What is a captain worth?

Ah, the saga of the England Captaincy.

The story so far, as far as I can tell, is this; Chelsea's John Terry was named England captain in August 2006, succeeding David Beckham. He managed to keep the armband right up until the beginning of last year, losing the role not because of his efforts on the pitch but because of embarrassing revelations about his private life; a married man, Terry had been bonking the ex-girlfriend of his former team-mate (at club and international level) Wayne Bridge. Initial claims that his lover had been paid to keep quiet turned out to be rubbish. The most amusing part was that in 2009 Daddie's Sauce had named Terry "Father of the Year" in 2009.

How exactly Terry's colourful private life affected his ability to captain a football team is not clear to me. But he was demoted and replaced by Rio Ferdinand...who has been fit enough to captain his country only four times in a year (three of which were friendlies). And so Liverpool's Steven Gerrard has practically had a monopoly on the armband, leading . Yet all of a sudden, with Euro 2012 qualifiers approaching this month, Capello has performed a huge u-turn and decided he wants Terry back as captain again - apparently upsetting Ferdinand, Gerrard and a few other players.

It seems to be a peculiarly British thing, this obsession with who captains a football team.

Now, the last four men to lift the World Cup are Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas, Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro, Brazil full-back Cafu and French midfielder Didier Deschamps. The last three to captain winning teams at the European Championships are Casillas, Theo Zagorakis of Greece and Deschamps.

What do they all have in common? They were the most capped players in their respective squads.

Sure, some of them were great leaders - Cannavaro in particular was an obvious choice for Italy, whilst Deschamps carried obvious authority (though so did teammate Laurent Blanc). But Cafu, the marauding full-back? Casillas, a goalkeeper? These are not men who fit the "Bobby Moore" theme, the player who will inspire, direct and lead the team, the lionheart, the one who will give absolutely everything for the cause.

For me, that's because this sort of player isn't necessary in the modern game. Teams are well enough organized that the captain isn't required from a tactical point of view (compared to the cricket counterpart). Moreover, most coaches would look to three or four experienced players to lead, not just one. The all-conquering Spain team has, along with Casillas, the likes of Puyol and Xavi. Cannavaro was accompanied by Nesta, Pirlo and Gattuso, among others. For them, the armband grants only the honour of leading the team out at the start, not this ridiculous Roy Race-like responsibility.

So if England were to follow the logic of their continental counterparts, their captain would be the bloke in the starting eleven who had the most caps. If he weren't injured, that would be Gerrard - an appointment that would surely satisfy fans and media at least. But in his absence, next in line is Ashley Cole. What sort of effect would making The World's Most Sulkiest Footballer England captain have on the team?

That's the point; leadership on the pitch should be shared out - Cole takes the armband, everyone else takes responsibility. Including John Terry.

L.