The early weeks of pre-season are when Jamie Shackleton comes into his own. His fitness shows itself to be rock-solid, he dominates bleep tests and whoever happens to be coaching Leeds United at that time of year finds much to admire in his physical data.
It was Daniel Farke who had that exact experience this summer.
Shackleton, on day one of Leeds’ return to training, was on the list of players earmarked to leave the club following their relegation from the Premier League. In the 23-year-old’s head, he was looking for other opportunities and possibly a permanent move away.
But as pre-season went on, newly-appointed Farke told his bosses to think again: Shackleton appealed to him and Shackleton should stay.
It was not, by any stretch, the first time he put himself in the picture like that, and some around Shackleton reminded him of what had gone before: how he had good summers and heard positive noises about his value to the squad only to discover that, when the competitive football started, he was on the periphery.
In five seasons since his debut in August 2018, the numbers speak for themselves: 72 league appearances for Leeds, only 21 as a starter. Potential not quite realised.
Shackleton’s first league start against Swansea in 2018 (Kevin Barnes – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Yet a month into the new Championship season, there is almost no player who has given Farke a more consistent run of performances, despite Shackleton — as seems to be tradition for him — bouncing from role to role. He was used at left-back last time out against Sheffield Wednesday, four days after playing right-back away at Salford City in the Carabao Cup; he played as a right-winger against both Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion and in central midfield against Shrewsbury Town in the cup.
In terms of his actual position, he is one of those footballers who tries to become whatever his manager asks him to be, a trait Farke likes.
Go back seven or eight years and Leeds knew what Shackleton was. He had grown up in their academy as a central midfielder, a tenacious sort who was a step ahead of most of the players in his age groups. Around the time he was 15 or 16, staff would speak about him as one to follow. “I used to stick around in the evenings to see what was happening in the younger squad,” says Neil Redfearn, Leeds’ former development squad coach. “Terry Potter (then their head of youth recruitment) would talk to me about Shack. He’d say, ‘You should take a look at this kid. There’s a lot to like’.
Shackleton in pre-season against Manchester United (Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
“He stood out in several ways, and you didn’t need much coaching sense to see it. He was determined, he had this turn of pace over four or five yards and he seemed to read the game before most of the other lads could — anything that dropped loose, he was onto it really quick.
“I never liked to say, ‘Such-and-such player will definitely make it’, because academies don’t work like that. But with Shack, you felt that if he avoided bumps in the road, he had a chance of developing into something special.”
Farke’s first summer has been one where the new manager needed some assurance about who was with him, physically and psychologically. From the day of his appointment, he had players in his squad agitating to leave. He had one who was effectively on strike for a couple of weeks.
The 46-year-old German was uncompromising in telling the dressing room that they were either committed or they were not, with no grey areas in between, and he was ruthless in conversations with any who weren’t sure, or any who were making his life more complicated. Shackleton was different, the head-down type, even though the assumption at the end of last season was that his career with Leeds was as good as done.
Shackleton had spent the whole of the 2022-23 term on loan at Millwall, the Championship club Leeds now travel to play in the second tier this Sunday. He appeared 36 times, although more than half of those were off the bench, and while the impression he made was good, he was stuck with the perennial problem of playing away from his natural position.
That loan was negotiated with a view to a permanent deal, though Millwall were only ever likely to seek to sign him long-term if they were promoted to the Premier League and they finished narrowly outside the play-offs. He and Charlie Cresswell, the Leeds centre-back who was also on loan at The Den until he fractured an eye socket in April, vacated their London apartments and returned to Yorkshire with no expectation of heading back to the capital.
Since then, Shackleton has had various expressions of interest.
Rangers explored the idea of taking him to Scotland but that option did not develop. Queens Park Rangers had a close look regarding a swift return to London but any temporary offer was likely to have required a loan fee to make it happen.
Shackleton was still in the building when Leeds confirmed Farke’s arrival as manager on July 4, with the club’s first pre-season training session scheduled to take place the next day. Shackleton’s conditioning and running quickly put him in the line of sight.
Other factors were influential too.
Leeds’ recruitment in a frantic summer ran right to the very end of the window on September 1 and for much of last month, Farke was short of bodies. He had injuries to deal with on top, opening up opportunities for Shackleton to feature and start.
“I really love Jamie,” Farke said after the cup exit against Salford, where Shackleton’s missed penalty in a long shootout was the decisive moment. “He’s sometimes really underrated because he can play all positions. Wherever he plays, he’s always reliable, always solid, always a good team-mate, gives us everything. He’s an unbelievable piece of our squad and I’m really happy to have him.”
Shackleton reacts to missing his shootout penalty against Salford (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Leeds have a decision to make on what comes next.
Shackleton, who turns 24 in less than a month, is in the last year of his contract. The club are yet to offer him an extension, although it is not unlikely that Farke will instigate talks about one.
It is also not clear to what extent Shackleton will feature if and when this season’s squad is fully fit or thereabouts. Leeds have two strong candidates at right-back in Luke Ayling and Tottenham loanee Djed Spence and, for the first time in years, an ample supply of midfielders. When Sam Byram and Junior Firpo are available, they are likely to be the main points of competition at left-back.
Shackleton has seen situations previously where despite all the good mentions in dispatches, minutes are hard to accrue. This time next year, he could be playing his football elsewhere.
“There comes a time where you need to settle down and settle in one position,” Redfearn says. “He’s at the age where he has to be getting games.
“But it didn’t surprise me that Farke liked him. Because look at what’s been going on: Farke’s looking around him at lads trying to force their way out, lads dropping out of games, the things that make you question who’s got the right attitude. Then in the middle of that, you’ve got Shack, someone who won’t ever cause you a problem and who just wants to play.
“If you’re in Farke’s position, that’s a breath of fresh air.”
(Top photo: Nigel French/PA Images via Getty Images)
