*** Hearts Summer Transfer Window 2022 - Snodgrass signs ***

[Batistuta87]

18 minutes ago, Absolute Scenes said:

can someone post the full article here?

 

Joe Savage talks Hearts transfers, Lawrence Shankland, Alan Forrest and Joe Wright during cup final preparation

Sifting through dozens of player names in his Riccarton office, Joe Savage’s Hearts recruitment plan is well underway. The sporting director has many facets to attend to even on Scottish Cup final week.

Women’s football and the club’s youth academy take up significant time but Savage knows he is, to an extent, judged on signings in his role. Manager Robbie Neilson can focus on Hampden Park tomorrow while Savage continues working on summer targets. Of which there are many.

He takes time out to chat with the Evening News, openly discussing some of those he and Neilson want to lure to Edinburgh. Joint assaults on domestic and European competitions next season demand a larger first-team squad and Savage has been working on potential new arrivals since the January transfer window closed.

Neilson would like to bring the Scotland international forward Lawrence Shankland home from Beerschot having worked with him previously at Dundee United. Savage acknowledged that the Belgian club’s £500,000 asking price is an issue.

Bottom of Form

“Yeah, I think so. I’m not the type to deny things like that,” he says. “He is someone Robbie and the coaches have worked with before and they think he’s a very good player. He is someone we are aware of. We haven’t opened any discussions or made any offer yet.

“I can see why we’re being linked with him because we do need a striker for next season, no doubt. There’s nothing on that just now. I’m not saying there won’t be, it’s just we haven’t done anything on it yet.”

The former Doncaster Rovers centre-back Joe Wright has an invite to join pre-season training at Riccarton. Hearts agreed to sign him last summer before he suffered knee and ankle damage in Rovers' final game of the campaign. Savage wants the player to take up the invitation.

“Hopefully. We had interest in Joe before his injury,” he explains. “He’s a good lad, a good character and a good player. I think there might be something in that in terms of bringing Joe up to see how he is.

“He is interested in coming up and we are interested in having him. We might get a chance to have a look at him and see how he has recovered.”

Talks with Alan Forrest’s representatives are ongoing in an attempt to bring the Livingston winger along the M8. Hearts want that deal concluded but other clubs are competing for Forrest’s signature.

“We’ve had initial talks with his agent. Alan is a player we do like and he is a free agent,” says Savage. “The season is now finished so we will take that up now and see if there’s anything else we can do, or anything else we can offer Alan that he is looking for. I know there is a bit of interest in him, so we are speaking to his agent.”

Selling Hearts to prospective new recruits has probably never been easier. European group-stage football will offer a historic new dimension to the 2022/23 campaign and offers Savage a lucrative carrot to dangle during contract talks.

“We’ve worked hard to get into that position thanks to the players we signed and the guys already here,” he says. “The team and coaches have been brilliant. Players can clearly see there is a methodology about how we play and the structure is there.

“Hearts shouldn’t need to sell itself to anyone. We’re a huge club, a Capital-city club with a great stadium, great training facilities and a wonderful fanbase. When we speak to agents, a lot of them know who we are and what we’re about.

“I’ve never had an agent say: ‘Hearts? Who are they? Where are you? What position are you in?’ They are all aware. We have eight guaranteed European games so we need to increase the squad size.

“We are also losing players – John Souttar is going and a couple of loan boys will go back to their clubs. I wouldn’t put a specific number on how many we will bring in right now because things and change. For example, you don’t know if teams will try to sign our players.

“We’ve got an idea of what we need but it can change every week, to be honest. This is where the recruitment department comes into its own. We have meetings with Robbie and his coaches. My recruitment staff Will [Lancefield] and George [Brown] are doing all they can.

“We have identified the players we want but that’s the easy part. Getting them in is the hard bit – negotiating with the club, the agent, the player to get them to Hearts believing this is the next step in their career. We’re hoping to get some over the line soon.”

Savage’s build-up to Saturday’s final resembles most other weeks at this time of year. “I rely on Robbie a lot. He has been in this position and prepared for games of this magnitude before.

“We’re in constant dialogue, looking at players and a lot of other things. My week is taken up with recruitment or women’s football or the academy. There’s always something to do on top of this being a busy week because of the final.

“We’ve known who we wanted to sign since January. We’ve been speaking to agents and now we can start speaking to players. We are never disrespectful, we don’t really like speaking to players before their season finishes.

“Robbie will meet them, I’ll meet them and their agents, then we will try to invite them up here to see the stadium, the training ground and Edinburgh as a city.”

 

[Absolute Scenes]

1 minute ago, Batistuta87 said:

 

Joe Savage talks Hearts transfers, Lawrence Shankland, Alan Forrest and Joe Wright during cup final preparation

Sifting through dozens of player names in his Riccarton office, Joe Savage’s Hearts recruitment plan is well underway. The sporting director has many facets to attend to even on Scottish Cup final week.

Women’s football and the club’s youth academy take up significant time but Savage knows he is, to an extent, judged on signings in his role. Manager Robbie Neilson can focus on Hampden Park tomorrow while Savage continues working on summer targets. Of which there are many.

He takes time out to chat with the Evening News, openly discussing some of those he and Neilson want to lure to Edinburgh. Joint assaults on domestic and European competitions next season demand a larger first-team squad and Savage has been working on potential new arrivals since the January transfer window closed.

Neilson would like to bring the Scotland international forward Lawrence Shankland home from Beerschot having worked with him previously at Dundee United. Savage acknowledged that the Belgian club’s £500,000 asking price is an issue.

Bottom of Form

“Yeah, I think so. I’m not the type to deny things like that,” he says. “He is someone Robbie and the coaches have worked with before and they think he’s a very good player. He is someone we are aware of. We haven’t opened any discussions or made any offer yet.

“I can see why we’re being linked with him because we do need a striker for next season, no doubt. There’s nothing on that just now. I’m not saying there won’t be, it’s just we haven’t done anything on it yet.”

The former Doncaster Rovers centre-back Joe Wright has an invite to join pre-season training at Riccarton. Hearts agreed to sign him last summer before he suffered knee and ankle damage in Rovers' final game of the campaign. Savage wants the player to take up the invitation.

“Hopefully. We had interest in Joe before his injury,” he explains. “He’s a good lad, a good character and a good player. I think there might be something in that in terms of bringing Joe up to see how he is.

“He is interested in coming up and we are interested in having him. We might get a chance to have a look at him and see how he has recovered.”

Talks with Alan Forrest’s representatives are ongoing in an attempt to bring the Livingston winger along the M8. Hearts want that deal concluded but other clubs are competing for Forrest’s signature.

“We’ve had initial talks with his agent. Alan is a player we do like and he is a free agent,” says Savage. “The season is now finished so we will take that up now and see if there’s anything else we can do, or anything else we can offer Alan that he is looking for. I know there is a bit of interest in him, so we are speaking to his agent.”

Selling Hearts to prospective new recruits has probably never been easier. European group-stage football will offer a historic new dimension to the 2022/23 campaign and offers Savage a lucrative carrot to dangle during contract talks.

“We’ve worked hard to get into that position thanks to the players we signed and the guys already here,” he says. “The team and coaches have been brilliant. Players can clearly see there is a methodology about how we play and the structure is there.

“Hearts shouldn’t need to sell itself to anyone. We’re a huge club, a Capital-city club with a great stadium, great training facilities and a wonderful fanbase. When we speak to agents, a lot of them know who we are and what we’re about.

“I’ve never had an agent say: ‘Hearts? Who are they? Where are you? What position are you in?’ They are all aware. We have eight guaranteed European games so we need to increase the squad size.

“We are also losing players – John Souttar is going and a couple of loan boys will go back to their clubs. I wouldn’t put a specific number on how many we will bring in right now because things and change. For example, you don’t know if teams will try to sign our players.

“We’ve got an idea of what we need but it can change every week, to be honest. This is where the recruitment department comes into its own. We have meetings with Robbie and his coaches. My recruitment staff Will [Lancefield] and George [Brown] are doing all they can.

“We have identified the players we want but that’s the easy part. Getting them in is the hard bit – negotiating with the club, the agent, the player to get them to Hearts believing this is the next step in their career. We’re hoping to get some over the line soon.”

Savage’s build-up to Saturday’s final resembles most other weeks at this time of year. “I rely on Robbie a lot. He has been in this position and prepared for games of this magnitude before.

“We’re in constant dialogue, looking at players and a lot of other things. My week is taken up with recruitment or women’s football or the academy. There’s always something to do on top of this being a busy week because of the final.

“We’ve known who we wanted to sign since January. We’ve been speaking to agents and now we can start speaking to players. We are never disrespectful, we don’t really like speaking to players before their season finishes.

“Robbie will meet them, I’ll meet them and their agents, then we will try to invite them up here to see the stadium, the training ground and Edinburgh as a city.”

 

😍

[May one-six]

1 hour ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

 

He is as he's a a safe player. 

Beni is a better midfielder, he's better in the tackle, more aware and faster in transition. 

Haring is good, but he's upgradeable as we've already proven. Devlin is also arguably better than Haring. 

Halliday ia also a 7/10 most weeks. 

 

In a midfielder, heading is the last attribute I look for. 

Awareness, vision, passing, dynamic, goals, creating are all way more important as is stamina and tackling. 

Benni is better in most, if not all these key areas. 

 

I'll be glad if Haring stays, like I was with Halliday, they add to the squad and are consistent and reliable. 

Haring can be upgraded tho. He's not that good. 

 

I anticipate a good performance from the man Tommorrow! 

 

 

When it comes to bigger games/teams I disagree with this. Peter Haring is comfortable playing against the OF, but Devlin has toiled in these games so far and doesn't have as much influence as he does in matches against other sides.

 

The second part I've highlighted is simply nonsense.

[RustyRightPeg]

17 minutes ago, Batistuta87 said:

 

Joe Savage talks Hearts transfers, Lawrence Shankland, Alan Forrest and Joe Wright during cup final preparation

Sifting through dozens of player names in his Riccarton office, Joe Savage’s Hearts recruitment plan is well underway. The sporting director has many facets to attend to even on Scottish Cup final week.

Women’s football and the club’s youth academy take up significant time but Savage knows he is, to an extent, judged on signings in his role. Manager Robbie Neilson can focus on Hampden Park tomorrow while Savage continues working on summer targets. Of which there are many.

He takes time out to chat with the Evening News, openly discussing some of those he and Neilson want to lure to Edinburgh. Joint assaults on domestic and European competitions next season demand a larger first-team squad and Savage has been working on potential new arrivals since the January transfer window closed.

Neilson would like to bring the Scotland international forward Lawrence Shankland home from Beerschot having worked with him previously at Dundee United. Savage acknowledged that the Belgian club’s £500,000 asking price is an issue.

Bottom of Form

“Yeah, I think so. I’m not the type to deny things like that,” he says. “He is someone Robbie and the coaches have worked with before and they think he’s a very good player. He is someone we are aware of. We haven’t opened any discussions or made any offer yet.

“I can see why we’re being linked with him because we do need a striker for next season, no doubt. There’s nothing on that just now. I’m not saying there won’t be, it’s just we haven’t done anything on it yet.”

The former Doncaster Rovers centre-back Joe Wright has an invite to join pre-season training at Riccarton. Hearts agreed to sign him last summer before he suffered knee and ankle damage in Rovers' final game of the campaign. Savage wants the player to take up the invitation.

“Hopefully. We had interest in Joe before his injury,” he explains. “He’s a good lad, a good character and a good player. I think there might be something in that in terms of bringing Joe up to see how he is.

“He is interested in coming up and we are interested in having him. We might get a chance to have a look at him and see how he has recovered.”

Talks with Alan Forrest’s representatives are ongoing in an attempt to bring the Livingston winger along the M8. Hearts want that deal concluded but other clubs are competing for Forrest’s signature.

“We’ve had initial talks with his agent. Alan is a player we do like and he is a free agent,” says Savage. “The season is now finished so we will take that up now and see if there’s anything else we can do, or anything else we can offer Alan that he is looking for. I know there is a bit of interest in him, so we are speaking to his agent.”

Selling Hearts to prospective new recruits has probably never been easier. European group-stage football will offer a historic new dimension to the 2022/23 campaign and offers Savage a lucrative carrot to dangle during contract talks.

“We’ve worked hard to get into that position thanks to the players we signed and the guys already here,” he says. “The team and coaches have been brilliant. Players can clearly see there is a methodology about how we play and the structure is there.

“Hearts shouldn’t need to sell itself to anyone. We’re a huge club, a Capital-city club with a great stadium, great training facilities and a wonderful fanbase. When we speak to agents, a lot of them know who we are and what we’re about.

“I’ve never had an agent say: ‘Hearts? Who are they? Where are you? What position are you in?’ They are all aware. We have eight guaranteed European games so we need to increase the squad size.

“We are also losing players – John Souttar is going and a couple of loan boys will go back to their clubs. I wouldn’t put a specific number on how many we will bring in right now because things and change. For example, you don’t know if teams will try to sign our players.

“We’ve got an idea of what we need but it can change every week, to be honest. This is where the recruitment department comes into its own. We have meetings with Robbie and his coaches. My recruitment staff Will [Lancefield] and George [Brown] are doing all they can.

“We have identified the players we want but that’s the easy part. Getting them in is the hard bit – negotiating with the club, the agent, the player to get them to Hearts believing this is the next step in their career. We’re hoping to get some over the line soon.”

Savage’s build-up to Saturday’s final resembles most other weeks at this time of year. “I rely on Robbie a lot. He has been in this position and prepared for games of this magnitude before.

“We’re in constant dialogue, looking at players and a lot of other things. My week is taken up with recruitment or women’s football or the academy. There’s always something to do on top of this being a busy week because of the final.

“We’ve known who we wanted to sign since January. We’ve been speaking to agents and now we can start speaking to players. We are never disrespectful, we don’t really like speaking to players before their season finishes.

“Robbie will meet them, I’ll meet them and their agents, then we will try to invite them up here to see the stadium, the training ground and Edinburgh as a city.”

 

Speaks really, really well. We’re lucky to have him. 

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

We cant afford 22 superstars, what we do need is fresh legs for the games with St Mirrens, Kilmarnocks etc and the elite 11 that can take you forwards. Imagine Joe is confident that he has been open, that we are in a good place

[Bazzas right boot]

32 minutes ago, May one-six said:

When it comes to bigger games/teams I disagree with this. Peter Haring is comfortable playing against the OF, but Devlin has toiled in these games so far and doesn't have as much influence as he does in matches against other sides.

 

The second part I've highlighted is simply nonsense.

 

 

Agreed. 

 

The second part isn't nonsense, he can be upgraded. He's not that good that he can't be upgraded. 

You missed the first sentence out to twist that statement. 

 

Benni is better, so it's actually true and I don't believe Haring is the best midfielder we'll ever see for Hearts again or even  in the near future. 

 

 

[PhoenixHearts]

11 hours ago, JimmyCant said:

The answer depends on how big the budget is going to be and what else we think we need. 
 

I can’t imagine we’re going to blow the whole windfall in one signing spree.

 

We are owe Ms Budge a substantial slice of it and we’ll be debt free again. Plus the ‘benefactors’ might feel they can turn the tap off to an extent.

 

Simms we’ll struggle to replace and I don’t think he’ll be back. we might have to settle for 2 lesser options there as full time signings, plus try and get lucky again with a good loanee.

 

I think Haring will stay so we won’t have to replace him. But could we get better ? We already did that twice this season so I don’t see why not

 

 

 

Once.

 

Let's not get it twisted, Beni is better than Haring. Devlin is 'different' to Haring, but certainly not better.

[TexasAndy]

There's a different feeling about Hearts these days.  Our last 3 cup wins have been followed by team breakups and form dips in the following seasons.  If we win the cup this time it genuinely feels like we are going to continue on an upward trajectory.  That will be the case win or lose but I was just making a comparison.  

[RustyRightPeg]

1 hour ago, May one-six said:

When it comes to bigger games/teams I disagree with this. Peter Haring is comfortable playing against the OF, but Devlin has toiled in these games so far and doesn't have as much influence as he does in matches against other sides.

 

The second part I've highlighted is simply nonsense.

Better teams are able to pass round his headless chicken nature. It isn’t a criticism, rather an observation but he will have to develop a positional sense to go with all his energy and determination to take his game to the next level. 

[Dick Dastardly]

1 hour ago, Batistuta87 said:

 

Joe Savage talks Hearts transfers, Lawrence Shankland, Alan Forrest and Joe Wright during cup final preparation

Sifting through dozens of player names in his Riccarton office, Joe Savage’s Hearts recruitment plan is well underway. The sporting director has many facets to attend to even on Scottish Cup final week.

Women’s football and the club’s youth academy take up significant time but Savage knows he is, to an extent, judged on signings in his role. Manager Robbie Neilson can focus on Hampden Park tomorrow while Savage continues working on summer targets. Of which there are many.

He takes time out to chat with the Evening News, openly discussing some of those he and Neilson want to lure to Edinburgh. Joint assaults on domestic and European competitions next season demand a larger first-team squad and Savage has been working on potential new arrivals since the January transfer window closed.

Neilson would like to bring the Scotland international forward Lawrence Shankland home from Beerschot having worked with him previously at Dundee United. Savage acknowledged that the Belgian club’s £500,000 asking price is an issue.

Bottom of Form

“Yeah, I think so. I’m not the type to deny things like that,” he says. “He is someone Robbie and the coaches have worked with before and they think he’s a very good player. He is someone we are aware of. We haven’t opened any discussions or made any offer yet.

“I can see why we’re being linked with him because we do need a striker for next season, no doubt. There’s nothing on that just now. I’m not saying there won’t be, it’s just we haven’t done anything on it yet.”

The former Doncaster Rovers centre-back Joe Wright has an invite to join pre-season training at Riccarton. Hearts agreed to sign him last summer before he suffered knee and ankle damage in Rovers' final game of the campaign. Savage wants the player to take up the invitation.

“Hopefully. We had interest in Joe before his injury,” he explains. “He’s a good lad, a good character and a good player. I think there might be something in that in terms of bringing Joe up to see how he is.

“He is interested in coming up and we are interested in having him. We might get a chance to have a look at him and see how he has recovered.”

Talks with Alan Forrest’s representatives are ongoing in an attempt to bring the Livingston winger along the M8. Hearts want that deal concluded but other clubs are competing for Forrest’s signature.

“We’ve had initial talks with his agent. Alan is a player we do like and he is a free agent,” says Savage. “The season is now finished so we will take that up now and see if there’s anything else we can do, or anything else we can offer Alan that he is looking for. I know there is a bit of interest in him, so we are speaking to his agent.”

Selling Hearts to prospective new recruits has probably never been easier. European group-stage football will offer a historic new dimension to the 2022/23 campaign and offers Savage a lucrative carrot to dangle during contract talks.

“We’ve worked hard to get into that position thanks to the players we signed and the guys already here,” he says. “The team and coaches have been brilliant. Players can clearly see there is a methodology about how we play and the structure is there.

“Hearts shouldn’t need to sell itself to anyone. We’re a huge club, a Capital-city club with a great stadium, great training facilities and a wonderful fanbase. When we speak to agents, a lot of them know who we are and what we’re about.

“I’ve never had an agent say: ‘Hearts? Who are they? Where are you? What position are you in?’ They are all aware. We have eight guaranteed European games so we need to increase the squad size.

“We are also losing players – John Souttar is going and a couple of loan boys will go back to their clubs. I wouldn’t put a specific number on how many we will bring in right now because things and change. For example, you don’t know if teams will try to sign our players.

“We’ve got an idea of what we need but it can change every week, to be honest. This is where the recruitment department comes into its own. We have meetings with Robbie and his coaches. My recruitment staff Will [Lancefield] and George [Brown] are doing all they can.

“We have identified the players we want but that’s the easy part. Getting them in is the hard bit – negotiating with the club, the agent, the player to get them to Hearts believing this is the next step in their career. We’re hoping to get some over the line soon.”

Savage’s build-up to Saturday’s final resembles most other weeks at this time of year. “I rely on Robbie a lot. He has been in this position and prepared for games of this magnitude before.

“We’re in constant dialogue, looking at players and a lot of other things. My week is taken up with recruitment or women’s football or the academy. There’s always something to do on top of this being a busy week because of the final.

“We’ve known who we wanted to sign since January. We’ve been speaking to agents and now we can start speaking to players. We are never disrespectful, we don’t really like speaking to players before their season finishes.

“Robbie will meet them, I’ll meet them and their agents, then we will try to invite them up here to see the stadium, the training ground and Edinburgh as a city.”

 

A couple of the loan boys will go back to their clubs 🤔 hmmm

[Juho_Makela_Goal_Machine]

15 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

A couple of the loan boys will go back to their clubs 🤔 hmmm

Moore for sure, cochrane and simms the only other boys under contract at their parent clubs, would want both of them back at Hearts though 🙁

[BackOfTheNet]

16 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

A couple of the loan boys will go back to their clubs 🤔 hmmm

We have four on loan, so suppose you can take your pick. Even Woodburn and Cochrane who are approaching end of their contract will still technically go back to their clubs, as their contract is up to end of June (whereas in Scotland it tends to be until end of May).

[Dick Dastardly]

2 minutes ago, Juho_Makela_Goal_Machine said:

Moore for sure, cochrane and simms the only other boys under contract at their parent clubs, would want both of them back at Hearts though 🙁

Yeah, so which one is staying if its just a couple that are going back to their clubs? 

[Dick Dastardly]

4 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

We have four on loan, so suppose you can take your pick. Even Woodburn and Cochrane who are approaching end of their contract will still technically go back to their clubs, as their contract is up to end of June (whereas in Scotland it tends to be until end of May).

So which ones are staying then? 

[Sertse]

1 hour ago, Batistuta87 said:

 

Joe Savage talks Hearts transfers, Lawrence Shankland, Alan Forrest and Joe Wright during cup final preparation

Sifting through dozens of player names in his Riccarton office, Joe Savage’s Hearts recruitment plan is well underway. The sporting director has many facets to attend to even on Scottish Cup final week.

Women’s football and the club’s youth academy take up significant time but Savage knows he is, to an extent, judged on signings in his role. Manager Robbie Neilson can focus on Hampden Park tomorrow while Savage continues working on summer targets. Of which there are many.

He takes time out to chat with the Evening News, openly discussing some of those he and Neilson want to lure to Edinburgh. Joint assaults on domestic and European competitions next season demand a larger first-team squad and Savage has been working on potential new arrivals since the January transfer window closed.

Neilson would like to bring the Scotland international forward Lawrence Shankland home from Beerschot having worked with him previously at Dundee United. Savage acknowledged that the Belgian club’s £500,000 asking price is an issue.

Bottom of Form

“Yeah, I think so. I’m not the type to deny things like that,” he says. “He is someone Robbie and the coaches have worked with before and they think he’s a very good player. He is someone we are aware of. We haven’t opened any discussions or made any offer yet.

“I can see why we’re being linked with him because we do need a striker for next season, no doubt. There’s nothing on that just now. I’m not saying there won’t be, it’s just we haven’t done anything on it yet.”

The former Doncaster Rovers centre-back Joe Wright has an invite to join pre-season training at Riccarton. Hearts agreed to sign him last summer before he suffered knee and ankle damage in Rovers' final game of the campaign. Savage wants the player to take up the invitation.

“Hopefully. We had interest in Joe before his injury,” he explains. “He’s a good lad, a good character and a good player. I think there might be something in that in terms of bringing Joe up to see how he is.

“He is interested in coming up and we are interested in having him. We might get a chance to have a look at him and see how he has recovered.”

Talks with Alan Forrest’s representatives are ongoing in an attempt to bring the Livingston winger along the M8. Hearts want that deal concluded but other clubs are competing for Forrest’s signature.

“We’ve had initial talks with his agent. Alan is a player we do like and he is a free agent,” says Savage. “The season is now finished so we will take that up now and see if there’s anything else we can do, or anything else we can offer Alan that he is looking for. I know there is a bit of interest in him, so we are speaking to his agent.”

Selling Hearts to prospective new recruits has probably never been easier. European group-stage football will offer a historic new dimension to the 2022/23 campaign and offers Savage a lucrative carrot to dangle during contract talks.

“We’ve worked hard to get into that position thanks to the players we signed and the guys already here,” he says. “The team and coaches have been brilliant. Players can clearly see there is a methodology about how we play and the structure is there.

“Hearts shouldn’t need to sell itself to anyone. We’re a huge club, a Capital-city club with a great stadium, great training facilities and a wonderful fanbase. When we speak to agents, a lot of them know who we are and what we’re about.

“I’ve never had an agent say: ‘Hearts? Who are they? Where are you? What position are you in?’ They are all aware. We have eight guaranteed European games so we need to increase the squad size.

“We are also losing players – John Souttar is going and a couple of loan boys will go back to their clubs. I wouldn’t put a specific number on how many we will bring in right now because things and change. For example, you don’t know if teams will try to sign our players.

“We’ve got an idea of what we need but it can change every week, to be honest. This is where the recruitment department comes into its own. We have meetings with Robbie and his coaches. My recruitment staff Will [Lancefield] and George [Brown] are doing all they can.

“We have identified the players we want but that’s the easy part. Getting them in is the hard bit – negotiating with the club, the agent, the player to get them to Hearts believing this is the next step in their career. We’re hoping to get some over the line soon.”

Savage’s build-up to Saturday’s final resembles most other weeks at this time of year. “I rely on Robbie a lot. He has been in this position and prepared for games of this magnitude before.

“We’re in constant dialogue, looking at players and a lot of other things. My week is taken up with recruitment or women’s football or the academy. There’s always something to do on top of this being a busy week because of the final.

“We’ve known who we wanted to sign since January. We’ve been speaking to agents and now we can start speaking to players. We are never disrespectful, we don’t really like speaking to players before their season finishes.

“Robbie will meet them, I’ll meet them and their agents, then we will try to invite them up here to see the stadium, the training ground and Edinburgh as a city.”

 

I like the way he speaks, no nonsense merchant.

[PTBCAL]

1 hour ago, May one-six said:

When it comes to bigger games/teams I disagree with this. Peter Haring is comfortable playing against the OF, but Devlin has toiled in these games so far and doesn't have as much influence as he does in matches against other sides.

 

The second part I've highlighted is simply nonsense.

Absolutely agree.

 

To suggest Haring is not that good - incredible. Absolutely incredible 🤦‍♂️

[comradejambo]

1 minute ago, PTBCAL said:

Absolutely agree.

 

To suggest Haring is not that good - incredible. Absolutely incredible 🤦‍♂️

Think in fairness he has meant to suggest he’s good but he’s not THAT good that he can be replaced. All about opinions (mine is he should be a key part of our plans based on his performances)

[BackOfTheNet]

20 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

So which ones are staying then? 

We only know Moore definitely isn’t, based on what Moore has said himself. Woodburn will not have his contract renewed by Liverpool, I think it’s safe to say. So depends is we offer him a contract he accepts. Cochrane might very well be offered a contract extension by Brighton, which means if he turns it down any team signing him owes Brighton compensation. (And he may just want to try his luck there too) Simms is going back to Everton and I would imagine Lampard will want to see him in pre-season before deciding if letting him go. I suspect it will depend on who they sign in the summer and if they then want to loan him out or not. And then depends if they want to loan him to us again or prefer him to stay in England. Lots of ifs, buts and maybes.

[AllyjamboDerbyshire]

15 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

So which ones are staying then? 

Maybe none, maybe two, maybe one. One thing we can be sure of, though, is nothing will be tied up yet for any of them, and Joe Savage's 'couple of players' won't be an indication of much either way. Next week they will all return to their clubs, maybe to say goodbye to their mates, maybe to discuss what happens next season, and maybe with a cup winner's medal in their hands that will increase their bargaining power/raise their expectations in whatever discussions take place with their parent club managers.

[Dick Dastardly]

1 minute ago, BackOfTheNet said:

We only know Moore definitely isn’t, based on what Moore has said himself. Woodburn will not have his contract renewed by Liverpool, I think it’s safe to say. So depends is we offer him a contract he accepts. Cochrane might very well be offered a contract extension by Brighton, which means if he turns it down any team signing him owes Brighton compensation. (And he may just want to try his luck there too) Simms is going back to Everton and I would imagine Lampard will want to see him in pre-season before deciding if letting him go. I suspect it will depend on who they sign in the summer and if they then want to loan him out or not. And then depends if they want to loan him to us again or prefer him to stay in England. Lots of ifs, buts and maybes.

Maybe I'm just reading too much into a short sentence but to me it read as if only 2 of the loan players were going to be leaving, meaning we had signed 2 of them. 

[Dick Dastardly]

1 minute ago, AllyjamboDerbyshire said:

Maybe none, maybe two, maybe one. One thing we can be sure of, though, is nothing will be tied up yet for any of them, and Joe Savage's 'couple of players' won't be an indication of much either way. Next week they will all return to their clubs, maybe to say goodbye to their mates, maybe to discuss what happens next season, and maybe with a cup winner's medal in their hands that will increase their bargaining power/raise their expectations in whatever discussions take place with their parent club managers.

As i replied above, maybe I'm reading too much into that sentence. Just seems odd to say that Souttar and a couple of loan boys are leaving when we had 4 on loan. 

[milky_26]

12 minutes ago, comradejambo said:

Think in fairness he has meant to suggest he’s good but he’s not THAT good that he can be replaced. All about opinions (mine is he should be a key part of our plans based on his performances)

TBF apart from big craig everyone of our players are replaceable. yes some would be harder to replace than others, for me Haring is in that difficult to replace in our budget

[Mr Rabbit]

13 minutes ago, PTBCAL said:

Absolutely agree.

 

To suggest Haring is not that good - incredible. Absolutely incredible 🤦‍♂️

Yeah, it’s a pretty bizarre take.

 

This has been a very strong season and players like Haring have been at the forefront behind our success.

 

Saying we could do better is a very naive way of thinking. Even with the increased success of our recruitment team you’re still looking at 50% success rate if we’re lucky. Haring is a known quantity. To turn our back on a solid performer week in week out on the mindset we could bring in someone better is too much of a risk.
 

We need a strong squad so the best way we can do this is by retaining our strong performers, including Haring, and adding quality to this.

[milky_26]

3 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

Maybe I'm just reading too much into a short sentence but to me it read as if only 2 of the loan players were going to be leaving, meaning we had signed 2 of them. 

hopefully it is simms and cochrane that are staying. however it could be that oneof the parent clubs have not made up their mind yet and are waiting until their final game of the season to make a decision

[Juho_Makela_Goal_Machine]

Saying that a couple of the loan boys are  going back would suggest that we have a signed or are in talks to sign at least one of them, otherwise he would have just said ‘all the loan boys are going back’. Might be reading too much into it but seems promising for maybe keeping simms or cochrane.

[KyleLafferty]

Still think we will sign Woodburn. And if the laddie had any sense he would sign aswell 

[Dick Dastardly]

5 minutes ago, milky_26 said:

hopefully it is simms and cochrane that are staying. however it could be that oneof the parent clubs have not made up their mind yet and are waiting until their final game of the season to make a decision

Agree regarding Simms amd Cochrane and you could be correct about the parent club but im not convinced 😝

[Dick Dastardly]

5 minutes ago, Juho_Makela_Goal_Machine said:

Saying that a couple of the loan boys are  going back would suggest that we have a signed or are in talks to sign at least one of them, otherwise he would have just said ‘all the loan boys are going back’. Might be reading too much into it but seems promising for maybe keeping simms or cochrane.

See, you're coming round to my way of thinking now... 😉 

[Sooks]

13 minutes ago, Mr Rabbit said:

Yeah, it’s a pretty bizarre take.

 

This has been a very strong season and players like Haring have been at the forefront behind our success.

 

Saying we could do better is a very naive way of thinking. Even with the increased success of our recruitment team you’re still looking at 50% success rate if we’re lucky. Haring is a known quantity. To turn our back on a solid performer week in week out on the mindset we could bring in someone better is too much of a risk.
 

We need a strong squad so the best way we can do this is by retaining our strong performers, including Haring, and adding quality to this.

 

Yes in a group of midfielders you always try and replace the worst one with one that is potentially better than the best one 

[Gimme an H...]

15 minutes ago, KyleLafferty said:

Still think we will sign Woodburn. And if the laddie had any sense he would sign aswell 

 

Hope not. Has been given ample oppertunity to prove his worth and hasn't shown it.

 

He's in the same bracket as GMS for me, we can definately do better and hope we allow them both to leave.

 

Massive dissapointment, the pair of them.

[BackOfTheNet]

46 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

Maybe I'm just reading too much into a short sentence but to me it read as if only 2 of the loan players were going to be leaving, meaning we had signed 2 of them. 

If we’ve signed two of them it would be Cochrane and Woodburn as they’re the only two we can sign as out of contract. But I think it’s tricky with U23 players as they have to be offered a contract by their current club by a certain date that’s same or better terms than their current deal to be entitled to compensation, and I don’t think that’s until June. So, can’t imagine we’ve signed any of them.

[Bazzas right boot]

1 hour ago, comradejambo said:

Think in fairness he has meant to suggest he’s good but he’s not THAT good that he can be replaced. All about opinions (mine is he should be a key part of our plans based on his performances)

 

 

It's not what I meant, it's what I said. 

Folk just missing out sentences so it can be twisted. 

No idea why Tbh. 

 

 

[Absolute Scenes]

19 minutes ago, Gimme an H... said:

 

Hope not. Has been given ample oppertunity to prove his worth and hasn't shown it.

 

He's in the same bracket as GMS for me, we can definately do better and hope we allow them both to leave.

 

Massive dissapointment, the pair of them.

i wouldnt say so. Woodburn is still young, still a lot to prove and clearly has talent and skill otherwise he wouldnt have broken through to liverpools first team. GMS is at the end of his career. Signing woodburn, as long as its low wages and not too long a contract, could be a very good piece of business.

 

However i will agree that he has not been good enough this season, for what we expected from him.

[AllyjamboDerbyshire]

18 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

As i replied above, maybe I'm reading too much into that sentence. Just seems odd to say that Souttar and a couple of loan boys are leaving when we had 4 on loan. 

As has been said before, Savage (and Hearts now) plays his cards close to his chest, so I would be loathe to ever read much into what he says to the media unless it's definitive, and saying 'a couple' are returning to their clubs isn't in the least definitive, as it would be true even if all four left Hearts.

 

It has to be said, though, that I am not suggesting that there won't be two of the current loanees returning to Hearts, or that discussions haven't been underway with two of them, but I cannot imagine that anything more than a strong 'maybe' has been agreed as yet.

 

Of the three we don't know are leaving/staying, I'd say the following:

Simms - we haven't seen the best of him yet, and when we do (if he returns), he would improve us rather biggly!!! Over the moon if he stays.

Cochrane - we have seen the best of him, and the only way he would improve us is if he shows it more often. Happy for him to stay.

Woodburn - I've not seen anything in him to suggest he would make us a better team next season, but I've only seen him on telly, which is a poor way to judge any player's all round contribution, but wouldn't be in the least bit disappointed if he didn't stay.

 

[BackOfTheNet]

Regarding Haring, remember agentjambo’s question was on our budget can we do better? It’s not saying by doing better he’s crap. I do think that we could bring in a player as good as him or Simms (going back to initial question) based on our upcoming budget and new found appeal for players. Will we? That’s down to the recruitment team. Can we? Absolutely. And that is by no means a slight on Haring or Simms, no one is saying that they’re easily replaceable. Just that we didn’t have to punch above our weight to get them in in the first place, so we wouldn’t have to again. And we’re a far more attractive club to players now than we were when we signed them, especially Haring.

[Bazzas right boot]

47 minutes ago, Mr Rabbit said:

Yeah, it’s a pretty bizarre take.

 

This has been a very strong season and players like Haring have been at the forefront behind our success.

 

Saying we could do better is a very naive way of thinking. Even with the increased success of our recruitment team you’re still looking at 50% success rate if we’re lucky. Haring is a known quantity. To turn our back on a solid performer week in week out on the mindset we could bring in someone better is too much of a risk.
 

We need a strong squad so the best way we can do this is by retaining our strong performers, including Haring, and adding quality to this.

 

 

It's not a bizzare take. 

You have taken the conversation out of context and it's been twisted. 

 

Some folk have made or agreed with a statement along the lines that Haring is irreplaceable or cannot be improved on. 

 

Many posters pointed out that is not true as even as recently as this season we acquired a player that is better, Benni being cited as the example. 

 

Almost everyone is happy he is staying and have agreed he is good but to say he cannot be improved on is just wrong, and we will see future Hearts midfielders that are better than Haring. 

 

No one is saying bin Haring and it will be easy to get him replaced or there is no need to keep him, but to say we cannot upgrade on him as a definitive statement is just wrong. 

 

Nothing bizzare in saying we can get better than Haring ( or Simms for that matter). 

 

 

 

[Rick Sanchez]

Always said that Woodburn is one of a few players toiling with no reserve league and more importantly, no position. He's thrown onto the pitch and is very rarely in the 10 and has rarely played any competitive football.

 

If we signed him you would like to think management would have a discussion with him and have a clear path for him and a pre season aimed towards it. Whether it's ST, 10 or CM. It's not out wide anyway.

 

He should have had a run in the 10 as Boyce has, at times, been needing dropped.

 

It's a strange one.

[BackOfTheNet]

5 minutes ago, AllyjamboDerbyshire said:

As has been said before, Savage (and Hearts now) plays his cards close to his chest, so I would be loathe to ever read much into what he says to the media unless it's definitive, and saying 'a couple' are returning to their clubs isn't in the least definitive, as it would be true even if all four left Hearts.

 

It has to be said, though, that I am not suggesting that there won't be two of the current loanees returning to Hearts, or that discussions haven't been underway with two of them, but I cannot imagine that anything more than a strong 'maybe' has been agreed as yet.

 

Of the three we don't know are leaving/staying, I'd say the following:

Simms - we haven't seen the best of him yet, and when we do (if he returns), he would improve us rather biggly!!! Over the moon if he stays.

Cochrane - we have seen the best of him, and the only way he would improve us is if he shows it more often. Happy for him to stay.

Woodburn - I've not seen anything in him to suggest he would make us a better team next season, but I've only seen him on telly, which is a poor way to judge any player's all round contribution, but wouldn't be in the least bit disappointed if he didn't stay.

 

Woodburn is 22 and will turn 23 over the next season with barely a full proper season under his belt yet.

 

Cochrane has only just turned 22 and only played a dozen professional games before this season.

 

Simms is 21 and will turn 22 in January and only had 20+ games before he came to us.

 

I would suggest we haven’t seen the best of any of them.

[RustyRightPeg]

36 minutes ago, Gimme an H... said:

 

Hope not. Has been given ample oppertunity to prove his worth and hasn't shown it.

 

He's in the same bracket as GMS for me, we can definately do better and hope we allow them both to leave.

 

Massive dissapointment, the pair of them.

He hasn’t had a great season but he’s shown flashes. 
 

Ive been on record to say we should sign him. He could be an absolute gem in Europe with the style of play, a bit like Kent for rangers this year. Maybe not to the same extent and standard but that’s my hopes. 

[Dick Dastardly]

36 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

If we’ve signed two of them it would be Cochrane and Woodburn as they’re the only two we can sign as out of contract. But I think it’s tricky with U23 players as they have to be offered a contract by their current club by a certain date that’s same or better terms than their current deal to be entitled to compensation, and I don’t think that’s until June. So, can’t imagine we’ve signed any of them.

Yeah i know what you're saying. If, and its a big if, they have decided not to offer them a new contract and waive any rights to compo, we could have signed them, i think. 

Or we could have agreed a loan extension for Simms? 🤞 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Dick Dastardly

[Dick Dastardly]

29 minutes ago, AllyjamboDerbyshire said:

As has been said before, Savage (and Hearts now) plays his cards close to his chest, so I would be loathe to ever read much into what he says to the media unless it's definitive, and saying 'a couple' are returning to their clubs isn't in the least definitive, as it would be true even if all four left Hearts.

 

It has to be said, though, that I am not suggesting that there won't be two of the current loanees returning to Hearts, or that discussions haven't been underway with two of them, but I cannot imagine that anything more than a strong 'maybe' has been agreed as yet.

 

Of the three we don't know are leaving/staying, I'd say the following:

Simms - we haven't seen the best of him yet, and when we do (if he returns), he would improve us rather biggly!!! Over the moon if he stays.

Cochrane - we have seen the best of him, and the only way he would improve us is if he shows it more often. Happy for him to stay.

Woodburn - I've not seen anything in him to suggest he would make us a better team next season, but I've only seen him on telly, which is a poor way to judge any player's all round contribution, but wouldn't be in the least bit disappointed if he didn't stay.

 

I get what you are saying about Savage. I'm still expecting Cochrane and Woodburn to be announced with Haring ASAP 😂😂

[Rick Sanchez]

Taken from FB.

[fast_blood]

3 minutes ago, Rick Sanchez said:

Taken from FB.

Not showing on his Instagram, unless he's taken it down. 

[Kalamazoo Jambo]

10 minutes ago, Rick Sanchez said:

Taken from FB.

Honestly that’s worrying - how can anyone let their phone battery get so low?

[Absolute Scenes]

12 minutes ago, Rick Sanchez said:

Taken from FB.

2 in the morning? Cant be someone in the UK. Right now that would be the time in Christmas Island - is Santa telling us Christmas has come early??

[milky_26]

12 minutes ago, fast_blood said:

Not showing on his Instagram, unless he's taken it down. 

the post says it was on facebook not instagram

[Dick Dastardly]

6 minutes ago, Kalamazoo Jambo said:

Honestly that’s worrying - how can anyone let their phone battery get so low?

😂😂😂😂

[AllyjamboDerbyshire]

35 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Woodburn is 22 and will turn 23 over the next season with barely a full proper season under his belt yet.

 

Cochrane has only just turned 22 and only played a dozen professional games before this season.

 

Simms is 21 and will turn 22 in January and only had 20+ games before he came to us.

 

I would suggest we haven’t seen the best of any of them.

As I said, I've only seen Woodburn on telly (same with Simms and Cochrane) and realise that that isn't the best vatage point to judge a player's overall contribution, but while I've seen plenty from Cochrane to suggest he has the ability to be a good player for us (just needs to be at his best more often), and Simms just keeps getting better, I haven't seen anything from Woodburn, even in flashes, to suggest there's a quality pleyer in there waiting to burst out. I know many say he's not had the opportunity in his best position, but all players play out of position from time to time, and few good players show as little as Woodburn has wherever they play. I'll be delighted to be proved wrong sometime in the near future, both for Hearts and the lad, himself.

[stevie.nolan.5]

6 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

😂😂😂😂

What’s more worrying is they are trying to palm off a post “on Facebook” when it’s clearly instagram 😂😂

[Rick Sanchez]

9 minutes ago, stevie.nolan.5 said:

What’s more worrying is they are trying to palm off a post “on Facebook” when it’s clearly instagram 😂😂

 

Taken from Facebook, not the original source. It's really not hard to grasp.