January transfer window ( Now closed )

[Bazzas right boot]

51 minutes ago, pointon said:

Surely to **** we have money to spend we fund our club

 

Missing the fact we've had no match day revenue all season and Likley won't. 

 

About a quarter of the TV and prize money as well. 

 

 

[OTT]

1 hour ago, BRY said:

 

Steve May???

 

</not_sure_if_serious>

 

10 goals in 25 this season. Boyce would remain the first choice. At a club with our financial constraints, you don't get two Boyces but you can sign someone who'll push him all the way for game time and be a reliable alternative unlike others. 

 

11 hours ago, john thomas said:

 

Certainly not close to what OTT wants to spend .

What would that little lot cost in signing on fees , 1 years wages etc . £3m plus ?

 

Fairly certain its club policy not to pay signing on fees. (happy to be corrected on that, but as far as I know thats been the policy since Budge has came in, maybe longer). I think the likes of May, O'Halloran and Findlay are all achievable signings with our resources. Gallacher because he has Scotland caps will probably be on the radar of clubs down south, likewise, Campbells ability to clear to all to see, so we'd probably need to push the boat out to a level Budge wouldn't be comfortable doing. As far as Greg Stewart goes, IMO he's another Halliday, Holt, O'Halloran type i.e has no right to be at Rangers and won't be looking at another move in that sort of money bracket again. (failed at Birmingham lets not forget). Scottish football is about his level. 

 

I think Campbell would be the sort of signing we could flip inside a couple of seasons. Obviously, we'd need to offer wages comparative with the offers he's no doubt already got with Championship sized clubs down south but I reckon we'd make really good money on him. Probably too uncomfortable a risk for the club though as comparative wages with the clubs would likely exceed our wage bracket by a distance. 

[Jim Panzee]

1 hour ago, Sherbet said:

Agree we have too many chicken hearted players. 

this is a tricky one. we all love to see aggression. but depending on the ref it can work against you. the nailed on red for the tackle against naismith in our last game..... had it been our player putting in that 'tackle', you just know the ref would red card our man and we'd be 10 down.

 

passionate / assertive / aggressive would soon change to reckless, idiotic, clueless on this forum....

 

(and I was more than happy when we had Adao in our team at that time)

[Famous 1874]

Agree with the posts that we need younger and hungrier players. Most of our current squad are gutless losers.

 

Few of these would be good:

Dylan Tait (Raith)

Robbie Deas, Cameron Harper and Roddy MacGregor (all Inverness)

Kyle Turner (Dunfermline) 

 

These are players who could play a part in the second half of the season and also be in the squad for next season. 

 

[Robbo-Jambo]

13 minutes ago, Smith's right boot said:

Imo All funds should be spent with a view to the next 2/3 years not the next 5 months. 

The problem with that is we are financially restricted atm and not very attractive to players who fit that bill. 

 

We don't "need" any more players to win the Championship. We're winning it atm and will win it with what we have. 

 

 

Unless we can unearth players just now that can a do a job in the Premier League as well. 

 

Maybe that's where our new DOF will come in to play, hopefully. 

[chrystaf]

15 minutes ago, Smith's right boot said:

Imo All funds should be spent with a view to the next 2/3 years not the next 5 months. 

The problem with that is we are financially restricted atm and not very attractive to players who fit that bill. 

 

We don't "need" any more players to win the Championship. We're winning it atm and will win it with what we have. 

 

 

Only provided our lackadaisical attitude to away games changes. 

[Sertse]

EEN claiming we're linked with GMS again

 

 

[jambopilms]

The teams that we normally compete with for players Aberdeen, Hibs etc are in a better place than us and more attractive for new signings. We don't want to throw bad money to get player who isn't bothered where he plays.

[Batistuta87]

Contracts that are up at the end of the season:

 

Olly Lee - release - as good as his passing and delivery can be, I would let him go. Replace with young Kyle Turner from Dunfermline, or Aaron Tshibola from Kilmarnock. Harry Paton (Ross County) as one for the future.

 

Andy Irving - keep - although I think he would benefit tremendously from a season abroad if that was in any way possible. The long term benefits would outweigh his short term absence.  

 

Stephen Kingsley - keep - great find, exactly the kind of player we want. Add Tanser or Waters as backup.

 

Josh Ginnelly - keep, but we need to sign probably 2 more wingers so we have enough to cover for injuries etc. Would love to sign Sherwin Seedorf from Motherwell but McLennan from Aberdeen would be a good signing too. Would also take one of McMullan/Dundee Utd, Durmus/St Mirren or Greg Kiltie/Kilmarnock for backup/depth.  

 

Ross Stewart - keep - he seems happy at Hearts: Gordon, Stewart and Stone is a good goalkeeping team. 

 

Aidy White - release - can't fault hit effort but he's just not quite there. 

 

Elliott Frear - release - pish. Would let him leave now if he wanted to.

 

Bobby Zlamal - release - great character, but it's quite clear that he's not in Robbie's plans

 

Christope Berra - release - the big man's time is up. Replace with Declan Gallagher from Motherwell or Stuart Findlay from Kilmarnock. Lewis Mayo from Rangers as one for the future if he doesn't extend his stay there. 

 

Michael Smith - keep - Mr Consistency. If he's up for another year I'd extend him. If not, Stephen O'Donnell is an obvious and suitable replacement for me.

 

Craig Wighton - release - the Championship is obviously his level, even struggles there at times. Love him for that goal v Hibs though.

 

Hopefully Damour is away this window. Would listen to offers for Walker, Roberts and Popescu (contracts still have time to run but don't feel like they bring much to the table).

 

We also need to sign a striker. Nobody in Scotland really takes my fancy other than Brophy, but if he's joining St Mirren we'll need to look elsewhere. I'm sure Robbie and the new DoF will have some irons in the fire. 

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by Batistuta87

[biffy]

Doyle staying with killie till end of season so we won’t be seeing him again 

[pointon]

Hope we push the boat out and get Robert from Airdrie boys a player

[pointon]

5 minutes ago, biffy said:

Doyle staying with killie till end of season so we won’t be seeing him again 

Celebrate good times come on🍾

[DC_92]

27 minutes ago, Sertse said:

EEN claiming we're linked with GMS again

 

 

 

It says the opposite.

 

"Hearts have been mentioned as a possible destination but it is believed that the club won’t be moving for the winger."

[Jamhammer]

1 minute ago, DC_92 said:

 

It says the opposite.

 

"Hearts have been mentioned as a possible destination but it is believed that the club won’t be moving for the winger."

If the EEN said it was raining outside I’d check on here first to see who told them.

Joke of a newspaper and Hibs fanzine

[A_A wehatethehibs]

3 minutes ago, pointon said:

Hope we push the boat out and get Robert from Airdrie boys a player

I reckon there is a deal to be done there with Lewis Moore to go the other way as part of the package. Moore played well against them last year. Would be a great move for Lewis, he needs to get playing, like Calumn Morrison has done at that level. I think Moore could be as good a player as Calumn at that level. Gives them a new long term player asset to offset the loss of Robert. But would think other clubs may make similar offers. And if Rangers and/or Celtic make an offer then that’ll be that. 

[Sertse]

9 minutes ago, DC_92 said:

 

It says the opposite.

 

"Hearts have been mentioned as a possible destination but it is believed that the club won’t be moving for the winger."

The media are ****ing mental aren't they. Claim something in the headline then say something completely different in the story.

[Dia Liom]

1 hour ago, Sherbet said:

Agree we have too many chicken hearted players. 

 

To Sherbert, We have plenty of players that ultimately aren't good enough.  Wouldn't call them chicken hearted though - being clear at the top of the league and losing 4 games in 16(?) (one on pens to celtic) is pretty good evidence against that idea.  We've lost to pars and dundee, both half decent teams who wanted it more than us on the day.  This is what happens in football.  Alloa was shit but, guess what, this too happens in football.  Doesn't mean the players are cowards.

 

Worst bit against dundee was Adam taking the pish out of Lee (?) before the 2nd.  This kind of thing hurts, but it doesn't tell us anything new about Lee.  He is a decent, limited player, who will likely assist 10+.  Adam is probably the best player in the league.

 

GET OVER IT MAN

 

(😁sorry this is just to distract me from working)

 

 

[A_A wehatethehibs]

1 minute ago, Dia Liom said:

 

To Sherbert, We have plenty of players that ultimately aren't good enough.  Wouldn't call them chicken hearted though - being clear at the top of the league and losing 4 games in 16(?) (one on pens to celtic) is pretty good evidence against that idea.  We've lost to pars and dundee, both half decent teams who wanted it more than us on the day.  This is what happens in football.  Alloa was shit but, guess what, this too happens in football.  Doesn't mean the players are cowards.

 

Worst bit against dundee was Adam taking the pish out of Lee (?) before the 2nd.  This kind of thing hurts, but it doesn't tell us anything new about Lee.  He is a decent, limited player, who will likely assist 10+.  Adam is probably the best player in the league.

 

GET OVER IT MAN

 

(😁sorry this is just to distract me from working)

 

 

That was Haring not Lee nutmegged by Adam for Dundee’s 2nd. 

[Leveins Battalion]

27 minutes ago, pointon said:

Celebrate good times come on🍾

 

 

x infinity when Damour leaves ha

[MTS1874]

12 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

That was Haring not Lee nutmegged by Adam for Dundee’s 2nd. 

Definitely Haring

[Bazzas right boot]

55 minutes ago, chrystaf said:

Only provided our lackadaisical attitude to away games changes. 

 

We'll still win the league. 

Despite all the concerns we are 5 clear. 

If Dunfermline beat us next I'll be concern, but if we beat them we'll be 8 clear of 2nd place. 

Job pretty much done Tbh. 

[Ainsley Harriott]

1 hour ago, Leveins Battalion said:

For the love of god I hope we stay away from the GMS of this world,we have little enjoyment from has beens.

 

 

Top of my list would be Murray and Turner from Dunfermline,Campbell from Well,Kerr and McCann St Johnstone.Stewart for Ross Count.Time to get younger and hungrier players.

Correct when did we last sign someone young to sell on at a profit. Hickey aside it would have been osman sow.

[Ainsley Harriott]

6 minutes ago, Smith's right boot said:

 

We'll still win the league. 

Despite all the concerns we are 5 clear. 

If Dunfermline beat us next I'll be concern, but if we beat them we'll be 8 clear of 2nd place. 

Job pretty much done Tbh. 

Correct but would be nice to start putting the building blocks in place for next season 

[EIEIO]

44 minutes ago, biffy said:

Doyle staying with killie till end of season so we won’t be seeing him again 

Wee bit of good news.

[Ainsley Harriott]

I reckon Joe's first week will be spent saying Bonjour I have this top midfielder desperate for a return to France. Hes a great player just homesick.

[A_A wehatethehibs]

9 minutes ago, Smith's right boot said:

 

We'll still win the league. 

Despite all the concerns we are 5 clear. 

If Dunfermline beat us next I'll be concern, but if we beat them we'll be 8 clear of 2nd place. 

Job pretty much done Tbh. 

Job definitely not done  

 

But I get what you mean. 
 

Folk are now opening eyes to how bad the squad is when it has to play teams that can defend. Dunfy and Dundee away were just the same as 27 out of 31 fixtures last season. And the previous season as well, it’s the same nucleus of players. It’ll happen 4 or 5 more times this season at least. There’s some mental scars there that can’t be fixed, the personnel needs completely revamped with a fresh approach. 

 

Huge job ahead now is to rip out and start again for the premiership. This window should be with a view to that. 

[Bazzas right boot]

53 minutes ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

Correct but would be nice to start putting the building blocks in place for next season 

 

And if we can do that now, great. If not I'm OK with waiting u rip the summer. 

40 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

Job definitely not done  

 

But I get what you mean. 
 

Folk are now opening eyes to how bad the squad is when it has to play teams that can defend. Dunfy and Dundee away were just the same as 27 out of 31 fixtures last season. And the previous season as well, it’s the same nucleus of players. It’ll happen 4 or 5 more times this season at least. There’s some mental scars there that can’t be fixed, the personnel needs completely revamped with a fresh approach. 

 

Huge job ahead now is to rip out and start again for the premiership. This window should be with a view to that. 

 

It wil be if that plays out and the team we have will be top with little worries imo. 

Still need to remain focused, but we'll be top. 

 

Yip, the big job is getting us ready for the top flight. 

Luckily, a lot of players are out of contract. 

 

[Stuart Lyon]

Potential new signing spotted yesterday in Gorgie

 

 

[kimosavi]

1 hour ago, pointon said:

Hope we push the boat out and get Robert from Airdrie boys a player

No chance 

 

We seem to think all the young good players in Scotland come from our academy 

[Dia Liom]

1 hour ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

That was Haring not Lee nutmegged by Adam for Dundee’s 2nd. 

 

Considered watching it again to be sure but.. decided against.  Obviously ruins my point on Lee.  Still, don't think getting embarrassed by a good player makes anyone a coward.  Haring looked poor v dundee because they overloaded us in the middle, and pretty much everywhere else on the pitch.

 

Back to transfers.  We all want to see new signings, though I'd be happy enough if we brought none in.  The squad is crying out for pace and width, but whether we can attract anyone decent is another question.  Getting rid of Frear/Roberts is another thing altogether!

 

We've had a no bad season so far with only 1 winger contributing anything much, and he's been unavailable for most games.  If we can get Ginelly fit and get anything extra out of one of the other wingers, then we'll be ok for the league.

 

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

13 minutes ago, Stuart Lyon said:

Potential new signing spotted yesterday in Gorgie

 

 

Definitely better than Halliday

[Ainsley Harriott]

In talks with an American Striker. 

[OTT]

4 minutes ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

In talks with an American Striker. 

 

Bradford Jamieson again?

[Goodfella]

4 minutes ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

In talks with an American Striker. 

 

Finally, a rumour, thanks for posting. Any more info?

[John Rambo]

With our structure, funding model ( such as it is right now ) and disparity between us and the ugly sisters we really need to do things differently.

 

We should be taking a leaf out of Brentford's book and looking at how we can replicate this within our parameters. Their owner, Matthew Benham, trusts the 'moneyball' approach and they sign players based on all manner of statistics, matrices and algorithms; they don't necessarily trust a scout who's seen a player play a few games.

 

They repeatedly get lower league gems and sell on for a huge profit; Ollie Watkins from Exeter for £1.5m to Aston Villa for £28m and Ezri Konsa, bought for £2.5m, sold 13 months later for over £12m. This isn't down to just one manager, it is the entire ethos of the Club and is part of the fabric of how they operate.

 

Brentford also operate a 'B' team to great effect which assists their model for progressing as a Club and creating great players.

 

I'd be looking at how we could adopt what Brentford do on our budget and start spending money on technology and improving the scouting/recruitment network to see the value in players that others might not. Let's start looking at some long term value players, not these stop-gap or project players. I mean GMS is 30 years old, why would we want to sign him? To help get out of the division? To help stabilise us in the top flight? To help take us into Europe?

 

If we want to be in European competition within 2 to 3 years, we need to plan for that now. We probably have been planning for this but the 'Football' department doesn't seem to know its elbow from its erchie!

 

I'd also be asking why teams such as Dundalk and F91 Dudelange can make the Europa League group stage and teams outwith the ugly sisters can't. These clubs have smaller budgets compared to us and the sheep yet they seem to make it. Indeed Dundalk beat Faroese team KI Klaksvík in the Europa play off round; you could fit the population of Klaksvik into the Wheatfield. This was a case of the underdog v the under underdog!

 

So how do these tiny wee teams with small budgets make it so far in Europe? Maybe we should be asking them?

 

We need a radical rethink of what we want to achieve as a Club. All this cr*p about, 'we budget for 4th in the League' and suchlike is garbage. Talk about a self fulling prophecy. We should have the stated aim of winning the Premier League EACH AND EVERY SEASON. Why come out with, 'ohh we'll be happy with 3rd, 4th whatever'. Why? This mindset has to stop. It has to stop now. If we have this as the aim, to be happy with 4th, then all we will get is players who buy into this mindset and 'settle' for it. Why?

 

Sure we may not actually win the league every season, we may not win the top flight in the next 10, 20, 30 years but that does not mean we have to 'settle' for not trying to achieve this. If the ugly sisters' budget is 7, 8 perhaps 10 times ours, then our pennies have to work 10 times as hard. We need to do things differently, radically different if required but we need to shake the Club to its Foundations; no pun intended.

 

Until we have a complete change of culture, of ethos at the very, very top of the Club, I fear we are destined to repeat the same failures as before; and what did Einstein say was the definition of insanity?

 

OK rant over, clearly too much time on my hands right now!

 

And far too many exclamation marks used!

 

 

[jr ewing]

2 hours ago, Jamhammer said:

Based on what? 

Seeing him play unlike others we've signed. 

[Leveins Battalion]

9 minutes ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

In talks with an American Striker. 

 

Hope he has a cap for Scotland

[Agentjambo]

2 minutes ago, John Rambo said:

With our structure, funding model ( such as it is right now ) and disparity between us and the ugly sisters we really need to do things differently.

 

We should be taking a leaf out of Brentford's book and looking at how we can replicate this within our parameters. Their owner, Matthew Benham, trusts the 'moneyball' approach and they sign players based on all manner of statistics, matrices and algorithms; they don't necessarily trust a scout who's seen a player play a few games.

 

They repeatedly get lower league gems and sell on for a huge profit; Ollie Watkins from Exeter for £1.5m to Aston Villa for £28m and Ezri Konsa, bought for £2.5m, sold 13 months later for over £12m. This isn't down to just one manager, it is the entire ethos of the Club and is part of the fabric of how they operate.

 

Brentford also operate a 'B' team to great effect which assists their model for progressing as a Club and creating great players.

 

I'd be looking at how we could adopt what Brentford do on our budget and start spending money on technology and improving the scouting/recruitment network to see the value in players that others might not. Let's start looking at some long term value players, not these stop-gap or project players. I mean GMS is 30 years old, why would we want to sign him? To help get out of the division? To help stabilise us in the top flight? To help take us into Europe?

 

If we want to be in European competition within 2 to 3 years, we need to plan for that now. We probably have been planning for this but the 'Football' department doesn't seem to know its elbow from its erchie!

 

I'd also be asking why teams such as Dundalk and F91 Dudelange can make the Europa League group stage and teams outwith the ugly sisters can't. These clubs have smaller budgets compared to us and the sheep yet they seem to make it. Indeed Dundalk beat Faroese team KI Klaksvík in the Europa play off round; you could fit the population of Klaksvik into the Wheatfield. This was a case of the underdog v the under underdog!

 

So how do these tiny wee teams with small budgets make it so far in Europe? Maybe we should be asking them?

 

We need a radical rethink of what we want to achieve as a Club. All this cr*p about, 'we budget for 4th in the League' and suchlike is garbage. Talk about a self fulling prophecy. We should have the stated aim of winning the Premier League EACH AND EVERY SEASON. Why come out with, 'ohh we'll be happy with 3rd, 4th whatever'. Why? This mindset has to stop. It has to stop now. If we have this as the aim, to be happy with 4th, then all we will get is players who buy into this mindset and 'settle' for it. Why?

 

Sure we may not actually win the league every season, we may not win the top flight in the next 10, 20, 30 years but that does not mean we have to 'settle' for not trying to achieve this. If the ugly sisters' budget is 7, 8 perhaps 10 times ours, then our pennies have to work 10 times as hard. We need to do things differently, radically different if required but we need to shake the Club to its Foundations; no pun intended.

 

Until we have a complete change of culture, of ethos at the very, very top of the Club, I fear we are destined to repeat the same failures as before; and what did Einstein say was the definition of insanity?

 

OK rant over, clearly too much time on my hands right now!

 

And far too many exclamation marks used!

 

 

Great Post, I think we should model our club on other successful clubs. 

[Batistuta87]

1 hour ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

I reckon there is a deal to be done there with Lewis Moore to go the other way as part of the package. Moore played well against them last year. Would be a great move for Lewis, he needs to get playing, like Calumn Morrison has done at that level. I think Moore could be as good a player as Calumn at that level. Gives them a new long term player asset to offset the loss of Robert. But would think other clubs may make similar offers. And if Rangers and/or Celtic make an offer then that’ll be that. 

 

Said this earlier in the thread - if Moore isn't part of our long term plans then it would make perfect sense to offer him to Airdrie as part of any deal for Robert. I'd say something like Moore + £50k-100k would be a very good offer.

 

From Airdrie's point of view, they're pocketing some cash for someone who cost them nothing, and they're getting an immediate replacement who will probably continue to perform at a similar level for them. 

 

From Lewis' point of view, it's a good move for him since he's probably guaranteed a start every week. If he does well and stands out in a team who are pushing for promotion into the Championship and then also cracks on from there, then it won't be long til he finds himself on smaller Premiership clubs' radars. 

 

[Agentjambo]

1 minute ago, Leveins Battalion said:

 

Hope he has a cap for Scotland

😂 

[iainmac]

2 hours ago, Batistuta87 said:

Contracts that are up at the end of the season:

 

Olly Lee - release - as good as his passing and delivery can be, I would let him go. Replace with young Kyle Turner from Dunfermline, or Aaron Tshibola from Kilmarnock. Harry Paton (Ross County) as one for the future.

 

Andy Irving - keep - although I think he would benefit tremendously from a season abroad if that was in any way possible. The long term benefits would outweigh his short term absence.  

 

Stephen Kingsley - keep - great find, exactly the kind of player we want. Add Tanser or Waters as backup.

 

Josh Ginnelly - keep, but we need to sign probably 2 more wingers so we have enough to cover for injuries etc. Would love to sign Sherwin Seedorf from Motherwell but McLennan from Aberdeen would be a good signing too. Would also take one of McMullan/Dundee Utd, Durmus/St Mirren or Greg Kiltie/Kilmarnock for backup/depth.  

 

Ross Stewart - keep - he seems happy at Hearts: Gordon, Stewart and Stone is a good goalkeeping team. 

 

Aidy White - release - can't fault hit effort but he's just not quite there. 

 

Elliott Frear - release - pish. Would let him leave now if he wanted to.

 

Bobby Zlamal - release - great character, but it's quite clear that he's not in Robbie's plans

 

Christope Berra - release - the big man's time is up. Replace with Declan Gallagher from Motherwell or Stuart Findlay from Kilmarnock. Lewis Mayo from Rangers as one for the future if he doesn't extend his stay there. 

 

Michael Smith - keep - Mr Consistency. If he's up for another year I'd extend him. If not, Stephen O'Donnell is an obvious and suitable replacement for me.

 

Craig Wighton - release - the Championship is obviously his level, even struggles there at times. Love him for that goal v Hibs though.

 

Hopefully Damour is away this window. Would listen to offers for Walker, Roberts and Popescu (contracts still have time to run but don't feel like they bring much to the table).

 

We also need to sign a striker. Nobody in Scotland really takes my fancy other than Brophy, but if he's joining St Mirren we'll need to look elsewhere. I'm sure Robbie and the new DoF will have some irons in the fire. 

 

 

Dundee have offered to sign McMullan on a pre-contract.

[jr ewing]

9 minutes ago, John Rambo said:

With our structure, funding model ( such as it is right now ) and disparity between us and the ugly sisters we really need to do things differently.

 

We should be taking a leaf out of Brentford's book and looking at how we can replicate this within our parameters. Their owner, Matthew Benham, trusts the 'moneyball' approach and they sign players based on all manner of statistics, matrices and algorithms; they don't necessarily trust a scout who's seen a player play a few games.

 

They repeatedly get lower league gems and sell on for a huge profit; Ollie Watkins from Exeter for £1.5m to Aston Villa for £28m and Ezri Konsa, bought for £2.5m, sold 13 months later for over £12m. This isn't down to just one manager, it is the entire ethos of the Club and is part of the fabric of how they operate.

 

Brentford also operate a 'B' team to great effect which assists their model for progressing as a Club and creating great players.

 

I'd be looking at how we could adopt what Brentford do on our budget and start spending money on technology and improving the scouting/recruitment network to see the value in players that others might not. Let's start looking at some long term value players, not these stop-gap or project players. I mean GMS is 30 years old, why would we want to sign him? To help get out of the division? To help stabilise us in the top flight? To help take us into Europe?

 

If we want to be in European competition within 2 to 3 years, we need to plan for that now. We probably have been planning for this but the 'Football' department doesn't seem to know its elbow from its erchie!

 

I'd also be asking why teams such as Dundalk and F91 Dudelange can make the Europa League group stage and teams outwith the ugly sisters can't. These clubs have smaller budgets compared to us and the sheep yet they seem to make it. Indeed Dundalk beat Faroese team KI Klaksvík in the Europa play off round; you could fit the population of Klaksvik into the Wheatfield. This was a case of the underdog v the under underdog!

 

So how do these tiny wee teams with small budgets make it so far in Europe? Maybe we should be asking them?

 

We need a radical rethink of what we want to achieve as a Club. All this cr*p about, 'we budget for 4th in the League' and suchlike is garbage. Talk about a self fulling prophecy. We should have the stated aim of winning the Premier League EACH AND EVERY SEASON. Why come out with, 'ohh we'll be happy with 3rd, 4th whatever'. Why? This mindset has to stop. It has to stop now. If we have this as the aim, to be happy with 4th, then all we will get is players who buy into this mindset and 'settle' for it. Why?

 

Sure we may not actually win the league every season, we may not win the top flight in the next 10, 20, 30 years but that does not mean we have to 'settle' for not trying to achieve this. If the ugly sisters' budget is 7, 8 perhaps 10 times ours, then our pennies have to work 10 times as hard. We need to do things differently, radically different if required but we need to shake the Club to its Foundations; no pun intended.

 

Until we have a complete change of culture, of ethos at the very, very top of the Club, I fear we are destined to repeat the same failures as before; and what did Einstein say was the definition of insanity?

 

OK rant over, clearly too much time on my hands right now!

 

And far too many exclamation marks used!

 

 

Started in American baseball but ultimately failed. But you never know. 

[Batistuta87]

1 minute ago, iainmac said:

 

Dundee have offered to sign McMullan on a pre-contract.

Saw that... Don't know if we're talking to him or not. Think he'd be an alright squad player for us tbh. Certainly better than Frear. 

[Getintaethem]

2 hours ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

That was Haring not Lee nutmegged by Adam for Dundee’s 2nd. 

Haring was nutmegged and had a poor game.  Just before the nutmeg though Lee should have retained possession when 70/30 favourite for a loose ball.  He was very poor also.

[John Rambo]

5 minutes ago, jr ewing said:

Started in American baseball but ultimately failed. But you never know. 

 

Brentford and FC Midtjylland seem to be doing OK using their version of it so I'd be asking them if we can pick up some ideas.

[Ainsley Harriott]

22 minutes ago, Goodfella said:

 

Finally, a rumour, thanks for posting. Any more info?

Chad Hogan is the name I'm hearing

[Auld Reekin']

15 minutes ago, John Rambo said:

With our structure, funding model ( such as it is right now ) and disparity between us and the ugly sisters we really need to do things differently.

 

We should be taking a leaf out of Brentford's book and looking at how we can replicate this within our parameters. Their owner, Matthew Benham, trusts the 'moneyball' approach and they sign players based on all manner of statistics, matrices and algorithms; they don't necessarily trust a scout who's seen a player play a few games.

 

They repeatedly get lower league gems and sell on for a huge profit; Ollie Watkins from Exeter for £1.5m to Aston Villa for £28m and Ezri Konsa, bought for £2.5m, sold 13 months later for over £12m. This isn't down to just one manager, it is the entire ethos of the Club and is part of the fabric of how they operate.

 

Brentford also operate a 'B' team to great effect which assists their model for progressing as a Club and creating great players.

 

I'd be looking at how we could adopt what Brentford do on our budget and start spending money on technology and improving the scouting/recruitment network to see the value in players that others might not. Let's start looking at some long term value players, not these stop-gap or project players. I mean GMS is 30 years old, why would we want to sign him? To help get out of the division? To help stabilise us in the top flight? To help take us into Europe?

 

If we want to be in European competition within 2 to 3 years, we need to plan for that now. We probably have been planning for this but the 'Football' department doesn't seem to know its elbow from its erchie!

 

I'd also be asking why teams such as Dundalk and F91 Dudelange can make the Europa League group stage and teams outwith the ugly sisters can't. These clubs have smaller budgets compared to us and the sheep yet they seem to make it. Indeed Dundalk beat Faroese team KI Klaksvík in the Europa play off round; you could fit the population of Klaksvik into the Wheatfield. This was a case of the underdog v the under underdog!

 

So how do these tiny wee teams with small budgets make it so far in Europe? Maybe we should be asking them?

 

We need a radical rethink of what we want to achieve as a Club. All this cr*p about, 'we budget for 4th in the League' and suchlike is garbage. Talk about a self fulling prophecy. We should have the stated aim of winning the Premier League EACH AND EVERY SEASON. Why come out with, 'ohh we'll be happy with 3rd, 4th whatever'. Why? This mindset has to stop. It has to stop now. If we have this as the aim, to be happy with 4th, then all we will get is players who buy into this mindset and 'settle' for it. Why?

 

Sure we may not actually win the league every season, we may not win the top flight in the next 10, 20, 30 years but that does not mean we have to 'settle' for not trying to achieve this. If the ugly sisters' budget is 7, 8 perhaps 10 times ours, then our pennies have to work 10 times as hard. We need to do things differently, radically different if required but we need to shake the Club to its Foundations; no pun intended.

 

Until we have a complete change of culture, of ethos at the very, very top of the Club, I fear we are destined to repeat the same failures as before; and what did Einstein say was the definition of insanity?

 

OK rant over, clearly too much time on my hands right now!

 

And far too many exclamation marks used!

 

 

 

Interesting post with plenty of good points. A reservation would be the bit I've highlighted: have we not already tried this approach - under Levein / Cathro / McPhee - with only very, ahem, "limited" success? (Of course, when analysing any statistical, technical or scientific data, the value of the results will be directly related to the competence, or otherwise, of those doing the analysis...     )

[GavK1012]

8 minutes ago, Batistuta87 said:

Saw that... Don't know if we're talking to him or not. Think he'd be an alright squad player for us tbh. Certainly better than Frear. 

Maybe we should offer a cash plus player deal, get that email fired into Savage the now....

 

🤯

 

#1990's

#Oldskool

 

Genuine question...how many times say in last 10-20 years have Hearts concluded a deal this way??

 

Can't think of many if any???

[Goodfella]

5 minutes ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

Chad Hogan is the name I'm hearing

Cheers, heard he throws rad house parties, we'll need to be careful re: COVID rules. 😉

[Getintaethem]

6 minutes ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

Chad Hogan is the name I'm hearing