I’ve had a slow start in Belgium but I can see it turning. I didn’t want to look back on my career and say I had simply bounced around Scotland
Shankland confident he can make a success of Beerschot move
AQUICK glance at Lawrence Shankland’s numbers since moving to Belgium would suggest a drought. In reality, the striker has been placed at the heart of a perfect storm. Transferred from Dundee United in mid-August for a fee of around £1million, Shankland has yet to find the net for a team that is winless and rock bottom of the table after 11 games.
Red tape, two ridiculously ill-timed red cards (not his own) and a change of manager have all conspired to slow his start at Beerschot.
Yet when we meet at a city-centre café, he is perfectly cheerful, and seemingly quite at ease with his new life in the bustling city of Antwerp.
It’s the morning after compatriot Jack Hendry’s Champions League outing against Manchester City for Club Brugge and Shankland cites the defender’s remarkable transformation in the Jupiler Pro League as an inspiration behind his decision to move to the continent.
He could easily have stayed put for the final year of his contract at Tannadice but the chance to experience life in a new country was just too tempting.
And yet there were
Either you get off to a flier or it goes the way it has so far. You deal with that
always going to be complications. First, there was a work permit to organise, the Brexit consequential delaying a debut which eventually came at Brugge’s noisy Jan Breydel Stadium.
As Peter Maes attempted to assimilate Shankland into the line-up, the indiscipline of his defensive team-mates saw him substituted early on his first two starts against Charleroi and Eupen.
In between, Maes was sacked, later to be replaced by Javier Torrente, a one-time assistant to Marcelo Bielsa with the Argentina national team.
Shankland completed the full 90 minutes on his first start against Mechelen last weekend and his encouragement at the team’s performance was mirrored by the supporters who applauded the players off.
It won’t get any easier this afternoon as Beerschot travel to Brussels to face Anderlecht, yet Shankland is excited for the challenge. It’s precisely what he moved for.
‘I think there was always going to be one of two outcomes — either you get off to a flier or it goes the way it has,’ he smiles. ‘When you have prepared for both scenarios, you deal with that.
‘It’s been a slow start but there have been circumstances around that. In each of my first two starts, somebody got sent off after four minutes!
‘And not only were we down to ten men, I got taken off as a result, once five minutes later, the other at half-time. In my sub appearances, I feel I have done all right but it has been really stop-start.
‘Peter Maes was here when I joined but they were already under pressure. The club felt they needed to change, so they totally refreshed it. The full backroom staff changed and it has been good.
‘The new coaches have brought a real intensity to the place and he is really implementing that in training.
‘I just need to get in the team and show what I can do. I played last weekend, I did well and the manager said he was pleased.’
It’s not lost on Shankland (right) that United have been flourishing in his absence.
It’s a reasonable assumption to say the 26-year-old might well have been enjoying his football more than the attritional year he endured under Micky Mellon last season.
Forced to forage deep as United adjusted to Premiership football, Shankland’s gifts as a penaltybox poacher were rendered redundant. Yet even though he fell short of double figures, he still managed to improvise some special finishes including a
50-yard spectacular against St Johnstone. On the premises as Tam Courts took over and shaped the side for the new season, Shankland saw the makings of what has thus far proved an impressive leap forward under the new coach.
United’s 2-1 win over Motherwell yesterday put them joint-top of the Premiership, although they sit third on goal difference.
‘It has not surprised me,’ says Shankland. ‘I knew what the manager wanted to do, the team was looking good and getting stronger.
‘I had a decision to make because I had a pretty good idea United were going to have a decent season.
‘So there was a touch of doubt in my mind and I suppose that in a way that doubt has been justified by how well they have done.
‘I’m happy to see that. I mean, to go to Hibs and win 3-0… not bad! ‘Hypothetically, I might have enjoyed this season more. But I had to ask myself whether, at 26, I wanted to stay another year in Scotland. Or did I want to grab an opportunity like this.
‘The chance to try something completely new, impress a whole new set-up and people, and see where it takes me. It was probably a big-picture decision rather than focusing on what I suspected would be a good season with United.’
Recruited by Robbie Neilson after a blistering couple of years at Ayr United, Shankland netted 28 club goals in his debut season and, ordinarily, wouldn’t have been around for another year.
‘In an ideal scenario, United would have sold me after the Championship season,’ he says. ‘There were conversations around that when I signed, that I’d help them with promotion and then maybe move on. But then Covid came.
‘I enjoyed my year in the Premiership, although there’s no denying it was a tough season.
‘I scored some good goals. But because I had scored so many in the previous seasons people looked at that figure of nine.
‘I was playing in a different league, didn’t get to play in any of the cup competitions. Usually, the League Cup games are good for your tally but I missed out there.
‘So I was pleased with my season’s work. I would love to have scored 30 but realistically that was never going to happen with a newlypromoted team. I was happy with what I did.’
The reduction in numbers saw Shankland lose his Scotland place.
First capped by Steve Clarke while in the second tier, he debuted impressively as a second-half substitute away to Russia and scored three nights later as a starter against San Marino.
He was also afield to tuck away one of the penalties in the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final win over Israel last October. Ultimately, he would miss the cut for the finals, with Hibs’ Kevin Nisbet — another Championship graduate — filling the back-up role behind Lyndon Dykes and Che Adams.
Shankland attended the Euros as a supporter but resolved to add to his four caps. While he may have moved out of Clarke’s immediate gaze, international football was among the considerations as he weighed up the Beerschot offer.
‘That was part of my decision,’ he admits. ‘I’ve watched Jack (Hendry) come here, do well and get into the Euros squad. Hopefully, I can achieve something similar.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I have a bit of work to do, but I back myself. I know that in time I will get
‘IN EACH OF MY FIRST TWO STARTS, SOMEBODY GOT SENT OFF AFTER FOUR MINUTES! NOT ONLY WERE WE DOWN TO TEN MEN, I GOT TAKEN OFF AS A RESULT’
back in there. Of course it was tough to not make it to the Euros but when I missed out on the two previous squads, I had an idea.
‘I had accepted it.
In terms of the manager, the decision is easier when you are scoring goals.
‘When a striker is at a lower number, it’s harder to pick him.
‘I wasn’t too down about it. It would have been great to be involved but I wasn’t.
‘You need to take everything into consideration when you make a transfer. So yes it was about change. Scotland was a factor but it’s also about lifestyle and the experiences you can have away from the pitch.
‘And, yes, how it might set you up, too. I had a good feeling about it and it has been backed up by the way it has gone.
‘I can see it turning. I have made five appearances so far. My work permit took a while, so I missed the first couple of games and since then we should have won five games. I know it’s easy to say that but we’ve been passing up chances, the ball’s not bouncing.
‘We need to keep at it and it will turn.’ Shankland hasbrought partner Nicole and one-yearold daughter Eva with him to Antwerp and, as we meet, his parents have not long arrived with a van load of furniture to help fill the apartment.
The family have encountered lions and giraffes at the city zoo — located, bizarrely, next door to Antwerp’s huge central rail station. Unlike the animals, they face no barriers to the abundance of dinner options on their doorstep.
‘It’s a good city and there’s lots to do,’ he adds. ‘I actually met Jack in a restaurant the day I signed. We have the same representatives, so we met in Antwerp and he gave me a bit of background on the league. ‘Being here has done wonders for him. He had a good season at Oostende and got his move to Brugge on the back of it. My first game was there and it’s class. The support there is so passionate.
‘I guess that’s something else about the Belgian league — the fans are really enthusiastic. Our support applauded us off after losing the derby last week because we had played well. It’s a different feel to what I’d been used to in Scotland.
‘I was 16 turning 17 when I started playing football with Queen’s Park. So I had nine years playing in Scotland and there was a risk I might turn stagnant without having tried anything new.
‘Potentially, I could have another ten years, so I wanted to make the most of it.
‘I want to enjoy my career and make good memories. I didn’t want to look back and say I had simply bounced around teams in Scotland.’
As we move to leave the café, the heavens open and we’re consumed by a downpour of biblical proportions.
‘Happens all the time,’ laughs Shankland . ‘Give it five and it will be back to sunshine.’
We seek shelter under a storefront canopy and, sure enough, the rain quickly subsides.
Using Shankland’s record in the scoring stakes as a barometer, the next deluge to hit Antwerp ought to be measured in goals.