Let Gerrard keep England captaincy ahead of Rio, pleads Danny Murphy
Captain Fantastic: Steven Gerrard has impressed with the armband... but Rio Ferdinand wants it back
Rio Ferdinand may be close to pulling on an England shirt again, but Danny Murphy is adamant it should not be adorned with the captain's armband.
After being appointed John Terry's successor seven months ago, following controversy over the Chelsea centre-back's private life, Ferdinand may have taken it as read that he will return as skipper, should he achieve his aim of a recall against Montenegro on October 12.
But former England midfielder Murphy has joined the clamour for a second captaincy change this year after assessing Ferdinand's suspect fitness record and the way Steven Gerrard has lifted everyone around him in his role as stand-in skipper.
Ferdinand, who began his latest comeback for Manchester United reserves against Oldham last week, has missed 16 of Fabio Capello's 30 games in charge and been sidelined since a training ground injury shortly before the start of the World Cup.
Gerrard not only took over for the tournament in South Africa but led from the front against Hungary and Bulgaria in a manner that leaves Capello with only one option, according to Murphy.
'I don't know whether Capello is giving it serious consideration, because, let's face it, who does know what he is thinking, apart from the bloke himself?' said the Fulham skipper.
'But I believe there is the strongest possible case for making Steven captain on a full-time basis, regardless of Rio's fitness.
'He leads be example, as he has shown in the last two games, and is the best player in the England team. He should always play in his best position and should always have the armband. In my view, he is emerging as our real leader.
'He carried the armband through the World Cup finals and has been a real inspiration in the two opening games of this season. For me, there is no-one better for the job.
'This is not me having a pop at Rio in any way, shape or form. He has done absolutely nothing wrong, but, given his unfortunate injury record, I think he will be grateful, initially, just to be back in the squad. I think just being named in an England party again will be plenty for him to be going on with.
'Not only that, what happens if he gets hurt again? No-one wants to think that will actually happen, but if it does, we will be turning to Steven again. He will become even more important, so for the sake of continuity, I think Capello must stick with Steven as captain.'
Gerrard hinted at a growing trust in him from Capello after revealing how the England coach gave him permission to play in the opening 11 minutes of Jamie Carragher's testimonial at Anfield on Saturday, midway between European Championship qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.
'It was important to me to be involved because I am so close to Jamie,' said the Liverpool midfielder.
'The idea with England was to have a warm-down on Saturday morning, then have the rest of the day off. I asked Fabio if I could make a brief cameo appearance at Anfield, flying in and out, and he was fine about it. It probably helped that we beat Bulgaria 4-0, but it was still greatly appreciated, because I didn't want to miss Jamie's big day.'
Who should lead England?
Steven Gerrard
355(77.7%)
Rio Ferdinand
102(22.3%)
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