“Shanks is an excellent player. He is one of only a handful Hearts players to have won Premier League Player of the Year. For him to do so, whatever Hearts offers must be in accordance with what he has done. “Ultimately, he must make that decision. What if it was up to me? “Give him whatever he wants!” Interim head coach Liam Fox’s response to the topic was reasonably cautious, adding that he is not making the ultimate decision. “We all know that Lawrence Shankland can score goals,” he told reporters. “We know how many goals he’s scored for the football club. We know he’s stepped up in crucial occasions.

“Players like these don’t come along very often; someone who can hit the back of the net as frequently as he can. However, that will be reserved for discussions about the new leader and the football club’s future. It is not my responsibility to remark on it. “All I can say is that I’ve truly enjoyed working with Lawrence for some time. He’s set some ambitious goals in the last few weeks. He set ambitious targets for past managers and coaches. “He’s a great professional, and having worked with him, I can only recommend him. You could sense his frustration this season when he wasn’t hitting the back of the net with the same regularity that he’s always been over his time at Hearts.”

Fox, who has worked with Shankland for the most of the season and sees him in training on a regular basis, is in a good position to provide insight into the striker both on and off the pitch. Shankland has scored more than half of his points this season under the interim coach, including four in the last two games. He has resumed leading the queue. “Lawrence had some good performances and he actually set a lot of his team-mates up when he was playing in that wee bit deeper role and he’s done that for previous managers as well,” said Fox. “So he has adaptable skills and is eager to do things for the team.”The way that I looked at it when I had this short period is like I wanted to do it how I believed it should be done. We spent a lot of time working on the training pitch. How we’re going to score, how we’re going to get the ball into Lawrence, how we are going to cross, where do I expect people to be, the organisation of the team. I’m hoping that you’ve seen elements of that in the short period of time and part of that thinking was getting Lawrence Shankland closer to the goals.”

When Shankland faltered this season, there was a lot of talk and writing about his attitude, body language, and role as captain. Fans speculated that he had checked out and was planning a summer relocation elsewhere. Shankland, however, has retained the armband under Fox, as he has under previous managers Robbie Neilson, Steven Naismith, and Neil Critchley. Two of the club’s most highly regarded prospects joined the first squad for training on Tuesday. There was Alfie Osborne, a dynamic centre midfielder who won’t be 17 until July, and 15-year-old Keir McMeekin, an enticing attacking prospect garnering attention from south of the border.

Hearts frequently expose youth players to the first-team situation. They accomplished exactly that with James Wilson. Fox used the examples above to highlight Shankland’s captaincy qualifications. When such young people take the initiative, he plays a vital role. They would easily become intimidated. “How he was with them when they came in probably speaks volumes for himself, how he is as a guy,” Fox told CNN. He continued, “He’s a brilliant guy first and foremost. I think it’s fairly simple to suggest someone who’s scored so many goals and is a fan favourite has tossed it when he’s going through a difficult time.

“I never detected that from him. There was irritation on his part because, without speaking for him, I believe he thought he was letting people down because his level had been so high in recent years, and people and players go through moments like that. “When you go through difficult times, you may begin to try new things in order to re-establish your ambitions. I never doubted that he would score goals again; you don’t lose that talent. “Like I say, from working with him every day, I know how much he loves scoring goals, I know how much he wanted to get back scoring goals for the football club.”

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