Tony Docherty took his time to pick the new club captain at Dundee.
The armband was without an arm to rest upon in the coming season after Ryan Sweeney chose to continue his career elsewhere.
Docherty’s first signing, though, was a prime candidate.
Joe Shaughnessy came in from St Mirren and immediately showed his leadership abilities.
Having captained both St Johnstone and the Buddies in the top-flight, it wasn’t a surprise to see the 31-year-old lead out the Dark Blues in their first friendly of pre-season.
And it was even less of a surprise to Dundee fans to see the ex-Aberdeen man named club captain earlier this week.
‘He has been everything I thought he would be’
In fact, Docherty revealed much of the squad were already following Shaughnessy’s lead.
“Joe is someone I have known for a long time after working with him at Aberdeen,” the Dens boss said.
“I know his qualities as a person and I have seen him mature over the years.
“He has captained St Johnstone and St Mirren and he is the type of player I want here.
“I know he will train properly every day and do everything correctly to make him the best he can be.
“He has a mentality, work ethic and players in the squad need to look up to someone like that.
“He was my first signing for a reason as I knew what I was getting.
“It’s not just about signing a good player but a good person as well and Joe is that.
“He rubs off on other players and he has been everything I thought he would be.
“I never made him captain right away as I wanted to sit back and watch how he integrated with the rest of the boys.
“But after a few days it was never in doubt as he emerged straightaway as captain material.
“The boys kept calling him ‘skip’ right away so that tells you something.”
