January transfer window ( Now closed )

[bobby bombscare]

19 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

All about who might pick him up. Much more likely to get a good move down south. 

I wouldn't totally agree with that.. If you look at someof the players we have sold they have all went to decent clubs. I mean from Patterson to Walker all got moves to decent clubs. and look at where McGinn, Wanyama, Van Dijk etc from some of the other clubs went. I mean we got relegated and Hickey still went to a team in SerieA.. 

 

Up here you have the opportunity to impress in Europe if you do well and finish up the table. Also, you're gauranteed to be on TV when playing the old firm. Play well in those games and you can guarantee you're in the shop window. Plenty of players got good moves from coming up here. 

Edited January 24, 2021 by bobby bombscare

[Cruyff]

1 hour ago, HoGwash said:

Benedictus and Murray? People seem to want to replace our huddies with even bigger huddies. 

Benedictus and Murray for Hearts

 

Jesus    

 

[JamboAl]

36 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

I think because they let him leave for free, but are still due a fee if he moves before next January. Strange but thems the rules it seems. 

Not sure but I thought that if they don't offer new terms he is totally free to go with no dev payment attaching.

If they do offer terms (as Walsall are doing now) and he elects to go, he is can do so but there will be a dev fee.

[Famous 1874]

1 hour ago, HoGwash said:

Benedictus and Murray? People seem to want to replace our huddies with even bigger huddies. 

How we have fallen. Some terrible names being mentioned. 

[Tazio]

Benedictus is at Raith as he wasn’t good enough to hold down a place at Dundee. And his last season at Dundee he was farmed out to Alloa on loan as he wasn’t even up to being a sub at an awful Dundee in the Premiership. 
Exactly what we need going forward. A defender so bad people only notice him because he’s got a weird name. 

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

Imagine Celtic had hovered up most of our 4-0 team against them 😂

[WheatfieldWarrior]

No players from the championship please.

[Pasquale for King]

29 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

Not sure but I thought that if they don't offer new terms he is totally free to go with no dev payment attaching.

If they do offer terms (as Walsall are doing now) and he elects to go, he is can do so but there will be a dev fee.

It’s all a bit complicated, I thought the original club would be due a cut of the transfer fee too but it seems not. No wonder Walsall were confused. 

[Pasquale for King]

14 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

Imagine Celtic had hovered up most of our 4-0 team against them 😂

Lafferty up front? Green Brigade would be chuffed 😱😂🤣🤬🤪. 

[gregzy2k7]

Just get findlay in now, Surely we should at least be enquiring? if we aren't already, It would only take a small fee to get him imo, Hopefully we can get either Jimmy Dunne or Liam Lindsay in the summer.

[Pasquale for King]

1 hour ago, S Form said:

Benedictus is also the div who allowed Wighton to score a hat trick in the Betfred, giving up a ludicrous penalty in the process. Yet people put him forward as a possible option for us? Jesus wept.

You’re right and he was awful that night, they all were but it was their 2nd game I think and they’ve improved since if Saturday is anything to go by. 

[Pasquale for King]

1 minute ago, gregzy2k7 said:

Just get findlay in now, Surely we should at least be enquiring? if we aren't already, It would only take a small fee to get him imo, Hopefully we can get either Jimmy Dunne or Liam Lindsay in the summer.

If we sign him on a pre contract Dyer would throw him out on loan to us as he did with Brophy hopefully. 

[gregzy2k7]

4 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

If we sign him on a pre contract Dyer would throw him out on loan to us as he did with Brophy hopefully. 

Even better

[Hungry hippo]

9 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

If we sign him on a pre contract Dyer would throw him out on loan to us as he did with Brophy hopefully. 

 

That's an interesting point. The Brophy loan wasn't a great precedent to set for themselves IMO. It doesn't exactly encourage teams to bid much if a pre-contract is agreed in the future with any if their other players.

[jambo2524]

We have the 5th worst defense (goals against) in the Championship.

We have conceded one less goal = 17 versus the current bottom Club Arbroath = 18 after 12 games.

 

In the Premiership only the bottom 3 have a worse goals against per game = Ross County, Hamilton and marginally Motherwell.

 

We fans would generally agree that our Goalkeeper CG and full backs MS and SK are our 3 best players this season. On that basis our centre halves have a lot of explaining to do regardless of the defensive qualities of the remainder of the team (that are 100% not blameless)

 

We need to sign a young but proven Centre half ideally left sided that will play every week and is top half Scottish Premiership quality.. 

Findlay is the obvious choice as he is the right age, is quick, durable, wins his headers, left sided, and out of contract in the summer,

 

That signing alone will almost guarantee our promotion. 

 

 

[Pasquale for King]

26 minutes ago, Hungry hippo said:

 

That's an interesting point. The Brophy loan wasn't a great precedent to set for themselves IMO. It doesn't exactly encourage teams to bid much if a pre-contract is agreed in the future with any if their other players.

Yeah I hadn’t thought of that, we might’ve been prepared to give them £50-100k to get him now for instance. 

[Pasquale for King]

5 minutes ago, jambo2524 said:

We have the 5th worst defense (goals against) in the Championship.

We have conceded one less goal = 17 versus the current bottom Club Arbroath = 18 after 12 games.

 

In the Premiership only the bottom 3 have a worse goals against per game = Ross County, Hamilton and marginally Motherwell.

 

We fans would generally agree that our Goalkeeper CG and full backs MS and SK are our 3 best players this season. On that basis our centre halves have a lot of explaining to do regardless of the defensive qualities of the remainder of the team (that are 100% not blameless)

 

We need to sign a young but proven Centre half ideally left sided that will play every week and is top half Scottish Premiership quality.. 

Findlay is the obvious choice as he is the right age, is quick, durable, wins his headers, left sided, and out of contract in the summer,

 

That signing alone will almost guarantee our promotion. 

 

 

Spot on 

[gregzy2k7]

57 minutes ago, jambo2524 said:

We have the 5th worst defense (goals against) in the Championship.

We have conceded one less goal = 17 versus the current bottom Club Arbroath = 18 after 12 games.

 

In the Premiership only the bottom 3 have a worse goals against per game = Ross County, Hamilton and marginally Motherwell.

 

We fans would generally agree that our Goalkeeper CG and full backs MS and SK are our 3 best players this season. On that basis our centre halves have a lot of explaining to do regardless of the defensive qualities of the remainder of the team (that are 100% not blameless)

 

We need to sign a young but proven Centre half ideally left sided that will play every week and is top half Scottish Premiership quality.. 

Findlay is the obvious choice as he is the right age, is quick, durable, wins his headers, left sided, and out of contract in the summer,

 

That signing alone will almost guarantee our promotion. 

 

 

Spot on.

Lets hope Robbie and Joe Savage agree with what a blind man can see.

[bobby bombscare]

1 hour ago, jambo2524 said:

We have the 5th worst defense (goals against) in the Championship.

We have conceded one less goal = 17 versus the current bottom Club Arbroath = 18 after 12 games.

 

In the Premiership only the bottom 3 have a worse goals against per game = Ross County, Hamilton and marginally Motherwell.

 

We fans would generally agree that our Goalkeeper CG and full backs MS and SK are our 3 best players this season. On that basis our centre halves have a lot of explaining to do regardless of the defensive qualities of the remainder of the team (that are 100% not blameless)

 

We need to sign a young but proven Centre half ideally left sided that will play every week and is top half Scottish Premiership quality.. 

Findlay is the obvious choice as he is the right age, is quick, durable, wins his headers, left sided, and out of contract in the summer,

 

That signing alone will almost guarantee our promotion. 

 

 

Right sided! Please right sided. I can deal with Popescu till the end of the season. I’ve had enough of Halkett over the last year and a half! 

[gregzy2k7]

1 hour ago, bobby bombscare said:

Right sided! Please right sided. I can deal with Popescu till the end of the season. I’ve had enough of Halkett over the last year and a half! 

Play haring as the right CB with hopefully findlay left CB?

[bobby bombscare]

16 minutes ago, gregzy2k7 said:

Play haring as the right CB with hopefully findlay left CB?

I’d take that! 
 

i’d also take Harring and popescu until the end of the season in exchange for a REALLY good CB on a pre contract! 

[Finlay James]

5 hours ago, jambo2524 said:

We have the 5th worst defense (goals against) in the Championship.

We have conceded one less goal = 17 versus the current bottom Club Arbroath = 18 after 12 games.

 

In the Premiership only the bottom 3 have a worse goals against per game = Ross County, Hamilton and marginally Motherwell.

 

We fans would generally agree that our Goalkeeper CG and full backs MS and SK are our 3 best players this season. On that basis our centre halves have a lot of explaining to do regardless of the defensive qualities of the remainder of the team (that are 100% not blameless)

 

We need to sign a young but proven Centre half ideally left sided that will play every week and is top half Scottish Premiership quality.. 

Findlay is the obvious choice as he is the right age, is quick, durable, wins his headers, left sided, and out of contract in the summer,

 

That signing alone will almost guarantee our promotion. 

 

 

 

I agree but I think it's more than just central defence that is leaking goals.  Our midfield has found no settled pairing or system and puts undue pressure on the defence.   We need a fit Haring playing front of the defence and he needs a box to box midfielder next to him who does the running and pressing higher up the park.

 

As for any new centre half, Findlay would be a top signing IMO.

[Andrew Gilbert Wauchope]

16 hours ago, Pasquale for King said:

Will try through Firefox 👍🏽
 

Cheers it worked 😆

Glad to help.  Someone else shared the idea on here, I was just passing it on. 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Andrew Gilbert Wauchope

[steve123]

Somebody on Walsall forum reckons they were paying him £800 a week and we have offered £1,500 with bonuses taking it up to 2k.

 

Now could be a complete guess but gives an idea of the kinda wages they are paying him and our offer is not unrealistic.

[Under the floodlight]

8 hours ago, Dr. Sheldon Cooper said:

Kyle Benedictus? Come on 😂

 

Gave away both penalties in the Betfred game I think. People just pick a player from a team who has just beaten us and automatically assume they'd be better than what we currently have.

 

Thankfully our scouting is a bit more thorough than that.

[Italian Lambretta]

12 minutes ago, steve123 said:

Somebody on Walsall forum reckons they were paying him £800 a week and we have offered £1,500 with bonuses taking it up to 2k.

 

Now could be a complete guess but gives an idea of the kinda wages they are paying him and our offer is not unrealistic.

Looks like our defnce are on a bonus for shipping goals

[A_A wehatethehibs]

42 minutes ago, Finlay James said:

 

I agree but I think it's more than just central defence that is leaking goals.  Our midfield has found no settled pairing or system and puts undue pressure on the defence.   We need a fit Haring playing front of the defence and he needs a box to box midfielder next to him who does the running and pressing higher up the park.

 

As for any new centre half, Findlay would be a top signing IMO.

You build from the back. Fact is, Center half should have been Neilsons priority since the day he joined the club. That position is at the heart of ALL our problems, all the rot, it all comes from who has been playing there. Both last season and this season. 
 

I think it’s one of the real deeper reasons some fans do wish Stendel had been kept. We would not have Berra, Halkett or Popescu in this team. Getting 2 new starting Center halves would have been the first thing Stendel would’ve looked to do in summer, top thing on his list. He had already cleared Berra out. You’ll not find one Hearts fan anywhere that didn’t 100% agree with that decision. 
 

But Neilson was blind to it, he thought we had plenty there, he thought we had “a Premiership squad” because he looked on paper at Berra and Halkett and thought - they’re definitely good enough to keep the door shut at this level. I’ll just get some cheap backup Popescu. Dead Wrong.
 

The money that’s been spent on Frear and Roberts, should have gone on a first choice central defender. Them 2 were a complete waste of money, neither has offered nothing more than Moore / Henderson would have (yes I know neither of them are good enough long term either, but that’s not the point I’m making, I’m talking about where the money should have been spent). 
 

Center half / wrong priorities, has been the major blunder of Neilsons tenure so far. Its sad because we’ve been banging in 3 goals per game average. If he’d got CB right the fans would be loving this season. Instead, we’re looking over the shoulder because we still can’t beat sides like Raith, Dundee, Dunfermline, just like Hamilton, St Mirren due to our still unaddressed soft underbelly. 
 

And yes we need a CM as well but Center half is the big one, it’s make or break for Neilson. 

[TheBigO]

27 minutes ago, steve123 said:

Somebody on Walsall forum reckons they were paying him £800 a week and we have offered £1,500 with bonuses taking it up to 2k.

 

Now could be a complete guess but gives an idea of the kinda wages they are paying him and our offer is not unrealistic.

Those numbers sound pretty realistic tbf

 

Kinda funny when you think how little Scottish football has changed eh. I remember mid/late 90s when Alan Johnstone left the chat was that group of lads all getting £1k-ish a week but him maybe wanting a touch more. Numbers like that anyway. £1k was a good but pretty standard wage.

 

25 years later, I wonder what our wage inflation vs English, European leagues is? Not necessarily a bad thing, but does show how poorly our games leadership done to bring finance in to our game.

[TheBigO]

12 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

You build from the back. Fact is, Center half should have been Neilsons priority since the day he joined the club. That position is at the heart of ALL our problems, all the rot, it all comes from who has been playing there. Both last season and this season. 
 

I think it’s one of the real deeper reasons some fans do wish Stendel had been kept. We would not have Berra, Halkett or Popescu in this team. Getting 2 new starting Center halves would have been the first thing Stendel would’ve looked to do in summer, top thing on his list. He had already cleared Berra out. You’ll not find one Hearts fan anywhere that didn’t 100% agree with that decision. 
 

But Neilson was blind to it, he thought we had plenty there, he thought we had “a Premiership squad” because he looked on paper at Berra and Halkett and thought - they’re definitely good enough to keep the door shut at this level. I’ll just get some cheap backup Popescu. Dead Wrong.
 

The money that’s been spent on Frear and Roberts, should have gone on a first choice central defender. Them 2 were a complete waste of money, neither has offered nothing more than Moore / Henderson would have (yes I know neither of them are good enough long term either, but that’s not the point I’m making, I’m talking about where the money should have been spent). 
 

Center half / wrong priorities, has been the major blunder of Neilsons tenure so far. Its sad because we’ve been banging in 3 goals per game average. If he’d got CB right the fans would be loving this season. Instead, we’re looking over the shoulder because we still can’t beat sides like Raith, Dundee, Dunfermline, just like Hamilton, St Mirren due to our still unaddressed soft underbelly. 
 

And yes we need a CM as well but Center half is the big one, it’s make or break for Neilson. 

I don't think you're wrong, but don't undervalue how important a good midfield is to your CHs.

 

That was the players gripe under Stendel and Mikey Smith confronted it apparently. The defence had zero protection, so mistakes were happening because every time the oppo got the ball, they had free run at our defence. This team is similar I'm a way as Halliday basically does hee haw (imo)

[Thomaso]

9 hours ago, Beave1874 said:

Totally agree, wish we had Jamie for a few seasons, had years of nonsense keeper wise, That said Gordon a top signing for us

Agree on both points

[GinRummy]

1 hour ago, Finlay James said:

 

I agree but I think it's more than just central defence that is leaking goals.  Our midfield has found no settled pairing or system and puts undue pressure on the defence.   We need a fit Haring playing front of the defence and he needs a box to box midfielder next to him who does the running and pressing higher up the park.

 

As for any new centre half, Findlay would be a top signing IMO.

Was saying the same thing to a workmate. It's a double whammy imo, We're playing with two wingers who can't defend, Irving (who's defending isn't the best) and one defensive minded midfielder. Teams are just strolling through our midfield and are straight on top of our dodgy defence. 

[JamboAl]

21 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

You build from the back. Fact is, Center half should have been Neilsons priority since the day he joined the club. That position is at the heart of ALL our problems, all the rot, it all comes from who has been playing there. Both last season and this season. 
 

I

I'm not sure you're correct.  Neilson, and many people on here agreed with him, thought wingers were the No 1 priority and he addressed that by signing 2 plus another on loan.  Unfortunately the two full signings have turned out to be well short of the standard required and no better than we already had.

Can we trust him to do any better with central defenders.  Let's hope for a Savage influence.

[soonbe110]

49 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

You build from the back. Fact is, Center half should have been Neilsons priority since the day he joined the club. That position is at the heart of ALL our problems, all the rot, it all comes from who has been playing there. Both last season and this season. 
 

I think it’s one of the real deeper reasons some fans do wish Stendel had been kept. We would not have Berra, Halkett or Popescu in this team. Getting 2 new starting Center halves would have been the first thing Stendel would’ve looked to do in summer, top thing on his list. He had already cleared Berra out. You’ll not find one Hearts fan anywhere that didn’t 100% agree with that decision. 
 

But Neilson was blind to it, he thought we had plenty there, he thought we had “a Premiership squad” because he looked on paper at Berra and Halkett and thought - they’re definitely good enough to keep the door shut at this level. I’ll just get some cheap backup Popescu. Dead Wrong.
 

The money that’s been spent on Frear and Roberts, should have gone on a first choice central defender. Them 2 were a complete waste of money, neither has offered nothing more than Moore / Henderson would have (yes I know neither of them are good enough long term either, but that’s not the point I’m making, I’m talking about where the money should have been spent). 
 

Center half / wrong priorities, has been the major blunder of Neilsons tenure so far. Its sad because we’ve been banging in 3 goals per game average. If he’d got CB right the fans would be loving this season. Instead, we’re looking over the shoulder because we still can’t beat sides like Raith, Dundee, Dunfermline, just like Hamilton, St Mirren due to our still unaddressed soft underbelly. 
 

And yes we need a CM as well but Center half is the big one, it’s make or break for Neilson. 

Agree with a lot of what you say however signing the right players now isn’t easy. Most of the ‘targets’ mentioned on here eg Findlay, Gallagher, O’Donnell, Campbell etc are all on the fringes of making the squad for the euros this summer. None of them are likely to move to us now and write-off any chance they have of being selected by Clark. 
I see little point in signing players from Scottish championship clubs when we are really building a squad for the top league. Too high risk imo. 
That leaves only the English market so hopefully Mr Savage is working on targets this week. Ideally short term loans so we can offer the Findlay’s and others ore-contract deals. 

[Gordon Ramsay]

8 hours ago, jambo2524 said:

We have the 5th worst defense (goals against) in the Championship.

We have conceded one less goal = 17 versus the current bottom Club Arbroath = 18 after 12 games.

 

In the Premiership only the bottom 3 have a worse goals against per game = Ross County, Hamilton and marginally Motherwell.

 

We fans would generally agree that our Goalkeeper CG and full backs MS and SK are our 3 best players this season. On that basis our centre halves have a lot of explaining to do regardless of the defensive qualities of the remainder of the team (that are 100% not blameless)

 

We need to sign a young but proven Centre half ideally left sided that will play every week and is top half Scottish Premiership quality.. 

Findlay is the obvious choice as he is the right age, is quick, durable, wins his headers, left sided, and out of contract in the summer,

 

That signing alone will almost guarantee our promotion. 

 

 

 

Really, really poor when you lay it out like that. 

 

Halkett is pish, Berras legs are gone and Popescu is a bombscare. 

[Des Lynam]

With any luck Open Goal will put a bid in for Halliday. 

[BackOfTheNet]

8 hours ago, jambo2524 said:

We have the 5th worst defense (goals against) in the Championship.

We have conceded one less goal = 17 versus the current bottom Club Arbroath = 18 after 12 games.

 

In the Premiership only the bottom 3 have a worse goals against per game = Ross County, Hamilton and marginally Motherwell.

 

We fans would generally agree that our Goalkeeper CG and full backs MS and SK are our 3 best players this season. On that basis our centre halves have a lot of explaining to do regardless of the defensive qualities of the remainder of the team (that are 100% not blameless)

 

We need to sign a young but proven Centre half ideally left sided that will play every week and is top half Scottish Premiership quality.. 

Findlay is the obvious choice as he is the right age, is quick, durable, wins his headers, left sided, and out of contract in the summer,

 

That signing alone will almost guarantee our promotion. 

 

 

Gordon has undoubtedly had great moments this season, including the penalty save on Saturday, but if I was truly honest I would ask questions of him for the 1st and 3rd goals. Michael Smith had a shocker on Saturday, but I also wouldn’t say he’s been at his best this season. And as consistent as he is he’s actually never been great when a defender takes him on down the wing, it’s really less than 50/50 he deals with it and more often than not it’s left to the CB’s to deal with the inevitable cross that will come in. Kingsley has been better, but as with giving the penalty away on Saturday he’s not perfect.

 

They are great players for us, but let’s not  give some players too much credit for what they’ve done in the past. With their abilities at this level no one should be given a free pass and have their faults ignored.

 

(Although CB’s are the weakest point of the defence I agree, just saying others have to share blame also)

Edited January 25, 2021 by BackOfTheNet

[A_A wehatethehibs]

4 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

I'm not sure you're correct.  Neilson, and many people on here agreed with him, thought wingers were the No 1 priority and he addressed that by signing 2 plus another on loan.  Unfortunately the two full signings have turned out to be well short of the standard required and no better than we already had.

Can we trust him to do any better with central defenders.  Let's hope for a Savage influence.

We needed wingers yes, but really, for a new manager coming in to a team that has hardly kept a clean sheet in 2 and a half years? Start with new wingers? We’ve unfortunately been sleepwalking in our management of the back 4 to the point where we now find ourselves with Berra-Halkett as the first choice partnership and now everyone bricking it because Popescu has to play. We’ve not moved from square 1. 

 

29 minutes ago, TheBigO said:

I don't think you're wrong, but don't undervalue how important a good midfield is to your CHs.

 

That was the players gripe under Stendel and Mikey Smith confronted it apparently. The defence had zero protection, so mistakes were happening because every time the oppo got the ball, they had free run at our defence. This team is similar I'm a way as Halliday basically does hee haw (imo)

I don’t disagree about the importance of getting another midfielder in. You can have a look at my posts I’ve been advocating for a switch to 3 Center mids just yesterday, absolutely we need to protect this back 4, and we will need to do that when bedding in a new defender as well, so yes it is a priority. Haring behind both Irving and Halliday for me tomorrow night. 

 

But the reason we need to protect them, is because they are duff Center halves that get rings run round them. What you need is good Center halves. 

As I’ve said above, we are in a situation where Berra-Halkett is the first choice Center back pairing at this moment in time. It should not have been the case. CB should have been a priority for this window as well but it seems we’re only looking now that captain fantastic has got injured and the defensive form hasn’t been great (did nobody look at the last 2 years of form). Meanwhile we’ve been moving mountains to get a CF signed. When our own Center forward has 9 goals in 11 games! And our other 3 forwards Walker, Wighton, Naismith all have 4-5 goals each! Why is the forward area the priority, there’s plenty goals, get a Center half in NOW and ****ing tell Berra he’s free to go, won’t be involved in the first team moving forwards. 
 

Unfortunately, we all know Neilson is no chance going to do it. There’s more chance of him extending Berra’s deal than emptying him. 

[One five]

22 minutes ago, Gordon Ramsay said:

 

Really, really poor when you lay it out like that. 

 

Halkett is pish, Berras legs are gone and Popescu is a bombscare. 

Spot on.

[jambopilms]

58 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

Was saying the same thing to a workmate. It's a double whammy imo, We're playing with two wingers who can't defend, Irving (who's defending isn't the best) and one defensive minded midfielder. Teams are just strolling through our midfield and are straight on top of our dodgy defence. 

 That can't run. 

[Batistuta87]

I've been really surprised with how much our defence has struggled against the likes of Raith and Dundee, especially Halkett, but Kyle Benedictus is not the answer. He's not an improvement and I can't see him doing any better and actually was liable for a few mistakes of his own at the weekend which led to us nearly scoring. I don't know what the answer is with our limited funding and with the difficulty we'll have luring players to the Scottish Championship but for me it isn't him! 

 

We're probably going to have to make do with what we've got, which I think could involve shifting Smith around a little - either as in the middle of the defence, sweeping up behind Halkett and Popescu (I'd rather go with Popescu than Berra currently), or as a defensive midfielder where he played to very good effect last season, where he can stop stuff getting through to them in the first place. 

 

Anyway... Robbie's job is to win the league. I'm still 100% confident that we'll do that. 

 

[Deevers]

2 minutes ago, Batistuta87 said:

I've been really surprised with how much our defence has struggled against the likes of Raith and Dundee, especially Halkett, but Kyle Benedictus is not the answer. He's not an improvement and I can't see him doing any better and actually was liable for a few mistakes of his own at the weekend which led to us nearly scoring. I don't know what the answer is with our limited funding and with the difficulty we'll have luring players to the Scottish Championship but for me it isn't him! 

 

We're probably going to have to make do with what we've got, which I think could involve shifting Smith around a little - either as in the middle of the defence, sweeping up behind Halkett and Popescu (I'd rather go with Popescu than Berra currently), or as a defensive midfielder where he played to very good effect last season, where he can stop stuff getting through to them in the first place. 

 

Anyway... Robbie's job is to win the league. I'm still 100% confident that we'll do that. 

 

I suspect we will see a fair clear out in the summer. That said there is little doubt that we need to plug the glaring holes in our present defensive set up. I think we should be looking for a right back and moving Smith into the centre of the defence alongside Halkett.  Berra looks finished to me, he’s never been the same since he came back from that injury against Celtic. Popescu just fill me with dread.  I doubt that we are going to get a suitable centre back in this window and we are going to ha e to adapt with what we have.

[Kyle1874]

Would take Liam Lindsay or Murray Wallace even Jason Kerr any of them would be an improvement 

[kingantti1874]

9 minutes ago, Batistuta87 said:

I've been really surprised with how much our defence has struggled against the likes of Raith and Dundee, especially Halkett, but Kyle Benedictus is not the answer. He's not an improvement and I can't see him doing any better and actually was liable for a few mistakes of his own at the weekend which led to us nearly scoring. I don't know what the answer is with our limited funding and with the difficulty we'll have luring players to the Scottish Championship but for me it isn't him! 

 

We're probably going to have to make do with what we've got, which I think could involve shifting Smith around a little - either as in the middle of the defence, sweeping up behind Halkett and Popescu (I'd rather go with Popescu than Berra currently), or as a defensive midfielder where he played to very good effect last season, where he can stop stuff getting through to them in the first place. 

 

Anyway... Robbie's job is to win the league. I'm still 100% confident that we'll do that. 

 

Halkett is a poor defender.. Declan Gallagher was the real talent at livi . We signed the wrong one 

[Batistuta87]

Just now, kingantti1874 said:

Halkett is a poor defender.. Declan Gallagher was the real talent at livi . We signed the wrong one 

Starting to see that now. They were very good together at Livi but Gallagher has continued to be good without Halkett. Can't say the same for Halkett without Gallagher though.

[davemclaren]

29 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

 There’s more chance of him extending Berra’s deal than emptying him. 

I bet he doesn’t extend Berra’s deal. 

[Ainsley Harriott]

42 minutes ago, Des Lynam said:

With any luck Open Goal will put a bid in for Halliday. 

I'm fairly sure we have to pay them a fee everytime he plays for us. He makes my piss boil with his constant shite displays for us then spending his week talking pish about Sevco with his wee Jake ball pal Si.

[One five]

2 minutes ago, Kyle1874 said:

Would take Liam Lindsay or Murray Wallace even Jason Kerr any of them would be an improvement 

I would take Micky and Minnie Mouse at the moment 🙄

[davemclaren]

1 minute ago, Batistuta87 said:

Starting to see that now. They were very good together at Livi but Gallagher has continued to be good without Halkett. Can't say the same for Halkett without Gallagher though.

So, the trick would be to get someone that can complement Halkett rather than get rid of him. 

[Kyle1874]

2 minutes ago, One five said:

I would take Micky and Minnie Mouse at the moment 🙄

No sure we could meet the buy out clause 😂

[OTT]

10 minutes ago, Batistuta87 said:

I've been really surprised with how much our defence has struggled against the likes of Raith and Dundee, especially Halkett, but Kyle Benedictus is not the answer. He's not an improvement and I can't see him doing any better and actually was liable for a few mistakes of his own at the weekend which led to us nearly scoring. I don't know what the answer is with our limited funding and with the difficulty we'll have luring players to the Scottish Championship but for me it isn't him! 

 

We're probably going to have to make do with what we've got, which I think could involve shifting Smith around a little - either as in the middle of the defence, sweeping up behind Halkett and Popescu (I'd rather go with Popescu than Berra currently), or as a defensive midfielder where he played to very good effect last season, where he can stop stuff getting through to them in the first place. 

 

Anyway... Robbie's job is to win the league. I'm still 100% confident that we'll do that. 

 

 

Its very troubling tbh. We're used to solid CBs, when you think back to Pressley, Webster, Zaliukas, Berra (pre-injury), even Wilson and Rossi, We've always had really solid CBs. Leaders as well. I'm not really seeing this. Halkett has been partnered with Souttar, Dikamona, Popescu & Berra and he's even holding a glove to Wilson... 

 

We need to improve on him. I think Findlay would be a good shout to replace Berra, Gallacher would be a good swap for Halkett too. I think that would give us two very solid CBs. As Findlay is left sided, he might also be on the cusp of a cap too. Neither Findlay nor Gallacher would cost us a transfer fee either. 

 

I think ideally, Gallacher and Dunne would be the best sort of combo in that we'd have a very solid defender in Gallacher, but in Dunne we'd also have a very competent footballer. 

 

I think whatever we decide, we need to make a change in our CB pairing. Halkett hasn't improved in his time and isn't forming a partnership with whoever we stick beside him.