By Ben Banks

Copyright glasgowworld

A pundit has been left wondering why Rangers didn’t pull the trigger on a striker signing this summer – as another is branded not a Russell Martin transfer. The Light Blues underwent a vast recruitment drive and holes are being picked in it amid a terrible start to their season. Head coach Martin has three wins from 12 games so far and a fan protest against him continuing in the role is planned ahead of Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter final with Hibs. Last weekend, a Lawrence Shankland double downed Rangers 2-0 at Ibrox in the Premiership. The striker has consistently been linked to the club throughout time in maroon and when he became a free agent in the summer, those murmurings resurfaced. Shankland penned a new three-year deal at Tynecastle and ex-Rangers and Hearts man Derek Ferguson can’t see why a move wasn’t made. Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers were sold while Bojan Miovski and Youssef Chermiti arrived. The former midfielder told Open Goal: “We’ve been saying it for the last two years, even on here, haven’t we? Shankland at Rangers. What was the issue? And I always thought see when he did’nt the go in pre-season, the tour, or whatever, Hearts went pre-season to Spain. He never went. I genuinely thought he was holding back. I think he was waiting.” Conversation then turned to Rangers agreeing a deal that could extend to £10m with add-ons for Chermiti from Everton, and James McFadden wasn’t having it, as sporting director Kevin Thelwell brought him to Merseyside from Sporting Lisbon. The ex-Everton man said: “That’s not the manager that signed him. Thelwell signed him for Everton, and he signed him again.” Ferguson added: “We’ve been banging the drum about Shankland for the last couple of years, you know, to get there. Shankland’s been at the Rangers games, he’s gone to some of the games as well. He’s been there and all that, he’s been sitting amongst the fans, so he’s like that ‘Come and get me.’ I’m delighted he’s doing well.” On why he committed his future to Hearts, boss Derek McInnes said in the summer: “Lawrence’s not only been ingrained in the club the last few years, he’s been a big player for the club, knows his way about the Premiership, knows his way to goal. It just made so much sense on so many levels for me. I’ve known Lawrence since he was a young boy and I know how important family is to him and how important being happy is. “I always felt that that was a huge advantage for us. Not only does he enjoy his time at Hearts, those family connections are always very strong. I do feel that having that recognised number no.9 , a goal scorer with a real pedigree, Scotland internationalist, the motivation for Lawrence to do well here at not only a club that he loves, a club that he’s happy with. “You see the way he’s embraced his teammates. He’s a really popular boy, but he’s got so much to do here. In my time at Hearts, I want to make sure it’s successful and I want Lawrence to feel exactly the same and he does. We want to be lifting silverware. We want to be going into group stages in Europe and we want to have a consistent thing going here and that is the driver for all of us. I do feel that having Lawrence in the building gives us a better chance of achieving all that.”