Alan Hutton: Aston Villa must shelve captaincy issue for time being

We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park

Alan Hutton doesn't see any reason for Unai Emery to change the captaincy at Aston Villa with John McGinn currently holding the armband.

Steven Gerrard made McGinn the captain at the start of the 2022/23 season, replacing Tyrone Mings.

However, Hutton feels changing the captaincy again could have a detrimental impact on McGinn's performance levels, much as it did with Mings at the start of the campaign.

"Mid-season I would keep it as it is and I would keep John McGinn as the captain," Hutton exclusively told Villa News.

"I think I would evaluate it as I was going along and I don't see any reason to make that big huge change. I think it had an impact on Tyrone at the beginning of the season, so why do it again? Tyrone is obviously out of the picture when it comes to the captaincy, John McGinn wasn't playing so may Martinez was maybe captain.

"I wouldn't want to make such a big deal of it at this moment in time, it's all about results and performances on the pitch. It's something they can maybe look at towards the end of the season. Right now McGinn is the right man to be the captain."

It appears the Spaniard is happy with McGinn holding the armband for the time being, with the Scot being influential in Villa's 2-1 win against Brighton.

Emery will instead be focused on getting the most out of his players on the training ground ahead of the Premier League returning at the end of December.

In other Villa news, Eden Hazard could be another Philippe Coutinho situation for Aston Villa