Hearts will spend more on players

[bairdy]

On 20/03/2024 at 10:56, HoGwash said:

You clearly have no idea what the functions and responsibilities of the board are. Hint - it's not deciding which right back to sign.

 

Despite the sniping, the Hearts board gave done an incredible job in transforming the club off the pitch and generating income which allows us to continually increase our player spend.

 

Undoubtedly there will be decisions that people with disagree with (every decision will have some dissenters), particularly around recruitment of managers but after many decades of supporting Hearts, the club is in the best place it has ever been in my lifetime. This board is unquestionably the best we've had in the last 70 years.

Absolutely agree with this. I've been following Hearts for 60 odd years, and most of them ran us like an 'old boys club.' Couldn't be happier with the way things are just now.

[Ex member of the SaS]

5 hours ago, Jim Panzee said:

Never suggested the board pick the players to sign: Correct - so why suggest removing the board for something they have no control over?

 

"BUT they have to make funds available for the manager. " - er.....they have. See Shankland, Kio, Hoff and McEneff - not to mention wages to bring in other players. Are you perhaps suggesting the board have indirect responsibility for poor (or non) signings if they don't work out (because they'd hired the wrong coaches / sporting director who bring players in)??

 

 

FFS follow the thread before jumping in. It was suggested that no new players would be signed this summer window. I pointed out we are and always have been short in at least two areas that need redressed quickly, Ie THIS summer window. I stated that the board have to make funds available for the manager to fill these areas. Therefore we need to sign players that can play in these position. IF the board do not make funds available then they are not doing their job.

I never once suggested the board have anything to do with signing players, and the whole board resigning was with the caveat that IF a BIG IF funds are not be available to sign players this window.

[busbyfth]

3 hours ago, Chimp said:

 

That doesn't mean that at all. Hearts haven't said they would accept anything like that and we aren't in a position where we need to sell. 

when a player is sold with 1 year left on contract this usually means it will be for 50-60% of his actual worth.....of course I hope he stays but he will either leave  in July or play out his contract for another season and go to exRangers  for nowt. its reality. 

[Jim Panzee]

1 hour ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

FFS follow the thread before jumping in. It was suggested that no new players would be signed this summer window. I pointed out we are and always have been short in at least two areas that need redressed quickly, Ie THIS summer window. I stated that the board have to make funds available for the manager to fill these areas. Therefore we need to sign players that can play in these position. IF the board do not make funds available then they are not doing their job.

I never once suggested the board have anything to do with signing players, and the whole board resigning was with the caveat that IF a BIG IF funds are not be available to sign players this window.

I have thanks.

 

your initial reply was in response to another poster interpreting this from the article:  "Ann says next year (for signing players?) so not this close season then?"

 

you posted: "If we don't fill obvious gaps in our team this summer then the board should step down."

 

It's only after several other posters pointed out the board don't search for recruit / sign players - that you subsequently posted:

 

"Never suggested the board pick the players to sign, BUT they have to make funds available for the manager."

and also 

"Already replied to a similar post, The board have to make funds available and I replied to someone posting we would not be signing in the summer window. "

 

So perhaps a better first response from yourself could've been ""If the board don't provide funds to sign players to try and fill obvious gaps in our team this summer then they should step down." ??

 

 

 

but then that's a bit of an obvious / strange statement? Given the board haven't refused funding in the last 10 years and constantly talk about increasing income from off the field activities to spend on........players.

 

 

 

[Clerry Jambo]

2 pre contracts already good to get business done

 

I expect a few bids for our players this summer shanks cochrane Kingsley maybe others, interesting period coming up.

[BelgeJambo]

Anybody ever think that one day we might just buy a player for more than 1 million?

 

Not saying we have too. When you see the two uglies spending several millions and then the EPL off the planet.

 

I don’t  think it will happen in my lifetime.

[FarmerTweedy]

8 hours ago, RustyRightPeg said:

 

Thing is, £93M or whatever it was for Kane is mental. £5/6M for Shankland based on the difference in finances between the two leagues, as stupid as it sounds is our equivalent of it. We go then and spend >£1M on a striker coming in the door, plus a bit more than we usually would on other positions, shows a real sign of intent.

 

With Naismith in charge, he has a better eye for a player IMO than Robbie, giving him funds to spend is less of a risk. I'm confident he'd be able to sign off on better replacements coming in. 

I don't really disagree with any of this. I'd be extremely surprised if the board didn't accept £5/6m if we were offered it, and if it happened, I'd agree with the decision*, although I'd be a bit sad to see him go. Again though, the poster you originally replied to talked about us being offered pennies, and I doubt he had £5/6m in mind as being pennies!

 

* Assuming, of course, that Shankland hasn't had a change of mind before then and signed a new, long-term contract with us!

[Smithian]

4 hours ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

 

I don't disagree with any of this, and meant to highlight the issue of transfer fees but only ended up mentioning it in passing. Clearly we are in a different universe from PSV when it comes to paying fees, and as mentioned while I can't find evidence, my guess is that £21m is a net pay and that the gross pay equivalent would be closer to £40m. However the link above that shows how many Big 5 mid-table teams are paying roughly the same as us in gross wages, particularly in La Liga, Ligue 1, and the Bundesliga.

 

The thrust of my post though was that our wage bills are at a level where it's entirely reasonable for us to start to be able to compete at the Conf league and possibly even Europa groups level without embarrassing ourselves. We've had two straight years getting pretty brutal draws, one where the eventual runner-up was the second seed and second-place finisher in our group, another where our playoff round opponent just eased comfortably into the quarterfinals.

 

It shouldn't be a controversial statement that our player trading revenue hasn't been up to where it could be, as we've been easily outdone on that front by Hibs and Aberdeen in recent times, despite having emphatically better squads than them for the past two seasons. I do think we'll start to see that change over the next season or two, which will in turn allow us to up our spends on player fees a bit more. If we can keep making European groups, keep slowly increasing our transfer turnover, and so forth, we can get to a point where we can contemplate spending £1-2m on a transfer fee without being flabbergasted.

I do agree we now have enough on hand that Hearts should be able to compete in League phase of Europa League, and compete well in Conference. I also think next season Hearts should gamble and prioritize European play over league phase under hope they can turn it on and make up ground in the second half if needed be.

 

I do think Hearts wage should be getting to point we can comfortably outbid most League 1 cubs and put up a contract fight against bottom half Championship sides.

 

If Braga can make runs in Europe, Hearts should be able to aim for that.

[indianajones]

1 hour ago, BelgeJambo said:

Anybody ever think that one day we might just buy a player for more than 1 million?

 

Not saying we have too. When you see the two uglies spending several millions and then the EPL off the planet.

 

I don’t  think it will happen in my lifetime.

 

I fecking hope so.

 

Only to remove the 'Bosnian Bullet' from the record books. 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

3 minutes ago, Smithian said:

I do agree we now have enough on hand that Hearts should be able to compete in League phase of Europa League, and compete well in Conference. I also think next season Hearts should gamble and prioritize European play over league phase under hope they can turn it on and make up ground in the second half if needed be.

 

I do think Hearts wage should be getting to point we can comfortably outbid most League 1 cubs and put up a contract fight against bottom half Championship sides.

 

If Braga can make runs in Europe, Hearts should be able to aim for that.

 

I agree fully except that we should gamble about league play. It's still the bread and butter. I see our bevvy of signings today as being part of underwriting that a bit, growing our squad in numbers to the point that we can do a little bit of squad rotation to manage Europe without losing too much in the league.

 

Whatever, at this point we can't hit our European games with a "just happy to be here" attitude. Last season that was forgiveable, we hadn't faced that level of opponents since Liverpool and Spurs. This season we hit a well-resourced and coherent team that's out for business in Europe and we had a rookie manager who was still finding his way. Next season we need to really aim to make some noise if we can.

[1971fozzy]

Armstrong pretty please

[FarmerTweedy]

On 20/03/2024 at 20:13, Watt-Zeefuik said:

These numbers are always partially guesses but it's important to note that as we slowly start to push up into the £12-15m range in terms of wage bill, by these estimates we're actually on bigger wages than some of the lower teams in the "Big 5" European leagues. Just on wages alone we'd have a better than average shot of staying in La Liga.

 

https://fbref.com/en/comps/Big5/wages/Big-5-European-Leagues-Wages

 

I'm frankly still dubious, but everything I can find about PSV Eindhoven's wage bill has it at around £21-22m/year, and with that they're undefeated in Eridivisie and qualified for the knockout rounds of the CL.

 

https://salarysport.com/football/eredivisie/psv-eindhoven/

 

I have to believe that PSV number is net wages rather than gross, but the top link insists the wages are gross.

 

Folk will seize that and say we should be able to achieve similar levels, and I'll just say that having those wages for one year won't get you there, but stability of that wage bill year over year, combined with player trading (which becomes the ability to spend money on player fees) should allow us to improve year over year in Europe and make a decent accounting of ourselves.

I'll start by saying I've got no idea how reliable and accurate any of the figures in these links actually are - as Albert Einstein famously said, don't believe everything you read on the internet!

 

Going on the basis that they are at least ballpark correct, I think it's worth cautioning against the possibility of comparing apples with oranges.  That £21.6m wage bill for PSV is playing staff only.  I suspect it's only basic salary for each player too, not including any bonuses, given that the quoted annual salaries are 52x the quoted weekly wages.  Our latest annual report shows total wages and salaries of £13.8m, which is all salaries, bonuses, etc for everyone employed by the club, from CEO, manager, etc, to staff in the shop and ticket office, including the women's team.  I can only make a best guess, but I reckon the comparable basic salary figure for the male playing staff would probably be a little less than half of our total wage costs figure, probably somewhere in the region of £5-6m. 

 

Regarding the figures in the other link, (worth noting that A LOT of them are admitted as being estimated), again I think it's probably only basic wages for playing staff, and every one of them is higher than I estimate ours to be!

 

In addition to the higher wage budgets these clubs have, I think there are a couple of other significant advantages they have over us. Firstly, I reckon their leagues are generally more appealing to play in, so even if we could manage to offer a similar wage to a signing target as, say, one of the smaller Ligue 1 or La Liga clubs could, I think we'd have a very hard time persuading the player that playing for us in Scotland would be preferable to playing in Spain or France for the same money, even if they'd be likely to be battling relegation there!  Secondly, I think these clubs will generally benefit from a much stronger quality of youth players coming through their ranks. That's not meant as a dig at our own academy, but rather a concern about overall youth development in Scotland compared to many other countries. I'm quite optimistic about some of the young players coming through our academy just now, but I suspect most of them aren't going to be of the calibre of the best youth players coming through at these clubs, or at other smaller clubs in their countries that these clubs can pick up relatively cheaply.  That quality of youth gives these clubs a big advantage in terms of a base level of quality which the players they then sign can build on. The base level our youth players can give us would, I expect, be substantially lower. As I say, this isn't a dig at our academy, and I think discussion of why this situation is as it is, or even whether my view on this is right or not, is probably for another thread!

 

There's probably also (sorry to go on a bit!) a question over the relevance of a lot of these figures. We're unlikely to be facing the 16th or 17th ranked Spanish or French clubs in European qualifying rounds, more likely the 6th or 7th ranked, or the 3rd or 4th from countries like Switzerland, Poland, Greece, etc. How their clubs compare financially is probably more relevant! 

[OTT]

1 hour ago, 1971fozzy said:

Armstrong pretty please

 

Or McCowan. 

 

Although, if we got both I'm doing cartwheels  

 

 

[FarmerTweedy]

6 hours ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

FFS follow the thread before jumping in. It was suggested that no new players would be signed this summer window. I pointed out we are and always have been short in at least two areas that need redressed quickly, Ie THIS summer window. I stated that the board have to make funds available for the manager to fill these areas. Therefore we need to sign players that can play in these position. IF the board do not make funds available then they are not doing their job.

I never once suggested the board have anything to do with signing players, and the whole board resigning was with the caveat that IF a BIG IF funds are not be available to sign players this window.

The above is revisionist bollocks.  Here's the garbage you actually slavered:

 

Quote

If we don't fill obvious gaps in our team this summer then the board should step down.

 

No caveats of any sort. Nothing about whether funds were released. 

[FarmerTweedy]

3 hours ago, Clerry Jambo said:

2 pre contracts already good to get business done

 

I expect a few bids for our players this summer shanks cochrane Kingsley maybe others, interesting period coming up.

Dhanda obviously widely reported, but who is the other?  I'm sure I've heard mention of someone else but can't remember who!  🙄

[FarmerTweedy]

3 hours ago, BelgeJambo said:

Anybody ever think that one day we might just buy a player for more than 1 million?

 

Not saying we have too. When you see the two uglies spending several millions and then the EPL off the planet.

 

I don’t  think it will happen in my lifetime.

It's a virtual certainty that we will, eventually. Of course, a million might not get you much more than a couple of pints of milk and a loaf of bread of dubious nutritional quality at the supermarket by then, but it'll happen! 

 

I actually think it might not be that far off if we can get another couple of seasons of group stage European football and the money it brings, more so if we happen to manage one or two player sales for serious money as well! 

[boag1874]

3 hours ago, BelgeJambo said:

Anybody ever think that one day we might just buy a player for more than 1 million?

 

Not saying we have too. When you see the two uglies spending several millions and then the EPL off the planet.

 

I don’t  think it will happen in my lifetime.

I think we will. £1m in football what it used to be even 5 years ago. As turnover increases so will our player budget 

[FarmerTweedy]

1 hour ago, Smithian said:

I do agree we now have enough on hand that Hearts should be able to compete in League phase of Europa League, and compete well in Conference. I also think next season Hearts should gamble and prioritize European play over league phase under hope they can turn it on and make up ground in the second half if needed be.

 

I do think Hearts wage should be getting to point we can comfortably outbid most League 1 cubs and put up a contract fight against bottom half Championship sides.

 

If Braga can make runs in Europe, Hearts should be able to aim for that.

As ever, I can't speak to the accuracy, but the following link shows Braga having a squad of 24 players earning basic salary of over €16m between them.  That's way, way above us.

[Fort Vallance]

12 minutes ago, FarmerTweedy said:

Dhanda obviously widely reported, but who is the other?  I'm sure I've heard mention of someone else but can't remember who!  🙄

Penrice and Spittall.

[Bazzas right boot]

38 minutes ago, FarmerTweedy said:

As ever, I can't speak to the accuracy, but the following link shows Braga having a squad of 24 players earning basic salary of over €16m between them.  That's way, way above us.

 

Yip, average wage showing E13k and highest E44k.

 

 

Probably shows that the £10-£15k ish  is the area for next level type of player.

 

 

[Ricardo Quaresma]

46 minutes ago, FarmerTweedy said:

As ever, I can't speak to the accuracy, but the following link shows Braga having a squad of 24 players earning basic salary of over €16m between them.  That's way, way above us.

 

Our £15.5M figure is including all staff, too, isn't it?

 

Reckon about £9M or £10M for 1st Team

[colinmaroon]

14 hours ago, FarmerTweedy said:

Swap deal with Shankland going to the Gunners, you think?

 

That would be miraculous!!!

 

 

[SomethingAboutObua]

3 hours ago, Smithian said:

I do agree we now have enough on hand that Hearts should be able to compete in League phase of Europa League, and compete well in Conference. I also think next season Hearts should gamble and prioritize European play over league phase under hope they can turn it on and make up ground in the second half if needed be.

 

I do think Hearts wage should be getting to point we can comfortably outbid most League 1 cubs and put up a contract fight against bottom half Championship sides.

 

If Braga can make runs in Europe, Hearts should be able to aim for that.

Cant compare ourselves to Braga, their main investor is Qatar 

[Smithian]

51 minutes ago, SomethingAboutObua said:

Cant compare ourselves to Braga, their main investor is Qatar 

That I did not know. Poor comparison. State owned clubs get less credit from me.

[DG_HMFC]

On 20/03/2024 at 10:56, HoGwash said:

You clearly have no idea what the functions and responsibilities of the board are. Hint - it's not deciding which right back to sign.

 

Despite the sniping, the Hearts board gave done an incredible job in transforming the club off the pitch and generating income which allows us to continually increase our player spend.

 

Undoubtedly there will be decisions that people with disagree with (every decision will have some dissenters), particularly around recruitment of managers but after many decades of supporting Hearts, the club is in the best place it has ever been in my lifetime. This board is unquestionably the best we've had in the last 70 years.

 

Without doubt.

[Chimp]

16 hours ago, busbyfth said:

when a player is sold with 1 year left on contract this usually means it will be for 50-60% of his actual worth.....of course I hope he stays but he will either leave  in July or play out his contract for another season and go to exRangers  for nowt. its reality. 

 

Hearts are in a position now financially where we don't have to accept lowball offers anymore. You're stating that he'll go for 2-3M like it's a fact. If it's a clubs best player it doesn't always mean you can get them for around half price.

 

I'm confident the club would rather have Shankland for another season than a couple of million in the bank. He could make us more in Europe alone.

[busbyfth]

2 hours ago, Chimp said:

 

Hearts are in a position now financially where we don't have to accept lowball offers anymore. You're stating that he'll go for 2-3M like it's a fact. If it's a clubs best player it doesn't always mean you can get them for around half price.

 

I'm confident the club would rather have Shankland for another season than a couple of million in the bank. He could make us more in Europe alone.

agreed re keeping him - thats why to me its 50/50 whether he goes for the usual cut price last year of contact discount or stays to see out his final year. Players have far more say in what happens than they used to (or rather their agent swami/guru partially does) AND its exRangers way to get inside a players head and get him on the cheap or free, as they wont pay big bucks for "unfashionable" SPFL players...,.,.,which has been alluded to by the press and ex players. That rancid Weegie club has used this ploy for decades - successfully with Hearts players as well. eg Souttar/Velicka/Webster/Ritchie/McCann

[i wish jj was my dad]

21 hours ago, Jim Panzee said:

I have thanks.

 

your initial reply was in response to another poster interpreting this from the article:  "Ann says next year (for signing players?) so not this close season then?"

 

you posted: "If we don't fill obvious gaps in our team this summer then the board should step down."

 

It's only after several other posters pointed out the board don't search for recruit / sign players - that you subsequently posted:

 

"Never suggested the board pick the players to sign, BUT they have to make funds available for the manager."

and also 

"Already replied to a similar post, The board have to make funds available and I replied to someone posting we would not be signing in the summer window. "

 

So perhaps a better first response from yourself could've been ""If the board don't provide funds to sign players to try and fill obvious gaps in our team this summer then they should step down." ??

 

 

 

but then that's a bit of an obvious / strange statement? Given the board haven't refused funding in the last 10 years and constantly talk about increasing income from off the field activities to spend on........players.

 

 

 

The point that perplexes me most is the suggestion that any manager post admin hasn't been backed. I don't think Robbie, Levein, Cathro, Stendl or Naisy can complain about not being backed. If anything Cathro and Levein were given more support than was wise. 

Not specific to the guy quoted who probably realises he made a horlicks of it but the board have also being building up infrastructure and revenue streams over the last 10 years - probably more so than any other Scottish club and still managed to give very good financial support to the first team. That deserves enormous credit IMO and it now looks like we are seeing more of that increased income being directed towards the first team. 

What's not to like about that? 

[Jim Panzee]

16 minutes ago, i wish jj was my dad said:

The point that perplexes me most is the suggestion that any manager post admin hasn't been backed. I don't think Robbie, Levein, Cathro, Stendl or Naisy can complain about not being backed. If anything Cathro and Levein were given more support than was wise. 

Not specific to the guy quoted who probably realises he made a horlicks of it but the board have also being building up infrastructure and revenue streams over the last 10 years - probably more so than any other Scottish club and still managed to give very good financial support to the first team. That deserves enormous credit IMO and it now looks like we are seeing more of that increased income being directed towards the first team. 

What's not to like about that? 

👍

[jr ewing]

Cheaper to hold on to Beni than paying for his replacement. 

[Debut 4]

19 hours ago, 1971fozzy said:

Armstrong pretty please

A player in the mould of Naismith attitude wise. Snappy, gritty, never lets you rest. 

[pettigrewsstylist]

On 21/03/2024 at 16:13, busbyfth said:

when a player is sold with 1 year left on contract this usually means it will be for 50-60% of his actual worth.....of course I hope he stays but he will either leave  in July or play out his contract for another season and go to exRangers  for nowt. its reality. 

Cant see us allowing him to stay if not extended. I suspect we will accept 2mill and reinvest.

[RustyRightPeg]

3 minutes ago, jr ewing said:

Cheaper to hold on to Beni than paying for his replacement. 

 

Only if Beni wants to be here.

[RustyRightPeg]

This is the summer we break our transfer record.

[pettigrewsstylist]

20 hours ago, Smithian said:

I do agree we now have enough on hand that Hearts should be able to compete in League phase of Europa League, and compete well in Conference. I also think next season Hearts should gamble and prioritize European play over league phase under hope they can turn it on and make up ground in the second half if needed be.

 

I do think Hearts wage should be getting to point we can comfortably outbid most League 1 cubs and put up a contract fight against bottom half Championship sides.

 

If Braga can make runs in Europe, Hearts should be able to aim for that.

A lot of signings to occur before any of that dream comes to pass .

[busbyfth]

44 minutes ago, pettigrewsstylist said:

Cant see us allowing him to stay if not extended. I suspect we will accept 2mill and reinvest.

Totally agreed (some folk cannot accept that when in last year of contract the value greatly decreases.....its maybe wrong but pseudo agent/market value drives it)

[busbyfth]

45 minutes ago, RustyRightPeg said:

 

Only if Beni wants to be here.

he is away - his interviews strongly depict this due to family pressure

[jr ewing]

30 minutes ago, busbyfth said:

he is away - his interviews strongly depict this due to family pressure

 💰 

[FarmerTweedy]

6 hours ago, pettigrewsstylist said:

Cant see us allowing him to stay if not extended. I suspect we will accept 2mill and reinvest.

It would be utterly astonishing if the club decided they'd rather have £2m than a third season of a striker that scored almost 30 goals in his first season with us and is on target to surpass that this season. 

[BigAlim]

7 minutes ago, FarmerTweedy said:

It would be utterly astonishing if the club decided they'd rather have £2m than a third season of a striker that scored almost 30 goals in his first season with us and is on target to surpass that this season. 

This

[Ricardo Quaresma]

32 minutes ago, FarmerTweedy said:

It would be utterly astonishing if the club decided they'd rather have £2m than a third season of a striker that scored almost 30 goals in his first season with us and is on target to surpass that this season. 

 

Agreed; some people on here seem to be stuck in a time-warp

[jamboinglasgow]

35 minutes ago, FarmerTweedy said:

It would be utterly astonishing if the club decided they'd rather have £2m than a third season of a striker that scored almost 30 goals in his first season with us and is on target to surpass that this season. 

 

I would agree, but there is always the risk of Shankland deciding he wants to go. I know its easy to say that we should tell him no as he has a year left on his contract but players have more power than you think. I do think he wont do that but you have to be prepared.

[BigAlim]

27 minutes ago, jamboinglasgow said:

 

I would agree, but there is always the risk of Shankland deciding he wants to go. I know its easy to say that we should tell him no as he has a year left on his contract but players have more power than you think. I do think he wont do that but you have to be prepared.

My main issue is that so many people seem to be assuming that Shanks would try and force a move despite no evidence pointing towards that. He’s fully committed to being here and as he’s said himself he won’t be involved in any deal to leave until it’s quite far down the line

[gordon simpson]

On 21/03/2024 at 15:28, bairdy said:

Absolutely agree with this. I've been following Hearts for 60 odd years, and most of them ran us like an 'old boys club.' Couldn't be happier with the way things are just now.

this for sure

[Ricardo Quaresma]

5 minutes ago, BigAlim said:

My main issue is that so many people seem to be assuming that Shanks would try and force a move despite no evidence pointing towards that. He’s fully committed to being here and as he’s said himself he won’t be involved in any deal to leave until it’s quite far down the line

 

I don't think people appreciate how much he likes it here

 

As for him being a rangers fan, well, if that's true and by all accounts it is, then this Season is demonstrating clearly to him particularly and all 'concerned', that he can actually help them better here, we just beat celtic for them twice in a row, now they lead celtic, gih accepted; add to that being the Captain here, guaranteed to start

 

He won't be guaranteed that along the M8, nor can I see his contract being sold directly to rangers

 

Vast majority of us will go tonto, especially as they are not going to pay good fees for any Scottish player

[jamboinglasgow]

9 minutes ago, Ricardo Quaresma said:

 

I don't think people appreciate how much he likes it here

 

As for him being a rangers fan, well, if that's true and by all accounts it is, then this Season is demonstrating clearly to him particularly and all 'concerned', that he can actually help them better here, we just beat celtic for them twice in a row, now they lead celtic, gih accepted; add to that being the Captain here, guaranteed to start

 

He won't be guaranteed that along the M8, nor can I see his contract being sold directly to rangers

 

Vast majority of us will go tonto, especially as they are not going to pay good fees for any Scottish player

 

He lives near where I live, so know a few people who know him and he is a Rangers fan. But he does seem level headed. My post before is that you never know what may turn his head so you can never say never that he doesn't try and force through a move. I dont think he wanted to move in January as everything was working well for him (his form, getting chances for Scotland etc.)

 

I also dont believe Rangers are interested in him. As others say I dont believe Clements sees him as a player that fits how he plays. I think many Rangers fans want him, pundits want him but Rangers will be looking elsewhere.

[Ricardo Quaresma]

1 hour ago, jamboinglasgow said:

 

He lives near where I live, so know a few people who know him and he is a Rangers fan. But he does seem level headed. My post before is that you never know what may turn his head so you can never say never that he doesn't try and force through a move. I dont think he wanted to move in January as everything was working well for him (his form, getting chances for Scotland etc.)

 

I also dont believe Rangers are interested in him. As others say I dont believe Clements sees him as a player that fits how he plays. I think many Rangers fans want him, pundits want him but Rangers will be looking elsewhere.

 

It does tally that skeletor has got a system such that adding LS in would be forcing a player in, requiring extra routines / philosophy to be taken on by existing players, when the current system is based on simplicity and a minimal set of instructions

 

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Edited March 23 by Ricardo Quaresma
Typo (if / of)

[gregzy2k7]

On 22/03/2024 at 05:56, BelgeJambo said:

Anybody ever think that one day we might just buy a player for more than 1 million?

 

Not saying we have too. When you see the two uglies spending several millions and then the EPL off the planet.

 

I don’t  think it will happen in my lifetime.

I think it's bound to happen soon,

 

Only a matter of time imo,

 

Its the world we live in, everything is getting more expensive in the world,

 

Tbh what better time than now for hearts to do it,

 

As we are probably in the healthiest financial position that we have been in a very long time.

 

I personally predict we will do it within the next 3 seasons.

[JFK-1]

It's interesting she says "we're not a bank" then goes on to talk about all income going on players. So does that mean 5 million minimum this summer? Well if so you might expect there to be at least some degree of perhaps stepping up a level.

 

But I think it also has to be kept in mind a better grade player would require better grade wages eating into that 5 million. But you would think at least one of high quality might be more than enough to not just maintain an advantage over the rest but strengthen it to at least some degree.

 

I think a good investment would be a young player, 20 at most, splashing say a million or even more on tempting them to Scotland with a good wage and a shop window to England, the most desirable location in football.

 

Something akin to Rangers with Morelos and I know they ultimately didn't get the return on him, but they could have a number of times. Their investment many times over.

 

Another temptation for such a young prospect would be Euro football which is another shop window for them. And would add to the future sell on if the player performed. Imagine the boost selling a player for an 8 figure sum would be. Something like that might edge the club closer to actually outright qualifying for a Euro group. Given a reasonable break of the draw.

 

Another market to look at if there are millions to spare is young talent running out of contract at English clubs becoming available on a training fee, like Calvin Bassey at I think it was Leicester. He was just 20 and obviously talented and went to Rangers for a training fee, I think it was a round 300K. Rangers sold him for around 20 million.

 

A deal like that if there were millions to spare would leave ample to pay such a player an impressive wage, say minimum 15K to 20K a week. It might be argued that players who ply their trade in Scotland are always going to be undervalued when selling, but clearly that wasn't the case for Bassey.

 

He proved himself in Europe and brought what would be a world changing sum for Hearts. Now obviously all that is dependent on the prospect proving himself, but surely there would be a level of research that made the chances of him being impressive good. Like Morelos and Bassey. So at worst any outlay could be recovered.

 

I can think of no other way to strengthen and maintain a comfortable level above those below but it's dependent on euro group football which might not be guaranteed in future seasons.

 

Which takes us back to the point of as well as investing the money for a good return also as much as possible bring in even a couple such players if possible, as many as financially prudent. In the hope that might be the edge to be capable of negotiating qualifying rounds all the way to a group.

 

People talk about the next level, even what I described wont come close to matching the resources of the OF, who will also be doing such players trading pulling large sums and have far bigger resources in other areas.

 

The OF aren't the next level, something along the lines of what I described would be a next level and would eclipse anything below 3rd.   

[Gorgierools]

54 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

It's interesting she says "we're not a bank" then goes on to talk about all income going on players. So does that mean 5 million minimum this summer? Well if so you might expect there to be at least some degree of perhaps stepping up a level.

 

But I think it also has to be kept in mind a better grade player would require better grade wages eating into that 5 million. But you would think at least one of high quality might be more than enough to not just maintain an advantage over the rest but strengthen it to at least some degree.

 

I think a good investment would be a young player, 20 at most, splashing say a million or even more on tempting them to Scotland with a good wage and a shop window to England, the most desirable location in football.

 

Something akin to Rangers with Morelos and I know they ultimately didn't get the return on him, but they could have a number of times. Their investment many times over.

 

Another temptation for such a young prospect would be Euro football which is another shop window for them. And would add to the future sell on if the player performed. Imagine the boost selling a player for an 8 figure sum would be. Something like that might edge the club closer to actually outright qualifying for a Euro group. Given a reasonable break of the draw.

 

Another market to look at if there are millions to spare is young talent running out of contract at English clubs becoming available on a training fee, like Calvin Bassey at I think it was Leicester. He was just 20 and obviously talented and went to Rangers for a training fee, I think it was a round 300K. Rangers sold him for around 20 million.

 

A deal like that if there were millions to spare would leave ample to pay such a player an impressive wage, say minimum 15K to 20K a week. It might be argued that players who ply their trade in Scotland are always going to be undervalued when selling, but clearly that wasn't the case for Bassey.

 

He proved himself in Europe and brought what would be a world changing sum for Hearts. Now obviously all that is dependent on the prospect proving himself, but surely there would be a level of research that made the chances of him being impressive good. Like Morelos and Bassey. So at worst any outlay could be recovered.

 

I can think of no other way to strengthen and maintain a comfortable level above those below but it's dependent on euro group football which might not be guaranteed in future seasons.

 

Which takes us back to the point of as well as investing the money for a good return also as much as possible bring in even a couple such players if possible, as many as financially prudent. In the hope that might be the edge to be capable of negotiating qualifying rounds all the way to a group.

 

People talk about the next level, even what I described wont come close to matching the resources of the OF, who will also be doing such players trading pulling large sums and have far bigger resources in other areas.

 

The OF aren't the next level, something along the lines of what I described would be a next level and would eclipse anything below 3rd.   

Excellent post.