It was a warm sunny day in August 1990. My phone rang. “Hello.” “Gary, this is Graham Taylor. I am calling because I would like you to be the new England captain.”

OK, I made up the weather part, but the rest is verbatim. Not too many players receive that kind of phone call, and no one ever turns down the invitation. It was without question the proudest, most thrilling moment of my career. I felt like I imagined Terry Butcher always feels.

For me it endured for two years and ended with an inaccurate underarm toss of the armband to, I think, Stuart Pearce, when I was substituted in what turned out to be my final game for England in the European Championship in Sweden. The armband may have been passed on, but those three words remain with you for ever: “Former England captain”.

We have once again reached a stage where someone else will receive that magical call. Indeed, it may have already been made, following the international retirement of Steven Gerrard. Speculation in the media is rife. Everyone has an opinion on who it should or shouldn’t be. Social media could go into meltdown.

Do we, though, give it too much significance? Understandably, for the person involved it is monumentally important to their career and status as a footballer, but aside from that does it really matter, does it actually make any difference whatsoever who the captain is? Has the person wearing a small piece of cloth on his biceps ever influenced a result?

Well, of course, there is no way of actually measuring it, but I rather doubt it alters events dramatically ... on the field of play at least. A skipper has no say in selection, he has no say in tactics, he has no say in substitutions. Football ain’t cricket, where the captain’s role is all-encompassing. Our man gets to call heads or tails and if he gets it right, can choose whether his side kicks off or plays in a certain direction in the first half. Any halfwit can manage that – yes, even a footballer.

But, I’m sure you are thinking, a captain should be a motivating force. He needs to lead and inspire. This is a reasonable point, but from my experience a team will have a percentage of leaders who will behave, motivate, fist pump, berate, cajole in exactly the same way whether they have been entrusted with the armband or not.

A captain is primarily an off-the-field middleman between the team and the manager, and at times the media. He’s the players’ representative. It is almost an ambassadorial role. This is undoubtedly the crux of the job. A far more important aspect than anything that occurs on the pitch.

In other countries, the squad players choose their own captain. They have a vote at the start of the season. It makes sense too. Why should the manager/coach get to select the guy he may have to argue or negotiate with about something that may have upset his fellow players?

When I first went to Barcelona I was surprised at the dressing room democracy. It wasn’t long, though, before I realised this is the way it should be. They generally make the right choice too. José Ramón Alexanko and Víctor were intelligent and eloquent footballers, fine representatives of their team. They would stand up for the rights of their team-mates, whether it be to the management or the president, but always in a dignified manner.

Perhaps it’s time we adopted a similar approach for the national team. It would certainly be one less thing to concern Roy Hodgson. For when he makes his choice, you can rest assured he will be lambasted by a small or even large percentage of fans, press and media. If the players choose the captain in a ballot, you know at least that he is respected and revered by his team-mates, which is not necessarily the case should the manager decide.

Roy Hodgson faces a tricky decision over who to replace Steven Gerrard as England captain. Photograph: Ben Stanstall/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

The argument you may have against it (I’m ahead of you) is that the skipper should be pretty much a guaranteed starter and only the manager knows who is likely to be a regular on his team-sheet. In Spain the players voted for a 1, 2, 3 to cover any issues of nonselection or injury to their chosen one. Rather like a coach might go for a vice-captain.

The truth is that England don’t have many natural leaders at present. My guess is that it will come down to a choice between Wayne Rooney and Joe Hart. If Hodgson feels Rooney is still a fixture in his team then Rooney will get the nod. Given the scarcity of world-class players with experience you would expect that to be a given.

However, there is a dilemma for Hodgson: where do you play the Manchester United striker? During the World Cup he played on the left against Italy, looking a tad lost, and in the Uruguay game he slotted in behind Daniel Sturridge, a role in which he was clearly more comfortable. When Rooney plays in that position in a 4-3-3, however, there is a tendency for England to get outnumbered in midfield (a perennial problem for the national team). When Raheem Sterling played there against the Italians, England had more numbers centrally. This is because Sterling plays that role more as a midfield player getting forward, whereas Rooney is a forward who sometimes drops into midfield.

The other role that Rooney could be allocated is his favourite centre-forward spot. This, though, would mean shifting the in-form natural goalscorer;Sturridge. He could, of course, play both up top like Brendan Rodgers did with Sturridge and Luis Suárez. To enable him to do so, however, he switched to a diamond in midfield. This could be a decent option for Hodgson, the danger being that 1-2-1 in midfield can easily become a flat midfield four, where once again England would be vulnerable and exploited between the lines. Depth in midfield is crucial in the modern game.

Wayne Rooney, right, is the obvious choice to replace Steven Gerrard as England captain. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

Then there is the back in vogue 3-5-2 which would accommodate Rooney and Sturridge perfectly and is another system used by Rodgers. Faced with a similar situation at Manchester United, Louis van Gaal is playing exactly that formation with Rooney and Robin van Persie, thus enabling him to use both of his most lethal weapons without having to play one out of position. Mind you, it’s not working terribly well just yet.

So much then to ponder for England’s man in charge, never mind the captaincy conundrum. Maybe he should let the players decide? I wonder who they would choose. For the time being things will remain the same, the way they always have been. We don’t like change. So good luck, Roy, and whoever you call I hope they do the country proud.

Gary Lineker has donated his fee for this column to the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation