Shankland - wins Cinch Premiership player of the season (updated)

[Taffin]

4 hours ago, Jim Panzee said:

agree the centres are crap and immediate areas around the grounds, but agents will be highlighting the below to players (more perhaps for renting than buying but still...)

 

Birmingham - Edgbaston - 8 miles
Sunderland - Chester le street / Durham  - 11- 15 miles
Bolton - turton / egerton 11-15 miles
west brom - Edgbaston - 6 miles
Sheffield - fullwood - 5 miles

 

Look at old trafford / manchester - the delightful area of moss side is 2.5 miles from old trafford - but top players live 15-20 miles away in places like Alderley edge and Wilmslow. 

 

I like Birmingham. There, I've said it 😂

[Taffin]

2 minutes ago, Sooks said:

Not read back so may have been discussed but Mark Donaldson on SATF podcast says our latest offer to Shanks is £ 15 k per week including add ons . From what he describes as a very reliable source 

 

Love to hear that. If he goes, he goes but if true then we're not penny pinching and we're making a very competitive offer. Well done to the club.

 

Also, it's reassuring to know there's good cash available should they need to use it for a replacement.

 

Caveat being the add ones of course and what they're made up of. 

Edited May 8 by Taffin

[The Real Maroonblood]

15 hours ago, spirt of 98 said:

Shankland has not proved himself out with the Scottish leagues. He’s nowhere near a 10 mil player. No one came in in January when 5 mil was the rough price. 
 

I love him but 10 mil. Stay of the crack pipe. 

Hearts would be lucky to get anywhere near £5M as he’s playing in a Mickey Mouse league.

 

[Sir PH]

5 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

Hearts would be lucky to get anywhere near £5M as he’s playing in a Mickey Mouse league.

 

Calvin Ramsay went for almost £5m. 

[soonbe110]

44 minutes ago, N Lincs Jambo said:

 

You're spot on about what ifs. If Shankland starts all three games in the Euros and gets the goals which help Scotland qualify out of the group stages for the first time ever then it's conceivable that we could get offers in excess of £10 Million from clubs either down south or abroad who hadn't even considered him before.

 

Then again, he could get no game time (which I think is a far more likely scenario) and everyone outside the Scottish football goldfish bowl shows no interest in him at all. This would ostensibly leave the OF. He's not going to Celtic, Rangers aren't going to pony up £5 Million or so, especially if Clement is still manager, so he stays at Hearts and possibly moves to Ibrox on a free next summer.

 

I would also add that given his current form, it's not 100% guaranteed he makes the squad. I have a feeling that Clarke just doesn't trust him for whatever reason. I hope I'm wrong.

👍

[soonbe110]

4 minutes ago, Sir PH said:

Calvin Ramsay went for almost £5m. 

That included the add-ons, of which there were a lot, and they ain’t happening.  Probably nearer £2-2.5m 

[Sir PH]

3 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

That included the add-ons, of which there were a lot, and they ain’t happening.  Probably nearer £2-2.5m 

I'm not saying Shankland will go for £5m. What I am saying is that Scottish players can still be transferred for decent fees, regardless of how poor our league is.

[The Real Maroonblood]

10 minutes ago, Sir PH said:

Calvin Ramsay went for almost £5m. 

Fair enough.

Well find out in due course.

[soonbe110]

2 minutes ago, Sir PH said:

I'm not saying Shankland will go for £5m. What I am saying is that Scottish players can still be transferred for decent fees, regardless of how poor our league is.

Agreed, mostly the young ones though.  Hickey, Doig, Ferguson, Ramsay all under 23 when they moved not approaching 29. 

[Valois No1]

57 minutes ago, Sooks said:

Not read back so may have been discussed but Mark Donaldson on SATF podcast says our latest offer to Shanks is £ 15 k per week including add ons . From what he describes as a very reliable source 

Jesus. If true 15k feels a bit too much. I would have thought 10k plus bonus would have been enough. Like another poster said though, it’s good to know that there is cash there for the right player in ability and mentally. 

[MattyK82]

58 minutes ago, Sooks said:

Not read back so may have been discussed but Mark Donaldson on SATF podcast says our latest offer to Shanks is £ 15 k per week including add ons . From what he describes as a very reliable source 

He said it was £14k per week (sorry for being pedantic!)

[frankblack]

6 minutes ago, Valois No1 said:

Jesus. If true 15k feels a bit too much. I would have thought 10k plus bonus would have been enough. Like another poster said though, it’s good to know that there is cash there for the right player in ability and mentally. 

 

The fact is that even £14k/£15k probably won't be enough to meet his agent's expectations.

[Sooks]

13 minutes ago, MattyK82 said:

He said it was £14k per week (sorry for being pedantic!)

Apologies . Yes 14 k

[biffy]

It was a total package of £14k per week not straight up £14k per week basic I took from it.

[RudiSkacelsLeftPeg]

1 hour ago, N Lincs Jambo said:

 

You're spot on about what ifs. If Shankland starts all three games in the Euros and gets the goals which help Scotland qualify out of the group stages for the first time ever then it's conceivable that we could get offers in excess of £10 Million from clubs either down south or abroad who hadn't even considered him before.

 

Then again, he could get no game time (which I think is a far more likely scenario) and everyone outside the Scottish football goldfish bowl shows no interest in him at all. This would ostensibly leave the OF. He's not going to Celtic, Rangers aren't going to pony up £5 Million or so, especially if Clement is still manager, so he stays at Hearts and possibly moves to Ibrox on a free next summer.

 

I would also add that given his current form, it's not 100% guaranteed he makes the squad. I have a feeling that Clarke just doesn't trust him for whatever reason. I hope I'm wrong.

10 million 😂😂😂 Lay off whatever you’re smoking mate 😂

[Bob Loblaw]

37 minutes ago, frankblack said:

 

The fact is that even £14k/£15k probably won't be enough to meet his agent's expectations.

It would be if it was over a lonfer period. 14k over 4 years would be better than 20k for a couple

[chrystaf]

1 hour ago, N Lincs Jambo said:

 

You're spot on about what ifs. If Shankland starts all three games in the Euros and gets the goals which help Scotland qualify out of the group stages for the first time ever then it's conceivable that we could get offers in excess of £10 Million from clubs either down south or abroad who hadn't even considered him before.

 

Then again, he could get no game time (which I think is a far more likely scenario) and everyone outside the Scottish football goldfish bowl shows no interest in him at all. This would ostensibly leave the OF. He's not going to Celtic, Rangers aren't going to pony up £5 Million or so, especially if Clement is still manager, so he stays at Hearts and possibly moves to Ibrox on a free next summer.

 

I would also add that given his current form, it's not 100% guaranteed he makes the squad. I have a feeling that Clarke just doesn't trust him for whatever reason. I hope I'm wrong.

Agree with all that.  I think Clarke is looking for any reason either not to take him or take him and not  play him.  His last few games will not have done his chances any favours.

[RustyRightPeg]

47 minutes ago, Valois No1 said:

Jesus. If true 15k feels a bit too much. I would have thought 10k plus bonus would have been enough. Like another poster said though, it’s good to know that there is cash there for the right player in ability and mentally. 

 

When you factor in our wage bill is touching £15M a year, and the old firm are both north of £60M, £15K is a drop in the ocean for them...so it shows real intent for us to do that.

[Sooks]

What offering him £ 14 k per week ( yes add ons ect ) does however , is removes this nonsense about “ if he is a five million pound player then pay him what he is worth “ argument that people seem to think is the staple for agents agitating for a player to move . It also creates a starting point for interested clubs , and they would need to pay compensation for a player that we value that highly . Cant have it one way and not another 

[johnking123]

Our wage bill is going to be very next season. With or without shankland. Would not be surprised if it upto 18 to 20 million 

[May one-six]

1 hour ago, Sir PH said:

I'm not saying Shankland will go for £5m. What I am saying is that Scottish players can still be transferred for decent fees, regardless of how poor our league is.

Indeed. You only need to look at the Huns hoodwinking Everton into paying a reported £16m for Nathan Paterson.

[reaths17]

1 hour ago, soonbe110 said:

Agreed, mostly the young ones though.  Hickey, Doig, Ferguson, Ramsay all under 23 when they moved not approaching 29. 

and all them put together ain't scoring 28 goals a season in any league.

 

why is there such an urgency to knock the value of our players all the time on here. its fair that he's only worth what clubs are willing to pay but on his base form and comparison with players in the same league, despite ages  he's worth as much as kyogo and celtic ain't letting him go for peanuts we seem to be valuing a 28 goal scorer with inferior service as basically useless, he's gonna score goals for whom ever he plays for next season

[N Lincs Jambo]

1 hour ago, RudiSkacelsLeftPeg said:

10 million 😂😂😂 Lay off whatever you’re smoking mate 😂

Did you read the qualifying scenario mate or did you just see the figure quoted? Can only assume the latter. Fwiw, I don’t think Shanks is even going to get game time at the Euros.

[Howdy Doody Jambo]

2 minutes ago, N Lincs Jambo said:

Did you read the qualifying scenario mate or did you just see the figure quoted? Can only assume the latter. Fwiw, I don’t think Shanks is even going to get game time at the Euros.

You can just picture Shanks getting the last 10 minutes in the 3rd match when Scotland are a goal down 

[N Lincs Jambo]

1 hour ago, chrystaf said:

Agree with all that.  I think Clarke is looking for any reason either not to take him or take him and not  play him.  His last few games will not have done his chances any favours.

Yep this is where I’m at. I don’t think he’s 100% guaranteed to be on the plane and his recent form hasn’t helped.

[FIGJAM]

23 hours ago, Sooks said:

If we had not allowed Shanks to enter the last 18 months of his contract , we would not just have secured five million pounds ………… So yeah , I would not agree with your assessment there 

I already apologised to @Bazzas right boot for my terrible worded post. It comes across badly, and not what I meant, which was "Dont let an asset go for free". What you say I completely agree with.

[OTT]

3 hours ago, johnking123 said:

Our wage bill is going to be very next season. With or without shankland. Would not be surprised if it upto 18 to 20 million 

 

I don't know about that John, One thing the board have shown to be pretty good at is managing the budget in a sensible way. I would be shocked if it jumps to those levels. Staff costs in our 2023/ European money season went up to £15m from £11m the year before. I would expect them to be around that again. Maybe a slight increase with the extra spending the hotel hopefully allows for & maybe from any new commercial deals. 

 

£3m would be a huge leap. Although I'm not ridiculing your post btw!! - I am very keen to see what our turnover ends up being at the end of next season, although I suspect we'll need to wait a wee while for that. I hope we do see a notable increase. It was sore we missed out on 3rd last season, but I think there is a general feeling about what went wrong - failing to secure a Halks replacement to shore up our back line coupled with Aberdeens unprecedented form. 

[Irufushi]

If 14k a week is true then you can’t say the club hasn’t tried its hardest to keep him. If he does go then I just hope it’s down south or abroad. 

[Andrew Gilbert Wauchope]

21 hours ago, Jambo dans les Pyrenees said:

The Zombies don’t appear to want Shankland really, but fear they could be Daily Recorded into buying him to spite us….

 

He’s not quick enough for the Premiership.

 

He’s not going abroad again, unless for mega bucks.  Saudi maybe, and I wonder if the slower pace of the game in Italy, the success some of our players are having there coupled with a good Euros could see him go there.

 

Or the Championship.  Birmingham, Hull, Sunderland, Bolton, West Brom, Sheffield.  All absolute shit-holes with the guarantee that the manager who signed you will be lucky to get to bonfire night…..

 

Can't speak for the others, but I've lived in Sheffield for 43 years and I can assure all its not a shithole.  The Pyrennes must have turned yir heid, mon ami.

10 hours ago, Jim Panzee said:

agree the centres are crap and immediate areas around the grounds, but agents will be highlighting the below to players (more perhaps for renting than buying but still...)

 

Birmingham - Edgbaston - 8 miles
Sunderland - Chester le street / Durham  - 11- 15 miles
Bolton - turton / egerton 11-15 miles
west brom - Edgbaston - 6 miles
Sheffield - fullwood - 5 miles

 

Look at old trafford / manchester - the delightful area of moss side is 2.5 miles from old trafford - but top players live 15-20 miles away in places like Alderley edge and Wilmslow. 

5 Miles? Naw - I live not far from Fulwood and it's probably the most affluent area of the city, but it's only about three miles from the city centre. 

 

[jbee647]

How much is genuinely Furuhashi worth ?

Remember he has scored less goals than Shankland, he is currently not playing international football….and is 6 months older than Shankland…. 

[kingantti1874]

8 hours ago, soonbe110 said:

What if Aberdeen had won the cup this season? What if they win it next season? The future is all about what ifs. One thing to remember though is that third place isn’t guaranteed group/league stage football in any season after this current one, as it stands. 
Re going in the huff, he would need to be an extraordinary type of guy to not be upset by the opportunity to set himself and family up for life being knocked back.  And if we do that this summer against his wishes he would clearly be signing a pre-contract on Jan 1 and we would get a token fee for him at that time. Potentially passing up on a couple of million for five months football from Shanks - not a good business decision in anyone’s book. 

Nothing is guaranteed, we could spend £1m replacing him with a £10k per week player who snaps his Achilles after 20 mins.  
 

The simple question is - will we have a better chance of finishing 3rd, playing well and earning prize money in Europe, and winning cups ourselves with or without shanks? that’s kind of the point in signing good players isn’t it? We will not replace him for £2m therefore he is worth much more.. 
 

Hearts will offer him enough to set himself up for life. He can protect himself and his family by signing a deal.  With a buyout which protects him and our investment. So no o don’t tho k he will go in the huff, he’s a professional and even if he didn’t extend his deal he’d want to play well to secure a good deal with his next employer.

[kingantti1874]

8 minutes ago, jbee647 said:

How much is genuinely Furuhashi worth ?

Remember he has scored less goals than Shankland, he is currently not playing international football….and is 6 months older than Shankland…. 

£20million they’d demand. 

[soonbe110]

50 minutes ago, kingantti1874 said:

Nothing is guaranteed, we could spend £1m replacing him with a £10k per week player who snaps his Achilles after 20 mins.  
 

The simple question is - will we have a better chance of finishing 3rd, playing well and earning prize money in Europe, and winning cups ourselves with or without shanks? that’s kind of the point in signing good players isn’t it? We will not replace him for £2m therefore he is worth much more.. 
 

Hearts will offer him enough to set himself up for life. He can protect himself and his family by signing a deal.  With a buyout which protects him and our investment. So no o don’t tho k he will go in the huff, he’s a professional and even if he didn’t extend his deal he’d want to play well to secure a good deal with his next employer.

Hearts can’t, and won’t, pay a 29 year-old enough money to set them  up for life.  Not a chance. Even if we give him £15 pw for 3 years it doesn’t set him up for life.  Gives him a good base of possible investments but not enough to provide for him and family for 40/50 years. That’s why the potential earnings elsewhere blow us out of the water even when we offer £15k pw which is probably more than double anyone currently at  the  club is on. 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

I continue to be surprised at the number of people both A) assuming based on this interview that he's gone, and B). pushing him out the door because of that.

 

The man wants to focus on his football until the season's done, then see if any offers from a dream club come in. There's not a damn thing wrong with that, let him do it. If he gets offers from Porto or Dortmund or Lyon, he'll get to go play in a big league and we'll get paid. If he only gets offers from Millwall and Blackpool and Rangers, he'll come back and sign an extension.

 

And a lot of that will come down to whether he lights it up at the Euros, which he himself admits.

 

Just sit back and let it play out. Stop acting like your crystal ball has already detected what's going to happen.

[kingantti1874]

16 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

Hearts can’t, and won’t, pay a 29 year-old enough money to set them  up for life.  Not a chance. Even if we give him £15 pw for 3 years it doesn’t set him up for life.  Gives him a good base of possible investments but not enough to provide for him and family for 40/50 years. That’s why the potential earnings elsewhere blow us out of the water even when we offer £15k pw which is probably more than double anyone currently at  the  club is on. 

Sorry he didn’t just start playing last week did he.  United were paying him £7k per week, then he had a million pound transfer to Belgium, how much do you think he got for that, how much do you think we are paying him just now? And if we have offered him £14k per week that’s £700k per year for 3/4 years. Lawrence Shankland will already be a millionaire. He may well need or want want to work in the game after he is finished playing but he will be on a firm financial footing for life easily 
 

someone may well offer him more no debate on that point.  It’s no good to him if we don’t sell and we absolutely should not sell the Scottish Player of the Year, a 30 goal forward, our captain, an international for a sum that would have been low 25 years ago.  
 

 

Edited May 8 by kingantti1874

[jr ewing]

1 hour ago, soonbe110 said:

Hearts can’t, and won’t, pay a 29 year-old enough money to set them  up for life.  Not a chance. Even if we give him £15 pw for 3 years it doesn’t set him up for life.  Gives him a good base of possible investments but not enough to provide for him and family for 40/50 years. That’s why the potential earnings elsewhere blow us out of the water even when we offer £15k pw which is probably more than double anyone currently at  the  club is on. 

He'll be looking for more than that. 

[jr ewing]

1 hour ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

I continue to be surprised at the number of people both A) assuming based on this interview that he's gone, and B). pushing him out the door because of that.

 

The man wants to focus on his football until the season's done, then see if any offers from a dream club come in. There's not a damn thing wrong with that, let him do it. If he gets offers from Porto or Dortmund or Lyon, he'll get to go play in a big league and we'll get paid. If he only gets offers from Millwall and Blackpool and Rangers, he'll come back and sign an extension.

 

And a lot of that will come down to whether he lights it up at the Euros, which he himself admits.

 

Just sit back and let it play out. Stop acting like your crystal ball has already detected what's going to happen.

I think he'll still be here for next season. Not a problem 👌 

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, kingantti1874 said:

Sorry he didn’t just start playing last week did he.  United were paying him £7k per week, then he had a million pound transfer to Belgium, how much do you think he got for that, how much do you think we are paying him just now? And if we have offered him £14k per week that’s £700k per year for 3/4 years. Lawrence Shankland will already be a millionaire. He may well need or want want to work in the game after he is finished playing but he will be on a firm financial footing for life easily 
 

someone may well offer him more no debate on that point.  It’s no good to him if we don’t sell and we absolutely should not sell the Scottish Player of the Year, a 30 goal forward, our captain, an international for a sum that would have been low 25 years ago.  
 

 

Your numbers are way off and you haven’t thought about tax rates. He pays at least half in tax and ni probably.  We are probably paying him  £4-5k pw

He is a great saver if he is a millionaire already because his total take home pay for the last five years, United, Beerschott and us is around £750k and that’s assuming you are right and he has been on £7k pw for those  five years which I doubt.  Living  like a monk if he is a millionaire already. 

[soonbe110]

5 minutes ago, jr ewing said:

He'll be looking for more than that. 

Absolutely, he hears what his Scotland squad team mates earn with championship clubs. 

[kingantti1874]

58 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

Your numbers are way off and you haven’t thought about tax rates. He pays at least half in tax and ni probably.  We are probably paying him  £4-5k pw

He is a great saver if he is a millionaire already because his total take home pay for the last five years, United, Beerschott and us is around £750k and that’s assuming you are right and he has been on £7k pw for those  five years which I doubt.  Living  like a monk if he is a millionaire already. 

believe me I have thought about tax. I think about it every single day in this robbing ******* of a country.  There are ways.  
 

And my numbers aren’t that far off either. We are paying him a lot more than £4/£5k per week, as did beerschot and did Dundee United.  
 

anyway, point is IF we have offers as rumoured he will be a wealthy boy and well placed for life.  
 

and I will never accept that £2m is an acceptable offer.  Only a tinpot club with a tinpot mentality would accept such an offer.  That’s my view and i won’t change it. Last post on here for a while.
 

 

 

[tcjambo]

12 hours ago, soonbe110 said:

What if Aberdeen had won the cup this season? What if they win it next season? The future is all about what ifs. One thing to remember though is that third place isn’t guaranteed group/league stage football in any season after this current one, as it stands. 
Re going in the huff, he would need to be an extraordinary type of guy to not be upset by the opportunity to set himself and family up for life being knocked back.  And if we do that this summer against his wishes he would clearly be signing a pre-contract on Jan 1 and we would get a token fee for him at that time. Potentially passing up on a couple of million for five months football from Shanks - not a good business decision in anyone’s book. 

Realistically, the lack of bids in Jan brought his value in the close season to back to what either arse cheek might offer which could be £2-2.5M. score 4-5 in Euros and that might change.

[kingantti1874]

12 minutes ago, tcjambo said:

Realistically, the lack of bids in Jan brought his value in the close season to back to what either arse cheek might offer which could be £2-2.5M. score 4-5 in Euros and that might change.

what someone might bid, and his value to us are not the same thing. 
 

We don’t need to accept what someone may bid if we believe his value to hearts is higher.  We decide.  
 

and it’s higher than £2m 

 

sorry 🤣 really will vanish this time

[Victorian]

The Shankland value guessing game was always impossible because of his age.  It still is.  It really just depends if someone wants him for 2 or 3 years and isn't remotely interested if they get no residual value.  

 

Our best strategy is to identify and sign a decent prospect to rely upon in the event of a last minute bid before the transfer deadline.  It will be crucial to be in a position of pure choice whether to sell or not.  

[Aussie Jambo]

I honestly think he’s not going anywhere. He’s 28 he’s on the slippery slope and probably got another 7 years left as a  mainstream footballer barring injuries. 
Wouldn’t you want to be a football legend and be remembered like all the Hearts greats? 
We can but dream. 

[Sydney]

This is what we can look forward to:

 

We pay Shanks 14k per week on a 4 year deal, he plays regularly in group stage football in Europe, he plays in Euros and then in the WC and along the way he becomes a legend lifting two trophies as Captain of Hearts.

[Ricardo Quaresma]

17 hours ago, jock _turd said:

 

 

14 hours ago, N Lincs Jambo said:

 

You're spot on about what ifs. If Shankland starts all three games in the Euros and gets the goals which help Scotland qualify out of the group stages for the first time ever then it's conceivable that we could get offers in excess of £10 Million from clubs either down south or abroad who hadn't even considered him before.

 

Then again, he could get no game time (which I think is a far more likely scenario) and everyone outside the Scottish football goldfish bowl shows no interest in him at all. This would ostensibly leave the OF. He's not going to Celtic, Rangers aren't going to pony up £5 Million or so, especially if Clement is still manager, so he stays at Hearts and possibly moves to Ibrox on a free next summer.

 

I would also add that given his current form, it's not 100% guaranteed he makes the squad. I have a feeling that Clarke just doesn't trust him for whatever reason. I hope I'm wrong.

 

That's a common sense post, as opposed to the 2 'shove him out the door to anyone for a 5h1t price including rangers' types above

 

Their 5h1tty price of £2M-£2.5M could be right in one of the multiverses, but it's double that to the weeg in all of them

 

-

Edited May 9 by Ricardo Quaresma

[Ricardo Quaresma]

12 hours ago, N Lincs Jambo said:

Did you read the qualifying scenario mate or did you just see the figure quoted? Can only assume the latter. Fwiw, I don’t think Shanks is even going to get game time at the Euros.

 

Nope, just saw the number 🙃

[gregzy2k7]

6 hours ago, Sydney said:

This is what we can look forward to:

 

We pay Shanks 14k per week on a 4 year deal, he plays regularly in group stage football in Europe, he plays in Euros and then in the WC and along the way he becomes a legend lifting two trophies as Captain of Hearts.

Please tell me one of those 2 trophies is the Scottish premiership title? If not, you're not daring to dream hard enough!! 😏

[XB52]

20 hours ago, soonbe110 said:

What if Aberdeen had won the cup this season? What if they win it next season? The future is all about what ifs. One thing to remember though is that third place isn’t guaranteed group/league stage football in any season after this current one, as it stands. 
Re going in the huff, he would need to be an extraordinary type of guy to not be upset by the opportunity to set himself and family up for life being knocked back.  And if we do that this summer against his wishes he would clearly be signing a pre-contract on Jan 1 and we would get a token fee for him at that time. Potentially passing up on a couple of million for five months football from Shanks - not a good business decision in anyone’s book. 

Group stage for 3rd/Cup winner  is guaranteed next season too. After that it could be years before we get it back, if ever

[Valois No1]

13 hours ago, OTT said:

 

I don't know about that John, One thing the board have shown to be pretty good at is managing the budget in a sensible way. I would be shocked if it jumps to those levels. Staff costs in our 2023/ European money season went up to £15m from £11m the year before. I would expect them to be around that again. Maybe a slight increase with the extra spending the hotel hopefully allows for & maybe from any new commercial deals. 

 

£3m would be a huge leap. Although I'm not ridiculing your post btw!! - I am very keen to see what our turnover ends up being at the end of next season, although I suspect we'll need to wait a wee while for that. I hope we do see a notable increase. It was sore we missed out on 3rd last season, but I think there is a general feeling about what went wrong - failing to secure a Halks replacement to shore up our back line coupled with Aberdeens unprecedented form. 

I am sure this has been debated before but how on earth is our total wage bill 15m? I would assume that the men’s first team takes up the bulk of that but even with a squad of say 24 at 6k a week each (probs not as high as that) is under 8m. Where the hell is the other 7m going. Yes I know we have women’s teams to pay but I’d imagine that would be much less than the men’s. We also have academy players etc. it feels heavy.