Shields has the character and experience to be a strong leader who leads by example and his captaincy in recent games has been one of the few bright spots for the team this year.
Young is without a doubt a respected senior within the squad (and I genuinely admired his decision to stick with the club post Dai), however I believe his quieter character does hold him back as a captain. I’ve rarely seen him particularly vocal on the pitch or seen him rally the troops. He comes across as an introvert, which some leaders are, but I think in our game being vocal and showing more emotions & passion is a critical component when leading. I genuinely think I’ve only seen fleeting glimpses of emotions on two occasions in the last couple of years. I firmly believe he is a fantastic player & senior but perhaps doesn’t embody the character to be a fully effective captain.
Robson reminds me of Gopperth, in that they both have a wealth of game management experience and can be very vocal when they need to but again they don’t quite have the same presence as either Launchbury or Shields.
Going forward, having Shields as captain in Launchbury’s absence is the best set up.