A BBC pundit has been left raging after what he heard about Rangers striker Lawrence Shankland following his move from Hearts.
Shankland has wanted the Rangers move for the past few years, and after a title-challenging season at Tynecastle Park, he finally moved to Ibrox.
Despite signing three strikers last season, the Light Blues did not want the opportunity to pass them by to get the Scotland international to the club.
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Ryan Stevenson not pleased with Graeme Jones’ comments on Lawrence Shankland
Ryan Stevenson, a BBC pundit, has taken offence at the comments made by Graeme Jones about Shankland’s Hearts exit.
Jones, Hearts’ sporting director, admitted that losing the 30-year-old this summer was the correct decision for the club.
This is something Stevenson, a former player and fan of the club, could not get himself to agree with.
In his view, the club failed to treat him with respect, which is why he could leave without Rangers even having to pay a transfer fee.
Stevenson told the Daily Record: “Graeme Jones’ sit-down with Hearts TV on Tuesday lasted almost 14 minutes.
“But I’ll be honest, I was so angry I didn’t hear much of what came after the Gorgie sporting director blurted out these 18 words on the Lawrence Shankland break clause shambles. ‘I defy anybody to push back against the fact that it was the correct decision for the club.’ Oh is that right?
“Because, with steam coming out of my ears, my immediate thought was that I can take issue with several parts of the sorry affair.
“Let’s get it right, it’s been a mess from top to bottom.
“The reason why Hearts fans have just seen their best player, their top goalscorer, their captain walk out the door and join one of our main rivals on a free transfer is because the club failed to treat him with proper respect.
“And this goes back a lot further than last summer, when Lawrence was basically able to demand anything he wanted from the club in order to sign a new deal – including the now infamous 12-month exit option.”
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Will Shankland become the Rangers captain?
Before the Shankland signing, both Danny Rohl and Andrew Cavenagh spoke at great length about the need to sign leaders.
They did not say it in so many words, but alluded to the fact that the dressing room lacks proper leaders.
In signing the Hearts captain, someone who has proven himself as a leader and talisman in Scotland for years, they have the next person to place the armband on.
While some may argue that he would need at least a season to prove his worth to the dressing room, the squad is likely to be unrecognisable from the start of last season, and the point of a rebuild is to start from scratch.
It remains to be seen whether or not Rohl thinks Shankland is ready for the captaincy right away.
