Hearts: How Lawrence Shankland ended 31-year wait for Tynecastle fans
- Published
"The first person that texted me today after the game was John Robertson to ask for Lawrence's number to give him a wee call."
Robbie Neilson's interview after Hearts' 3-0 thrashing of their Edinburgh rivals in the Scottish Cup gave a good insight into how 'the Hammer of Hibs' was feeling when Shankland became the latest Hearts player to reach the 20 goals in a season club.
It's a landmark that had remained unscaled since 1992, the last time Robertson himself achieved the feat.
Plenty have come and gone since. Good names, too - Stephane Adam, Mark De Vries, Rudi Skacel. All came. None reached 20 in a single campaign.
"It's been a long time since we had a striker who could do that," Neilson said. "I knew bringing Lawrence in here he would score goals because we create chances," he added, before laying down a gauntlet.
"Can he get to 30?"
How has he done it?
Currently Shankland sits second in the Premiership's goalscoring rankings, having scored 16, and is only placed behind Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi. Looking at individual xG, he's top with 16.27.
That means he scores the chances he should. He has not missed from the spot - nine of his 16 have been spot-kicks - and he's clinical when he gets a decent chance on goal, which is indicative of Neilson's Hearts in recent weeks.
"I played with Robbo, who was a proper nine," former Hearts winger Neil McCann said on Sportsound. "This boy is a proper nine, every inch of it."
And of the volley versus Hibs, McCann added: "He's no right to score it. He's got no right to manufacture it. He's so strong, so clever. He unleashes an unstoppable volley.
"When you've got a guy like that in the side, who has such an ability to hit the back of the net at any time, you can win any game."
No-one in the league has had more shots than Shankland either - 71 - and no-one has more shots on target - 33. He does miss chances - 12 big chances, according to Opta's stats.
He's only hit the woodwork once, but he has more touches in the opposition box than any other player in the top flight.
In short, he's a penalty box predator. But that's not all there is to his game.
Captain, predator, playmaker
He's been asked to drop deeper in the absence of Liam Boyce - out for the season with an ACL injury - and his link-up play has brought out the best in those around him, particularly Josh Ginnelly.
The Englishman looked to be heading towards the Tynecastle exit door last summer. Six months on, fans are crying out for Ginnelly to sign a contract extension - his current deal runs out at the end of the season.
"It would be great to get it in any game really, but to get it in the Edinburgh derby and the Scottish Cup would be brilliant," Shankland said through the week. "My first competitive goal for Hearts was at Easter Road, so to get 20 there would be brilliant.
"Everybody reminded me of [the milestone] daily when I signed so it was hard to ignore. It wasn't something I was aiming for straight away, I just wanted to come in, play well and get goals."
To highlight his importance, Neilson has handed Shankland the armband in goalkeeper Craig Gordon's absence. Eyebrow raising to some - including Shankland himself - but in the striker, Neilson has a player who leads from the front and sets an example to those around him, arguably as Hearts' best player all season.
And former Hibernian manager John Collins commented: "He's got that calmness in key moments, he doesn't snatch at chances. He gets his foot through it, it's never lashed. The keeper had no chance."
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Can he eclipse Robertson?
"It's a hard thing to do outside the Old Firm," said Neilson of his striker's goals tally. "There's not many players in the Scottish league that have managed to do it.
"It just shows you what an achievement it is. We're sitting here towards the end of January, there's still three or four months left of the campaign."
Robertson got into the 30s on only one occasion - in 1988, when Hearts finished second in the top flight. He's the only Hearts player to do that since 1958.
Shankland has, not accounting for injury or ill health, at least 16 league games to add to his tally. He also has whatever remains of Hearts' Scottish Cup run, barring their last-16 fixture against Hamilton Academical for which he will be suspended following his red card at the end of the derby.
Scoring a goal in any derby automatically etches your name into the history books. Shankland will be eyeing all the records now.
Our coverage of Hearts is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment