The list of St Johnstone captains since the Perth club returned to the Premiership is an impressive one.
It’s been a seamless succession.
Jody Morris to Dave Mackay, Dave Mackay to Steven Anderson, Steven Anderson to Joe Shaughnessy, Joe Shaughnessy to Jason Kerr, Jason Kerr to Liam Gordon has felt like a decade-and-a-half’s worth of natural succession.
Leaders, one and all, albeit with different styles of captaincy.
There is now a vacancy.
All of a sudden, with Gordon swapping McDiarmid Park for Fir Park, his stand-in skipper, Dan Phillips another ex-Saint and big personalities in the dressing room, like Andy Considine, Ryan McGowan and Dimitar Mitov having also left, there isn’t an obvious candidate to take the armband.
Courier Sport assesses the options –
Stevie May
As far as being steeped in St Johnstone culture is concerned, nobody at the club can come close to May.
He’s won three cups, has played alongside all of the above captains bar Shaughnessy and has earned the respect of the current players, young and old.
However, May wasn’t a regular starter under Craig Levein last season and was offered the chance to leave on loan in January.
Any new captain will have to be as near to an automatic pick as you can get.
Drey Wright
The Englishman isn’t a shouter in the old school tradition of captains – and certainly wouldn’t be as vocal as Gordon, for example.
But he’s a strong presence in the dressing room, communicates well to the media and is likely to play a lot of games if he can steer clear of injury this season.
Sven Sprangler
The Austrian ticks a few boxes.
He’s a consummate pro on the training ground, setting standards with his professionalism and dedication.
Sprangler’s style of play is to throw himself into tackles, which team-mates and fans will respond to.
And he’s the personification of enthusiasm and passion.
The question marks would be – is Sprangler almost too nice a person to be skipper and too inexperienced in Scottish football?
Graham Carey
The Irishman is probably the most vocal in-game presence currently on the playing staff at McDiarmid.
He’s a standard-setter.
Carey was one of the key players as Saints preserved their top-flight status at the end of last season and is likely to play plenty of games again this season.
But his most significant contributions were wide in attack and you don’t see many captains in that position.
Nicky Clark
Clark can be spoken about in the same terms as Carey when the subject matters are experience and aura.
But he also does his work in a part of the pitch that doesn’t lend itself to passing on instruction across the team.
And Clark’s recent injury record counts against him.
Sam McClelland
The Northern Irishman needed a loan in the Championship to get first team action in the second half of last season.
But a short spell with Dundee United has greatly enhanced his status in the Scottish game.
McClelland made his first appearance for United in the top of the table clash with Raith Rovers at a time when the Tangerines’ title credentials were looking none too solid.
He played a big part in getting Jim Goodwin’s side over the line.
Levein promised McClelland an opportunity to impress in pre-season, which he’s now getting.
The Northern Irishman has captained Chelsea youth teams and is the same age (22) as Kerr when Wright chose the future double-winning skipper to succeed Shaughnessy.
You would imagine, though, that even if McClelland does grab a starting spot for Saints, his manager will want him to concentrate on his own game before he’ll be viewed as a potential captain.
A N Other
With Saints currently looking like a quiet side compared to others in the Premiership, leadership will be factored into the last chunk of the Perth boss’s summer recruitment, you would expect.
The smart money would be on the next St Johnstone captain not yet being a St Johnstone player.
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