Robinho a future captain?

"I thought the armband was something that he deserved and that he relished. Who knows if he is long-term captain material?; he has certainly done his claims no harm with what he did at the KC Stadium."

>>MEN.

It was certainly a move that generated a fair amount of discussion on the forums and message boards, and was something that took me by surprise when catching up on the reports from the Hull game.

I assumed that Micah Richards would get the armband in Richard Dunne's absence but Hughes opted for Robinho - who has certainly been waxing lyrical about the club over the past week or so, and whilst initially surprised I can see the logic in the decision.

Whilst Richards may have been the obvious choice, perhaps Hughes was sufficiently concerned about his and the defences form of late that he decided against adding the extra burden. Elsewhere around the squad there are not many obvious choices, with only Vincent Kompany seeming to merit much consideration from fans anyway.

Much of the 'anti-Robinho' sentiment appears to be concerned with his lack of form away from home and that he should be left to concentrate on his own game, so vital an influence that he is, but I disagree.

Unlike say cricket, the weight of captaincy should not wear heavily on a football captain as their influence is less markedly so and I think the approach Hughes has taken was two fold.

Firstly that Robinho has clearly had a profound affect on the squad and appears to have garnered enormous respect for his approach and commitment, which has augmented his huge talent. Equally as important though for me is that being handed the armband often lifts an individual and focuses their minds even more so on the task at hand and is something that Scolari did with Cristiano Ronaldo - who hardly appears natural captaincy material, when he was in charge at Portugal).

From what we have seen of Robinho this season, he thrives on the expectation and demands of him as a top player and if the addition of the armband can elevate his level of performance even higher then it was a sound decision that Hughes made.