Ivanovic: I am 'really so happy' and 'very proud' to be the vice-captain of Chelsea

Having to think about the issue of captaincy and vice-captaincy is fairly foreign to most Chelsea fans, I'd surmise, certainly to most under a certain age.  That's what happens when you have John Terry, captain, and Frank Lampard, vice-captain, entrenched for over a decade.  Even when Lampard wasn't here last season, we still had legends Didier Drogba and Petr Cech to deputise on the rare occasion that Terry wasn't on the pitch.

But what about this season?  It's not really an issue that crossed my mind either; JT, after all, is still the captain, but without Lampard, without Cech, and without Drogba, we don't have an obvious deputy for him.  Or do we?

"I am really so happy. I am very proud of that, to be the vice-captain of this team. This is something extra for me, more responsibility, and I will try to do it well for the team."

"I am doing what I was doing before, trying to do my best. I will try to do that in the future as well but basically not a lot of things change. John Terry is the real captain and leader."

-Branislav Ivanovic, Vice-captain; source: Chelsea FC

Mourinho had hinted at this arrangement in recent interviews, and Ivanovic did wear the armband in the first half of the first preseason match, so by now, his official designation is more confirmation rather than surprise.  Being in an official position of leadership is of course nothing new to the 31-year-old, he's served as the Serbian national team's captain for the past three years as well.

Last season, Ivanovic became the 35th player to have played in over 300 matches for Chelsea Football Club.  The way he's going recently, he's got many more left to add to that number.

"...I hope this year will be the same mentally and physically [as last year] so I am ready to do more. Last year was a great year for me, maybe one of the best, and when you do this, you always have to set new targets to break, and go one step better than last year."

-Branislav Ivanovic, Vice-captain; source: Chelsea FC

Vice-captain. Leader. To avoid being seriously mauled, do not feed the right back.