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

[Sid]

The better he gets, (and he seems to be getting better with every game), the more difficult it gets to see him being satisfied at Hearts.  
Money aside, every player wants to test themself at the highest level. 
Can Shanks go further? It’s not just the goals tally. He creates a lot of his goals.  He’s scored against the next level (Old Firm, for Scotland, in Europe). I think definately yes. 
If he is offered Old Firm or Premiership, even if we matched wages, he might prefer the challenge elsewhere. If we matched wages against a Championship team, he might decline.  
The question then is, do we sell for a fee in the Summer and use funds to attempt to fill the gap (we won’t replace the goals with one player, so it would be 2 or 3 million pound players - we couldn’t afford salary for a £5m player). Or do we keep him to the contract he signed and get another Season of his magic to watch. 
It’s a difficult call and depends on if anyone comes in (they didn’t in Jan) and how much they offer. A couple of mil won’t allow us to attempt to replace him. A bit more and we need to seriously consider. 
So it’s got to work for both parties. 

[Dallas Green]

20k a week is a lot of money for a club like us but as you say, we sink more than that in every year and I'm sure the vast majority would say, yeah let's give our best player in decades a million a year to stay.

 

I just want him to stay, give him it all!

[Stupid Sexy Flanders]

46 minutes ago, cazzyy said:

 

Aye but preseason friendlies though. 😄

 

What about them?

[Gimme an H...]

I've said it before but an exception can and should be made here. If it's just a case of wages ie he know he can get, lets say, £20k a week somewhere else - then we should be pulling out all of the stops to facilitate that in some way or another.

 

I'm obviously no financial expert but this guy is a once in a generation player for us, it's clicked more than we ever imagined it would and we need to be doing more than we would for any other player to keep him because he isn't just any other player for us. We've waited 30+ years for something even resembling Robbo.

 

We may have already put forward our 'best' offer that would make him the highest paid player this decade but we need to be offering him what HE wants and finding a way of doing that. This is all about taking us to the next level and keeping Shankland skips a few steps in the process of doing that.

 

I can see the bigger picture in a way but things like the hotel...we've managed 150 years without a hotel at our stadium...imagine that money was ploughed into the first team instead - after all, that's what we all stepped up to save when we nearly went under...

[Pingu]

I wonder if the sweetener to get him over the line might be a *relatively* low value release clause. Obviously, that's risky as we could still lose him at any time, but at least we'd know how much we'd be getting.

 

Maybe we could set it at around £6m until he turns 30, then dropping to £4.5m or something like that? Would be painful to lose him at any stage but maybe this is the compromise we'd need to make? 

[kingantti1874]

15 minutes ago, Sid said:

The better he gets, (and he seems to be getting better with every game), the more difficult it gets to see him being satisfied at Hearts.  
Money aside, every player wants to test themself at the highest level. 
Can Shanks go further? It’s not just the goals tally. He creates a lot of his goals.  He’s scored against the next level (Old Firm, for Scotland, in Europe). I think definately yes. 
If he is offered Old Firm or Premiership, even if we matched wages, he might prefer the challenge elsewhere. If we matched wages against a Championship team, he might decline.  
The question then is, do we sell for a fee in the Summer and use funds to attempt to fill the gap (we won’t replace the goals with one player, so it would be 2 or 3 million pound players - we couldn’t afford salary for a £5m player). Or do we keep him to the contract he signed and get another Season of his magic to watch. 
It’s a difficult call and depends on if anyone comes in (they didn’t in Jan) and how much they offer. A couple of mil won’t allow us to attempt to replace him. A bit more and we need to seriously consider. 
So it’s got to work for both parties. 

the better he gets the bigger the fee in the summer should be. Forget the year left if teams want him then it’s going to cost big time 
 

Preferably we just offer him  an  unreal contract which protects the interests of both parties 

Ironically, rangers tie with Sparta may decide if there is another £6.5 m pot at the end of next season.  That will absolutely play into the thinking 

[cazzyy]

7 hours ago, Stupid Sexy Flanders said:

 

Who gives a **** about Scotland?! I'd rather see him score in a pre season friendly for Hearts than at the WC for Scotland. 

 

If we can't sign him up, keep him til his contract runs out. No amount of money can replace him. 

 

2 hours ago, DG_HMFC said:

 

Me, and the thousands of others who will be behind the country this summer.

 

Shankland has to be first choice.

 

51 minutes ago, cazzyy said:

 

Aye but preseason friendlies though. 😄

 

4 minutes ago, Stupid Sexy Flanders said:

 

What about them?

 

Either my sarcasm went over your head or you didn't follow the conversation. Hopefully clearer now. 👍

[Bazzas right boot]

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

I've said it before but an exception can and should be made here. If it's just a case of wages ie he know he can get, lets say, £20k a week somewhere else - then we should be pulling out all of the stops to facilitate that in some way or another.

 

I'm obviously no financial expert but this guy is a once in a generation player for us, it's clicked more than we ever imagined it would and we need to be doing more than we would for any other player to keep him because he isn't just any other player for us. We've waited 30+ years for something even resembling Robbo.

 

We may have already put forward our 'best' offer that would make him the highest paid player this decade but we need to be offering him what HE wants and finding a way of doing that. This is all about taking us to the next level and keeping Shankland skips a few steps in the process of doing that.

 

I can see the bigger picture in a way but things like the hotel...we've managed 150 years without a hotel at our stadium...imagine that money was ploughed into the first team instead - after all, that's what we all stepped up to save when we nearly went under...

 

Strange last paragraph.

 

Expanding the commercial side of the business generates more money to then invest in the football side.

 

 

Edited February 8 by Bazzas right boot

[Gimme an H...]

8 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Strange last paragraph.

 

Expanding the commercial side of the business generates more money to then invest in the football side.

 

 

 

Don't try and make the last paragraph into something it isn't - it literally starts with "I can see the bigger picture".

[Mister Dee]

If I was a director, I’d be looking into a plan where he’s offered a huge signing on fee -say £1M, a salary of £20K a week. (Over £1M per year). 5 year contract? 

Insert a release clause of £7-10M, & if he leaves we get a huge windfall  -but if he stays we have a striker capable of scoring 20-30 goals every season.  
If he doesn’t want to sign that, then we can do no more. 

I get that the big money is down south & he may be aiming for that -Ginellys will have reminded him of the big salaries (£20K+) available from lower English Championship teams.  
This deal could be financed by money from European football next season -or a generous benefactor! 
Shanks is a once in a generation goal scorer, and as a Club we need to have a long hard discussion about whether we push the boat out for him, or accept his inevitable departure. 

 

[OTT]

15 minutes ago, Mister Dee said:

If I was a director, I’d be looking into a plan where he’s offered a huge signing on fee -say £1M, a salary of £20K a week. (Over £1M per year). 5 year contract? 

Insert a release clause of £7-10M, & if he leaves we get a huge windfall  -but if he stays we have a striker capable of scoring 20-30 goals every season.  
If he doesn’t want to sign that, then we can do no more. 

I get that the big money is down south & he may be aiming for that -Ginellys will have reminded him of the big salaries (£20K+) available from lower English Championship teams.  
This deal could be financed by money from European football next season -or a generous benefactor! 
Shanks is a once in a generation goal scorer, and as a Club we need to have a long hard discussion about whether we push the boat out for him, or accept his inevitable departure. 

 

 

Agree that the club need to figure out some sort of plan that keeps him. 

 

I think a simple starting point re the signing on fee would be to try and figure out how much we'd spend (failing) to replace him. Would have no issue if the club gave him a signing on fee of £500k - maybe more, given this is generally the transfer fee that goes for players teams our size generally pay - thinking Kio, Miovski at Aberdeen, Vente at Hibs.. 

 

I wonder if he'd be open to £15k pw. Thats £780k pa which is still a huge part of our turnover however, Naismith keeps talking about wanting to work with a smaller squad, when you clear out guys like Halliday, Haring, Sibbick, Tagawa who aren't really productive members of the first team squad, you probably open up a decent chunk of the wage budget. 

 

If FOH funds and benefactor money could be directed at his wage too, I think opening up the space in the budget to pay these wages is doable. Especially with Europe (assuming top 3 win the Scottish cup). Obviously it would break the wage structure, probably a few times over, but I challenge any player to argue against it. In Shankland they have a player that is largely single handedly wining them bonuses week in week out. Acknowledging how pivotal he is, I think is really important and giving him that bumper contract 100% needs to happen. 

Edited February 8 by OTT

[Percival King]

1 hour ago, gregzy2k7 said:

Would be worth every penny. I geniunely wonder if fans could do a separate donation outside of foh and put to the club to just l put towards his wages in order to keep him? 

Everyone would make their own choice but wouldn't it be a crazy world that folk who earn £20k or £30k or £40k or whatever a year,  pay hundreds of pounds a year to Hearts for a season ticket, pay hundreds of pounds a year to FoH, would then pay a £20 a month, or whatever, during a cost of living crisis so that we can pay a player around £1m per year. And I wonder what would happen to these donations if he got injured or his form dipped.

[johnking123]

This where you could use FOH money.  Hearts pay one half. Foundation the other.

[Mister Dee]

1 minute ago, OTT said:

 

Agree that the club need to figure out some sort of plan that keeps him. 

 

I think a simple starting point re the signing on fee would be to try and figure out how much we'd spend (failing) to replace him. Would have no issue if the club gave him a signing on fee of £500k - maybe more, given this is generally the transfer fee that goes for players teams our size generally pay - thinking Kio, Miovski at Aberdeen, Vente at Hibs.. 

 

I wonder if he'd be open to £15k pw. Thats £780k pa which is still a huge part of our turnover however, Naismith keeps talking about wanting to work with a smaller squad, when you clear out guys like Halliday, Haring, Sibbick, Tagawa who aren't really productive members of the first team squad, you probably open up a decent chunk of the wage budget. 

 

If FOH funds and benefactor money could be directed at his wage too, I think opening up the space in the budget to pay these wages is doable. Especially with Europe (assuming top 3 win the Scottish cup). Obviously it would break the wage structure, probably a few times over, but I challenge any player to argue against it. In Shankland they have a player that is largely single handedly wining them bonuses week in week out. Acknowledging how pivotal he is, I think is really important and giving him that bumper contract 100% needs to happen. 

The Club have to make the effort to see if he can be persuaded to stay. 
His goals this season are the difference between us being third & mid table. 
There are issues with other players signing for us if he does get a huge salary, but it is performance related. 
Maybe a deal with a huge bonus from European football? We have to explore any and every possibility to offer him. 

Losing him to Rangers in the Summer for £1-2M would be hard to take. 
 

[Gimme an H...]

I've also said this before but if it becomes clear that he won't sign no matter what we offer (which I doubt would be the case) we absolutely need to be keeping him until his contract expires. That's not as a punishment, that's simply because he is worth more to us over the next 18 months than he would be if we were to sell for the £4m or £5m that's been quoted.

 

We get Europe this season that's £5m, we get Europe next season, with his goals, another £5m.

[OTT]

47 minutes ago, Mister Dee said:

The Club have to make the effort to see if he can be persuaded to stay. 
His goals this season are the difference between us being third & mid table. 
There are issues with other players signing for us if he does get a huge salary, but it is performance related. 
Maybe a deal with a huge bonus from European football? We have to explore any and every possibility to offer him. 

Losing him to Rangers in the Summer for £1-2M would be hard to take. 
 

 

The board would not survive the scenario in bold. Even if toys were chucked out the pram, the rage would be unfathomable. Yes, he might sign on a pre-contract there next January, but we don't even know if they want him.. Scottish transfer record if there is interest from the OF - otherwise, keep him to contract end. If his agents advised him not to sign, then IMO thats bad advice. Rather a bird in hand, than 2 in the bush. If he could get an extended deal with a release clause of £3.5-4m thats good business from both perspectives. He protects his future and isn't held here to an unreasonable transfer demand. Christ, we should offer to backdate his pay to the start of the season too (with another deadline). See how good a deal we can put together. 

 

Would like to try and flip the tables on his agent and get him asking why they're not saying sign. 

 

Don't know if anyone else is getting a wee bit worried we might have a Scott Severin type situation quietly building (agent whispering about the grass being greener). The lack of interest in him over January was startling... not even an enquiry. Even if clubs knew we weren't interested in selling, sticking £2m bid in and seeing what would happen surely could have been expected... ? 

[Gimme an H...]

1 hour ago, Mister Dee said:

The Club have to make the effort to see if he can be persuaded to stay. 
His goals this season are the difference between us being third & mid table. 
There are issues with other players signing for us if he does get a huge salary, but it is performance related. 
Maybe a deal with a huge bonus from European football? We have to explore any and every possibility to offer him. 

Losing him to Rangers in the Summer for £1-2M would be hard to take. 
 

 

Losing him to Rangers would be a horrendous decision given our ambitions of reaching the next level.

 

Losing him to Rangers for anything less than £5m would be unforgiveable. There should be a percentage added on to our asking price for the OF.

 

Like I say though, if he doesn't want to sign an extension we should be keeping him for the next 18 months.

[CloustonHMFC]

To think there is people in this thread willing him out the door for 2/3million in the summer. He is worth his weight in gold to us. We should not sell unless its an exceptional bit, conversations start at 5mil minimum. I don't care if no team pays, its about his worth to us not what others want to pay.

[Drylaw Hearts]

Shankland is proving to be worth about 4 or 5 players wages. We’ve paid players like Halliday, Haring, McGovern and Tagiwa and they’ve done next to nothing.

 

We could afford £15k a week plus.

 

 

[dumpson]

I sincerely hope given the form that he’s in that he is looking further afield than Glasgow. 
 

There must be clubs from all over keeping an eye on the situation. 

[JimmyCant]

All these fantasies about £15k-£20k a week for 5 years. Blah Blah Blah.

 

We are NEVER paying that amount for a player 

 

I don’t think think he’ll sign another contract. That leaves 2 possible scenarios 

 

1. we cash in this summer

2. we hold him to contract till the summer after that.

 

Replacing Shanklands goals with one player looks next to impossible with our budget. We got lucky with him and a gamble paid off. However there isn’t any good reason why we couldn’t find 2 players to produce around the same number of goals

[Gimme an H...]

20 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

All these fantasies about £15k-£20k a week for 5 years. Blah Blah Blah.

 

We are NEVER paying that amount for a player 

 

I don’t think think he’ll sign another contract. That leaves 2 possible scenarios 

 

1. we cash in this summer

2. we hold him to contract till the summer after that.

 

Replacing Shanklands goals with one player looks next to impossible with our budget. We got lucky with him and a gamble paid off. However there isn’t any good reason why we couldn’t find 2 players to produce around the same number of goals

 

 

We've not managed to find one or two players with double figures in goals since Rudi/Hartley 18 years ago. I don't fancy Savage to find another two of those. That's a good enough reason to do something financially (again, I'm not an expert) but there must be something we can do to push the boat out. Shankland should be an exception if we want to get to the next level.

[JimmyCant]

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

 

 

We've not managed to find one or two players with double figures in goals since Rudi/Hartley 18 years ago. I don't fancy Savage to find another two of those. That's a good enough reason to do something financially (again, I'm not an expert) but there must be something we can do to push the boat out. Shankland should be an exception if we want to get to the next level.

I reckon Bair would comfortably get double figures in our team. A few others worth a look too. Bakayoko maybe.

 

I’ll say it again though. We are NOT going to pay Shankland £15-20k a week so sooner or later a going forward solution will have to be found

 

McKinley shat himself when he found out we had offered Souttar £8k. No danger on double that for Shankland, especially with a dwindling resale value due to his age 

Edited February 8 by JimmyCant

[Shrekeo]

My prediction based on zero facts, evidence or inside knowledge is he leaves in the summer.

 

His move doesn’t quite work out, as he performs best as the main man and when he is adored by fans. Any move he makes will dilute these factors. 

 

He returns to us in 12-18 months and sees out the rest of his career here.

[TexasAndy]

I think we need to consider that this might not just be about money and that Shankland might be thinking he wants a punt at a club with a higher chance of winning trophies.  If he doesn't sign I would keep him through the rest of his contract unless a big offer comes in.  That would take him to 30 and arguably we will have had his peak years.  We survived before he came and we will survive when he leaves but let's just enjoy the moment.

[Berrassobad]

So much talk of a Shankland mega deal ..............."give him anything" comments.

REALITY CHECK

If we did the wages budget would be fekked for the whole team for years to come.........

Shanks does his achilles as an eg........wheres the goals coming from now ? oops weve no cash for a decent loan replacement

 

FFS we wont even pay for our recent precontract player.

Hes had 2 offers - presumably very good and affordable - end of

[kingantti1874]

Just now, Berrassobad said:

So much talk of a Shankland mega deal ..............."give him anything" comments.

REALITY CHECK

If we did the wages budget would be fekked for the whole team for years to come.........

Shanks does his achilles as an eg........wheres the goals coming from now ? oops weve no cash for a decent loan replacement

 

FFS we wont even pay for our recent precontract player.

Hes had 2 offers - presumably very good and affordable - end of

the budget wouldn’t be ****ed for years to come. Out last reported wage budge was £15.4m and is set to increase again.

 

as for the injury arguement. Can happen to any player at any time.  We could sign 2 replacements for £750k each and 8k per week each and they may both be as effective as Tagawa or get injured.

 

at some point we have to be brave and roll the dice.  Shanks can take us to a new level. **** accepting mediocrity becuase we are scared 

[Gimme an H...]

1 minute ago, kingantti1874 said:

the budget wouldn’t be ****ed for years to come. Out last reported wage budge was £15.4m and is set to increase again.

 

as for the injury arguement. Can happen to any player at any time.  We could sign 2 replacements for £750k each and 8k per week each and they may both be as effective as Tagawa or get injured.

 

at some point we have to be brave and roll the dice.  Shanks can take us to a new level. **** accepting mediocrity becuase we are scared 

 

Finally someone gets it.

 

Too many bed-shitters that will just accept third place as that's the highest we've ever gotten in recent memory (bar one season 18 year ago).

 

If we are serious about going to the next level, Shanks is it.

[ducatiboy]

Can speculate all we want about the financial side of things, however I suspect he wants some silverware in his cabinet before too long, I’m sure that will come into his thinking, will he get that at Hearts? Let’s hope so….

[GBJambo]

10 minutes ago, Berrassobad said:

So much talk of a Shankland mega deal ..............."give him anything" comments.

REALITY CHECK

If we did the wages budget would be fekked for the whole team for years to come.........

Shanks does his achilles as an eg........wheres the goals coming from now ? oops weve no cash for a decent loan replacement

 

FFS we wont even pay for our recent precontract player.

Hes had 2 offers - presumably very good and affordable - end of

And that’s why we will never progress and reach the next level 

[JimmyCant]

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

 

Finally someone gets it.

 

Too many bed-shitters that will just accept third place as that's the highest we've ever gotten in recent memory (bar one season 18 year ago).

 

If we are serious about going to the next level, Shanks is it.

Shankland didn’t take us to the next level last season. He won’t take us to the next level this season. He won’t take us to the next level the season after.

 

John Robertson didn’t take us to the next level. We haven’t been next level since the late 1950’s and we’re not going back there unless the OF collapse or leave simultaneously 

 

Whats the next level you’re talking about anyway ? Can you achieve next level with one player on £15k a week and most of the rest on £4k ? Or do you need half a dozen more on £10k to £15k ?

 

Remind me what happened the last time we thought spending exorbitant sums would take us to the next level ?

Edited February 8 by JimmyCant

[RobNox]

5 hours ago, Forrest said:

If Shanks is prepared to stay at £20k pw, I genuinely think we need to find a way to pay him that. 

 

FOH contributes around £30k per week to the club, we could look to re-prioritise where that money is going.  Or we could divert the takings from the hotel into his wage packet.  Or we could set up a crowd funding type appeal, get 10,000 fans to commit £1 per week and the club will match that total.  Or apply a Lawrence Shankland surtax to ST prices.  Or have Lawrence Shankland bucket collectors out in force every home game.  Where there's a will, there's a way.

 

[Threedoorsdown]

2 hours ago, Mister Dee said:

If I was a director, I’d be looking into a plan where he’s offered a huge signing on fee -say £1M, a salary of £20K a week. (Over £1M per year). 5 year contract? 

Insert a release clause of £7-10M, & if he leaves we get a huge windfall  -but if he stays we have a striker capable of scoring 20-30 goals every season.  
If he doesn’t want to sign that, then we can do no more. 

I get that the big money is down south & he may be aiming for that -Ginellys will have reminded him of the big salaries (£20K+) available from lower English Championship teams.  
This deal could be financed by money from European football next season -or a generous benefactor! 
Shanks is a once in a generation goal scorer, and as a Club we need to have a long hard discussion about whether we push the boat out for him, or accept his inevitable departure. 

 

I’m glad your not a director 😂

 

Do you know much revenue we need to generate in order to be able to pay £1m in capex expenditure?  Even if we spread the payments that’s a huge risk.
 

We are in a great position, so is Lawrence. The reality is, nobody needs to do a thing. Shankland will be on the plane with Scotland in the summer which will generate revenue. I would say he’s also one of the most marketable assets in Scottish football just now. This will also generate significant interest from sponsors and our media partners, even down to little things like which cup games get picked for TV.

 

People say they see the bigger picture but often don’t. We haven’t had too many true footballing heroes in modern times at the club, we have one. Stuff the money. 

Edited February 8 by Threedoorsdown

[BigAlim]

3 minutes ago, RobNox said:

FOH contributes around £30k per week to the club, we could look to re-prioritise where that money is going.  Or we could divert the takings from the hotel into his wage packet.  Or we could set up a crowd funding type appeal, get 10,000 fans to commit £1 per week and the club will match that total.  Or apply a Lawrence Shankland surtax to ST prices.  Or have Lawrence Shankland bucket collectors out in force every home game.  Where there's a will, there's a way.

 

We could break into Salvation Army and empty the till like the old days

[RobNox]

Mind when some on here were questioning whether we should be spending £500k on a guy who was unproven at this level (even though we didn't spend anything like that on him)?

[Bazzas right boot]

19 minutes ago, RobNox said:

Mind when some on here were questioning whether we should be spending £500k on a guy who was unproven at this level (even though we didn't spend anything like that on him)?

 

Do you remember in August after a 20 goal season with us he was classed as fat, unfit, slow, uninterested and should be punted!

Edited February 8 by Bazzas right boot

[Bazzas right boot]

55 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

Shankland didn’t take us to the next level last season. He won’t take us to the next level this season. He won’t take us to the next level the season after.

 

John Robertson didn’t take us to the next level. We haven’t been next level since the late 1950’s and we’re not going back there unless the OF collapse or leave simultaneously 

 

Whats the next level you’re talking about anyway ? Can you achieve next level with one player on £15k a week and most of the rest on £4k ? Or do you need half a dozen more on £10k to £15k ?

 

Remind me what happened the last time we thought spending exorbitant sums would take us to the next level ?

 

Our infrastructure and finance is completely different from the "last time".

Also, if we were top of the league - like last time and  playing well. I don't think Budge would sack the manager,  employ a pedophile,  hire a witch doctor, have a boxing match and punch a player or start picking the team.

 

Furthermore, Robbo and that team  did take us to another level.

-From a yo- yo side struggling for survival to a team competing at the top end of the league.

 

Who is saying anything about going back to the 50's?

 

What was the point in posting all that nonsense?

 

 

Edited February 8 by Bazzas right boot

[jambmoz]

I think we are well past the point where he might sign another deal, no matter what we offer it won’t be accepted. We held the aces this window but it’s different from here in. 
only realistic option his to keep him to the contract he signed and wish him well at the end 👍

[kila]

4 hours ago, Gimme an H... said:

I can see the bigger picture in a way but things like the hotel...we've managed 150 years without a hotel at our stadium...imagine that money was ploughed into the first team instead - after all, that's what we all stepped up to save when we nearly went under...

 

The bigger picture is the income from the hotel could fund the likes of Shankland's new contract though 🤷‍♂️

 

The off field commercial activities bring financial stability that'll allow us to invest more heavily into the first team going forward without risk of going bust again.

 

[CloustonHMFC]

5 minutes ago, jambmoz said:

I think we are well past the point where he might sign another deal, no matter what we offer it won’t be accepted. We held the aces this window but it’s different from here in. 
only realistic option his to keep him to the contract he signed and wish him well at the end 👍

No, we hold the aces until summer 2025. Nothing is different until then.

[TexasAndy]

1 hour ago, JimmyCant said:

Shankland didn’t take us to the next level last season. He won’t take us to the next level this season. He won’t take us to the next level the season after.

 

John Robertson didn’t take us to the next level. We haven’t been next level since the late 1950’s and we’re not going back there unless the OF collapse or leave simultaneously 

 

Whats the next level you’re talking about anyway ? Can you achieve next level with one player on £15k a week and most of the rest on £4k ? Or do you need half a dozen more on £10k to £15k ?

 

Remind me what happened the last time we thought spending exorbitant sums would take us to the next level ?

Totally disagree with the bit in bold.  John Robertson was instrumental in taking us from a yoyo relegation team to 7 minutes from the league title.  That is a jump of quite a few levels.

[1874robbo]

2 hours ago, JimmyCant said:

All these fantasies about £15k-£20k a week for 5 years. Blah Blah Blah.

 

We are NEVER paying that amount for a player 

 

I don’t think think he’ll sign another contract. That leaves 2 possible scenarios 

 

1. we cash in this summer

2. we hold him to contract till the summer after that.

 

Replacing Shanklands goals with one player looks next to impossible with our budget. We got lucky with him and a gamble paid off. However there isn’t any good reason why we couldn’t find 2 players to produce around the same number of goals

I’m led to believe the offer he was made was £16k a week but it was declined 

that was from someone linked with Neil McCaan 

[grumpyespana]

My take on the Shankland thing is enjoy him as long as he is here as for a salary we can only give him what we can afford remember the Romanov years. What say we offer him £20 per week what are the rest of the squad going to think they will be wanting a bit more of the pie naw that will not work guys sorry.

[Gorgie_Rules]

Don’t think money is his sole motivation at the moment to be honest. I think looking a potential list of clubs who are willing to pay the fee for him in the summer is taking priority. 
 

He’ll clearly give us his all until then as he wants to be successful for us and make the Euros squad. 
 

He may have some fairly big clubs in for him in the summer, one may be his boyhood club, chance to make serious money abroad, chance to have a crack at winning consistent trophies elsewhere, or again no other club may be willing to pay our fee. 
 

He’ll know fine well he could make a very good living at Hearts for at least the next 5/6 years and become a club legend, but what else may potentially be out there is taking priority just now, or else he would have signed one of our two offers.

 

I suspect we would admit as much if any journalist would ask the question of why he turned them down.

 

 

Edited February 8 by Gorgie_Rules

[A_A wehatethehibs]

4 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Do you remember in August after a 20 goal season with us he was classed as fat, unfit, slow, uninterested and should be punted!

He was 1 of the above, unfit. Folk who know about fitness observed that fact, and then piss taker trolls came up with all the “fat” hyperbole. Folk did not mean he was obese, just a few lb’s over where he needed to be. A small, marginal amount.

 

But those small margins did in fact make a massive difference: He went 7 league games without a goal, including the entire month of September, up until his goals against the OF in defeats at the end of October, after the internationals. It was a 100% valid criticism at the time. It also arguably cost him a possible place in that October Scotland squad. 

[Malinga the Swinga]

43 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Also, if we were top of the league - like last time and  playing well. I don't think Budge would sack the manager,  employ a pedophile,  hire a witch doctor, have a boxing match and punch a player or start picking the team.

Those were the days, madder than a box of frogs they were. She should definitely get witch doctor and magic stick back though.

[pettigrewsstylist]

4 hours ago, johnking123 said:

This where you could use FOH money.  Hearts pay one half. Foundation the other.

I think we may need to seriuosly consider out of box solutions to this. 1978 first season ticket. I have watched plenty Maroon. I wont see his likes again. The club finances wont have a ball and chain on them then. 

I wasnt really in the whatever it takes gang until recently. The derby, the last 2 games alone...this guys needs to be treated as a one off, with appropriate response.

[Bazzas right boot]

42 minutes ago, kila said:

 

The bigger picture is the income from the hotel could fund the likes of Shankland's new contract though 🤷‍♂️

 

The off field commercial activities bring financial stability that'll allow us to invest more heavily into the first team going forward without risk of going bust again.

 

 

 

Or sell Shankland and build more hotels!

 

 

[Drylaw Hearts]

The next level for us is to cement ourselves as the 3rd best and stay there.

[Selkirkhmfc1874]

1 hour ago, kila said:

 

The bigger picture is the income from the hotel could fund the likes of Shankland's new contract though 🤷‍♂️

 

The off field commercial activities bring financial stability that'll allow us to invest more heavily into the first team going forward without risk of going bust again.

 

Whatever Hearts have already offered Shanks plus every FOH member adds just £1 a month and throw it at him for new contract