Inverness CT v St Johnstone: Shinnie comfortable wearing armband

Saturday 27 October 2012

There is an understated authority to Graeme Shinnie.

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Staff writer

From the outside it had appeared as though the young full-back might have won some sort of competition when he was made Inverness Caledonian Thistle captain for a day for the match with Dundee last week. Yet that is to undervalue the role he holds in the squad and the respect which he has earned.

Shinnie was not even born when Terry Butcher was captain of Rangers but, in the youngster, the Inverness manager has found a capable lieutenant. He filled the role well in that win over Dundee but that will have come as little surprise to those at Inverness, with Shinnie having already been promoted to the 'old' squad in training ground matches. He is still only 21."Taking the temporary captaincy for the game against Dundee is something I'm proud of at such a young age," said Shinnie. "There are a few more experienced boys than me but I have made the most club appearances of anyone in the current squad and that's another thing I'm proud of."Because I've been playing for a number of years now I sort of feel older than I actually am. In training, if we do an old against young match, I usually end up with the older lads."He will need to marshal all of that nous if he is to rein in Gregory Tade when Inverness face St Johnstone today. Tade decamped from the Highlands to McDiarmid Park during the summer but his bruising runs and strength of personality has ensured he has not been forgotten quickly."Greg is a good lad and he mixed well with us, on and off the pitch. He would come around to me and my brother's house [Andrew, the Inverness forward] and we'd do the cinema and things like that," said Shinnie. "We know him pretty well and what he can do, as does the gaffer. You expect the unexpected with Tads. He often didn't know what he was going to do with the ball, never mind the defender. The boys used to wind him up a wee bit about that."He doesn't seem to mind. Tade is relishing the return north and holds the place in high esteem as it offered him a first taste of top-flight football, although such sentiment will be ignored entirely until after the match is over later this afternoon.The St Johnstone forward is just as unequivocal about the chance to set a club record today if his side are able to win. Another three points would extend a winning run to six matches, a feat which has never been achieved by a St Johnstone team before, but Tade is unconcerned."The record doesn't really matter," said the Frenchman, whose side are still without fellow strikers Craig Beattie and Steven MacLean. "Of course we'd like to give something to the fans but I'd rather stand here at the end of the season and talk about being in the top three. That will be remembered more than winning five or six games in a row. Football is about what you do over a whole season, not two months. "So we are not getting carried away with it. Any achievements come at the end of the season. It's too early to say things are going well. It's October, you could easily be sitting where were are and end up in the bottom six or even in a relegation fight. You have to be on your toes and approach every game like it's your last."

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Inverness CT v St Johnstone: Shinnie comfortable wearing armband

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