Voice of Reason
Shooting from the lip
No Shanks
It was inevitable it would come to this.
But money talks and now the Premiership dream could walk.
Swansea are waving the Welsh pound in our boy’s direction – and little wonder his giant forehead is turning.
So enter Lachlan Cameron in the ninth innings.
Up to bat and swinging for the hills. Big Lach certainly isn’t the establishment’s cup of tea.
But he calls it as he sees it – and on this occasion he’s nailed a home run. Let’s boil this down for what it is. Ayr United could take a few hundred grand for Lawrence Shankland.
And for directors looking at the “long- term” game, you could almost forgive them the argument.
But there’s a curve ball to this particular picture.
Should Ayr reach the Premiership, the jackpot would dwarf any January money we receive for Shankland.
Cameron is right... this is once- in- ageneration stuff at Somerset Park.
Do you sell up and sell out on that chance?
Or do you go for glory and have no regrets?
As a fan, it is far easier for me to sit here and call for the second option.
But I can also say without fear or favour that punting Shankland would be a very tough PR sell for this club.
For the first time in a long time, there is a buzz around the town about this football club.
Ayr badges are being worn with pride and, in Shankland, there is genuine star power driving the renaissance.
Nobody is daft here – we know his journey with us ends this season.
But he and this particular group of players have the ability to change the face of this club for a long time to come.
We’re talking about a new generation of fans who may grow up to support Ayr, simply because they’re playing Premier League football.
Fans that had been lost to this club while it was dossing around playing the dross of Scottish football.
There are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes along the way here.
And keeping Shankland is in no way a guarantee of title success.
But the team that carved Dundee United open at Tannadice should be swaggering around with no fear of anyone in this league.
And the longer it goes, the closer this gets to the Leicester City fairytale.
Advent Glory
The VoR delivered some Christmas chocolates on Saturday courtesy of West Ham.
So we forge on in search of festive bounty with Nino Pajovic taking the Blackburn, Ayr and St Johnstone treble.
Bookie Dave goes Anriban Lahiri ( 16/ 1) to win the Indonesian Masters Golf.
And the VoR goes Stirling Albion - 1 at 13/ 10 against hapless Albion Rovers.