Should Rangers Have Signed Lawrence Shankland?

This has been quite a controversial topic recently, especially considering Rangers new forwards stuttering start to the season. The club brought in four new forwards and none have hit the ground running so far. That has some fans asking the question, why didn’t Rangers go for Lawrence Shankland?

The 28-year-old is homegrown, a proven goal scorer in the league and also a fan, should this have been a no brainer? There’s always a sense of domestic player snobbery when it comes to a certain section of fans.

Is it better to bring in a player from a foreign league or go with someone who has a proven record here? That is the question which is being asked now but would it be the case if Danilo, Dessers, Lammers and Sima were firing in goals? Potentially not.

However, that hasn’t been the case so far so now some fans are asking the question, should Rangers have signed Lawrence Shankland?

Rangers New Forwards Last Season

Rangers signed their new forwards off the back of these domestic numbers they produced last season;

Danilo

• 34 Appearances (14 Starts)
• 10G/3A
• 134mins Per Goal
• 16% Goal Conversion Rate

Cyriel Dessers

• 26 Appearances (19 Starts)
• 6G/2A
• 265mins Per Goal
• 12% Goal Conversion Rate

Sam Lammers

• 33 Appearances (23 Starts)
• 2G/2A
• 995mins Per Goal
• 4% Goal Conversion Rate

Abdallah Sima

• 34 Appearances (19 Starts)
• 5G/1A
• 367mins Per Goal
• 13% Goal Conversion Rate

Based off of these numbers, the only player that comes off well is Danilo. Dessers, Lammers and Sima all played for sides who were relegated from their leagues.

Michael Beale said he’d been tracking Dessers and Lammers for a few years and it seems like he based the decision to sign them off of that instead of last season. This is a transfer policy which is now under major scrutiny. At Rangers, as Richard Gough famously said;

At most clubs you’re only as good as your last game, at Rangers, you’re only as good as your last pass.

Richard Gough

This rings incredibly true among the Rangers support and a lot of fans were left hugely disappointed in the summer signings considering their previous season. Now, they’ve come in and looked the players that their stats suggested they would be.

Rangers New Forwards This Season

We’ve looked at their domestic numbers from last season. Now, let’s look at their domestic numbers so far this season;

Danilo

• 4 Appearances (1 Start)
• 1 Goal
• 161mins Per Goal
• 8% Goal Conversion Rate

Cyriel Dessers

• 4 Appearances
• 0 Goals
• 4 Big Chances Missed

Sam Lammers

• 4 Appearances (3 Starts)
• 1 Goal
• 240mins Per Goal
• 8% Goal Conversion Rate

Abdallah Sima

• 4 Appearances (1 Start)
• 1 Goal
• 153mins Per Goal
• 17% Goal Conversion rate

Four new forwards, 3 domestic goals in 4 SPFL appearances so far. None of it makes great reading considering there was £10m+ spent between Danilo, Dessers and Lammers.

Michael Beale doesn’t look like he knows how to get the best out of the player or how to use them together. That’s been the biggest concern amongst the fans. The lack of consistency with the system and starting line-ups can’t be helping the new forward line gel.

Lawrence Shankland Last Season & This Season so Far

A natural goal scorer who’s improved his all round game in recent years, Shankland is Hearts talisman. These were his domestic numbers last season;

• 37 Appearances (33 Starts)
• 24G/4A (11 Penalties)
• 127mins Per Goal
• 20% Goal Conversion Rate

These are great numbers, especially when you look at Hearts poor run towards the end of the season. He’s a striker that guarantees goals in this league. That is something which Rangers are currently lacking.

These are his numbers so far this season;

• 4 Appearances
• 1 Goal
• 360mins Per Goal
• 8% Goal Conversion Rate

Not quite the start he might’ve expected so far this season. Hearts have started off slowly and haven’t won in 3 games, losing the last 2. Even if Hearts have a poor season, there’s no doubt he will still get plenty of goals.

Conclusion

One thing Lawrence Shankland guarantees is SPFL goals. Something which is not guaranteed from any of Rangers new forwards. The one thing fans would probably worry about is if he could translate that to European football.

He played all four matches in Hearts ECL qualification campaign. In those appearances he scored 1 and got an assist the famous 3-1 win at Tynecastle over Rosenborg after scoring their only goal away in Norway. He then scored a penalty against PAOK at home.

So that’s 3 goals and an assist in 4 games against solid European opposition, maybe he could do it for Rangers in Europe?

Do you think Rangers would’ve been better placed spending some of the money invested in new forwards on Lawrence Shankland or do you not think he’s at the level required?

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ICYMI you can read yesterdays article looking at solutions for Rangers wide issues here.