***Summer 2021 Transfer Window - Barrie McKay signs 2 year deal ***

[Tommy Brown]

13 minutes ago, Jamboj1 said:

Think it’s important on mceneff that he was signed before savage and the change of recruitment staff were brought into the club. With change players will always end up needing to move on. Recruitment under the new team has been excellent  and is an exciting prospect with young players coming in

Joe Savage was here before the end of last year. He would have been involved in recruiting Gnando anf McEneff.

[InternationalJambo]

2 minutes ago, magicjohnston said:

 

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/hearts-sign-irish-midfielder-aaron-mceneff-joe-savage-gets-long-term-target-3120043

 

This says Joe savage had been tracking him for years...so surely was a savage signing? Bit gutted if he ends up out already

He indeed was a savage signing but every signing the recruitment team makes will not be a success. Also worth noting, the positions filled in this department over the last few months will have had an input. 

[Auld Reekin']

2 minutes ago, magicjohnston said:

 

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/hearts-sign-irish-midfielder-aaron-mceneff-joe-savage-gets-long-term-target-3120043

 

This says Joe savage had been tracking him for years...so surely was a savage signing? Bit gutted if he ends up out already

Yep, McEneff was definitely a signing instigated by Savage. That’s one of the reasons McEneff spoke to both RN AND Savage recently about his future prospects at Hearts.

[bigsuperslim1874]

5 hours ago, heisenberg86 said:

Joe Savage spoke at the plot ceremony today and said we’re looking to get an attacker with pace and a 3rd choice GK in before the end of the window, also said we’re trying really hard to get Souttar to sign an extension. Also said he wants us to win the league! That’ll do me 

I thought he spoke REALLY well. You know when folk are just ‘telling you what you want to hear’ but that’s not the case with Joe. This guy absolutely wants to make us a real force and the levels we seem to be going to regarding data etc…..yeah, I like the cut of his jib.

[Pagey]

47 minutes ago, Jamboj1 said:

Think it’s important on mceneff that he was signed before savage and the change of recruitment staff were brought into the club. With change players will always end up needing to move on. Recruitment under the new team has been excellent  and is an exciting prospect with young players coming in

I interpreted a previous post as we'd prefer to keep him but with limited game time as an outcome, the player might be looking elsewhere rather than our scouting is crap and he's off within a year? 

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

The ex-Southampton chap said that your recruitment team is doing a good job if 55% of signings work out.

 

Keep this in mind I’d say. 

[Jamboj1]

39 minutes ago, magicjohnston said:

 

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/hearts-sign-irish-midfielder-aaron-mceneff-joe-savage-gets-long-term-target-3120043

 

This says Joe savage had been tracking him for years...so surely was a savage signing? Bit gutted if he ends up out already

Apologies that’s correct some reason in my head this whole time I had mceneff joining at the end of august the window before😂😅, actually a bit more surprising to me that he’s off I guess the change to 343 leaves him out in the cold a bit now. 

[Jamboj1]

1 minute ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

The ex-Southampton chap said that your recruitment team is doing a good job if 55% of signings work out.

 

Keep this in mind I’d say. 

55% would be a 50% upgrade on our last few years..😀

[Cruyff]

I don't think Aaron was a bad signing, even if he's punted out on loan. He was a punt and I think it's fair to say most of us thought he was alright. However, we must strive to keep improving and if that means some players no longer have a part then so be it. 

[Pete McGee]

You can never guarantee who is going to fit in at hearts or can rise to the expectations of they are signed from lower League teams. 

People have to accept this, no matter what the level. Top teams get it wrong, every team/club gets it wrong.

Don't make judgements on coaches, scouts or whoever is in charge of recruitment or even the players.

Just accept it as life. 

I've changed careers loads of times due to the fact I've either not fitted in, I've not enjoyed being there, I can't do the job being asked/ wasn't the role I initially told I was going to do or just not got on with the manager. Just back the players on the park though. It's what in my opinion works best.

Edited August 29, 2021 by Pete McGee

[HMFC_France]

It would be good for him to go on loan to get more minutes but on the other hand, if we loan him out, we'll be short on options if we get injuries on the midfield. 

 

So let's see, would be good to keep him I think as he offers something else. 

[BackOfTheNet]

Unless a team is willing to pay what we paid for McEneff then I only want to see him leave if he does so on loan. Loaning back to the Irish league seems pointless, so it would have to be a decent level. At the very, very least League One in England. Preferably the Premiership up here though. If we loan him we shouldn’t treat it like a loan with a view to sale, we should view it with a view to get a better established player come back after the loan. He’s just turned 26, so although he should be a standard we want to hold onto I still think he can improve and needs a run of games to flourish. At a St. Johnstone or or Dundee Utd or Motherwell or something could do him the world of good, and next season we’d have a player used to the league.

[Pasquale for King]

3 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Unless a team is willing to pay what we paid for McEneff then I only want to see him leave if he does so on loan. Loaning back to the Irish league seems pointless, so it would have to be a decent level. At the very, very least League One in England. Preferably the Premiership up here though. If we loan him we shouldn’t treat it like a loan with a view to sale, we should view it with a view to get a better established player come back after the loan. He’s just turned 26, so although he should be a standard we want to hold onto I still think he can improve and needs a run of games to flourish. At a St. Johnstone or or Dundee Utd or Motherwell or something could do him the world of good, and next season we’d have a player used to the league.

Well said. 

[Hungry hippo]

2 minutes ago, HMFC_France said:

It would be good for him to go on loan to get more minutes but on the other hand, if we loan him out, we'll be short on options if we get injuries on the midfield. 

 

So let's see, would be good to keep him I think as he offers something else. 

 

I think 5 CMs (Beni, Halliday, Haring, Devlin and Pollock) is already plenty in terms of numbers. Could even use Smith there also in an absolute injury crisis. 

 

If McEneff does stay I'd expect Pollock to rarely make the bench in the short term and two of the others to be alongside McEneff on the bench apart from when Halliday is covering LWB. Three senior players on the bench for one position is possible although hard to keep them happy and motivated.

 

I think a loan move makes a lot of sense. Maybe even just until January which is only 4 months and we could reassess the situation then.

[Cruyff]

15 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Unless a team is willing to pay what we paid for McEneff then I only want to see him leave if he does so on loan. Loaning back to the Irish league seems pointless, so it would have to be a decent level. At the very, very least League One in England. Preferably the Premiership up here though. If we loan him we shouldn’t treat it like a loan with a view to sale, we should view it with a view to get a better established player come back after the loan. He’s just turned 26, so although he should be a standard we want to hold onto I still think he can improve and needs a run of games to flourish. At a St. Johnstone or or Dundee Utd or Motherwell or something could do him the world of good, and next season we’d have a player used to the league.

Quite agree, a loan to another SPL side would be good for him and us. 

[1971fozzy]

Am I missing something ? I’m sure I read that Robbie and Joe had spoken to McEneff and assured him he has a place.

is all this talk on here speculation ? It’s a long season and we will get injuries and suspensions so he will feature. I’ve not read anything from the club to even remotely suggest otherwise. The lad looks decent and when he has came on hasn’t exactly let anybody down , indeed has done well in my opinion

[Pete McGee]

32 minutes ago, HMFC_France said:

It would be good for him to go on loan to get more minutes but on the other hand, if we loan him out, we'll be short on options if we get injuries on the midfield. 

 

So let's see, would be good to keep him I think as he offers something else. 

It's a tough one. I think he has something to offer that's different to what we've got as you say. But he's down the pecking order, I'd rather be was out playing elsewhere, at least until January. 

[sadj]

👀

[Guest ToqueJambo]

We've got Pollock in the squad for keeps this season. I don't think we'll ever see Pollock and Smith combo in the same first team - too inexperienced - so why not send Smith out on loan? One youngster per section of the pitch makes sense to me - a goalie (Stone), defender (Logan), Midfielder (Pollock) and an attacker but we don't seem to produce strikers anymore.

 

Edit, the discussion is about McEneff going on loan? Not sure about that. He looks like a decent option for us.

Edited August 29, 2021 by ToqueJambo

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Punting McEneff on loan would be disappointing, not so much for McEneff but more for the fact we spunked money on a transfer fee for him. Some of us did say he was bang average.

[BackOfTheNet]

9 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

We've got Pollock in the squad for keeps this season. I don't think we'll ever see Pollock and Smith combo in the same first team - too inexperienced - so why not send Smith out on loan? One youngster per section of the pitch makes sense to me - a goalie (Stone), defender (Logan), Midfielder (Pollock) and an attacker but we don't seem to produce strikers anymore.

 

Edit, the discussion is about McEneff going on loan? Not sure about that. He looks like a decent option for us.

Smith is out on loan

 

 

[Never Let Them Forget]

28 minutes ago, sadj said:

👀

??

[J.T.F.Robertson]

2 hours ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

I doubt we’d let a £175k signing go on a free. Weird one but I do kind of see/understand how things have moved on a bit since we originally signed him.

 

I have also read that Devlin not only gets stuck in but also pushes forward so I wouldn’t worry about not having a midfielder who can’t take the ball forward

 

We've no idea how good or otherwise this Devlin might be. He's been playing in the Australian league after all.

Nae offence to Oz.

 

[InternationalJambo]

2 hours ago, Pagey said:

I interpreted a previous post as we'd prefer to keep him but with limited game time as an outcome, the player might be looking elsewhere rather than our scouting is crap and he's off within a year? 

👍

[Kiwidoug]

4 hours ago, Kiwidoug said:

And not just you.

Having just watched as much as I could tolerate of rangers v Celtic, I hope our new striker isn't Edouard or Morelos.  They're both murder.

 

Ed. in particular missed a couple of chances which Pele or I would have planted in our prime.

[Alec Eiffel]

18 hours ago, Sooperstar said:

Branthwaite, not Braithwaite 

It is like the West Indies cricketer Carlos Brathwaite that everybody gets the spelling wrong.

[BelgeJambo]

I like Mcaneff.  Shown in a short time he can get into the box and get on the end of things.  More patience with the lad and he might come good.  If we paid 175k you have to question the recruitment cos we are not a club that can spunk that sort of money on duds. Offers more than Walker IMO

[Vlad the impaler]

Apologies if already covered but what’s with the hold up of announcing Devlin?

[GinRummy]

This is exciting. Some sources saying we are getting the young centre back Branthwaite in, others saying another keeper and striker. Going to be an F5 couple of days. 

[Selkirkhmfc1874]

8 minutes ago, Vlad the impaler said:

Apologies if already covered but what’s with the hold up of announcing Devlin?

Official announcement today

[Vlad the impaler]

Just now, Selkirkhmfc1874 said:

Official announcement today

👍🏻Thanks

[Tommy Brown]

17 minutes ago, Vlad the impaler said:

Apologies if already covered but what’s with the hold up of announcing Devlin?

He arrived Friday pm. Shown around.

Will get a medical today and then be annonced.

Whole travel time, wasnt considered for Saturday, no rush to announce.

[Portable Badger]

1 hour ago, Alec Eiffel said:

It is like the West Indies cricketer Carlos Brathwaite that everybody gets the spelling wrong.

Carlos is quite tricky mind !!

[HoGwash]

1 hour ago, Alec Eiffel said:

It is like the West Indies cricketer Carlos Brathwaite that everybody gets the spelling wrong.

He'll be the new Prince Bauben or Jim Jeffries.

[davie1980]

7 hours ago, ToqueJambo said:

We've got Pollock in the squad for keeps this season. I don't think we'll ever see Pollock and Smith combo in the same first team - too inexperienced - so why not send Smith out on loan? One youngster per section of the pitch makes sense to me - a goalie (Stone), defender (Logan), Midfielder (Pollock) and an attacker but we don't seem to produce strikers anymore.

 

 

Henderson.

[DG_HMFC]

40 minutes ago, BelgeJambo said:

I like Mcaneff.  Shown in a short time he can get into the box and get on the end of things.  More patience with the lad and he might come good.  If we paid 175k you have to question the recruitment cos we are not a club that can spunk that sort of money on duds. Offers more than Walker IMO

 

I like McEneff, too. When he first arrived he was a positive, forward-thinking midfielder, first touch was good and passes were, most of the time, ahead of him. His ability to get in the box and score goals is also impressive, so why hasn't he been given fair crack? I think it's a simple case of Robbie being a very defensive minded coach (not having a go), Our formation only ever plays 3 attackers, which are the wide players and Boyce. There's no advanced playmaker or runners from the middle of the park, which is where I think McEneff is at his best. So unless Robbie changes formation to suit central midfielders getting forward I think it's likely McEneff will continue to warm the bench.

[BackOfTheNet]

If Branthwaite signs I too will have to make a concerted effort to spell his name correctly, pretty sure I’ve already misspelled it once.

[Skacelsid]

42 minutes ago, BelgeJambo said:

I like Mcaneff.  Shown in a short time he can get into the box and get on the end of things.  More patience with the lad and he might come good.  If we paid 175k you have to question the recruitment cos we are not a club that can spunk that sort of money on duds. Offers more than Walker IMO

McEneff is not getting a fair chance IMO, box to box is not in the coaching manual or on any silly little A4 diagram. Bit like Levein with Milinkovic. Sadly will probably be moved on, rather than us getting the best out of him.

[Tennant's 6's]

4 minutes ago, DG_HMFC said:

There's no advanced playmaker or runners from the middle of the park, which is where I think McEneff is at his best. So unless Robbie changes formation to suit central midfielders getting forward I think it's likely McEneff will continue to warm the bench.

That's the thing though, there's no reason that an attacking CM couldn't slot in beside a more deep lying CM in 343 & could play in a 442 or 4231.

 

We definitely are missing that attacking drive from the middle of the park to support Boyce & to give him the option if a give & go. 

 

Gonna be an F5 couple of days...

[tazhearts]

https://www.evertonfc.com/news/1753567/ive-no-doubt-branthwaite-has-the-attributes-to-be-an-england-player

 

Elvis thinks Branthwaite is a player!

[BackOfTheNet]

11 minutes ago, DG_HMFC said:

 

I like McEneff, too. When he first arrived he was a positive, forward-thinking midfielder, first touch was good and passes were, most of the time, ahead of him. His ability to get in the box and score goals is also impressive, so why hasn't he been given fair crack? I think it's a simple case of Robbie being a very defensive minded coach (not having a go), Our formation only ever plays 3 attackers, which are the wide players and Boyce. There's no advanced playmaker or runners from the middle of the park, which is where I think McEneff is at his best. So unless Robbie changes formation to suit central midfielders getting forward I think it's likely McEneff will continue to warm the bench.

McEneff does appear to be a victim of the formation choice (you could I suppose say the same for Walker). He has Boyce drop deep to be the link between defensive midfield and attack, or relies on one of the defensive midfielders to carry the ball or for us to get it to the wide attackers. No real room to link the midfield and attack with an attacking midfielder. Personally I think McEneff has a lot to offer, and at times would much, much prefer Boyce stay up and McEneff be the link (by either having four at the back or him be one of the central midfielders) but would require a formation shift. Also that type of formation would likely only be secure enough to attempt against lower opposition and at home. After the derby we’ll be 5 games into the season and played Celtic, Aberdeen and Hibs at home. I suspect if we had played Ross County, Livingston or Dundee at home he’d have had more game time by now. Maybe. But completely understand a player approaching his prime years to want to be playing, but wouldn’t like him off the books entirely if he wants to go elsewhere to get that game time.

Edited August 30, 2021 by BackOfTheNet

[DG_HMFC]

10 minutes ago, tazhearts said:

https://www.evertonfc.com/news/1753567/ive-no-doubt-branthwaite-has-the-attributes-to-be-an-england-player

 

Elvis thinks Branthwaite is a player!

 

Don't know why I just read that in Elvis' voice

[Portable Badger]

2 minutes ago, DG_HMFC said:

 

Don't know why I just read that in Elvis' voice

Were you wearing the stupid bunnet as well?

[DG_HMFC]

1 minute ago, Portable Badger said:

Were you wearing the stupid bunnet as well?

 

Straight off the set of Peaky Blinders.

[Portable Badger]

Just now, DG_HMFC said:

 

Straight off the set of Peaky Blinders.

Nice one !!

[A_A wehatethehibs]

So when’s Branflakes or whatever his name is signing 

 

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

Elvis could be influential here if we are serious about getting him for a year. I still can’t work out if Everton want to keep him - he only has a year left is that right?

[One five]

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

That's the thing though, there's no reason that an attacking CM couldn't slot in beside a more deep lying CM in 343 & could play in a 442 or 4231.

 

We definitely are missing that attacking drive from the middle of the park to support Boyce & to give him the option if a give & go. 

 

Gonna be an F5 couple of days...

Agree,  would like to see him getting a few full games against top oppositions before we write him off, anyway….. hoping to get a couple of signing in the next couple of days and this will be a fantastic window 👏very happy from what has come in already👍

[TheBigO]

McEneff such a funny one. Not often jkb quite unanimously agrees on a Ayer but everyone seems to like him, myself included.

 

Is it simply the change of system has alienated him?

Seen as part of a 3 man mid but not a 2?

[BackOfTheNet]

I’m gonna predict Devlin to be announced today (not that bold of a prediction, I know) and maybe one or two departures, especially youngsters on loan. I think today they’ll keep mostly for the changeover.

 

Tomorrow could be a busy day. But then again, may be a lot about nothing. Just wait until we just sign a backup keeper and Devlin and when the window shuts players that don’t leave get the blame for others not coming in.