing agreed but we needed a mix of youth and experience. Loopy and Steidten took us too far the other way which is why we now have a Captain that got the role just because he was the best senior player…no captain though as we all can see. We need a balance Tin. Someone like Connor Gallagher in January works for me, hard working, tough tackling leader and get rid of Paqueta with his “all fur coat and no knickers” attitude …… Up for a proper debate on this mate as this forum is getting depressing ?

16.) 04 Dec 2025
04 Dec 2025 10:27:32
Charlie Cresswell, Nathan Ake, Conor Gallagher and Ivan Toney would be my January picks

17.) 04 Dec 2025
04 Dec 2025 12:11:56
I agree with your four player suggestions, but not with your memory! I was anti-Moyes for a very good reason. Personally I don’t honestly believe new players in January will save us. The club is rotten to the core. Don’t get me wrong; nothing pains me more than to admit such a thing about a club I have supported for over 60 years. Everything is wrong with this club. We have a slippery money-grabber as a majority owner, directors who don’t really give a toss, a coach who is not a good fit for this club, a captain who is out of his depth in the role and players who number a couple of individual talents, but are all pissed off with the style of football (as are the fans) and have given up playing as a team and for the heart of the club which no longer exists since a move left us without a real home. Be careful what you wish for? A joke. These problems started long ago, and things won’t change with just a few alterations to personnel! We need a wholesale change, starting at the top. I fear it won’t happen until we drop out of the Premiership, and in this day and age, escape upwards from the Championship won’t be easy. Maybe we’ll get entertaining football again though?

18.) 04 Dec 2025
04 Dec 2025 12:47:09
Actually I agree with virtually everything you’ve written above so this debate might be short and sweet. We’ll agree to disagree on Moyes and being careful what you wish for but I will say this, in the last 20 years our highlights have been an FA cup final in 2006 and a European Cup in 2023. Coupled with back to back European campaigns and saving us from relegation in 2018 Moyes has statistically been our best manager. He is now performing at Everton at a new stadium. With the reputation of these owners we will never get the progressive fresh manager we all want. A disciplinarian like Moyes was and is our best option. I agree relegation might actually see off BS but as you say the risk is we don’t make it back to the PL

19.) 04 Dec 2025
04 Dec 2025 14:58:02
I think your statement ".now performing at Everton" may come back to bite you! The Everton supporters I know are saying that more and more of their supporters are growing impatient with the type of football being served up under Moyes and he won't last long because they're an ambitious club who look with envy on their red rivals. Moyes is a good "fire brigade" manager, but once saved, his abilities are limited. As for him being a disciplinarian -- I think an odious, self-centred bully is a more fitting description, and the best thing about him as our manager was the boot mark on his rear end. Is that clear enough?