Payne's our senior defender now, and he's going to be working with a set of young players at the back - he needs to focus on organisation and work there.
Bally is heroic, and the fact he finished last season with his knee scaffolded so he could play might be a reason he's not got the armband this year. He might need some game management around it, so he doesn't end up very injured, but you want a captain to be an ever present.
If Rufer gets injured, or dropped, then Oli is there as VC to make the step up. We had similar with Uli last season - but I think Ufuk has picked Rufer as he's pretty consistent, and it allows Ball, Hoops, Payne etc to do their thing as experienced pros.
Bally is heroic, and the fact he finished last season with his knee scaffolded so he could play might be a reason he's not got the armband this year. He might need some game management around it, so he doesn't end up very injured, but you want a captain to be an ever present.
If Rufer gets injured, or dropped, then Oli is there as VC to make the step up. We had similar with Uli last season - but I think Ufuk has picked Rufer as he's pretty consistent, and it allows Ball, Hoops, Payne etc to do their thing as experienced pros.