Onuoha on why he’s the right choice as QPR captain

If you like a captain who shouts and points a lot – who ‘gets in their faces’ – Nedum Onuoha would probably not be your ideal QPR skipper.

His response is that the main reason others shout and point is that they know it’s what fans want to see. It’s all for show.

“I’ve seen that for years,” he says. “Certain people here were captains for themselves as opposed to other players.

“If you know that someone’s doing it for themselves, it’s difficult to rally around them. But here everyone’s pulling the right way. If you do things the right way, people buy into it.

“You want to do well for the club and for the fans, but the fact is they’re not the ones who are on the field.

“You can make a point by shouting and criticising someone or you can go over to them and tell them what they should have done.

“As professionals, especially when you’re more experienced, you recognise when you’ve made a mistake.

“I think in the past, some people in my opinion have been shouting and screaming and pointing and they’re doing it for the wrong people.

“It’s about doing it for the team as opposed to doing it for someone who might be watching to see if you’re shouting and pointing fingers.

“I’d rather be the person that gets the message across to every player on the field rather than the one who likes to be perceived as doing it.

“Some people like to see someone shouting and screaming, but not every player can deal with it.

“If you shout at a particular player you might lose their respect, whereas if you get your point across that’s better.

“I’d rather have 10 people by my side that believe in me than one or two who are unhappy with the way I’ve treated them.

“If you have 11 people all going in the same direction you’ll do well regardless of whether you’ve got the 11 best players in the world or not.

“Everyone believing in each other goes a long, long way.”

Role models

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Like Clint Hill before him, Onuoha as skipper enjoys strong support among Rangers players.

Another former QPR defender, Richard Dunne, who Onuoha played alongside at Manchester City as well, is one of two men the 29-year-old considers the best captain he has played under.

The other is Sylvain Distin, another centre-back a younger Onuoha played alongside at City.

Both were role models he looked up to and is keen to emulate now he is a captain himself.

“It’s good to be named captain again and I think the players agree with it as well,” he says.

“There’s nothing contentious about it when you know you have that vote of confidence from the players and staff.

“Before this I’d never been a captain, but some people saw me as one anyway whether it was off the field or on it.

“I like to set a good example and people have bought into that, so I can carry on being what I am – the same guy but with more responsibility.”

Looking solid

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As for the coming season, Onuoha believes QPR’s defence will be stronger because of changes made by boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Rangers were consistently guilty of defensive lapses last term, particularly during the first part of the campaign.

Hasselbaink believes a much more robust midfield is the key to changing that, hence the emphasis on a pressing style and the arrivals of Jordan Cousins and Ariel Borysiuk.

“It’s looking solid and I think a lot of that has come from the work the midfielders do in front of us,” Onuoha explains.

“They’re always on the front foot in terms of getting the ball off opposing midfielders, but they also give us a lot of protection.

“It’s now a lot harder for us (defenders) to be isolated. The defence is looking good but it’s because everyone else is doing a hell of a job in protecting them.”