Tyrone Mings ready to lay into John McGinn after Aston Villa twist - pundit
Tyrone Mings will not be afraid to "shout at John McGinn" and be a leader for Aston Villa despite being stripped of the Aston Villa captaincy, according to Gabby Agbonlahor.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Aston Villa skipper and boyhood fan claimed Steven Gerrard will want Mings to be a "big talker and a big part of the squad".
The club confirmed last month (27 July) that McGinn is the new team captain, with Emiliano Martinez and Diego Carlos acting as his deputies while Ashley Young is the club captain.
Mings was left out of the side that lost 2-0 to Bournemouth in the opening Premier League game of the season on Saturday (6 August).
"The only person who knows if it's the right call [the captaincy] is Steven Gerrard," Agbonlahor told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
"He's with them daily, he sees them around the training ground and hotels, he will know he should be the Aston Villa captain.
"As much as the captaincy has been taken off Tyrone Mings, I still feel he will have captaincy roles in terms of being a very good talker on the pitch, he will help players get in the right positions.
"He will still be shouting at John McGinn at other players to get back.
"Yes, he's lost the armband but Gerrard will be saying to him that he wants him to be a big talker back there and a big part of the squad.
"People like to read too much about captaincy being taken off players.
"Steven Gerrard was a centre-midfielder, one of the best to play the game, and was a captain.
"He will see John McGinn a bit like him, tackling, getting about people and pressing. Maybe he wants his captain to be in the centre-midfield not in defence."