Lawrence Shankland

[red]

Another £4-5m next season will make that gap between us and 4th place almost unsurmountable.
 

the league becomes a 2-1-9 league if we do that. Shanks is a massive part of us achieving this.  

[SMJ_1874]

8 hours ago, Bazzas right boot said:

If he doesn't  sign n an extension and leaves for free,  he'll be scoring for rangers the season after this and their fans will be bouncing about singing -

 

"We've got Lawrence Shankland " as they batter us at Tynecastle. 

 

That's what will happen if no extension I'd signed or we don't sell him.

 

 

And then he’ll be the first name on Steve Clark’es team sheet as he leads the line for his country. 

[darrenold]

3 minutes ago, SMJ_1874 said:

And then he’ll be the first name on Steve Clark’es team sheet as he leads the line for his country. 

He ll be out the Scotland team.  Clarke doesn't rate him

[cosanostra]

19 minutes ago, darrenold said:

He ll be out the Scotland team.  Clarke doesn't rate him

 

If he's playing and scoring for the Huns there's no way Clarke wouldn't play him. He'd be crucified in the press and the support would turn against him. 

[darrenold]

21 minutes ago, cosanostra said:

 

If he's playing and scoring for the Huns there's no way Clarke wouldn't play him. He'd be crucified in the press and the support would turn against him. 

He's already being slagged off for not playing him 

[pettigrewsstylist]

In a perverse way, hopefully the taste of benchwarming is not to his liking. Last big move tho. Cant grudge the boy a payday.

 

[cosanostra]

25 minutes ago, darrenold said:

He's already being slagged off for not playing him 

 

But he plays for Hearts. He can probably cope with that level of outrage. 

Different story entirely if he was ripping the league up for the Huns.

[EH11 2NL]

Pre contract is probably the most likely given what we want for him. Can't blame the lad for wanting a huge contract before he finishes. Just hope it's not in Glasgow! 

[Bazzas right boot]

2 hours ago, red said:

Another £4-5m next season will make that gap between us and 4th place almost unsurmountable.
 

the league becomes a 2-1-9 league if we do that. Shanks is a massive part of us achieving this.  

 

1-1-1-9

 

Not been a 2 for 15 years.

[GorgieFifeLife]

In all the time that there has speculation around Shankland, not one club has shown concrete interest in him.  That speaks volumes really.  None of the uglies are even interested enough in him to pay money for him and probably only Sevco would take him on a pre contract as a squad player.  No top Championship club has broken down the door for him.  If he wants a pay day then Saudi might offer him that.  The one thing that needs to stop is all the constant speculation.  The club need to place a deadline on his sale this summer and if he is waiting it out for a pre contract we need to get a proven striker in now to lessen the possible impact of that and, if they do well, limit Shankland’s game time during his remaining time with us.  What we shouldn’t allow is one player to take the p**s.

[Shooter McGavin]

I’m pretty much at the point where I just want to see him play another full season with us, score another 25+ goals and bag us another £5mill in Euro money.

 

It would sting seeing him ultimately head along the M8, but he’s a luxury player who’ll go down as one of our finest, and I’m glad I got to experience it.

 

28 goals first season, 31 goals second season, smashed 10 past Hibs, hat-trick against Celtic and only a few goals away from becoming our top euro goalscorer.

[Absolute Scenes]

10 minutes ago, Shooter McGavin said:

I’m pretty much at the point where I just want to see him play another full season with us, score another 25+ goals and bag us another £5mill in Euro money.

 

It would sting seeing him ultimately head along the M8, but he’s a luxury player who’ll go down as one of our finest, and I’m glad I got to experience it.

 

28 goals first season, 31 goals second season, smashed 10 past Hibs, hat-trick against Celtic and only a few goals away from becoming our top euro goalscorer.

If he stays annother season and then does end up at rangers I genuinely would wish him well, considering what he has given us as hearts fans. Never in my life did I think I’d see a hearts striker break that 20 goal mark, but for a guy to do it two seasons running - and break 30 goals, whilst scooping 2 POTY awards - is a dream. 3 seasons would be outstanding and I think I hope I speak for all hearts fans when i say that if he was to leave for nothing/pre contract, he’s already paid us back ten fold for his contribution to our amazing club. I just hope and pray he lifts a cup this season with Hearts, as he thoroughly deserves it.

Edited July 1 by Absolute Scenes

[Byyy The Light]

7 hours ago, cosanostra said:

 

Why? He could probably set himself up for life with a huge salary and signing on fee if he goes to the Huns. We all kind of suspect he was a Hun growing up. 

As I said, he'll be first choice for Scotland, win a few trophies and set his family up for life. 

We'd probably all do the same.

I just don’t see him having the same impact anywhere else if he leaves. Sure he might have a few extra quid in the bank but he’s had a couple of seasons with us now and is worshipped.

 

If he was to stay on £12k a week, win us a Scottish cup and bang in another 25 goals a year over the next 3 years he’d be a club legend until the end of time.

 

He’ll not get that anywhere else, not now. To be a legend at the OF you need to be winning 7 or 8 leagues on the bounce. He’ll also tarnish his reputation with Hearts fans. 

[Jamhammer]

1 hour ago, GorgieFifeLife said:

In all the time that there has speculation around Shankland, not one club has shown concrete interest in him.  That speaks volumes really.  None of the uglies are even interested enough in him to pay money for him and probably only Sevco would take him on a pre contract as a squad player.  No top Championship club has broken down the door for him.  If he wants a pay day then Saudi might offer him that.  The one thing that needs to stop is all the constant speculation.  The club need to place a deadline on his sale this summer and if he is waiting it out for a pre contract we need to get a proven striker in now to lessen the possible impact of that and, if they do well, limit Shankland’s game time during his remaining time with us.  What we shouldn’t allow is one player to take the p**s.

During all this speculation LS has kept doing what he does, scoring goals and I’d expect him to carry on doing that.

 

 

[cosanostra]

1 minute ago, Byyy The Light said:

I just don’t see him having the same impact anywhere else if he leaves. Sure he might have a few extra quid in the bank but he’s had a couple of seasons with us now and is worshipped.

 

If he was to stay on £12k a week, win us a Scottish cup and bang in another 25 goals a year over the next 3 years he’d be a club legend until the end of time.

 

He’ll not get that anywhere else, not now. To be a legend at the OF you need to be winning 7 or 8 leagues on the bounce. He’ll also tarnish his reputation with Hearts fans. 

 

I don't think being a legend is his top priority. This next move is his last chance to make as much money as possible. He could pay off his mortgage, send his kids to uni, never need to work again and have some investments or stay at Hearts and have a minor chance of winning a cup, be ignored by Scotland and have plenty of time to consider what his job will be after he retires but be regarded as a legend by Hearts fans. It's pretty clear what he wants from his last move and that's unlikely to be what we can offer.

 

Maybe we're all wrong and the Huns won't offer him a pre-contract and we end up offering him the most money next Summer. That's pretty much the only way I can see him staying and that's extremely unlikely.

[Star Lizard]

Shankland is a very clever footballer . His goal return and assists are what everyone understandably concentrates on and judges him on . Just watch him battling for a high ball or his movement off the ball next time though , he is actually unreal at this level . I particularly like when battling an opposition player for a high ball when he actually plants himself a few inches further forward than where the ball will land and he simultaneously uses his body to block off the defender and lets the ball land behind him ( usually ducks a little to allow it to land right behind him over his shoulder ) and then he rolls off the defender . The defender usually has a hold of him at this point in a bear hug . Defender has two choices keep a hold of him and give up a foul / penalty or let him go and be a yard off him before he can try and tackle him . These sorts of things do not require blistering pace , they just require intelligence and using your body properly . I think Shanks could go on to play until he was 35 or older at this level or slightly above . This is not even his last chance at a bumper contract imo . I think he could quite easily sign an extension with us at the reported 14 k , hit another 30 next season and still get a bumper contract elsewhere . Possibly even two more seasons with us and get a lucrative move 

[RudiSkacelsLeftPeg]

Anyone going on about him being a legend need to realise that unless you’re a jambo like us on here it means very little to anyone else. Hearts to me is the biggest club in the world but to other people they’re just another football club. I really hope he stays, but I’m also realistic. If he does go, I’ll be totally gutted.

 

For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’ll goto Rangers. I believe they’re going after two younger strikers. If they’re successful is signing them, I can’t see Shanks going there next year to bench warm. 
 

Hearts really need to offer him the best, realistic offer we can. He’s earned it.

[hmfc1984]

51 minutes ago, Shooter McGavin said:

I’m pretty much at the point where I just want to see him play another full season with us, score another 25+ goals and bag us another £5mill in Euro money.

 

It would sting seeing him ultimately head along the M8, but he’s a luxury player who’ll go down as one of our finest, and I’m glad I got to experience it.

 

28 goals first season, 31 goals second season, smashed 10 past Hibs, hat-trick against Celtic and only a few goals away from becoming our top euro goalscorer.

Isn't this the last season we are guaranteed group stage European football? I assume if we finish third this season we would need to qualify through several rounds before the groups due to our national coefficient?

Edited July 1 by hmfc1984

[Shooter McGavin]

2 minutes ago, hmfc1984 said:

Isn't this the last season we are guaranteed group stage European football? I assume if we finish third this season we would need to qualify through several rounds before the groups due to our national coefficient?

I believe so, although I think it's all dependant on how Scottish teams get on in Europe this season.

 

To be honest, I've not got enough days on this earth to try and work out all the ins and outs of the coefficient system 😄

[Shooter McGavin]

Pay his wages out of the FoH money, and any d*ckhead player (via agent) that tries to use that as leverage and wants the same wages should score 50+ goals in 2 seasons, become the leagues top goalscorer, win player of the year and win sports writers player of the year, and then we'll negotiate.

 

[OTT]

1 hour ago, GorgieFifeLife said:

In all the time that there has speculation around Shankland, not one club has shown concrete interest in him.  That speaks volumes really.  None of the uglies are even interested enough in him to pay money for him and probably only Sevco would take him on a pre contract as a squad player.  No top Championship club has broken down the door for him.  If he wants a pay day then Saudi might offer him that.  The one thing that needs to stop is all the constant speculation.  The club need to place a deadline on his sale this summer and if he is waiting it out for a pre contract we need to get a proven striker in now to lessen the possible impact of that and, if they do well, limit Shankland’s game time during his remaining time with us.  What we shouldn’t allow is one player to take the p**s.

 

Been rumours aplenty about the contract offers the club has made to him. Unsure how true they are, but consensus with the rumours seem to be north of £10k pw. 

 

I agree that Rangers might take him as a squad player on a pre-contract, but how much are they going to pay a squad player? I'm not saying they won't easily be able to match our best offer. But who overpays for a player they don't really fancy? Hopefully if that situation does occur, we're able to match them (or come just short) and then the choice is, bench warm for a manager that doesn't fancy him (Clarke 2.0) or be the main man at Hearts OR go elsewhere. 

[darrenold]

WBA seem to want him 

[cosanostra]

Just now, darrenold said:

WBA seem to want him 

 

Where did you hear that?

[darrenold]

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/lawrence-shankland-signs-west-brom-should-secure-these-shrewd-transfers-before-august-deadline/

[Dunks]

2 minutes ago, darrenold said:

WBA seem to want him 

 

He was linked in 2020 while at Utd. Current rumours have the same source as the Sunderland rumours i.e. pish.

[cosanostra]

Just now, darrenold said:

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/lawrence-shankland-signs-west-brom-should-secure-these-shrewd-transfers-before-august-deadline/

 

That's just an article written by some fan who's making signing suggestions. That does not constitute WBA wanting him.

It does say he'd be available for £5m though. If they do want him then that would be an excellent starting bid. 👌

[PortyBeach]

24 minutes ago, RudiSkacelsLeftPeg said:

Anyone going on about him being a legend need to realise that unless you’re a jambo like us on here it means very little to anyone else. Hearts to me is the biggest club in the world but to other people they’re just another football club. I really hope he stays, but I’m also realistic. If he does go, I’ll be totally gutted.

 

For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’ll goto Rangers. I believe they’re going after two younger strikers. If they’re successful is signing them, I can’t see Shanks going there next year to bench warm. 
 

Hearts really need to offer him the best, realistic offer we can. He’s earned it.

You might (hopefully) be right about him not ending up at Ibrox.

They appear to be in the market for signing “prospects” which they clearly hope will yield significant transfer income in a couple of years or so.

[gordon simpson]

56 minutes ago, Byyy The Light said:

I just don’t see him having the same impact anywhere else if he leaves. Sure he might have a few extra quid in the bank but he’s had a couple of seasons with us now and is worshipped.

 

If he was to stay on £12k a week, win us a Scottish cup and bang in another 25 goals a year over the next 3 years he’d be a club legend until the end of time.

 

He’ll not get that anywhere else, not now. To be a legend at the OF you need to be winning 7 or 8 leagues on the bounce. He’ll also tarnish his reputation with Hearts fans. 

this

 

[Mikey1874]

26 minutes ago, hmfc1984 said:

Isn't this the last season we are guaranteed group stage European football? I assume if we finish third this season we would need to qualify through several rounds before the groups due to our national coefficient?

 

This season for 2025/26 in Europe is the same.

 

Gets harder after that unless Scottish teams win most of their European games. 

[AGoodLaugh]

31 minutes ago, hmfc1984 said:

Isn't this the last season we are guaranteed group stage European football? I assume if we finish third this season we would need to qualify through several rounds before the groups due to our national coefficient?

There's one more season. Cup winner/third place next season will get group stages again, and then almost certainly it will disappear for at least a few years. 

[CostaJambo]

All I would like from Shankland is an agreement that if Hearts can afford to match whatever best offer he gets elsewhere he will stay. Seems very fair for both parties. Nobody can begrudge the guy wanting to maximise his earnings, any one of us would do the same for our families.

[Star Lizard]

26 minutes ago, AGoodLaugh said:

There's one more season. Cup winner/third place next season will get group stages again, and then almost certainly it will disappear for at least a few years. 

Yip , and that is why we need to get the automatic slot this season again and use that income improvement to get to the step up where we can get there through the qualifying rounds . If we do it again this season then we are looking at a run of seasons where nobody that finished fourth to twelfth last season are getting near us imo 

[Byyy The Light]

2 hours ago, cosanostra said:

 

I don't think being a legend is his top priority. This next move is his last chance to make as much money as possible. He could pay off his mortgage, send his kids to uni, never need to work again and have some investments or stay at Hearts and have a minor chance of winning a cup, be ignored by Scotland and have plenty of time to consider what his job will be after he retires but be regarded as a legend by Hearts fans. It's pretty clear what he wants from his last move and that's unlikely to be what we can offer.

 

Maybe we're all wrong and the Huns won't offer him a pre-contract and we end up offering him the most money next Summer. That's pretty much the only way I can see him staying and that's extremely unlikely.

How much extra realistically do you think he’ll get offered elsewhere? If the rumoured £10-12k a week is what we put in front of him I don’t see him getting drastically more at Rangers.

 

Guess we’ll have to see how it all pans out. I’m 50/50 that he leaves. 

[Thunder and Lightning]

4 hours ago, EH11 2NL said:

Pre contract is probably the most likely given what we want for him. Can't blame the lad for wanting a huge contract before he finishes. Just hope it's not in Glasgow! 

Exactly, for now we can continue to adore him. Come January we can discuss how he wasn't that good, got lucky and was lazy apart from his goals if he signs a pre. 

Edited July 1 by Thunder and Lightning

[loveofthegame]

IF we hold out for £5m, and the rumoured contract on the table from Hearts of £12-14k a week is reliable, my question would be can Shanks afford to gamble and not accept that?!

 

I'm aware there is a lot of guesswork here, but this is more about the principle than the exact figures...

 

Let's say he is currently on £5k a week. By not signing a new contract in January he has already foregone wages of whatever the increased contract was multiplied by 6 months. Even if the offer at that time was £5k a week more, that is c£120k he has missed out on.

 

If, as Donkey suggested on his podcast, the offer is now £14k a week, then every week he holds out he is losing himself and his family c£9k (gross) a week... multiply that by 6-12 months (then add the 6 months increased wages he has already missed out on...) and suddenly you're talking a lot of money.

 

Still with me?! Probably not  but my point being, unless he becomes fairly certain that a big move will materialise this summer, can he afford to continue to hold off on our big offer on the table and risk injury, loss of form, etc?! 

 

My selfish hope is that this is playing on his mind, and that he is being advised accordingly. If a move doesn't arise in the next few weeks, I'd really hope he leans more towards the security of the guarantee of 3 years at c£14k a week at Hearts (a contract worth over £2m gross to the player!!).

[cosanostra]

17 minutes ago, Byyy The Light said:

How much extra realistically do you think he’ll get offered elsewhere? If the rumoured £10-12k a week is what we put in front of him I don’t see him getting drastically more at Rangers.

 

Guess we’ll have to see how it all pans out. I’m 50/50 that he leaves. 

 

No idea tbh. Depends on how much they want him but they could easily pay him £15k, £20k or £25k if they wanted. 

Their manager seems a bit of a bell end though and I'm not convinced that he rates Shankland. I still think they'd take for free to appease the media and the orcish hordes. 

[ramrod]

2 hours ago, RudiSkacelsLeftPeg said:

Anyone going on about him being a legend need to realise that unless you’re a jambo like us on here it means very little to anyone else. Hearts to me is the biggest club in the world but to other people they’re just another football club. I really hope he stays, but I’m also realistic. If he does go, I’ll be totally gutted.

 

For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’ll goto Rangers. I believe they’re going after two younger strikers. If they’re successful is signing them, I can’t see Shanks going there next year to bench warm. 
 

Hearts really need to offer him the best, realistic offer we can. He’s earned it.

What makes you think we haven't ? 

We aren't idiots,  the sums will have been done and we will have made him our best offer possible , that's a given.

It's up to shanlkand to decide if he wants to accept it and contine to play the best football of his career in a place he's loved earning a decent wage or gamble on getting more money with the possibility of his career peatering out at a club with better resources. 

It's really up to him , but I don't think our offer will be to shabby and one he would have bitten our hand of for at the start of his contract wirh us.

[Fxxx the SPFL]

Wouldn’t surprise me if The Rangers made an offer near the end of the window giving us little time to look for a replacement 

[Daktari]

Not even remotely ITK, but a Rangers supporting colleague of mine has just messaged a cryptic Shankland reference. Mind you, this is the same one who said they were 'definitely'  getting him in January this year...

 

There was also the quote from their manager saying that they are focussing on signing 'experience' now.

Edited July 1 by Daktari

[A_A wehatethehibs]

I actually wonder if Celtic might look at buying him just to stop Rangers getting him. They’ve got history for that. They love a gazump. Like with scott brown and scott allan. Their fans will want a statement signing to get it up Rangers if they sell O’ Riley.

[kingantti1874]

2 hours ago, cosanostra said:

 

That's just an article written by some fan who's making signing suggestions. That does not constitute WBA wanting him.

It does say he'd be available for £5m though. If they do want him then that would be an excellent starting bid. 👌

Celtic want £6m for mikey Johnson. 

[Doc Rob]

6 hours ago, cosanostra said:

 

If he's playing and scoring for the Huns there's no way Clarke wouldn't play him. He'd be crucified in the press and the support would turn against him. 

Sad but true. You can get away with not playing a standout player from a club like Hearts (Willie Bauld got 3 caps, Robbo didn’t get his first cap until 1990) but you can’t get away with not playing someone who is the darling of an OF side. Hence McGregor being undroppable, as Barry Ferguson was back in the day.

[pettigrewsstylist]

3 hours ago, Shooter McGavin said:

I’m pretty much at the point where I just want to see him play another full season with us, score another 25+ goals and bag us another £5mill in Euro money.

 

It would sting seeing him ultimately head along the M8, but he’s a luxury player who’ll go down as one of our finest, and I’m glad I got to experience it.

 

28 goals first season, 31 goals second season, smashed 10 past Hibs, hat-trick against Celtic and only a few goals away from becoming our top euro goalscorer.

No problem with that and his goals in Europe have earned us plenty already and could do so again over next few mths.

Concern is his form after pre contract signed. I trust him as a professional but everbody is human.

[Doc Rob]

20 minutes ago, **** the SPFL said:

Wouldn’t surprise me if The Rangers made an offer near the end of the window giving us little time to look for a replacement 

Oh, that’ll be their strategy 100%. If they offer at all, it’ll be on or around deadline day, it’ll be a lowball offer, with the implied threat that if we don’t sell then they will offer him a pre-contract in 6 months. We told them where to go with Souttar, though, so hopefully we’ll do the same again.

[Doc Rob]

35 minutes ago, cosanostra said:

 

No idea tbh. Depends on how much they want him but they could easily pay him £15k, £20k or £25k if they wanted. 

Their manager seems a bit of a bell end though and I'm not convinced that he rates Shankland. I still think they'd take for free to appease the media and the orcish hordes. 

I actually believe that they would prefer to get him on a free transfer, if at all, because that would please their fan base more. I maintain they signed Sutton mainly to put us in our place and show us they were still the big dogs.

[michael_bolton]

2 hours ago, AGoodLaugh said:

There's one more season. Cup winner/third place next season will get group stages again, and then almost certainly it will disappear for at least a few years. 

 

Why's there one more season?

 

People keep saying this, but it's not how the coefficients work.

 

It's perfectly feasible that we retain the slot. Scotland is currently 16th, I believe. Climb one place and it comes back. Could easily be done in a season.

 

We're probably hoping for Rangers to drop into the Europa League, as they tend to do well in it. The nature of how these things work mean Scotland will commonly yo-yo. More teams and both the OF in the CL = bad for the coefficient over a number of years. Fewer teams and one of the OF in the Europa/Conference, we'll do better and bounce back up.

[A_A wehatethehibs]

12 minutes ago, pettigrewsstylist said:

No problem with that and his goals in Europe have earned us plenty already and could do so again over next few mths.

Concern is his form after pre contract signed. I trust him as a professional but everbody is human.

I imagine that’s why we’re bringing in strikers. Succession planning is already in effect.
 

That’s what players who run down their contracts always fail to see. When you don’t extend, your club will prioritise finding alternatives.
 

Hearts could get someone in who tears it up this season. We’re already looking for our new main man simply because he’s not extended. It means we certainly won’t be building this seasons team around him. Alternative options to Shankland will be the top priority Hearts have now because we now know for sure that he is leaving either now, Jan or next summer so we need to plan for that. Whether he’s still here after the window or not we need to be signing quality competition for his place and potential replacements.
 

Amazing how quickly things can change in football right now he’s the shit hot main man, but that can change fast. Especially if the club brings some quality in which I hope we will. 

[Daveandal]

35 minutes ago, kingantti1874 said:

Celtic want £6m for mikey Johnson. 

 

If Johnson is worth £6m then Shankland is £60m.

 

Unfortunately purely by being a Celtic player Johnson could easily go for a silly figure like that.

[Pasquale for King]

53 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

I actually wonder if Celtic might look at buying him just to stop Rangers getting him. They’ve got history for that. They love a gazump. Like with scott brown and scott allan. Their fans will want a statement signing to get it up Rangers if they sell O’ Riley.

Payback for Mo Johnson 😆

[kingantti1874]

17 minutes ago, Daveandal said:

 

If Johnson is worth £6m then Shankland is £60m.

 

Unfortunately purely by being a Celtic player Johnson could easily go for a silly figure like that.

Celtic are used to getting the fees they demand.
 

We need to do the same, we need to create a view of being in control, we need to be in control.
 

If Shankland doesn’t extend in the next 2 weeks we should publicly declare that we will only entertain bids for Shankland to XDate e.g 30th July or whatever the club feel is appropriate to secure a replacement, AND the price is £Xm. If we go beyond that date the price goes up. 

 

We must get on the front foot, make it clear to the player, his agent and potential suitors that we hold the ball.  As well as reaching the best outcome for the team we must set a precedent so that in future clubs take us seriously and do not attempt to bully us. 
 

The way we handle this is more important than the fee IMO

Edited July 1 by kingantti1874