After Shankland’s dramatic penalty miss in Belgium, the travelling Jambos supporters turned against him.
One could understand Lawrence Shankland’s curiosity in how this situation came to be.
Once John Robertson’s heir apparent, the Hearts striker is now Tynecastle’s biggest public nemesis. Last season, the idea of the fans singing “Shankland, Shankland get tae f***” was just absurd. But on Thursday night, after blazing a late spot kick over the bar in their 2-0 Europa Conference League loss to Cercle, Shankland took the brunt of the ire from the travelling supporters in Brugge.
Emotions were running high after the captain missed his penalty at 1-0, and it could have been the Belgian beer. Given the current state of the Jambos’ season, it goes without saying that the home team stepped up to the park and increased their lead in stoppage time. Neil Critchley now has four straight losses, one win in six, and two straight losses in Europe. Things need to change fast because even with better performances, the results are still terrible.
One of the main causes has been Shankland’s decline in popularity. 29 goals the previous season, 31 last season. Only one this season, a last-minute equaliser in September against Ross County that bounced in off his head.
It’s not that Hearts aren’t generating opportunities. They created enough in the first half against Celtic this past weekend to win in Belgium. They are just not taking them, and although Shankland isn’t the only one who is at fault, he is the one who is expected to do much more.
The keeper is either missing the target or things are flying directly at him. On Thursday night, a first-half attempt that would have put Hearts ahead went painfully wide. Both Alan Forrest and Kenneth Vargas, who appears to be focused on his shoots but has one eye on moving to a higher level, fired directly at the goalie.
However, Shankland’s season was summed up by his pathetic penalty. Fans demanded to know why he was permitted to step up in the first place, and confidence was damaged. As anticipated, Critchley publicly defended his number nine, and it was hoped that a successful convert would have put Shankland back on the goal trail. The fans seem to have turned instead.
Claims that you don’t care or try are unfounded. Not only has he lost his sense of pride in his work, but he is also stuck in a rut.
Although he hasn’t been benched yet this season, his starting position against Aberdeen on Sunday is now seriously in jeopardy, so now might be the time. Another problem is the alternatives—or lack thereof. The lack of suitable replacements is arguably the most detrimental effect of Steven Naismith’s rule.
Last season, Kyosuke Tagawa didn’t quite establish himself as Shankland’s backup, but he did demonstrate in brief appearances that he could contribute. It made some sense to move him on. It was mystifying why Hearts decided they didn’t need to add another option up front.
As a Hearts striker, James Wilson has scored a few goals off the bench, and a late equaliser at Easter Road will never hurt you. However, considering the strain he will be under as long as Hearts linger in 11th place, asking a teenager to lead the line in a struggling team could be a recipe for disaster.
The introduction of Musa Drammeh to Scottish football has been gradual. He ripped in Sunday’s consolation match against Celtic and has been prolific in bounce games. However, due to another perplexing Naismith call, he was not registered for Europe and could only go on domestic trips.
Hearts must thus hope that Shankland suddenly gets over his current situation before January arrives. For both his and the club’s benefit.
The 29-year-old had just finished the best season of his life going into the last year of his contract. Hearts made a huge contract offer, but he turned it down to explore what else might be offered.
In a nutshell, that means nothing. It was unexpected that there was no interest (considering the many connections to Rangers), but it made sense for Hearts to be determined to maintain their top scorer since they believed he might lead them to another £5 million European group stage prize. As was the demand that he be given more opportunities when Scotland needed a goal scorer at Euro 2024.
Now, things have drastically changed. Although they are still willing to negotiate, the Hearts contract offer is no longer on the table, and any future offers will probably be much lower than what Shankland could have earned.
Someone might try to do a January deal at a reduced price, notwithstanding the difficulties of this season. Given recent results, Hearts may even give it some thought. Although Shankland’s arrival as a free agent in the summer is the most likely possibility, his final destination may now depend on his ability to salvage his own form in the second half of the season.
It would be a tragic conclusion after appearing to be on the verge of becoming a Hearts legend.
