Hearts transfers (Cochrane goes on loan to Montrose)

[Kenneth Dubeke]

9 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

Absolutely but if someone is interested a nominal fee or cancelling the contract might be the way to make space in the squad. Clare really needs coached and cajoled, there’s quality there but needs to do it more consistently. He was moved from pillar to post during a number of games when someone else was injured, usually when we was doing well. 

I agree. Levein was telling us last summer he was a centre mid. Played him there against Dundee United in League Cup and within a matter of days had Whelan and Damour through the door 

 

Clare does need properly coached. He could be a very good player if well tutored. He has good feet and he has pace 

[Beast Boy]

5 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

Definitely but as we have 30 players with first team experience we will need to thin it out to give the youngsters a bit of a chance whilst winning the league. If Neilson didn’t realise what a big job he had on his hands he does now, last time was a walk in the park compared to this. 

Totally disagree on the emboldened bit. Personally, I’d sooner we stuck with what we have and let Neilson get a song out of them, than flog the only good players and replace them with Championship standard players. Players who may have the desire and hunger, but not the ability to just walk the division if coached right.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by Special Officer Doofy

[BervieJambo]

32 minutes ago, buzzbomb said:

Wash and Clare talking to teams

Both good players, but we don’t need either for the Championship. We should cash in on both if seroius bids come in. Same goes for pretty much everyone else in the squad.

[wavydavy]

30 minutes ago, Tennant's 6's said:

Would be a good signing,  scores goals for fun at this level. 

Although, i guess it depends if Washington, Uche , Wighton move on

 

The article quoted that he was leaving for personal reason and would likely return South where he has played for a number of clubs. Interest from Oxford Utd and Burton Albion.

[Kenneth Dubeke]

4 minutes ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

Clare played more more games, and had more good performances. Big fan of Hickey however, and I suspect he will go on to have a fantastic career for himself. Would hate that to be at Celtic however. I realised we had a player on our hands when after an early struggle he came back and absolutely dominated that wee Dembele wunderkid at Celtic. The boy is pure class.

I'd imagine Hickey will go on to play at a far higher level than Sean Clare. I believe the clubs rumoured to be interested in Hickey are rather more elite than Oxford United 

 

Hickey did play well in the league game at Parkhead the week before the cup final. Levein rightly gave him a start in the final, where he was the best player on display that day in my view 

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

Offloading is the way to go,  still have plenty left at the end of it.

 

Sell sell sell

[Kenneth Dubeke]

1 minute ago, wavydavy said:

 

The article quoted that he was leaving for personal reason and would likely return South where he has played for a number of clubs. Interest from Oxford Utd and Burton Albion.

Christ I forgot about Wighton. What a bloody signing that was 

 

As a few guys have already stated, our squad is bloated. We could easily strip out 5 or 6 and feel no pain 

 

We may need to sell those who have a value given possible financial necessity.  That being the case I'd still go with what we've got. Macdonald and Cochrane etc getting 20 games this season could make them ready for next season. We'll have a number of key players approaching the twilight if their careers this time next year. We should maybe use the season ahead to try and limit the overhaul required this time next year

[wavydavy]

10 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

I'm not the one who's spouting off.

Having said that, there are suggestions that look to be beneficial and affordable eg Hemmings, as he is free and I imagine we'd be able to match his Dundee wage.

 

Imagine, but surely working on your theory about signing players you would need to know for certain exactly how much we would have to pay to secure him.

 

How do you know that Dundee are not paying him more than their average player?

 

Would he be within our wage strategy and how long a contract would you give him?

 

I just thought I would throw a few of the typical sort of questions you come out with and see what your response is.

[Jamhammer]

2 hours ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

It should be a cakewalk, and if it isn’t, we are failing. That would need addressed. Neilson knows what is required to win the the Championship, and he has the player resources to do it.

Provided key players stay injury free.

Gordon gets injured 

Boyce

Naismith

 

the way our injuries have been in recent years I wouldn’t be surprised

 

Personally think it’s gonna be harder than some think

 

Hopefully wrong and we destroy every team in the league and show no ******* mercy

 

[lou]

My hubby just said he had heard that Bobby Burns left due to friction, I fully admit it was a few minutes before I got the joke 

[Kenneth Dubeke]

2 minutes ago, Sir Gio said:

Offloading is the way to go,  still have plenty left at the end of it.

 

Sell sell sell

Agree

[Pasquale for King]

3 minutes ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

Totally disagree on the emboldened bit. Personally, I’d sooner we stuck with what we have and let Neilson get a song out of them, than flog the only good players and replace them with Championship standard players. Players who may have the desire and hunger, but not the ability to just walk the division if coached right.

 

 

I meant the whole situation, an over bloated unfit squad with a losing mentality, with a poor wage structure, with hardly any youngsters ready to make an impact of Walker/Nicholson/Paterson, with cost cutting and all the ramifications of a truncated season starting in October and an immediate must win semi final to convince some of your suitability to return, and a pandemic that could return at any time. 

[wavydavy]

Just now, Jamhammer said:

Provided key players stay injury free.

Gordon gets injured 

Boyce

Naismith

 

the way our injuries have been in recent years I wouldn’t be surprised

 

Personally think it’s gonna be harder than some think

 

Hopefully wrong and we destroy every team in the league and show no ******* mercy

 

 

I suppose that is one thing about Robbie being back he has decent experience of the Championship and will know what most of the teams are capable of.

 

He will also know that you can never be complacent in any football game. If you are that is when you drop points.

[Pasquale for King]

8 minutes ago, Kenneth Dubeke said:

I'd imagine Hickey will go on to play at a far higher level than Sean Clare. I believe the clubs rumoured to be interested in Hickey are rather more elite than Oxford United 

 

Hickey did play well in the league game at Parkhead the week before the cup final. Levein rightly gave him a start in the final, where he was the best player on display that day in my view 

Apparently the youth coaches were telling Levein that Hickey was the best LB at the club from January 2019 and he really had no other option than to eventually play the lad. 

[Beast Boy]

6 minutes ago, Kenneth Dubeke said:

I'd imagine Hickey will go on to play at a far higher level than Sean Clare. I believe the clubs rumoured to be interested in Hickey are rather more elite than Oxford United 

 

Hickey did play well in the league game at Parkhead the week before the cup final. Levein rightly gave him a start in the final, where he was the best player on display that day in my view 

No doubt about it regarding Hickey attracting interest from clubs of a higher standing than Oxford. He still has to do it when he goes though. Feruz, Guald and Driver were all on pretty impressive radars at one stage too. Then there’s the players who had to step down to a more modest level before making their mark at a later date. We will just have to wait and see where they both end up. Two players that I like though.

[jambopilms]

It's amazing how many great players folk think we have. They were all shite for many many months. Big changes required. There was a bad smell from that squad that Stendel didn't manage to fix. Ship any dozen out and replace with any half decent professionals that are guaranteed to put a shift in.

 

[Kenneth Dubeke]

1 minute ago, Pasquale for King said:

I meant the whole situation, an over bloated unfit squad with a losing mentality, with a poor wage structure, with hardly any youngsters ready to make an impact of Walker/Nicholson/Paterson, with cost cutting and all the ramifications of a truncated season starting in October and an immediate must win semi final to convince some of your suitability to return, and a pandemic that could return at any time. 

We have no real right to think the Championship will be a walk over when you can go 18 months picking up less points than Livingston, Hamilton,  Ross County and St Mirren. Are Inverness, Ayr and Morton vastly inferior to those teams? Time will tell 

 

 

[David Black]

If we can get decent money for Clare, Washington, Damour and even Smith we should take it. If what is left with a couple more signings we should win this league no bother, if we struggle serious questions have to be asked. You could select a team from all the rest and it wouldn't come up to the standard we have. If we struggle it will again come down to attitude not ability.

[Pasquale for King]

15 minutes ago, Kenneth Dubeke said:

I agree. Levein was telling us last summer he was a centre mid. Played him there against Dundee United in League Cup and within a matter of days had Whelan and Damour through the door 

 

Clare does need properly coached. He could be a very good player if well tutored. He has good feet and he has pace 

He was just getting used to playing there and did well against Ross County then moved again, started well and scored against Hamilton at 10 then Henderson goes off and he’s shunted wide left. Add in poor coaching you have to feel sorry for him, but Stendel showed what a change can do for a player. It’s up to the player and Neilson to decide what’s best and go from there. 

[Rogue Daddy]

31 minutes ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

Clare had more good individual performances than Hickey, albeit playing far more games. Honestly don’t know how folk can’t remember Clare’s good performances for us. For quite a few games, he was about the only one who looked likely to score or set up a chance. 

Though the looked much better at right back, definitely has the ability and engine... probably one of the most 'naturally' fit players at the club. I'd be sorry to see him go, he was probably one of a couple of players that I would give pass marks to last season.

[Beast Boy]

5 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

I meant the whole situation, an over bloated unfit squad with a losing mentality, with a poor wage structure, with hardly any youngsters ready to make an impact of Walker/Nicholson/Paterson, with cost cutting and all the ramifications of a truncated season starting in October and an immediate must win semi final to convince some of your suitability to return, and a pandemic that could return at any time. 

Exactly why, just in my opinion, now is not the time to take even a little risk in terms of quality in the squad. I’m confident what we have would annihilate the Championship. I don’t fancy rolling the dice at such a crucial juncture, when the quality that we would be able to attract to fill the vacated positions would be questionable in the extreme.

[Beast Boy]

3 minutes ago, Kenneth Dubeke said:

We have no real right to think the Championship will be a walk over when you can go 18 months picking up less points than Livingston, Hamilton,  Ross County and St Mirren. Are Inverness, Ayr and Morton vastly inferior to those teams? Time will tell 

 

 

Yes we do, and yes they are. In my opinion.

[Beast Boy]

1 minute ago, Rogue Daddy said:

Though the looked much better at right back, definitely has the ability and engine... probably one of the most 'naturally' fit players at the club. I'd be sorry to see him go, he was probably one of a couple of players that I would give pass marks to last season.

Me too. 

[Ari Gold]

Sean Clare has went from being underrated to massively overrated in the space of 8 months

[Pasquale for King]

2 minutes ago, Kenneth Dubeke said:

We have no real right to think the Championship will be a walk over when you can go 18 months picking up less points than Livingston, Hamilton,  Ross County and St Mirren. Are Inverness, Ayr and Morton vastly inferior to those teams? Time will tell 

 

 

We don’t, it will take a big turnaround in mentality for us to do so, but considering most teams barely have a team at this point and won’t start training until next month we should 🤞.

[Pagey]

Has there any update on Uche? Was he not visiting with an English club last week  ( sure I read this earlier in the the thread)

[Pasquale for King]

5 minutes ago, David Black said:

If we can get decent money for Clare, Washington, Damour and even Smith we should take it. If what is left with a couple more signings we should win this league no bother, if we struggle serious questions have to be asked. You could select a team from all the rest and it wouldn't come up to the standard we have. If we struggle it will again come down to attitude not ability.

Hopefully Warnock will see Damour as someone who can help him and will be cheap. 

[wavydavy]

1 minute ago, Rogue Daddy said:

Though the looked much better at right back, definitely has the ability and engine... probably one of the most 'naturally' fit players at the club. I'd be sorry to see him go, he was probably one of a couple of players that I would give pass marks to last season.

 

I agree thought he looked lost early on when he played in midfield and definitely improved when moved to wing back.

 

He had one or two horror moments early on but latterly was one of our better performers.

[Beast Boy]

1 minute ago, Ari Gold said:

Sean Clare has went from being underrated to massively overrated in the space of 8 months

Nah, I reckon he went from struggling with being a scapegoat, to looking like the good player he is.

[Jumper]

7 minutes ago, Sir Gio said:

Offloading is the way to go,  still have plenty left at the end of it.

 

Sell sell sell

 I get where you're coming from though I guess the balance needs to found between offloading and retaining enough 'premiership' experience in the team? We'll certainly win this league if it is played out but in the current money circumstances I would hope the last thing the club does is splash out too much to get players who can compete in the premiership. For me it's a tricky decision to make when you take into account making necessary cuts and preparing for the premiership again.

[Ari Gold]

1 minute ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

Nah, I reckon he went from struggling with being a scapegoat, to looking like the good player he is.

 

He didn't deserve the abuse he got as I never felt he was that bad but I certainly don't think he's been as good as you're making out. 

[Beast Boy]

3 minutes ago, Pagey said:

Has there any update on Uche? Was he not visiting with an English club last week  ( sure I read this earlier in the the thread)

That’s the guy we should be looking to move on for a bit of cash to the English lower leagues, before Clare or Washington. Thanks for all your efforts Uche, and good luck in the future. 👍

[Beast Boy]

Just now, Ari Gold said:

 

He didn't deserve the abuse he got as I never felt he was that bad but I certainly don't think he's been as good as you're making out. 

What part of what posts do you disagree with?

[Kenneth Dubeke]

4 minutes ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

Yes we do, and yes they are. In my opinion.

Look at our resources compared to the 4 SPL clubs I mentioned. When Hearts can amass less points than all if those clubs over an 18 month period its bullish to think we can swat aside teams of comparable size and scale in the Championship 

 

I agree we should walk it. But we've seen things at Hearts over the past 2 years that really should have been impossible. This relegation/expulsion is arguably the worst in our history when you consider our resources against those who finished above us 

 

I'll not be taking anything for granted. Neilson has a big task to motivate these players as something has been rancid at the club 

[JamboAl]

4 minutes ago, wavydavy said:

 

Imagine, but surely working on your theory about signing players you would need to know for certain exactly how much we would have to pay to secure him.

As I said I was not the one doing the spouting and was ASKED a question.  I am not touting Hemmings, nor anyone else, and used the word "imagine" because I don't know.  Do you have difficulty with English comprehension?

How do you know that Dundee are not paying him more than their average player?

I assume Dundee are not paying him at all if he is free but maybe they are a club who continue to pay freed players.  What do you think?

Would he be within our wage strategy and how long a contract would you give him?

As I have pointed out I am not touting him so again your contribution is irrelevant.  I would add however if he is not within our wage structure RN, JJ and AB could well decide not to hire him, even if he were a subject of interest.  Commom sense I would have thought.  Even a Hibs supporter would know that.

 

I just thought I would throw a few of the typical sort of questions you come out with and see what your response is.

You throw all the questions you like Davy if it makes your weary day better.

At least we've got you temporarily off your favourite (anti hero) subject.

[Beast Boy]

Just now, Kenneth Dubeke said:

Look at our resources compared to the 4 SPL clubs I mentioned. When Hearts can amass less points than all if those clubs over an 18 month period its bullish to think we can swat aside teams of comparable size and scale in the Championship 

 

I agree we should walk it. But we've seen things at Hearts over the past 2 years that really should have been impossible. This relegation/expulsion is arguably the worst in our history when you consider our resources against those who finished above us 

 

I'll not be taking anything for granted. Neilson has a big task to motivate these players as something has been rancid at the club 

The other clubs in the Championship are not of comparable quality to Hamilton and Midden. Honestly, they are well below that standard. Last season’s Hamilton and St Mirren if kept intact, would walk this season’s Championship. The whole division minus us has been torn to shreds. Most clubs don’t have four figure ST sales, and some don’t even have a half a team of first team standard players. Our better players, with Neilson managing them, should absolutely stroll it.

[Ari Gold]

3 minutes ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

What part of what posts do you disagree with?

The bit you said he had more good performances than hickey. 

 

I don't really recall Clare having a stand out game. I feel he's always on the edge of a game and would like him to do more. 

[martoon]

19 minutes ago, wavydavy said:

 

Imagine, but surely working on your theory about signing players you would need to know for certain exactly how much we would have to pay to secure him.

 

How do you know that Dundee are not paying him more than their average player?

 

Would he be within our wage strategy and how long a contract would you give him?

 

I just thought I would throw a few of the typical sort of questions you come out with and see what your response is.

 

😁

 

Anything less than a full breakdown of proposed salary, bonuses, length of contract etc. would be a let down. 

[wavydavy]

1 minute ago, JamboAl said:

You throw all the questions you like Davy if it makes your weary day better.

At least we've got you temporarily off your favourite (anti hero) subject.

 

I don;t think generally speaking many posters on here do tout for us to sign specific players. They just make a comment about a player that might be available or those that they think could help.

 

I also doubt that any of the posters on here know how mcuh a player would command in wages either from their current team or with us if we happened to sign them.

 

Making a comment does not mean anyone is touting Al. What I did with my last post to you was just give you a taste of the usual stuff you come out with and judging by your reply it is not something you particularly like.

 

Unfortunately we still have some of our former DOF and Managers signings at the club but I am sure as we debate on here Robbie is reviewing their worth or otherwise.

[Pasquale for King]

21 minutes ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

Exactly why, just in my opinion, now is not the time to take even a little risk in terms of quality in the squad. I’m confident what we have would annihilate the Championship. I don’t fancy rolling the dice at such a crucial juncture, when the quality that we would be able to attract to fill the vacated positions would be questionable in the extreme.

Again though it’s going to take a big change in mentality for this team to do that, we were bottom of the league. I know it’s a lower level and they’re even worse off, I think we need a few players in and out to help us. 

Edited August 5, 2020 by Pasquale for King

[Beast Boy]

2 minutes ago, Ari Gold said:

The bit you said he had more good performances than hickey. 

 

I don't really recall Clare having a stand out game. I feel he's always on the edge of a game and would like him to do more. 

He had plenty good games, and more than Hickey purely down to playing more games overall. 
 

He was scoring pearlers from the corner of the 18 yard box, drifting past two or three players out wide before cutting in and setting up chances, he was winning the ball and moving it forward and he was making defence splitting passes. 
 

I always have to stop myself making assumptions about supporters who fail to see when a player has had good games for us. It’s frustrating as. When it’s so blindingly obvious when a player has played well, yet people refuse to recognise it, I start to lose the motivation to carry on debating it. What’s the point, if someone doesn’t see it with their own eyes? Are you honestly saying you don’t remember Clare being a stand out or being amongst our better players? 

[Hectormasson]

53 minutes ago, Leveins Battalion said:

 

 

It's not like we are breaking up a cup winning team,this is a group who had us at the bottom of a shit SPL,happy if Neilson feels it right to rip it up and start again.

Correct his own players and ideas,   no matter what he chooses it should be more than enough to get us back up easily enough "     so most on here are thinking ? I'm hoping most of our goals will be later in games when lesser opposition tires a bit,     patience maybe needed for a bit in games,   just thinking about some games last seadon ,,dun utd ,,,stenhousemuir etc, were a bit of a slog......

[Beast Boy]

5 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

Again though it’s going to take a big change in mentality for this team to do that, we were bottom of the league. I know it’s a lower level and they’re even worse off, I think we need a few players in and out to help us. 

Depends on the players really. 

[Ari Gold]

7 minutes ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

He had plenty good games, and more than Hickey purely down to playing more games overall. 
 

He was scoring pearlers from the corner of the 18 yard box, drifting past two or three players out wide before cutting in and setting up chances, he was winning the ball and moving it forward and he was making defence splitting passes. 
 

I always have to stop myself making assumptions about supporters who fail to see when a player has had good games for us. It’s frustrating as. When it’s so blindingly obvious when a player has played well, yet people refuse to recognise it, I start to lose the motivation to carry on debating it. What’s the point, if someone doesn’t see it with their own eyes? Are you honestly saying you don’t remember Clare being a stand out or being amongst our better players? 

 

I thought he improved from being underwhelming to alright. You're making out like he was playing like Messi week in, week out.

 

What assumptions are you stopping yourself from making? 

[Tennant's 6's]

48 minutes ago, wavydavy said:

 

The article quoted that he was leaving for personal reason and would likely return South where he has played for a number of clubs. Interest from Oxford Utd and Burton Albion.

Fair enough, he's pish anyway...

 

It is gonna be hard for Robbie to move players on tbf, gonna be a test of his coaching credentials to get some of these guys plays again

[Section Q]

Season long loan to KV Oostende .....

Still only 21, hope he goes onto big things.

 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53655999

Edited August 5, 2020 by Section Q

[loveofthegame]

2 hours ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Utter nonsense that somehow has done the rounds by people in pubs enough that it’s believed when, as I say, it’s utter nonsense.

you know what’s bigger nonsense?! Folk will have you believe Clare turned into a superstar after Stendel came in because he didn’t continue to be next to anonymous every game. Did he improve, yes, but he didn’t have much of a base level of performance to improve on. I suspect he’s a high earner and has been largely atrocious for his time with us, part of one of the most spineless teams in our history. 
 

He, like most others in that squad, can go without any concerns from me.

Edited August 5, 2020 by loveofthegame

[AGoodLaugh]

33 minutes ago, Ari Gold said:

Sean Clare has went from being underrated to massively overrated in the space of 8 months

Agreed. After a season and a half he finally puts in some decent performances as a makeshift full back in a team that's bottom of the league and suddenly we can't afford to lose him 

[wattie exploited]

Saying that Oxford city are interested in Sean Clare  don,t know how much truth is in it but he is one player I thought got better last year after a crap start to his hearts career I think most Hearts fans would like him to stay but if does go I hope we get at least £400,000

  https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/sport/football/sean-clare-hearts-oxford-united-18718794   

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by wattie exploited

[Ari Gold]

2 minutes ago, loveofthegame said:

you know what’s bigger nonsense?! Folk that will have you believe Clare turned into a superstar after Stendel came in because he didn’t continue to be next to anonymous every game. Did he improve, yes, but he didn’t have much of a base level of performance to improve on. I suspect he’s a high earner and has been largely atrocious for his time with us, part of one of the most spineless teams in our history. 
 

He, like most others in that squad, can go without any concerns from me.

 

Correct. I don't think he'd be in my preferred starting eleven.