Onto slightly more ‘footballing’ matters now, and the Lawrence Shankland to Rangers hype train is fully underway, with the Hearts striker confirming he will leave Gorgie in the summer after no contract was offered and both parties agreed their time together is coming to an end.
The big part is the naysayers who are calling Shankland out for his bad season this campaign seemingly ignoring his staggering numbers up till August:
39 goals and assists in 47 last season, 32 in 47 the season prior – a total, with Hearts, of 71 in 94.
And apparently that’s ‘pish’ and not good enough in the view of some Rangers supporters.
These are likely the people who would have contended that Lionel Messi and Ronaldo weren’t up to it either.
Now, there’s nothing wrong in having high standards – we’re Rangers, we should. Ibrox Noise has been more than critical of the work done in recent windows, and has been on record as suggesting the incomings have not been up to Rangers levels.
Time has borne that out.
This doesn’t guarantee that Shankland IS up to those standards, but his CV of being a Rangers fans and scoring in the SPL for fun when his head is in the game pretty much ticks every box Rangers need for a reliable league striker.
He’s 29, and he is desperate for his move to Rangers – it’s what he’s wanted his whole career in truth, and it should have happened much earlier, but it might finally happen next year.
As for this season? His head has been completely out of the game – he doesn’t want to be at Hearts any more, and he’s lost his focus. He only wants, and has only ever wanted Rangers, and he’s closer now to getting the move than ever before.
We’re sure Clement and Koppen would rather sign some ‘unknown gem’ from the Uruguayan fourth tier though…