At the start of this season, one of the many jobs Brian McDermott faced was naming a new captain. After the departure of previous skipper Matt Mills to Leicester, the position was open and there weren’t many stand out players to fit the role.
Names such as Mikele Leigertwood and young defender Alex Pearce were touted by the fans and only a few mentions of Jobi McAnuff were heard.
Once McDermott had announced the former Wimbledon man as his captain it is fair to say that a few eyebrows were raised. Jobi had only been a Reading player for two seasons and is not the type of player who is generally associated with wearing the armband. He is an extremely likeable character but I will admit that I am one of those fans who had a few qualms about his appointment.
The Reading FC website describes McAnuff as a winger who is a “full backs worse nightmare”. It is agreed among Reading fans that Jobi has been a good player for us, chipping in with useful goals; most memorably the third in our 3-0 semi final playoff win at Cardiff.
At the start of this season, like most of our players, Jobi was not playing with any confidence or belief. One game that stands out for me was the third game of the season, away at Portsmouth. We lost that game 1-0 and despite it coming off the back of a 2-1 away win at Leicester, we really did not play well at all. We lacked many things and one thing I particularly thought we were void of that night was leadership on the pitch. All the players were down and really did not look like a side capable of doing anything, hung-over from the play off defeat and I will admit that I thought we would be struggling against relegation this season!
The turnaround by the team throughout the season has come alongside the turnaround and growth of Jobi McAnuff in his role as captain. Jobi has chipped in with 5 goals but perhaps more importantly an impressive 11 assists throughout the campaign and has been an integral part of our championship winning team.
It is not only Jobi’s goal scoring and assisting that has impressed me in the second part of the season. His passion and leadership qualities have been on display throughout the promotion push. Every football fan loves a player who celebrates wins passionately in front of the fans and that is exactly what Jobi Mcanuff does.
He has really grown into the role and players seem to respect him a great deal. McDermott himself has spoken about how proud he is of his captain, despite people questioning his decision. McDermott said “he is vocal and leads by example”. Jem Karacan has also come out and praised his captain, saying “he has been a brilliant captain this season”.
Jobi did not make our final three in the player of the year voting (Adam Federici, Alex Pearce and Jem Karacan are the three) but the effect he has had cannot be overlooked. At the back end of the season he has been visibly vocal, passionate and lead by example with some great performances. He ticks all the boxes needed for a captain. He speaks well, is a role model on and off the pitch, is enthusiastic and has an obvious love for the game. With the championship wrapped up, media interest has picked up and Jobi speaks very well and intelligently and is a great representative of the club.
It took him a while to grow into the role and as said before a lot of fans were unsure about the original decision. Looking back, he has been a truly fantastic captain and player for us, often filling in at CM, particularly when Jem Karacan and Jay Tabb were forced off at Upton Park.
I for one am delighted for Jobi and hopefully he will be a successful premier league player. He will surely relish leading his team out at Old Trafford and Anfield and if he takes the passion and leadership shown at the back end of this season into next season, he will do well. It has been another truly inspired decision by Brian McDermott; Jobi McAnuff has become a great captain and fully deserves to be leading the boys up to collect the Championship trophy on Sunday.
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