Michael Stewart has strongly condemned a section of the Hearts support in Brugge who vilified Lawrence Shankland from the stands.
Hearts fans travelled to Belgium in their numbers to see their side face Cercle Brugge in the Europa Conference League knowing a win would guarantee a knockout play-off round spot.
But Neil Critchley’s side spurned a number of glorious opportunities against a rather average Cercle team who ended up winning 2-0.
Hearts captain Shankland, desperate to add to his one goal scored this season, was handed the chance from the penalty spot to draw the Jambos level at 1-1 and boost his own confidence massively.
But he skied his effort over the bar and it prompted a furious reaction from a section of the Hearts support housed inside the Jan Breydel Stadion as they chanted repeatedly, “Shankland, get to f***”.
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Stewart slams Hearts fans for Shankland abuse
Stewart was at the game co-commentating and a few days later, speaking on The Scottish Football Social Club podcast, the former Hearts midfielder has slammed those fans.
He branded them an ‘absolute disgrace’ and explained why it was ‘outrageous’ to hear. Asked by co-pundit Alan Hutton what he thought of the Shankland abuse in Belgium, Stewart replied: “An absolute disgrace.
“See watching yesterday (Hearts 1-1 Aberdeen), it was the first time it started to creep into his performance. There was a few balls miscontrolled, he was stretching for things.
“To me, you can put that right at the door of those punters that are shouting abuse at him. I just think it’s absolutely outrageous that Lawrence Shankland, almost exclusively, is the guy who has taken Hearts to where they are.
“And if you think of the money generated because of that, you’re talking about multiple millions that he’s generated for the club.
“He’s not deliberately missing penalties, he’s not deliberately not scoring goals because whether he stays at Hearts or leaves, the potential for bigger moves is dependant on him performing! So it’s affecting himself.
“It’s a section of the support, but over in Belgium, there was an atmosphere and it wasn’t a nice atmosphere. There was a pocket of the support who really need to have a look at themselves. There was a toxic atmosphere.”
What does Shankland’s future look like?
Speculation over Shankland’s future at Hearts has been a non-stop talking point for more than a year now.
He hasn’t signed a new deal and it is largely expected he will leave Tynecastle following the expiry of his current contract.
Asked what Shankland’s future looks like at the moment, Stewart answered: “Do you know what, I think it is nigh on impossible to call what is going to happen because there is just too many variables between now and the end of the season.
“But the one thing I would say for certain is that all of this has only gone to highlight even more the ludicrous position Hearts have allowed themselves to be in now, having not brought never mind one but two strikers in in the summer.
“If Lawrence Shankland was to hypothetically leave at the end of the season, you can’t just bring one in, they need another, maybe two others.
“You’re looking at, if Shankland leaves this summer, Hearts are maybe going to have to look at signing two or three strikers, which is crazy.”