Players out of contract

[WDJ87]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/twelve-hearts-players-out-contract-season-expiry-date-every-deal-revealed-3037185%3famp

 

When I read 12 players out in the headline I had a wee panic attack 🙈

 

Only a few I'd other deals to right now. Smith, Kingsley, Irving

 

Depends on their season: Wighton, Lee, Cochrane

 

Bin: Berra, White, Doyle, Zlamal

 

Didn't include Stewart or Ginelly as they're loans.

 

Who would you keep?

Edited November 16, 2020 by WDJ87

[HMFC01]

Too early to say.   

 

 I am impressed with Wighton. Lee. Kingsley, smith, cochrane, irving(good goal recently made up for crap defending) , ginnelly, Stewart.   White is doing OK the now when he plays. 

[Dennis Reynolds]

A few players I would have sent to the gulags before the season started have shown much more than I thought they could.

 

Kinglsey has to be an absolute certainty for a new deal. He's a class above. Same with Smith. 

 

The rest, wouldn't really care if they left but that could change by January.

[Swanny17]

If we can extend Smiths contract that’s be excellent and I’d expect some movement on that in the coming weeks. If it looks unlikely that he’ll stay, I’d not be surprised to see us going for O’Donnell in January. 
 

Kingsley, Irving and Ginnelly are all a must for me too, the others? Meh. 

[Parttimer1874]

1 minute ago, Swanny17 said:

If we can extend Smiths contract that’s be excellent and I’d expect some movement on that in the coming weeks. If it looks unlikely that he’ll stay, I’d not be surprised to see us going for O’Donnell in January. 
 

Kingsley, Irving and Ginnelly are all a must for me too, the others? Meh. 

 

No way is a Scotland full back now going to drop down a division six months before a major championships  

[Cruyff]

Kingsley 100%, we won't find a better LB. Probably Smith but i'd also like us to sign O'Donnell. 

 

Lee, Irving... No sure whether i'd hold onto them.  

 

Wouldnt extend deals for anyone else and I'd release a number of players also. 

[i8hibsh]

Smith for sure.

[Cut The Crap]

Smith for sure. Need to see

more of Kingsley. The rest aren’t anywhere near good enough for the top flight.

[Bazzas right boot]

Only get rid of players if better are incoming. 

 

Too many times we replace with the same or worse and all it does is disrupt the team and stalll progress. This is especially true  with wholesale changes. 

 

I have confidence in Robbie to make the required changes. 

 

 

 

[Famous 1874]

Kingsley, Smith and Irving the only essentials. Jury is still out on the rest of them, although Wighton in particular has impressed 

[JimmyCant]

41 minutes ago, Smith's right boot said:

Only get rid of players if better are incoming. 

 

Too many times we replace with the same or worse and all it does is disrupt the team and stalll progress. This is especially true  with wholesale changes. 

 

I have confidence in Robbie to make the required changes. 

 

 

 

Next summer, better players coming in will be a cast iron definite need. I imagine the strategy will be 1. Who isn’t good enough for Hearts as an SPL team (For me that list is pretty lengthy right now) and how many of those can be moved on. 2. Who is out of contract but good enough, and do they want to stay. 3. Having established where we are at after steps 1 & 2 what do we now need and where are we getting it from. 
 

The current squad is mid table Prem at best IMO. We’re not good enough at centre back, we’re not good enough in midfield and we haven’t got enough goals to be any better than mid table.  We will need surgery again this summer.

Edited November 16, 2020 by JimmyCant

[Cruyff]

7 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

Next summer, better players coming in will be a cast iron definite need. I imagine the strategy will be 1. Who isn’t good enough for Hearts as an SPL team (For me that list is pretty lengthy right now) and how many of those can be moved on. 2. Who is out of contract but good enough, and do they want to stay. 3. Having established where we are at after steps 1 & 2 what do we now need and where are we getting it from. 
 

The current squad is mid table Prem at best IMO. We’re not good enough at centre back, we’re not good enough in midfield and we haven’t got enough goals to be any better than mid table.  We will need surgery again this summer.

Nail on head. Central Defence, Central midfield and the wide areas need improved. 

We need another RB and another quality striker as well. 

[Niemi’s gloves]

Another entirely sensible post from Smith’s Right Boot. Much too sensible for those who are wedded to the idea of a dozen or more new players every year.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Niemi’s gloves

[RobNox]

2 hours ago, i8hibsh said:

Smith for sure.

 

Absolutely.  Has he ever had a bad game for us?  I know the 'Mr Dependable' tag can often be seen as faint praise, but that's exactly what he is.  He's played right and left back, centre half and in midfield, and does a job wherever he is asked to.  He only has to play a game as centre forward and he can join Tam Flogel in the versatility ranks.

[jimbojambo]

1 hour ago, RobNox said:

 

Absolutely.  Has he ever had a bad game for us?  I know the 'Mr Dependable' tag can often be seen as faint praise, but that's exactly what he is.  He's played right and left back, centre half and in midfield, and does a job wherever he is asked to.  He only has to play a game as centre forward and he can join Tam Flogel in the versatility ranks.

I believe that his family are living down south so given that he is unlikely to sign a new contract and he is an international player I think we might sell in January especially if we are out front in the league. I seem to remember Bristol City being his preference in the summer.

[Coco]

I'm hoping that there is major change to the squad this coming summer.

 

I would be looking to keep

 

Gordon

Smith, Kingsley

Halliday, Irving

Boyce, Naismith, Walker

 

All others replaceable easily to get more strength, running power and pace into the side.

[johnthomas]

5 hours ago, jimbojambo said:

I believe that his family are living down south so given that he is unlikely to sign a new contract and he is an international player I think we might sell in January especially if we are out front in the league. I seem to remember Bristol City being his preference in the summer.

Think you are right . Great player for us but family considerations may well mean him moving on

[Eass237]

49 minutes ago, Coco said:

I'm hoping that there is major change to the squad this coming summer.

 

I would be looking to keep

 

Gordon

Smith, Kingsley

Halliday, Irving

Boyce, Naismith, Walker

 

All others replaceable easily to get more strength, running power and pace into the side.

No room for Peter Haring in there 🤔 

[King prawn]

9 hours ago, Niemi’s gloves said:

Another entirely sensible post from Smith’s Right Boot. Much too sensible for those who are wedded to the idea of a dozen or more new players every year.

 

 

@Smith's right boot, you best not be backing up your own posts  

[Coco]

2 hours ago, Eass237 said:

No room for Peter Haring in there 🤔 

He's clearly a reasonable player but hugely overrated on here.  I'd be looking for a Colin Cameron type to play beside Halliday next season

[18Jambo_dave74]

Smith, Kingsley and Irving are definitely the one's we should be looking to keep. A pre-contract for Ginnelly could be of interest as well however its still early days but he has made a promising start. 

 

Given that Smith is now 32 I think he has probably missed the chance for a more lucrative move down south. If he does sign a new contract with us it will be very interesting to see how we use him going forward. He is a very dependable right back but we might look to sign a more dynamic right back and move Smith in field. He has played well for us at centre back before and even in central midfield - I watched him play for N.Ireland against Austria the other night and he was excellent as a holding midfielder. 

[Batistuta87]

10 hours ago, Smith's right boot said:

Only get rid of players if better are incoming. 

 

Too many times we replace with the same or worse and all it does is disrupt the team and stalll progress. This is especially true  with wholesale changes. 

 

I have confidence in Robbie to make the required changes. 

 

 

 

 

Well said. 

 

The early work Robbie has done is an encouraging sign that he knows what he's doing. I have every faith that he'll be looking ahead to next season and making some sort of plans. 

 

Looking at the players who are out of contract though, there is only a handful I would be trying hard to keep on with Kingsley being priority number one. Haring next, if he's out of contract at the end of the season. 

 

Would then look to Irving... He needs to work hard on some aspects of his game and really needs to crack on this next season or so. If he does, he could end up being worth something in the transfer market so we'll need to have ourselves protected and have him under contract in order to be able to sell him. 

 

I think we also have the option of another year on Halliday's contract, so I'd like to see him stay at least another year too. I think him and Haring would be a tremendous partnership in midfield when they're both up to full fitness. 

 

Would be nice to keep Smith for another year I think, but part of me is wondering if there's any point in extending someone who will be 33 as we go into next season, and if we should turn our attention to Stephen O'Donnell. The way I'm looking at it is I'm wondering if its worth keeping Smith for another year to potentially miss out on having O'Donnell for the next 3, and I think I'm leaning slightly towards O'Donnell. 

 

Gordon... He doesn't look like he's slowing down right now. If he's got another 2yrs in him I would love for him to stay and mentor Harry Stone, who can hopefully take over when he retires. 

 

 

I don't think Cochrane is reaching his early potential and hasn't improved any over the last year or two - in fact I'd say he's probably declined unfortunately - so can't see us renewing, and think he'll end up at Inverness or someone like that. 

 

 

On the fence about Ginnelly, Lee and Wighton at the moment. If they have a good season then they'll earn themselves another year I'd say. Ginnelly looks a player but need to see him play in a run of games and to see some consistent form I think, before I make my mind up on him.

 

[JamboAl]

20 minutes ago, Batistuta87 said:

 

Well said. 

 

The early work Robbie has done is an encouraging sign that he knows what he's doing. I have every faith that he'll be looking ahead to next season and making some sort of plans. 

 

Looking at the players who are out of contract though, there is only a handful I would be trying hard to keep on with Kingsley being priority number one. Haring next, if he's out of contract at the end of the season. 

 

Would then look to Irving... He needs to work hard on some aspects of his game and really needs to crack on this next season or so. If he does, he could end up being worth something in the transfer market so we'll need to have ourselves protected and have him under contract in order to be able to sell him. 

 

I think we also have the option of another year on Halliday's contract, so I'd like to see him stay at least another year too. I think him and Haring would be a tremendous partnership in midfield when they're both up to full fitness. 

 

Would be nice to keep Smith for another year I think, but part of me is wondering if there's any point in extending someone who will be 33 as we go into next season, and if we should turn our attention to Stephen O'Donnell. The way I'm looking at it is I'm wondering if its worth keeping Smith for another year to potentially miss out on having O'Donnell for the next 3, and I think I'm leaning slightly towards O'Donnell. 

 

Gordon... He doesn't look like he's slowing down right now. If he's got another 2yrs in him I would love for him to stay and mentor Harry Stone, who can hopefully take over when he retires. 

 

 

I don't think Cochrane is reaching his early potential and hasn't improved any over the last year or two - in fact I'd say he's probably declined unfortunately - so can't see us renewing, and think he'll end up at Inverness or someone like that. 

 

 

On the fence about Ginnelly, Lee and Wighton at the moment. If they have a good season then they'll earn themselves another year I'd say. Ginnelly looks a player but need to see him play in a run of games and to see some consistent form I think, before I make my mind up on him.

 

That is a fair summary IMO especially re Smith/O'Donnell.

[Busby8]

14 hours ago, Swanny17 said:

If we can extend Smiths contract that’s be excellent and I’d expect some movement on that in the coming weeks. If it looks unlikely that he’ll stay, I’d not be surprised to see us going for O’Donnell in January. 
 

Kingsley, Irving and Ginnelly are all a must for me too, the others? Meh. 

 

Michael Smith will be 33 around the start of next season.

Clubs with dosh to burn will be looking mostly at younger alternatives.

On that basis, I'm fairly hopeful we can entice him to stay.

 

[Bazzas right boot]

2 hours ago, Batistuta87 said:

 

Well said. 

 

The early work Robbie has done is an encouraging sign that he knows what he's doing. I have every faith that he'll be looking ahead to next season and making some sort of plans. 

 

Looking at the players who are out of contract though, there is only a handful I would be trying hard to keep on with Kingsley being priority number one. Haring next, if he's out of contract at the end of the season. 

 

Would then look to Irving... He needs to work hard on some aspects of his game and really needs to crack on this next season or so. If he does, he could end up being worth something in the transfer market so we'll need to have ourselves protected and have him under contract in order to be able to sell him. 

 

I think we also have the option of another year on Halliday's contract, so I'd like to see him stay at least another year too. I think him and Haring would be a tremendous partnership in midfield when they're both up to full fitness. 

 

Would be nice to keep Smith for another year I think, but part of me is wondering if there's any point in extending someone who will be 33 as we go into next season, and if we should turn our attention to Stephen O'Donnell. The way I'm looking at it is I'm wondering if its worth keeping Smith for another year to potentially miss out on having O'Donnell for the next 3, and I think I'm leaning slightly towards O'Donnell. 

 

Gordon... He doesn't look like he's slowing down right now. If he's got another 2yrs in him I would love for him to stay and mentor Harry Stone, who can hopefully take over when he retires. 

 

 

I don't think Cochrane is reaching his early potential and hasn't improved any over the last year or two - in fact I'd say he's probably declined unfortunately - so can't see us renewing, and think he'll end up at Inverness or someone like that. 

 

 

On the fence about Ginnelly, Lee and Wighton at the moment. If they have a good season then they'll earn themselves another year I'd say. Ginnelly looks a player but need to see him play in a run of games and to see some consistent form I think, before I make my mind up on him.

 

 

Agree with all of that. 

 

The key is the need to improve, not just replacing fir replacing sake. 

 

Djoum, Goncalves, even Lee last year were all examples of certain folk being happy they were being replaced but we went backwards. 

 

 

[Cruyff]

Wouldn't keep

Zlamal, Brandon, Berra, White, Damour, Cochrane, Frear, Moore, Henderson or, Wighton - no good enough.

 

Kingsley, Smith, Lee and Irving are out of contract. Stewart and Ginnellys loans end. 

 

Pretty much leaves,

Gordon, Halkett, Popescu, Soapy, Haring, Halliday, Roberts, Walker, Naisy and Boyce

 

So yep, major surgery required and many signings needed.

[BigAlim]

next season i'd like to see something like:

 

________________Gordon

 

new right back__Smith__new centre half__Kingsley

 

_________________Haring__Halliday

 

_________Ginnelly__Naismith__new winger

 

___________________Boyce

 

Bench:

 

Stewart

Halkett

Popescu

Irving

new centre mid

new winger

new striker

 

so six signings overall, i don't think thats too crazy given the amount potentially leaving

[steve123]

There is an article on Evening News ( not read it all as behind pay wall) saying Robbie is going to wait until we are guaranteed to be back in top league before offering them contacts.

[merseyjambo]

I’d like to think that we are in talks with Irving.

 

Hopefully Kingsley will remember that we have given him a chance to resurrect his career and will be easy to deal with.

 

Smith is a difficult one. He’s likely to be on good money and will look at what Naismith is getting and want something similar. The good thing (touch wood) is he’s not injury prone. If he is willing to stay and his demands are reasonable, keep him.

 

Gets difficult after that with the out of contracts who are our players and not loans. Wighton might be worth 12 months if he’s prepared to play 2nd fiddle as I’m not convinced he has it for SPL. 
 

The one player I thought could do a real job last season was Sibbick. He looked mobile, athletic and comfortable on ball. Not sure what his contact situation is at Barnsley but if he’s not going to get game time there I’d hope we might be interested if we are back in top flight. 
 

The rest. No thanks

[gashauskis9]

3 hours ago, BigAlim said:

next season i'd like to see something like:

 

________________Gordon

 

new right back__Smith__new centre half__Kingsley

 

_________________Haring__Halliday

 

_________Ginnelly__Naismith__new winger

 

___________________Boyce

 

Bench:

 

Stewart

Halkett

Popescu

Irving

new centre mid

new winger

new striker

 

so six signings overall, i don't think thats too crazy given the amount potentially leaving

What about Souttar? 

[BigAlim]

18 minutes ago, gashauskis9 said:

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by BigAlim
Double post

[BigAlim]

Just now, BigAlim said:

Forgot about Souttar

 

I wouldn't plan the squad for the season based on his availability anyway, any games he manages will be a bonus

 

[OTT]

Kingsley, Smith & Irving are the big ones. Think the first two are likely to have interest from down south, so would be keen to get something sorted asap on them. Irving we can't afford to be reactive here. Need to get a contract to the laddie. He's bulked up and looks physically like he can make it, likewise he has the technical ability too. Its a hickey situation waiting to happen if we don't get something sorted urgently. 

[Weebroon98]

17 hours ago, jimbojambo said:

I believe that his family are living down south so given that he is unlikely to sign a new contract and he is an international player I think we might sell in January especially if we are out front in the league. I seem to remember Bristol City being his preference in the summer.

Still stay in my village not that far from henry smith

[Bazzas right boot]

3 hours ago, OTT said:

Kingsley, Smith & Irving are the big ones. Think the first two are likely to have interest from down south, so would be keen to get something sorted asap on them. Irving we can't afford to be reactive here. Need to get a contract to the laddie. He's bulked up and looks physically like he can make it, likewise he has the technical ability too. Its a hickey situation waiting to happen if we don't get something sorted urgently. 

 

I'd keep Irving but imo he's not in the same bracket as Hickey. 

 

 

[Pasquale for King]

21 hours ago, jimbojambo said:

I believe that his family are living down south so given that he is unlikely to sign a new contract and he is an international player I think we might sell in January especially if we are out front in the league. I seem to remember Bristol City being his preference in the summer.

Does he not have a house in Bath? He used to play for Bristol Rovers. Can’t see anyone buying him really but it seems likely he will be away in the summer.
Kingsley, Irving,Ginnelly if he’s not injured all the time and maybe Cochrane. We will need an upgrade at CH in the summer and RB if Smith is

away. A bit more pace throughout the team wouldn’t go amiss. 

[JimmyCant]

13 hours ago, Coco said:

He's clearly a reasonable player but hugely overrated on here.  I'd be looking for a Colin Cameron type to play beside Halliday next season

Haring hugely overrated ?? Is he aye ?

[Redhelen]

10 hours ago, merseyjambo said:

I’d like to think that we are in talks with Irving.

 

Hopefully Kingsley will remember that we have given him a chance to resurrect his career and will be easy to deal with.

 

Smith is a difficult one. He’s likely to be on good money and will look at what Naismith is getting and want something similar. The good thing (touch wood) is he’s not injury prone. If he is willing to stay and his demands are reasonable, keep him.

 

Gets difficult after that with the out of contracts who are our players and not loans. Wighton might be worth 12 months if he’s prepared to play 2nd fiddle as I’m not convinced he has it for SPL. 
 

The one player I thought could do a real job last season was Sibbick. He looked mobile, athletic and comfortable on ball. Not sure what his contact situation is at Barnsley but if he’s not going to get game time there I’d hope we might be interested if we are back in top flight. 
 

The rest. No thanks

Fyi Sibbick is currently on loan from Barnsley at Ostende .

[PTBCAL]

Heard Irving is keen to move on - abroad possibly 

[loveofthegame]

On 16/11/2020 at 19:14, WDJ87 said:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/twelve-hearts-players-out-contract-season-expiry-date-every-deal-revealed-3037185%3famp

 

When I read 12 players out in the headline I had a wee panic attack 🙈

 

Only a few I'd other deals to right now. Smith, Kingsley, Irving

 

Depends on their season: Wighton, Lee, Cochrane

 

Bin: Berra, White, Doyle, Zlamal

 

Didn't include Stewart or Ginelly as they're loans.

 

Who would you keep?

 

I fear we'll struggle to hold onto Smith and Kingsley, Irving will definitely sign a new deal. I think we'll also lose Lee at the end of the season as he'll likely get a decent offer from a League One/lower end Championship club. We also may not be in a position to offer Smith, Kingsley and Lee new deals until we know what is happening next season, which may put us on the back foot.

 

Juries out on Wighton and Cochrane, but I hope both prove their worth and earn new deals. Don't rate White but marginal improvement so far this season, so you never know.

 

Would be stunned if any of Berra, Doyle or Zlamal get new deals.

[The jj era]

2 hours ago, PTBCAL said:

Heard Irving is keen to move on - abroad possibly 

did you aye?

[Section Q]

On 16/11/2020 at 23:39, JimmyCant said:

Next summer, better players coming in will be a cast iron definite need. I imagine the strategy will be 1. Who isn’t good enough for Hearts as an SPL team (For me that list is pretty lengthy right now) and how many of those can be moved on. 2. Who is out of contract but good enough, and do they want to stay. 3. Having established where we are at after steps 1 & 2 what do we now need and where are we getting it from. 
 

The current squad is mid table Prem at best IMO. We’re not good enough at centre back, we’re not good enough in midfield and we haven’t got enough goals to be any better than mid table.  We will need surgery again this summer.

Agree with this.................Jimmy you still living in Oz......?

[Cruyff]

47 minutes ago, The jj era said:

did you aye?

Is that not a possibility like? 

[The jj era]

1 hour ago, Cruyff said:

Is that not a possibility like? 

No, it's not. Ask again in a few months

[JimmyCant]

1 hour ago, Section Q said:

Agree with this.................Jimmy you still living in Oz......?

Aye, Winchburgh, New South Lothian, the Sunshine State. Playground of the rich and famous and the source of pretty red headed girls.

Edited November 18, 2020 by JimmyCant

[Section Q]

On 18/11/2020 at 14:48, JimmyCant said:

Aye, Winchburgh, New South Lothian, the Sunshine State. Playground of the rich and famous and the source of pretty red headed girls.

Sunny Winchburgh...........👍

Had a few beers with you at the Oaks in Neutral Bay a few years ago with George and Christine and dropped you back at your hotel in Double Bay.......seems like yesterday......!