Darryl Broadfoot on Monday: What is so special about the captaincy anyway? The last time a manager proffered such an argument, he was dispatched back to Brittany. Tony Mowbray has wasted little time in reopening the debate as Celtic manager.

What is so special about the captaincy anyway? The last time a manager proffered such an argument, he was dispatched back to Brittany. Tony Mowbray has wasted little time in reopening the debate as Celtic manager.

Identifying his new onfield leader has already occupied his thoughts less than a week after first being acquainted with the squad. The inference is that Stephen McManus, notwithstanding the knee injury that will preclude him from the new season's kick-off, may have become burdened by the weight of responsibility on relatively young shoulders.

It is the most delicate decision of Mowbray's return to Celtic Park but it could also be the most significant to the team's recovery programme. McManus will be crushed if he is relieved of his armband, especially if it is subsequently pinned to his defensive partner, Gary Caldwell. There are no more proud, self-aware or wholehearted players at the club than McManus but sometimes leadership only truly manifests itself in adversity. Ironically, having the captaincy taken away will provide him with the greatest test of his character and credentials yet.

He became the youngest captain of Celtic since Billy McNeill when he was bestowed the honour by Gordon Strachan. His was a surprise succession to Neil Lennon, since he had not long established himself as a first-team regular, but it was the circumstances that dictated the decision. McManus was indebted to the manager for saving his Celtic career and, thus, there was nobody more driven to repay the manager's faith. Bobo Balde was quickly disregarded as unrefined, while Caldwell was in the midst of proving himself a worthy replacement. The departure of Lennon, the last remnant of the Martin O'Neill era, hardly left Strachan with a surfeit of old heads.

It worked. McManus spoke with a warmth and eloquence befitting a leader but he lacked the practical experience. He picked it up as he went along, impressively at that, but last season, in particular, the occasions when it seemed the armband was the only thing that spared the centre back from being dropped grew in frequency. He can cite the long-standing knee problem in mitigation, and can point to his loyalty to the cause - at a time when Celtic's title defence began to falter - as a sign of his leadership. The counter argument is he became consumed by that cause, to the detriment of his positional focus and his failing fitness.

At 26, McManus is one of the most aggressive defenders in Scottish football and has formed a functional partnership for club and country alongside Caldwell. Mowbray's quotes in the Sunday press suggest that partnership may be under threat, a source of concern to George Burley as Scotland embark on the final sequence of World Cup qualifiers. For all his strengths - bravery principal among them - McManus's flaws remain pronounced. He retains a tendency to be rash and costly in his decision making, especially with those eye-watering slide challenges that yield unpredictable results. He also seemed a victim, rather than a pillar, of Strachan's zonal system; one that will be dispensed presumably by the new man. His passing out of defence can also be erratic, compared to Caldwell.

While the manager has not explicitly stated McManus will no longer be the captain, publicly airing his concerns makes it a safe bet. Caldwell is the most obvious candidate to replace him, having been Mowbray's captain at Easter Road, but a look at the manager's past decisions suggests he is not afraid of the unconventional. A straight swap could put a strain on the relationship between Caldwell and McManus, psychologically if not personally, but there may be more for McManus to concern himself with than having to relinquish the captaincy. Glenn Loovens has not had a prolonged run of games since his £2.3m transfer from Cardiff City, while Mowbray's suggestion that "there might be one or two signings who fit the criteria as well" suggests strengthening his defensive options is high on the list of priorities.

Mowbray made Jonathan Greening, a quiet-spoken midfielder, his captain at West Brom and gave the armband to Kevin Thomson when Caldwell left Hibernian for Celtic. It would be a risk, but handing the responsibility to Scott Brown may be one way of expediting the carefree midfielder's maturity. Artur Boruc may have been given a clean slate but the captain's armband is a bridge too far if the manager's job description is indicative of the recruitment process. "It's about the way he interacts with supporters, the way he deals with team-mates," he said. "The skipper has to be a leader, a standard-bearer. His human qualities represent more than his ability to be the best player on the pitch."

Lennon, the long-serving former captain, has his own decision to make. Paul Ince, the new manager of MK Dons, is keen on recruiting him as first-team coach. It is an ideal opportunity for Lennon, not least since Ince's short-lived spell in charge of Blackburn Rovers could conceivably have Lennon in caretaker charge of MK Dons before the season is out.

The arrivals of Peter Grant, in many ways a Lennon prototype at Celtic, and Mark Venus, have squeezed Lennon's first-team input. The sooner he leaves on his own managerial journey, the sooner he will be back.