Shankland worth a punt ?

Graemeh89 said:
Just wondering what other people think about Lawrence Shankland as a backup striker , we saw against Aberdeen that when Morelos and big Laff are both out we are worryingly short of options up top. His record this year is superb 35 goals in 38 apps is a good return at any level , and not many current spl strikers would have that scoring rate Playing for Ayr. I know he probably won’t take us to the next level in Europe but would do a job against most spl teams, Before anyone compares him to Nicky Clark ( heard this many times whenever we are linked with strikers from smaller teams ) Clark never had as good a record and doesn’t look anywhere near as good.

Shanklands contract is up in June so even a bid of a few hundred thousand Ayr would struggle to knock back or risk losing him on a free in summer , as a bonus he was apparently a season ticket holder at Ibrox when he was younger so he’d be desperate for a chance at Ibrox , thoughts ?
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I think it could be worth taking a chance on the boy, as playing with better players, he would probably become more mature and confident playing in the Premier league again.
Even it meant being a squad player, until he gets used to the surroundings.

I also maintain that natural goalscores can score goals wherever they go, i.e. players like Dodds, Rod Wallace, & Nacho Novo. etc.omo.
 
Valley Bluenose said:
Kinda shot down your own argument there. Whatever happened to Jason Cummings? Last I looked he wasn’t even getting a game at his loan club after the ‘tv oot the windae’ fiasco.
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I know Cummings never got much of a chance while playing with us, but if im being honest.I don't think he would have been in Stevie Gs.squad, as i just don't think he was good enough to play for the Gers.imo.
 
If any of our players were out on loan at ayr and had that kind of goalscoring record everyone would be on here shouting that we should be recalling him in January and giving him his chance. If we can get him signed on a pre contract for nothing and give him a small wage in comparison to our other players then why not give him a chance.
 
Whoever comes in needs to be better than Lafferty and pushing Morelos for his spot in the team. Shankland is nowhere near Lafferty.

Simply being better than Sadiq isnt enough.
 
People would have said no to Andy Robertson when he was lower league now look at him.

Sometimes it worth taking a punt.
 
Will always be a mixed opinion on this.

Some people think we should only sign players who immediately improve out starting eleven.

Personally, I think we have to sometimes explore a long term signing policy. I'd look at anyone domestically under 24 who is showing a form of potential. There's been a few players from the Scottish lower divisions who have done well and then went down south. If they then do well down south, they're out of our price range.

Sometimes would make sense to sign a player, if not ready for our 1st team send them down south on loan. If they do well, they return a better player or we can make a profit. Obviously some risk to this but fees generally involved a lot lower than usual.
 
EndOfDays said:
People would have said no to Andy Robertson when he was lower league now look at him.

Sometimes it worth taking a punt.
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People would have said yes to Nicky Clark when he was lower league now look at him.

Sometimes it isn't worth taking a punt.
 
Leo_Ger said:
Will always be a mixed opinion on this.

Some people think we should only sign players who immediately improve out starting eleven.

Personally, I think we have to sometimes explore a long term signing policy. I'd look at anyone domestically under 24 who is showing a form of potential. There's been a few players from the Scottish lower divisions who have done well and then went down south. If they then do well down south, they're out of our price range.

Sometimes would make sense to sign a player, if not ready for our 1st team send them down south on loan. If they do well, they return a better player or we can make a profit. Obviously some risk to this but fees generally involved a lot lower than usual.
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^What this man said.

RE the instant improvement people are struggling to get beyond the 90's and 00's in that regard. It's no longer the make up of our club. We buy players who are young and have potential and we make them A) good enough then B) better and that's when they get punted on. We supplement these guys with older pros and loan signings.

We also have people on here who say they wouldn't take Steven Davis back because he's too old. So lets not worry too much about them.
 
Caldow1872 said:
I’m just going by what was said at time when he played against us, was pretty clear he had potential maybe no one thought he’d go as far as he has
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I get what you are saying, however our lot made some absolute shite look great.

Some Dumbarton, Peterhead players tore us a new one ffs.
 
Is it because hes a bear that folk are so keen on signing the lad .Or do they think hes good enough to bang the goals in for us .
 
Leo_Ger said:
Will always be a mixed opinion on this.

Some people think we should only sign players who immediately improve out starting eleven.

Personally, I think we have to sometimes explore a long term signing policy. I'd look at anyone domestically under 24 who is showing a form of potential. There's been a few players from the Scottish lower divisions who have done well and then went down south. If they then do well down south, they're out of our price range.

Sometimes would make sense to sign a player, if not ready for our 1st team send them down south on loan. If they do well, they return a better player or we can make a profit. Obviously some risk to this but fees generally involved a lot lower than usual.
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We already do this though. He may not have come from the Scottish leagues but Middleton is the most obvious example. A signing almost certainly intended for the Youth setup who now finds himself an integral part of the first team squad.

You could argue getting them at that age is more of a gamble than someone like Shankland but the potential rewards in terms of how much they can improve is also much greater. I'd suggest Shankland is probably close to as good as he can get. Lets remember that, in addition to all his loan spells around the Scottish Championship, he's also had a couple of seasons where Aberdeen kept him 'in house' and gave him the odd chance - he only managed something like 2 starts and 15 or so subs appearances though.

In fairness he's had 2 good season back-to-back - the season prior to that though it was 8 goals in 41 appearances. The similarities to Nicky Clark's record are striking. He's 23 now and would, in my opinion, be lucky to make our first team squad.
 
Gers11 said:
I hope im proved wrong, but i don't think Laff.looks suited to play in the system we play.
In saying that, only S.G.will know that for sure.Only time will tell.
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Kind of panic buy, over 30 and will always have issues/baggage.
If morelos stays and we get another good striker then he will toil to get a game.
 
Valley Bluenose said:
We already do this though. He may not have come from the Scottish leagues but Middleton is the most obvious example. A signing almost certainly intended for the Youth setup who now finds himself an integral part of the first team squad.

You could argue getting them at that age is more of a gamble than someone like Shankland but the potential rewards in terms of how much they can improve is also much greater. I'd suggest Shankland is probably close to as good as he can get. Lets remember that, in addition to all his loan spells around the Scottish Championship, he's also had a couple of seasons where Aberdeen kept him 'in house' and gave him the odd chance - he only managed something like 2 starts and 15 or so subs appearances though.

In fairness he's had 2 good season back-to-back - the season prior to that though it was 8 goals in 41 appearances. The similarities to Nicky Clark's record are striking. He's 23 now and would, in my opinion, be lucky to make our first team squad.
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Middleton was a signing from a youth team to a youth team. We've done that since time immemorial. He had played no first team games.

What I was talking about is more looking at players throughout the Scottish leagues who are under 24 playing first team football but not entirely ready to be a starter at Rangers. Docherty would probably be a better reference for that from recent signings. Signing him when we did prevented him from going down south and probably going well beyond our budget, if he done well. It's something clubs at a higher level seem to do more often than we have in recent years.
 
Leo_Ger said:
Middleton was a signing from a youth team to a youth team. We've done that since time immemorial. He had played no first team games.

What I was talking about is more looking at players throughout the Scottish leagues who are under 24 playing first team football but not entirely ready to be a starter at Rangers. Docherty would probably be a better reference for that from recent signings. Signing him when we did prevented him from going down south and probably going well beyond our budget, if he done well. It's something clubs at a higher level seem to do more often than we have in recent years.
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Funnily enough, before I edited my post, it included reference to Docherty as well. As you say, probably a better example. He's not taken his chance yet and, whilst I've not written him off, he's a long way to go if he's to become a regular at Rangers.

Yes, where appropriate, we should take those gambles. Shankland, in my eyes, isn't a gamble worth taking. In fact I'd also say your 'under 24' cut-off figure is too high. I'd drop it by at least 2 years.
 
No.

There have been multiple examples of players who are the lower leagus by storm only to be average or poor in the top tier.

Let a Dundee or Motherwell buy him and see how he goes. If he gets 25 goals a season for one of them then it’s a different conversation
 
It's a no from me. As I said in last week's Shankland thread, he didn't score a single goal when he was with Aberdeen in the SPFL. He has found his level and is doing very well. We don't need another Nicky Clark
 
It Buffalo gets injured, you think this kid can carry the front line?
It's a no from me. I want MUCH better. We need MUCH better.
 
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It's not as if he is in the 2nd division he is tearing up the division directly below us,We have lost out on local talent in the past and brought in some garbage foreign players that have totally bombed.
 
This may indeed be the re-run of a regular topic so I feel able to trot out my regular response - yes, I would support him being given an opportunity. There’s very little downside and potentially a sizeable upside.
 
4 goals for Dundee Utd today.

I’m still in the “Nicky Clark” camp but I’d be very interested in seeing him at a higher level.
 
BobbyShearer said:
4 goals for Dundee Utd today.

I’m still in the “Nicky Clark” camp but I’d be very interested in seeing him at a higher level.
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He's clearly better than Nicky Clark considering he's scoring far more goals than him in the same league.

Never replacing Morelos or Defoe anyway. As a 3rd choice option maybe.
 
A very good Championship striker who could do ok with a lower end Premiership team.
But not a Rangers team who are looking to win the league.
 
Graemeh89 said:
Just wondering what other people think about Lawrence Shankland as a backup striker , we saw against Aberdeen that when Morelos and big Laff are both out we are worryingly short of options up top. His record this year is superb 35 goals in 38 apps is a good return at any level , and not many current spl strikers would have that scoring rate Playing for Ayr. I know he probably won’t take us to the next level in Europe but would do a job against most spl teams, Before anyone compares him to Nicky Clark ( heard this many times whenever we are linked with strikers from smaller teams ) Clark never had as good a record and doesn’t look anywhere near as good.

Shanklands contract is up in June so even a bid of a few hundred thousand Ayr would struggle to knock back or risk losing him on a free in summer , as a bonus he was apparently a season ticket holder at Ibrox when he was younger so he’d be desperate for a chance at Ibrox , thoughts ?
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he's worth a pint- even at london prices! but no more than that!
 
Brilliant striker but only at that level. A bit slow to move up the levels. I'm sure as a fan he'd have happily been 3rd choice but he would never cut it
 
bigbluenose said:
I love the not our level nonsense
We paid big money for 2 full internationals Grezda and barasic and both have been piss poor for best part of 4.5 million
Picking up players like Shankland coaching them making them better adding value is the way forward.
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He's a poor mans Kris Boyd mate.No more.
 
Shankland wouldn't get in our matchday squad. He would be behind Morelos, Defoe and Stewart.

Sitting inn the stands at his age would be absolutely of no use to him or Rangers.
 
bigbluenose said:
I love the not our level nonsense
We paid big money for 2 full internationals Grezda and barasic and both have been piss poor for best part of 4.5 million
Picking up players like Shankland coaching them making them better adding value is the way forward.
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Totally agree with you.
He's scoring far more than Leigh Griffiths did at that level. I think we sometimes get above ourselves when deciding who is "our level", especially with regard to young Scots.
 
bigbluenose said:
I love the not our level nonsense
We paid big money for 2 full internationals Grezda and barasic and both have been piss poor for best part of 4.5 million
Picking up players like Shankland coaching them making them better adding value is the way forward.
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Exactly mate. We could have picked him up for free, tried him for a year then move him on for a fee , recouping most of our wage outlay, even though we have to give him a bung.
 
Mason Boyne said:
Exactly mate. We could have picked him up for free, tried him for a year then move him on for a fee , recouping most of our wage outlay, even though we have to give him a bung.
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Love it when people say "buy him, try him and then punt him for money in a year if it doesn't work out"

We can't attract a fúcking bid for our own 30 goal striker never mind Shankland. We'd be paying Shankland off to go elsewhere next year. It's what we do. We're hopeless at getting fees because of the wages we're paying players.
 
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