'I do things properly': New Rangers talisman ready for what's ahead of him

The goals he himself scores will go a long way to dictating what happens on that front. There’s a lot resting on the former Hearts striker’s shoulders. However, if he’s not now ready - to quote the Rangers motto - following such a protracted journey to Ibrox, he never will be.

Confirmation of the 30-year-old’s promotion to captain just weeks after joining his boyhood club is the latest development for Shankland to process after a dizzying spell.

Just ten short weeks ago he was minutes away from leading Hearts to their first Scottish title since 1960.

Since then he has had to endure the disappointment of seeing that prize wrenched from his and his then club’s grasp in the dying moments of the final game. Barely a week later news arrived of a contract clause that opened the way for him to sign for Rangers. He then led the line for Scotland in two of their three World Cup matches.

If Shankland needs some time out of the limelight, it isn’t coming any time soon. He will lead Rangers out at Tannadice on Friday night in front of live TV cameras as the Ibrox club’s latest title challenge gets underway.

Shankland is sorely aware of the expectations. He knows that his predecessor James Tavernier, for all his goals and all his years’ service, still divides opinion among the club’s support because, when it comes down to it, he only led the Ibrox side to one league title as well as one Scottish Cup and one League Cup.

“You come to football club like this, you want to go and win the league,” said Shankland. “There's no shying away from that, we know it. It's a responsibility that we accept as players. And obviously myself as a captain now, I'll need to bleed that into the changing room. But we missed out last season.”

‘Something I’ve always dreamed of’

It wasn’t completely clear whether he was referring to Hearts or Rangers. Either way, it was accurate – with Rangers, in the final analysis, finishing a lot further away than Hearts. There’s a lot of ground to make up. Rangers have not won the Scottish title since 2021 and even that was their first since 2011. Shankland is alert to the chance he has to write himself into history alongside true greats such as Richard Gough and John Greig.

“You don't need to go too far down that corridor outside when you're walking to the press room to see the past photos, the captains of the past lifting trophies,” said Shankland. “Of course, that is something I've always dreamed of. It's something that we're going to set out to do this season. Of course, we've got to get our hands on silverware. But I'm not going to get too ahead of myself. We've not played our first league game yet.”

Although he stressed that he had barely had time to tell his family about the captaincy news, he planned to take counsel from former skippers, including his hero and current club ambassador Barry Ferguson. “You want to buy into the experience of people who have done it and if I get that opportunity to speak to people I will,” he said. “Barry Ferguson and Lee McCulloch are still around the club so if I bump into them they will be giving me advice along the way.”

When asked what kind of captain he is, he was short and to the point. “I do things properly,” he said. As apparent from his time leading Hearts, he doesn’t necessarily shout and bawl and he isn’t big on performative gestures. His conduct does the talking, like his goals.

“Of course there are times when you need to be more vocal but I think the days of captains shouting and bawling in people’s faces and screaming, I don’t think society works that way,” he said. “I don’t think players in the modern day really react too well to that. It is about identifying the people who need an arm around the shoulder or need encouragement.

“For the last two-and-a-half years, all I’ve known is being captain of a club,” he added. “It’s something I’ve enjoyed. I took the responsibility. Of course, there’s scrutiny when things get difficult and people look to the captain to answer up for the squad.

“That’s something I’ll need to be responsible for but the flip side, the rewards of being a successful captain at this club, outweigh it by miles.”