I think his confidence was suffering from not scoring goals but he sees that he has something else important to contribute that we've been missing ever since Pardew showed Jedinak the door.

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The Ferret
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Before his inauguration as captain, I lost track of the number of times I berated him for losing possession cheaply and playing the wrong pass. He just looked increasingly out of his depth at this level.

Since being made captain he looks a totally different player. Smart, composed, reliable, consistently excellent. Kudos to him first of all, but also to Big Sam for having the emotional intelligence to realise the positive effect that captaincy would have on him.

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Excellent against Liverpool. That said against spurs look slow in possession. Is puncheon undroppable now his captain?

Puncheon has been consistently rated by every manager we've had since Holloway. Must say something about his attitude and also skill level. I think he's a better player than some on here give him credit for being

When you’re knocked on your back and your life’s a flop...

It's all part of the finished puzzle.

Sure, some don't rate him, some wouldn't pick him - good thing BS has the brains and knowledge - as with him as capt we have gone on our best run that has almost single handedly kept us up.

But sure, replace him in the summer.

This was once a quality forum....

He has been good overall since being made Captain but I think it's an odd time to start this thread after a shocker against Tottenham.

He seemed to think he needed to be more than he is on Wednesday, trying first time clipped passes, or if there was a winger open on the left he'd fool the Tottenham players by playing it right...only to fool his team mates as well and turn over possession.

He's giving his all the last few seasons and I for one will be cheering him on as our Captain for the next 4 matches but I wouldn't be happy to see him starting in this important and seemingly undroppable role next season.

I believe he has 0 assists and 0 goals, that's near impossible for someone in his position. He moved around the midfield a bit under Pardew but under Sam he has only been a number 10 and stayed behind the striker, I don't see how he can't have scored or assisted Benteke by now.

If you look at time spent at number 10 by both Puncheon and McCarthur, I'm sure McCarthur has been a lot more effective, thinking back to things like his goal against Man Utd, you just don't see Puncheon end up in those positions but it seems to come naturally to Jimmy Mac and he's definitely not an out and out number 10 either.

Next season if we have Luka breaking up play and Cabaye doing a combination of breaking up play and setting up play, there's going to be no need for a solid all-rounder like Puncheon, instead we can get someone that might not track back as much or as someone else mentioned, win as many aerial balls as Punch but scores and assists a lot more and that's all he brings to the table.