Roberto Di Matteo on why Scott Carson is the right man for Albion captaincy
Dec 5 2009 by Christopher Lepkowski, Birmingham Mail
WHO says goalkeepers can’t make good captains?
Scott Carson was appointed Albion club skipper following the departure of Jonathan Greening.
Goalkeeping captains are few and far between. Dave Beasant lifted the FA Cup with Wimbledon in 1988, Peter Shilton filled in as England captain when Bryan Robson was injured and Ray Wilkins and, later, Terry Butcher were absent.
And then there’s Dino Zoff.
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The goalkeeping legend lifted the World Cup for Italy at the 1982 World Cup when he was 40.
But it was as a manager that he made his mark on Roberto Di Matteo, having coached the Baggies boss when he was in charge at Lazio during the 1990s.
Ask the Baggies head coach about Zoff and his eyes light up.
And Di Matteo explained why a shot-stopper can also assume armband duties just as easily as the next man.
“Ah, Dino Zoff – he was a great person,” said Di Matteo.
“He was my first manager in Italy and someone I looked up to.
“For me a goalkeeper is part of the football team.
“He was a great inspiration for me.”
Carson was not necessarily the obvious choice to be Greening’s successor in the Albion dressing room.
Robert Koren is Slovenia’s national skipper but has become a more peripheral figure.
Jonas Olsson is a strong character but he, by his own admission, can become insular and single-minded before games, preferring to focus entirely on his own game.
Carson, meanwhile, has become an understated member of the squad.
Not the loudest, but certainly, according to so many of his team-mates, one of the main personalities within the inner sanctum of the dressing room.
Di Matteo believes Dean Kiely’s coaching has had a major effect on Carson’s development as a goalkeeper and leader.
“Other people look at it as if it’s the goalkeeper and then the ten outfield players,” added the Baggies boss.
“He (a goalkeeper) is no different – he’s part of the team.
“I looked at the characteristics a captain should have, and Scott fitted those characteristics.”
Di Matteo continued: “At the start of the season I talked to Scott and he looked a bit unsure, shaky.
“We’ve been talking and Dean has been working a lot with him.
“I feel he’s getting better.
“He’s doing a lot of good things and working with the team.
“He’s getting the right distances and coming for crosses, he comes out for the long ball over the top as well, which is really good.
“He’s improving in every way.”
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