Lawrence Shankland spent four years at Aberdeen without scoring a single goal, and when the Dons released him at the start of the 2017-18 season, he did not have a club.
It was Ian McCall who gave him a second chance, bringing him to Ayr United, then in League One, that September. Shankland has described that moment as the turning point that changed everything.
"When I got the opportunity when I was younger to go back to learn and play football again, I was just so grateful," Shankland said. "That grounding obviously does help. You work hard and you get moments like this. You get to lead a club like Rangers. It's obviously huge."
Once he found his focus, Shankland became a prolific scorer, moving from Ayr through Dundee United, a spell at Beerschot in Belgium, and then Hearts, where he captained the side and pushed them to within touching distance of the title last season.
Now he has been named captain of Rangers by manager Derek McInnes, who was also his manager at Aberdeen. Shankland described leading his boyhood club as a thrill made greater by the difficult road he travelled to get there.
"It probably was a lesson for me to do things properly every single day," he said. "Week in, week out, do as much as you can. Nobody can be 100 per cent every day. But you do as much as you can. And every time you show up to work, you turn up with the right attitude."
Shankland said he hopes his story can encourage players currently struggling to find their footing. "If it can be a lesson for any player out there, any boy who's in a sticky position right now, hopefully my journey can help," he said.
Looking to club legends
Shankland said he is aware of the Rangers captains who came before him and intends to seek their advice where he can. He singled out Barry Ferguson, who remains around the club, as a figure he hopes to speak with.
"He was always my Rangers hero growing up," Shankland said of Ferguson. "Maybe that's because he was getting the opportunity to lift the trophies at the end of the season when they won them. That feeling is one you want as a captain."
He acknowledged the weight of the role, noting that former captain James Tavernier drew criticism from some supporters. Shankland said the scrutiny comes with the job but that the rewards of captaining a successful Rangers side outweigh the pressure.
"For the last two and a half years, all I've known is being captain of a club," he said. "The flip side of the rewards of being a successful captain at this club outweigh it by miles."
Title ambition
Shankland said Rangers will set out to win the league this season, a goal that eluded him at Hearts last term, where Celtic pipped them at the final hurdle.
"Coming into the season, that's the expectation," he said. "You come to a football club like this, you want to go and win the league. There's no shying away from that. We missed out last season. But I'm looking forward and hopefully can go one closer this year."
