England’s manager, Sam Allardyce, has picked former Super Eagles talisman, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, as the best captain he had ever worked with in his entire career. “Big Sam” managed Bolton Wanderers from 1999 to 2007 and brought Okocha to the club from PSG in 2002 and made him captain in 2003.
Speaking with reporters on the choice of Wayne Rooney to continue as England captain, Allardyce said, “Jay Jay Okocha. On and off the field he was the captain you looked for. In a multi- national side from all over the world he could speak four different languages, communicate very well with some of the players who couldn’t speak quite as good English.
He sorted the odd scuffle out in the dressing room, talked to the players about how we had to go out and win. He’d take the manager’s instructions and apply them in the right way. “Then there was outstanding ability on the field, leading by example and showing everybody he wasn’t a mercenary which was suggested in the beginning, that he’d only come for the money,” Allardyce said. Okocha had 124 appearances for Bolton from 2002 – 2006, during which the club stabilised in the English Premier League.
