Adelaide United’s new stand-in skipper once led 1860 Munich away from relegation and rates Paul Okon amongst his best captains.

Agostino has been appointed captain following Michael Valkanis’ knee injury is expected to sideline him for up to 12 months.

Aurelio Vidmar today said: “I think it’s a very good appointment, Paul is someone who has got a lot of experience for us and someone who is going to show a lot of leadership, especially on the field.

“I just need to make it crystal clear that Paul is the acting captain because Michael Valkanis is still the captain of the club, he just won’t be able to play, that’s the only difference.”

Agostino has already captained sides, including his previous team, 1860 Munich.

“I stepped in twice when I was there,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“Once was when the captain was injured and the second time was when we got stuck in a big, big relegation battle.

"There was a young captain who was a bit over his head and I came in for the last six games of the season to get us out of the battle.

“We got out of the relegation on the last game of the season. It was a big pressure moment and something you don’t want to come up against too often.”

Agostino places Paul Okon alongside the top captains he played with in Germany.

“A great captain was Thomas Hasler the German #10," he added. "Also Abedi Pele, a Ghanaian international who played for Marseille and Piotr Nowak were top class.

"For the Socceroos Paul Okon was a great leader. I thought he was a fantastic captain - he was a standout for me.”

Agostino believes the captain’s armband won’t actually alter his role too much saying: “It makes me very proud. We just feel for Michael. He’s a very good leader and a very good captain.

“We need a lot of leaders out there. It’s not just myself... we need three or four captains who are prepared to lead.

"I’ll just be doing the same job as the one that I’ve been doing since I got off the plane in Adelaide. So my job doesn’t actually change that much.”