Season › 2013-14 › News

New Captain revelling in the honour

But responsibilities come with the armband

As the latest in a long line of Everton Captains, Phil Jagielka's name has joined 46 others on a Roll of Honour in the Park End lounge called The Captain's Table. Jagielka saw his name listed there for the first time this week and has been talking to David Prentice about his new responsibilities.

“We don't often come in this area [of Goodison] so it's the first time I've seen it, but it's a very big honour to get my name put up there with so many Everton legends,” he said. “I'll have to bring people in all the time now to see it!

“I think I will need to do things differently as a captain on the pitch when things aren't going right.

“If things are going well it's simple, everyone's talking, everyone wants to get on the ball. But when things are a bit more difficult it's easier to concentrate on your own game and just get through it.

“I think Nev [Phil Neville] was really good at that. If he wasn't having the best game or we weren't having the best game he still kept on at the lads and tried to get the lads to maintain the things we wanted.

“I've found that if I'm not having the best of afternoons myself I try to get on with my own job and get through it whereas now, with the captain's armband, I've got a little bit more responsibility to forget about myself and help team-mates who are maybe having a worse afternoon or the ones who need that little more encouragement who could potentially change the result of the game.

“With age I've become more comfortable with that,” he explained. “When you're a young lad and you're trying to tell older pros what they should be doing it can be quite difficult but I've been here six seasons now so that helps as well.

“Not only knowing the playing staff but the majority of the staff behind the scenes makes life a little bit easier that way. I think you grow into the role of captain and I think it's probably come at the perfect time for me.

“I've been eased into being the captain, obviously taking control of a few games last season with Nev not playing so much towards the end, then getting the reins full-time with a new manager.

“It's been an interesting few months. I get a few little extra perks now as captain, but a few little extra jobs as well!

“The downsides are if anything goes wrong, everyone comes up to me and asks me to sort things out.

“The perks? Everyone seems to smile at you a lot more! I don't know if they're looking for more tickets. But it's been good so far and I'm looking forward to the season.

“The hardest thing I'm going to find is after the games if the result hasn't quite gone our way you're the one who has to go over to the cameras and the media and stuff — that's going to be a little bit difficult when your emotions are still running high to answer the questions in the best possible way.

“I think the way Nev conducted himself — not just in post-match interviews but generally as a captain — put Everton in a good light and that's something I'll have to try and keep going.

“Then when I was at Sheffield United there was Chris Morgan as our captain, when I was vice-captain. That wasn't a bad role for me because he got all the responsibilities and I got to wear the armband sometimes.

“He was obviously a whole-hearted character and I wasn't really kept in the loop at all. If there were decisions to be made he took them because I was quite a young player at the time. So I've mainly learned from him and Nev really.

Quotes or other material sourced from Liverpool Daily Post

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