THE MAKING OF LAWRENCE SHANKLAND: Mail Sport examines the prolific striker's rise from lower-league battler to leading the line for Scotland

By Moira Gordon 

Holding off his marker to send home his 58th-minute header and give Scotland a 2-0 lead over Finland, there was physical strength in Lawrence Shankland’s play but there was also evidence of his mental sturdiness.

Following the warm-up game with Gibraltar, some had questioned whether the Hearts captain had played his way out of Steve Clarke’s plans, leaving the 28-year-old with something to prove.

After leading the capital side to a top-three finish in the Premiership and hoovering up so many personal accolades, it was a nip of negativity amid all the positivity.

But, as he has done throughout his career, he found the ideal response, netting his third Scotland goal and bagging the man-of-the-match award.

‘I don’t know for sure but it is likely he will have seen those headlines,’ said mindset coach John Johnstone, who has been attributed with helping the striker take his game to a new level.

‘In terms of dealing with criticism, there is no pill to swallow where suddenly criticism doesn’t bother you. As human beings we are all wired to care what other people think. It doesn’t matter who you are or how good you are in terms of the technical and tactical side of your game, if you’re getting criticised then the likelihood is it will sting on some level.’

The Scotland star has spent a lifetime preparing for such moments, though.

BACK TO THE BEGINNING 

On May 5, 2012, the 58th minute of another match played at Hampden was also significant, as Shankland entered the fray as a 16-year-old substitute. Having spent some time at Hearts before going on trial at Rangers, it was at Queen’s Park where he made his SPFL debut and kickstarted his career.

Back then he was utilised in defence and midfield at times but his natural goalscoring ability still shone through. A keen and receptive player, he combined playing for the amateur side with working in a factory. That honed the work ethic instilled in him by his parents and, as he advanced, it ensured a deeper appreciation of life as a professional footballer.

‘He has always had that drive to play,’ insists Paul Sheerin, who would become his Under-20s development team coach at Aberdeen when the youngster’s burgeoning talent saw Aberdeen take a gamble on him a year later. It just didn’t turn out the way either party had hoped.

‘Lawrence was great for me. As part of the Under-20s group, him and Cammy Smith were excellent as a pair and we won the development league. But although he got a few opportunities in the first team, it just didn’t work out at Aberdeen.’

At that time Adam Rooney was the man leading the line, notching 20 goals or more in three of his four full seasons at the club, and Shankland wasn’t able to compete.

‘On the training pitch he loved it and it was clear that he just wanted to play football, but he was the type of lad who was all about the ball rather than the gym or speedwork etc and nowadays you have to be a proper athlete,’ explains Sheerin.

‘After Aberdeen, I think there came a time where he obviously thought “I need to get myself sorted” and he has done that. He did more in the gym and worked a bit harder than he probably had previously, in terms of things away from the pitch, and is now reaping the benefits.’

During his four years with Aberdeen, there were loan spells at Dunfermline, St Mirren and Morton, and he made 105 first team appearances (17 of them for his parent club), scoring 25 goals, but none of them were for Derek McInnes’ high-flying Dons side.

‘It reached a stage where he had to go and find his career elsewhere when his contract came to an end,’ adds Sheerin. ‘You have to give him credit because he has done that brilliantly. But, if I’m being honest, that doesn’t surprise me.

‘There is always one that you are wary of letting go. At that stage it probably was the right decision with the other strikers we had at the club but there was a feeling that he could be one who would come back and bite us on the proverbial.

‘It is difficult mentally for a player when they are released, especially from a full-time club, and there are so many who fall by the wayside because of that. Lawrence, we know, took a bit of time but he was mentally strong enough to fight his way back after time in the lower leagues.’

A FRESH START

But, it could have been very different. As Shankland was left to lick his wounds and ponder his future, he considered jobs away from the game. Past experience drove him on, though, and he spent the summer working on his fitness and technique on local school grounds.

Having worked on his physique, it was an injection of confidence that further boosted his chances of proving his former employers wrong as he found his way under Ian McCall’s wing at Ayr United. There he captured headlines and significant interest.

It spoke volumes of Shankland’s ability that he got the opportunity after he had previously given McCall a custard pie when choosing loan deals while at Aberdeen.

‘At that point I was raging with him but things didn’t work out for him and I just bit the bullet and thought there is no point cutting my nose off to spite my face,’ McCall has said of the sliding doors moment. ‘Lawrence came in and had a good group around him, albeit at League One — a level he didn’t want to play at — but it was probably the level he needed to get that confidence and then bang the goals in.’

After his first season, where he rediscovered his joy and his shooting boots, banging in 29 goals in 33 appearances to fuel Ayr United’s promotion to the Championship, the club circled the wagons and rejected all bids for their star man. He rewarded them with a second-season return of 34 goals in 41 games as he grew into a leading man on the pitch and, with his swagger back, in the dressing room.

By that time there was no fending off his suitors and although it surprised some that he opted for another Championship side, he recognised something in Dundee United he could relate to. Both had suffered setbacks, but both were determined to fight back and, just as he had at Ayr, he found a manager who made him feel wanted.

Under Robbie Neilson he continued to impress. The statistics show he scored 28 goals in 33 appearances but there was so much more to his game as he held up the ball, played in colleagues, led from the front and hustled for results. Deadly in front of goal, despite his Championship status, Scotland manager Steve Clarke came calling, giving him his first cap as a substitute against Russia in October 2019, and his first start against San Marino a few days later. He marked that occasion with a goal.

But, the following season, with the Tannadice club back in the Premiership, things stuttered. Critics claimed he had found his level in Scotland’s second tier and he was incapable of mixing it with the big boys.

Played out wide and tasked with playing a different style of game, he ended the campaign on nine goals. That is when he took action and, searching for every advantage, he sought out mind coach Johnstone.

‘I met Lawrence back in the summer of 2021, during the close season,’ says Johnstone. ‘You can have a player who, from a mental point of view, is spiralling a bit and they don’t know how to get out of that. And for that type of player it is usually a last resort.

‘The other category and, this is the one I would put Lawrence into, are players who want to tick every box. At the end of their career they want to look back and think “you know what, I gave it everything”. They don’t want to look back and think “I should have given myself a better chance”.

‘Lawrence had some things he wanted to work on and he has spoken about his confidence and self-belief.

‘It’s easy when you look at the amount of goals and the impact he has made to assume that it has come easy, but he has had bumps and bruises along the way. So we have worked on things. It is about understanding bumps will come and, for players like Lawrence, chances will be missed, so you have to prepare yourself mentally for that so you react the right way.

‘The scrutiny, whether you’re a Championship striker or what went on after the Gibraltar game, that is the cost of entry for a professional footballer. He understands that you cannot be a professional football and not be criticised. There will always be something.’

Channelling that constructively is what a more mature and attuned Shankland has learned to do. While some look at that latter period at Dundee United as a failure and describe the subsequent time in Belgium, playing for Beerschot as a flop, the player himself has been able to extrapolate positives.

Played in different positions, the goals did not flow as freely but he was forced to develop other areas of his game and strengthen his resolve.

‘He knows what he is and what he’s not as a player,’ reveals Johnstone. ‘He goes out and tries to do Lawrence Shankland every week and thankfully he is in a place where it is bringing him the rewards in terms of goals and results and personal accolades and international recognition, but it’s also because he has found himself in an environment where he is loved again.’

PROVING HIMSELF ALL OVER AGAIN

Comfortable and confident, with the mental steel to rattle in penalties and now captain Hearts, it is no surprise that while Scotland’s PFA Scotland Player of the Year ended last season as top goalscorer, he was also one of those who recorded the most misses. It illustrates the character of a man who backs himself to bag the next chance and is unafraid to put himself out there, never shirking responsibility.

‘Lawrence thrives on chances and when they were pushing us to sign him, Robbie Neilson and Lee McCulloch guaranteed us he would score goals,’ explains Hearts’ sporting director Joe Savage, who also says the subsequent decision to make him captain was inspired.

‘They worked with him at Dundee United and made him our top target. They knew what he could bring but I don’t think any of us expected him to deliver quite the way he has.

‘Even the fans, who love him now, when we signed him, a lot of them were like “Woah, what’s happening here? Why are we signing Shankland?” But now he is a legend.’

A team player who is empathic, humble but highly ambitious, he has won over doubters time and again. The first Gorgie player since John Robertson to score 20 goals in a season, he backed that up with a 30-plus season to steer Hearts back into Europe.

‘At Hearts we look to sign people who do have points to prove; that want to show they are better than some people thought,’ adds Savage. ‘Even in that first season at Hearts, he scored a lot of penalties and people said that was all he did, but he didn’t score a lot of penalties this season and look at all the goals he’s scored.

‘He has a hunger and has had to fight for everything he’s got. He has suffered rejection and was released by Aberdeen. He’s been to St Mirren, Morton, Dunfermline, so many teams where it just hasn’t worked that well, but then he took a step back, went to Ayr United and under Ian McCall he scored goals. He got the move to Dundee United, where he scored a lot of goals, then went to Beerschot and it didn’t really work out, but Hearts benefited because he came back to Scotland with a point to prove again.’

That is the reason team-mates and managers love him and it is the reason Clarke gave him another chance against Finland. It is also why, even if Che Adams gets the nod against Germany, those who know him or have studied his career realise he will not stop fighting for another opportunity.