The striker reflected candidly on the tournament in Germany
Lawrence Shankland has spoken for the first time about the disappointment of Scotland’s Euro 2024 campaign in Germany. The Hearts captain admitted there will be talks about how the national team must improve after finishing bottom of their group and exiting the tournament at the first stage once again.
National coach Steve Clarke has suffered for criticism from supporters for results and performances both during and prior to the Euros. Scotland have won just one of their last 12 matches, and that was against the minnows of Gibraltar.
Shankland feels Clarke has earned the right to remain in charge entering the Nations League in September after guiding the country to the last two European Championships.
Despite scoring 31 goals in 47 games for Hearts last season, the striker was restricted to the role of late substitute in all three Scotland fixtures at Euro 2024. He came on after 82 minutes of the opening match against Germany, which the host nation won 5-1. He did not appear until 89 minutes had passed in the 1-1 draw with Switzerland. Then, in the final group game in which Scotland needed to beat Hungary, he was not introduced until 76 minutes had lapsed.
“I think, overall, the feeling will be disappointment, obviously,” explained Shankland. “We wanted to go there and progress from the group stage, first and foremost, and we fell short of that so there is overall disappointment. It will take a wee while for us to come away from it and reassess everything. By the time September comes around, I’m sure there will be a few conversations to be had about what we feel we could improve on.
“It is still pretty raw, and it was difficult when we still had the rest of the tournament to watch, but the analysis will be done and I’m sure we will talk about it when we get together. When you get the experience of the games and the feeling of coming out even for the warm-ups with the crowd behind you, it’s incredible. Small moments like that you can take away from it and those memories will last a lifetime. There was disappointment with the results and it was difficult to watch the rest of the games.”
Asked if he would have liked more time on the pitch, Shankland offered a philosophical view. “Of course, as would everybody who was starting on the bench for the games. That’s the nature of football,” he said. “I have always said that, no matter what role you are asked to play for the national team, you go and you do it. I feel that has been a strength of the squad throughout.
“No matter what part people have been asked to play, they have done it the best they can and that’s what it’s all about. Unfortunately, you want those who come on to come up with that bit of magic or make that wee bit of difference to help us, but it wasn’t for the lack of trying. Everybody did the best they could and we just fell short.”
Scotland were promoted to Nations League A in 2022 and will take on Portugal, Croatia and Poland home and away during the autumn months. Shankland is confident that lingering exasperation from the Euros will not infiltrate the squad when players reconvene.
“Of course we were all disappointed but in football you learn to move on pretty fast. The games move on that quickly that I don’t think you have time to dwell on it,” he said. “We have another challenge coming up in the Nations League and we want to go into those games and do well. Then, going forward, we have the World Cup qualifiers so there is always something else on the horizon that we can aim for.
“So, while it would be silly not to address it and have a chat about it, and where we think we went wrong so we can learn from our mistakes going forward, there is a lot ahead of us that we can go and achieve. I think that has to be the mindset.”
Clarke’s future has been called into question but there is no indication of the Scottish Football Association dispensing with a man who they have under contract until 2026. “He has got us to the two major tournaments and it wasn’t so long ago that we hadn’t been to one in I don’t know how many years,. So, there is the credit you get from that in the bank,” Shankland opined. “Moving forward, we will look at what went wrong at the Euros but we still have a lot to look forward to. There is still a lot to go and achieve as a group and that’s what we want to do.”
The Tynecastle captain admitted he did not receive an explanation from Clarke about why his game time was limited despite last season’s ruthless form. “Nah, he has more on his mind than worrying about speaking to me about the decisions he had to make throughout the tournament,” said Shankland.
“It is a squad game and especially at national level, when you are asked to go away and represent your country, it is always a proud moment, no matter how much time you get on the pitch. Of course, everyone has frustrations and everyone wants to play more minutes and start games but, as a collective, we have always grouped together and been good team-mates. Everybody has played their part.”
Shankland returned to club business on Wednesday night as Hearts hosted Tottenham Hotspur in a pre-season friendly at Tynecastle. He was given an extended break following international duty and came on as a half-time substitute in the game. Within 40 seconds, he had pulled his side level at 1-1, although Spurs eventually recorded a comfortable 5-1 victory.
“It could have been better after that,” he joked. “It’s good to get back out there. The important thing is we are all back on the pitch, feeling good and getting minutes again. It was good to be back and to get a goal that quickly always helps. They [Spurs] were very good, obviously. With the level of players they have at their disposal, even their young lads who came on were very impressive. We knew it was going to be a tough night but it was a good exercise and everybody got minutes, which is what it’s all about at this stage.”
Shankland finished with 28 goals from his first season at Hearts in 2022/23, followed by 33 in total for club and country last term. European league-stage matches, domestic league and cup fixtures, plus international games offer him plenty opportunity to reach similar heights this year. He still feels there is more to come in an ominous statement for defences. “I’ve had two good seasons now and my numbers have been really high but I want to improve on that and keep getting stronger. That is what I will look to do,” he commented.
“Obviously, I have set myself a hell of a standard over the last couple of seasons and sometimes that could hinder you, but I think it’s good for me and, going forward, I can look forward to that challenge. We have an opportunity with the European games this year so that gives me the chance to get more European goals and hopefully that will be the case. My tally was good in the league in the last couple of years so, if I can keep that number up there and improve on the number of European goals, I’ll be happy.”
He will be helped by seven new signings at Tynecastle. The latest is Costa Rican right-back Gerald Taylor, who left a fine early impression against Tottenham. “I hadn’t seen the likes of Gerald in games until Wednesday night and he was very impressive. I don’t think he could have asked for a better 45 minutes,” stated Shankland. “There were a couple of those crosses where I was on the edge of my seat sitting on the bench so it was a good debut for him.
“Obviously, with Yan [Dhanda] and [Blair] Spittal, we know what they have done in the league and they have been good signings for us. They have been here a wee bit longer and seem to have come in and settled in so I look forward to them being part of the squad.”
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