Neill New West Ham Captain

It won't come as a surprise to many West Ham fans that Lucas Neill was today named team captain.

Nigel Reo-Coker tried to talk a good game off the pitch and liked to point out that everybody who had ever met him had been bowled over by his natural leadership qualities. However since Neill's arrival at West Ham in January it was obvious that if there was a natural leader on the pitch it was our Australian defender.

Neill responded to his appointment with his usual self-assurance,

"This is a Club with so much great history and so many great players who have led the team out - and to see my name up alongside those people is a fantastic feeling.

"It's an opportunity that I am going to relish. I will try to lead by example on and off the field and I promise all West Ham United supporters that I will lead their team out with immense pride."