Walker returns ( updated )

[davemclaren]

6 minutes ago, XB52 said:

9 pages and nothing to say he is actually signing for us. 

That’s pre season for you. 

[Nookie Bear]

I'm sure the first thing on Jamie's 'to-do' list is proving himself to a bunch of guys watching on Hearts TV

 

He is coming, he is a Levein signing and nobody in the game knows him as well as he does, so just let him settle in and he will be a player.

 

Even at his worst he will be a more effective player than Clare, so it's animprovement already.

 

[It should have been ten]

35 minutes ago, Mister Dee said:

I can’t believe some of the negativity surrounding Walker. Some fans are

so fickle. 

 

He’s a decent player -proven at this level, has scored a fair amount of goals, and is a PHM. 

I always felt he was too small to compete down south, but will do fine here. 

Will be delighted if this signing comes through. 

 

“PHM”

 

 

[Rhyst93]

What a day for walker to be re-signing on his birthday ?

[Cwapsy]

Scored 12 league goals in 2016/17 which is the same amount of league goals as Lafferty scored and 2 more than Naismith last season. 

 

He needs to prove himself to some of the support but I think he's an absolute stone waller signing

[gorgieheart]

1 hour ago, Rudolf said:

 

Hearts plan to sign three attacking players over the coming weeks to reinforce their forward line for the new season.

Steven Naismith returns to Riccarton with the rest of the squad this morning for pre-season testing, and two others are also on the club’s radar.

 

The above was from an Evening News article on 21 June.

 

[Clerry Jambo]

42 minutes ago, Nookie Bear said:

I'm sure the first thing on Jamie's 'to-do' list is proving himself to a bunch of guys watching on Hearts TV

 

He is coming, he is a Levein signing and nobody in the game knows him as well as he does, so just let him settle in and he will be a player.

 

Even at his worst he will be a more effective player than Clare, so it's animprovement already.

 

Thank feck fur Nookie, spot on mate

[The Real Maroonblood]

12 hours ago, Longshanks said:

If we have to sign him then please don't make it a three year bonanza contract that we love to hand out to anyone.  

 

One year deal with another two year option if we decide to keep him, if he wants to come back and prove that he isn't shit or injury prone then he should be easy to deal with.

Unfortunately Levein loves the number 3.

[cheetah]

I hope the physios as getting a wage rise.

[Beast Boy]

52 minutes ago, Nookie Bear said:

I'm sure the first thing on Jamie's 'to-do' list is proving himself to a bunch of guys watching on Hearts TV

 

He is coming, he is a Levein signing and nobody in the game knows him as well as he does, so just let him settle in and he will be a player.

 

Even at his worst he will be a more effective player than Clare, so it's animprovement already.

 

 

More so than Craig Levein’s to do list would include winning over a bunch of Hearts TV fans I would imagine.

[Inch Hearts]

21 minutes ago, Clerry Jambo said:

Thank feck fur Nookie, spot on mate

 

Apart from the Clare dig I’m on this bus.  Welcome back Jamie. 

[Jambof3tornado]

Needs competition for a start or he will take his foot off the gas and coast along. Needs pushed to get the best out of him.

 

Personally I'd look elsewhere but its not up to me.

[The Real Maroonblood]

10 minutes ago, cheetah said:

I hope the physios as getting a wage rise.

Extra treatment tables as well.

[Lambo85]

1 hour ago, Mister Dee said:

I can’t believe some of the negativity surrounding Walker. Some fans are

so fickle. 

 

He’s a decent player -proven at this level, has scored a fair amount of goals, and is a PHM. 

I always felt he was too small to compete down south, but will do fine here. 

Will be delighted if this signing comes through. 

 

I cant believe you cant believe it.

 

Let me bullet point it for you -

 

• Didnt try a leg for us for 6 moths before he left.
• He is lazy, doesnt track back and does very little running off the ball.
• He has a bad attitude and goes missing in games when things are not going well.
• He has dodgy knees and is injury prone.

 

I dont deny that Walker has got ability but he needs to come here fully motivated and give it everything. If he does that then he has my full support. I am hoping now that he has totally failed in England that he realises that he is not half as good as he thinks he is and gives it everything for us to get his career back on track.

 

Walker will need man managed so Levein will have his work cut out to keep him motivated and keep his eye on the ball. I am hoping the likes of Berra and Naismith can be a good influence on him.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Lambo85

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

2 hours ago, Mister Dee said:

I can’t believe some of the negativity surrounding Walker. Some fans are

so fickle. 

 

He’s a decent player -proven at this level, has scored a fair amount of goals, and is a PHM. 

I always felt he was too small to compete down south, but will do fine here. 

Will be delighted if this signing comes through. 

His pace has gone and he has dodgy knees.

 

Excuse me for saying no thanks.

[Nookie Bear]

9 minutes ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

His pace has gone and he has dodgy knees.

 

Excuse me for saying no thanks.

 

He wasn't really a player that relied on burning pace in the way that Mulraney does. He was quick with the ball at his feet and capable of making things happen in the final third - we need that.

 

If his knees are gone then he will not pass a medical and this whole thread becomes moot.

 

[Prof]

Some positive bullet points on JW

he can score

he can pass and cross the ball

he can skip by defenders

and

he’s one of us!

[Gimme an H...]

1 minute ago, Prof said:

Some positive bullet points on JW

he can score

he can pass and cross the ball

he can skip by defenders

and

he’s one of us!

 

 Aye until Sevco come calling... 

[TyphoonJambo]

If he passes the medical then great but his biggest hurdle will be reaching the standards Craig demands. There will be no hiding places for him and he will have to try that bit extra in everything he does. Craig will be on his back, he will be made well aware of the workrate, application and personal standards expected by the club today. 

If he doesn't take this chance, knuckle down and apply himself correctly then its his own fault and the door to footballing obscurity will open up for him.

I think he has the skill, i hope he recognises how much of an opportunity this is.

[Mister Dee]

25 minutes ago, Lambo85 said:

 

I cant believe you cant believe it.

 

Let me bullet point it for you -

 

• Didnt try a leg for us for 6 moths before he left.
• He is lazy, doesnt track back and does very little running off the ball.
• He has a bad attitude and goes missing in games when things are not going well.
• He has dodgy knees and is injury prone.

 

I dont deny that Walker has got ability but he needs to come here fully motivated and give it everything. If he does that then he has my full support. I am hoping now that he has totally failed in England that he realises that he is not half as good as he thinks he is and gives it everything for us to get his career back on track.

 

Walker will need man managed so Levein will have his work cut out to keep him motivated and keep his eye on the ball. I am hoping the likes of Berra and Naismith can be a good influence on him.

 

I certainly agree that his last few months with us turned ugly. Whether his agent was to blame or not is immaterial. It’s up to Levein to sort him out, and I’m sure he will. There’s simply no way he’d be signed if there was a question mark about this. 

 

If I could give him some advice, it would

be, stay away from social media. He is not the type of player to excite all the fans all the time. It will not end well if he rise to the bait of some of the ‘support’. 

 

 

As regards he’s lazy, doesn’t track back, Has a bad attitude, knees are gone, injury prone etc -I have no knowledge of him,

and have no idea about that. Again CL will be a better judge of that than those on a football forum. 

He’s no Messi, but we’re hardly Barcelona.  

 

Good luck to the lad, really hope he gets us up of our seats again. 

 

 

[It should have been ten]

8 minutes ago, Prof said:

Some positive bullet points on JW

he can score

he can pass and cross the ball

he can skip by defenders

and

he’s one of us!

 

[Prof]

8 minutes ago, Gimme an H... said:

 

 Aye until Sevco come calling... 

A bit like a good number of those in Sections N and G

[Mister Dee]

24 minutes ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

His pace has gone and he has dodgy knees.

 

Excuse me for saying no thanks.

 

He has hd injury problems, but should still be able to do a good job at our level. 

 

Who would you like us to sign (in our wage bracket)? 

[Debut 4]

If people paid attention they’ll see Walker’s strengths are the way he can glide away from players. He’s hardly slow nor overly speedy but doesn’t need to be. 

 

Always felt he had that rare ability in Scottish players of being able to draw players close in and bump them off to gain ground.  

 

He's got it all to prove again but he must know time is ticking and it’s about getting a lot of football in over the course of the next few years to feel he’s enjoyed the game.

[Shanks]

He's one of us

[Unknown user]

1 hour ago, Prof said:

Some positive bullet points on JW

he can score

he can pass and cross the ball

he can skip by defenders

and

he’s one of us!

 

Can he though? I just looked up his stats, in the season and half since he left us he's had 2 goals and 1 assist in 29 competitive games. 12 of those games were in league 1, only 8 were at championship level, and his goals came in league 1 and the EFL Trophy, whatever that is.

Despite that I'm leaning towards slightly happy with this one, he pissed me off too but I feel like it'll work out well if it happens despite his record since leaving.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Smithee

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

1 hour ago, Mister Dee said:

 

He has hd injury problems, but should still be able to do a good job at our level. 

 

Who would you like us to sign (in our wage bracket)? 

Not Walker!

[mscjambo]

Walker when on form massively improves us. Purely as a footballer if he stays fit he is a good signing. Take away all the bull around his departure, he was in double figures with his goals. 

 

He won't cost us much, his wages now will be lower in all probability than had he stayed. He's had his fingers burnt down south, he comes back older with a young family. Maybe he wants to put down some long term roots.

 

If he is fit and can stay fit we massively improve with him. No brainer of a signing from a footballing perspective

[Nookie Bear]

1 hour ago, Prof said:

A bit like a good number of those in Sections N and G

 

You can go and **** off with that chat, Professor. 

[Lambo85]

14 minutes ago, mscjambo said:

Walker when on form massively improves us. Purely as a footballer if he stays fit he is a good signing. Take away all the bull around his departure, he was in double figures with his goals. 

 

He won't cost us much, his wages now will be lower in all probability than had he stayed. He's had his fingers burnt down south, he comes back older with a young family. Maybe he wants to put down some long term roots.

 

If he is fit and can stay fit we massively improve with him. No brainer of a signing from a footballing perspective

 

The funny thing is the season Walker left us our best performance of the season by a country mile came when he wasnt in the team (4-0 win over Celtic).

We played a tremendous pressing game that day with players like Cowie and Milinkovic bursting an absolute gut. I still say that the result would have been different had Walker played that game because he simply does not do enough running off the ball or put enough effort into games.

 

The lad has ability, that there is no doubt. Lets wait and see if he is now willing to put the effort in. Like you say he has a young family and it was a disaster for him down in England (which I predicted it would be) so he should know what he needs to do on his return. You can have all the ability in the World but if you are not willing to put the effort in then you wont get far.

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by Lambo85

[Mister Dee]

26 minutes ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Not Walker!

 

Thank you for your fantastic insight and knowledge. 

It’s like having Sir Alex Ferguson here. 

[Beast Boy]

50 minutes ago, Longshanks said:

He's one of us

 

Yes but Sections G and N etc... ?

[J80MBO]

Shows you football game of opinions..

 

The love of djoum and hate for Walker on kickback is something else ?‍♂️

[Taffin]

The argument of 'a fit and on form Walker improves us' applies to pretty much any footballer ever. 

 

I advocate re-signing Sammon as in 2010-2011 he scored 15 goals in 23 games. If he can rediscover and maintain that form and fitness he's one of the first names on the team sheet.

[MrBones]

I think Walker's lack of interest at the time was a lot to do with Cathro

[mscjambo]

15 minutes ago, Lambo85 said:

 

The funny thing is the season Walker left us our best performance of the season by a country mile came when he wasnt in the team (4-0 win over Celtic).

We played a tremendous pressing game that day with players like Cowie and Milinkovic bursting an absolute gut. I still say that the result would have been different had Walker played that game because he simply does not do enough running off the ball or put enough effort into games.

 

The lad has ability, that there is no doubt. Lets wait and see if he is now willing to put the effort in. Like you say he has a young family and it was a disaster for him down in England (which I predicted it would be) so he should know what he needs to do on his return. You can have all the ability in the World but if you are not willing to put the effort in then you wont get far.

 

Correct.

 

If he applies himself. Performs and scores goals. Everyone is happy

[Homme]

8 minutes ago, Taffin said:

The argument of 'a fit and on form Walker improves us' applies to pretty much any footballer ever. 

 

I advocate re-signing Sammon as in 2010-2011 he scored 15 goals in 23 games. If he can rediscover and maintain that form and fitness he's one of the first names on the team sheet.

 

True. So what do we do then? Sign players that have always been shite? 

[Poseidon]

1 hour ago, Prof said:

Some positive bullet points on JW

he can score

he can pass and cross the ball

he can skip by defenders

and

he’s one of us!

That's worse than the mutant who welcomed Riordan back to ER

[OmiyaHearts]

19 minutes ago, Lambo85 said:

 

The funny thing is the season Walker left us our best performance of the season by a country mile came when he wasnt in the team (4-0 win over Celtic).

We played a tremendous pressing game that day with players like Cowie and Milinkovic bursting an absolute gut. I still say that the result would have been different had Walker played that game because he simply does not do enough running off the ball or put enough effort into games.

 

The lad has ability, that there is no doubt. Lets wait and see if he is now willing to put the effort in. Like you say he has a young family and it was a disaster for him down in England (which I predicted it would be) so he should know what he needs to do on his return. You can have all the ability in the World but if you are not willing to put the effort in then you wont get far.

 

Bit off topic, but it's mental that Callachan and Buaben started in centre midfield for that 4-0 game.

[Unknown user]

5 minutes ago, OmiyaHearts said:

Bit off topic, but it's mental that Callachan and Buaben started in centre midfield for that 4-0 game.

Smith in a back 3

Actually not sure it was a back 3, but he was at centre back

Edited June 25, 2019 by Smithee

[Taffin]

17 minutes ago, Homme said:

 

True. So what do we do then? Sign players that have always been shite? 

 

 

I guess sign ones that have demonstrated their 'form' at least occasionally within the previous 2 years or that used to do it at a considerably higher level than ourselves in the hope that the step down would help them regain that ability.

 

In Walkers case he's barely kicked a ball for two years. Nothing suggests he is still the player he sometimes was 2 years ago

 

 

[Jambosteve1902]

3 hours ago, Clerry Jambo said:

Thank feck fur Nookie, spot on mate

still think Clares very harshly treated, in a team where we play football he'l shine imo. 

[Mr Elwood P]

7 minutes ago, Taffin said:

 

 

I guess sign ones that have demonstrated their 'form' at least occasionally within the previous 2 years or that used to do it at a considerably higher level than ourselves in the hope that the step down would help them regain that ability.

 

In Walkers case he's barely kicked a ball for two years. Nothing suggests he is still the player he sometimes was 2 years ago

 

 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Stewart_(footballer)

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

47 minutes ago, Mister Dee said:

 

Thank you for your fantastic insight and knowledge. 

It’s like having Sir Alex Ferguson here. 

You're welcome. The problem I have naming names is that I have no idea what kind of budget Levein is working with. I know what positions I'd want to prioritise, wide players being the most pertinent. Walker isn't a wide player.

[AlimOzturk]

Well, I doubt Walker will be going anywhere else now. If he does the damage all is forgiven. 

 

Life is to short he made a mistake and now has the chance to rectify that 

[rudi must stay]

22 minutes ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

You're welcome. The problem I have naming names is that I have no idea what kind of budget Levein is working with. I know what positions I'd want to prioritise, wide players being the most pertinent. Walker isn't a wide player.

 

If Walker brings his A game and energy he'll be a brilliant signing. He is a modern inside forward, linking up with our attacking players. With Mulraney and Naismith there and Clare we could play some very nice stuff next season just like we did at the start of the current campaign. 

 

The game has changed from wingers and I think we have the players to bring our game onto other teams

[Clerry Jambo]

43 minutes ago, Jambosteve1902 said:

still think Clares very harshly treated, in a team where we play football he'l shine imo. 

With regards Clare, far too many excuses for him. He has been very disappointing ( to put it kindly )

 

However lets just hope Jamie and Clare can hit it off together

[Robbo-Jambo]

2 hours ago, Longshanks said:

He's one of us

Maybe he left on bad terms because of the Sevco carry on but he is a Jambo, no doubt about that.

[Nookie Bear]

13 minutes ago, farin said:

 

Jamie suffered from his 1st op tbh, he’s recently had 2nd op to rectify that problem. We all know what he can do on his day, it’s up to him to prove his doubters wrong on the field. 

 

Essentially he is another 'project'.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

14 minutes ago, rudi must stay said:

 

If Walker brings his A game and energy he'll be a brilliant signing. He is a modern inside forward, linking up with our attacking players. With Mulraney and Naismith there and Clare we could play some very nice stuff next season just like we did at the start of the current campaign. 

 

The game has changed from wingers and I think we have the players to bring our game onto other teams

Wallker's A game? We are five years on from 2014. The idea that he will miraculously roll back the years on those knees is wishful thinking in the extreme.

 

Plus we still need wide players. We had no pace to get behind defences last season.