Martin_T Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I accept people are a wee bit frustrated (to say the least) that we haven't really strengthened the squad this January. Perhaps we should start to see the bigger picture here folks? Hearts are slowly beginning to grasp financial reality, there have been consistent cuts in the playing staff budget since August 2006. So given this, where has the expectation of further playing staff investment come from? Hearts are a club whose alleged debt may be in excess of ?35 million pounds, with a turnover of circa ?9 million, in all reality our squad should have been slashed to the bone and be made up of youth players and cheap imports. In spite of this we have still paid out almost a ?1 million pounds in transfer fees this season (Nade ?400,000, Kingston ?500,000) plus the likes of Paluzeulos will be on large contracts. Yes we have banked money for Craig Gordon and probably Bednar (did the transfer go through?), but given our overall financial situation all of that money should really be devoted to reducing our debt. We play in a league where ICT with an annual player budget of ?600,000, can challenge for a place in the top half of the league. There is also an argument that buying players in the January window is very much a panic measure. Look what happened with our spending spree in January 2006, virtually every player has been a flop and it cost the club a lot of money. In January both players demands and transfer fees are inflated because of the tight timescale. Look at some of the main clubs in the Premiership, between them Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal signed around 4 or 5 first team players across the whole of the window. It is very much a sellers market. Furthermore I am glad we did not suffer another influx from Kaunas and that we haven't yet lost any of our first team players. Stability is one of the main factors behind improved performance. Also if we appoint a manager, and he does not fancy some of the purchases we made this January, what happens then? Yes it is irritating that we did not strengthen the team, but I can understand the factors that may have led to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas-voss Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I accept people are a wee bit frustrated (to say the least) that we haven't really strengthened the squad this January. Perhaps we should start to see the bigger picture here folks? Hearts are slowly beginning to grasp financial reality, there have been consistent cuts in the playing staff budget since August 2006. So given this, where has the expectation of further playing staff investment come from? Hearts are a club whose alleged debt may be in excess of ?35 million pounds, with a turnover of circa ?9 million, in all reality our squad should have been slashed to the bone and be made up of youth players and cheap imports. In spite of this we have still paid out almost a ?1 million pounds in transfer fees this season (Nade ?400,000, Kingston ?500,000) plus the likes of Paluzeulos will be on large contracts. Yes we have banked money for Craig Gordon and probably Bednar (did the transfer go through?), but given our overall financial situation all of that money should really be devoted to reducing our debt. We play in a league where ICT with an annual player budget of ?600,000, can challenge for a place in the top half of the league. There is also an argument that buying players in the January window is very much a panic measure. Look what happened with our spending spree in January 2006, virtually every player has been a flop and it cost the club a lot of money. In January both players demands and transfer fees are inflated because of the tight timescale. Look at some of the main clubs in the Premiership, between them Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal signed around 4 or 5 first team players across the whole of the window. It is very much a sellers market. Furthermore I am glad we did not suffer another influx from Kaunas and that we haven't yet lost any of our first team players. Stability is one of the main factors behind improved performance. Also if we appoint a manager, and he does not fancy some of the purchases we made this January, what happens then? Yes it is irritating that we did not strengthen the team, but I can understand the factors that may have led to this. I think people being upset about the team not being strengthend is more a frustration thing.People are alot less happier about the lack of a manager i would say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolf's Mate Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 It wouldn't be so bad if someone came out and actually communicated with the fans! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I think people being upset about the team not being strengthend is more a frustration thing.People are alot less happier about the lack of a manager i would say. I do not mind how long they take to get a new manager as long as we get a good one that gets to do the job required. On the transfer front.The only signings that i thought would be good for us being Hammell to Motherwell.Robson and Davis to the O/F.It has been a poor January window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hunt Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 It wouldn't be so bad if someone came out and actually communicated with the fans! Agree , its the lies and the lack of clarity that gets me .Weve been fed so much BS over the last few years its getting offensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simplesimon Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I imagine the Webster ruling knocked a significant hole in this years player budget a day before the window closed and I don't think there's any immediate need to sign players. We now have the next few months to assess which young players are good enough and which are not. I can't see us making top 6 and I can't see us getting relegated. It may not be going to be much fun to watch but it's unlikely to affect the income significantly. They will need to do something in the summer to sell season tickets though, especially if we're at Murrayfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudi must stay Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I accept people are a wee bit frustrated (to say the least) that we haven't really strengthened the squad this January. Perhaps we should start to see the bigger picture here folks? Hearts are slowly beginning to grasp financial reality, there have been consistent cuts in the playing staff budget since August 2006. So given this, where has the expectation of further playing staff investment come from? Hearts are a club whose alleged debt may be in excess of ?35 million pounds, with a turnover of circa ?9 million, in all reality our squad should have been slashed to the bone and be made up of youth players and cheap imports. In spite of this we have still paid out almost a ?1 million pounds in transfer fees this season (Nade ?400,000, Kingston ?500,000) plus the likes of Paluzeulos will be on large contracts. Yes we have banked money for Craig Gordon and probably Bednar (did the transfer go through?), but given our overall financial situation all of that money should really be devoted to reducing our debt. We play in a league where ICT with an annual player budget of ?600,000, can challenge for a place in the top half of the league. There is also an argument that buying players in the January window is very much a panic measure. Look what happened with our spending spree in January 2006, virtually every player has been a flop and it cost the club a lot of money. In January both players demands and transfer fees are inflated because of the tight timescale. Look at some of the main clubs in the Premiership, between them Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal signed around 4 or 5 first team players across the whole of the window. It is very much a sellers market. Furthermore I am glad we did not suffer another influx from Kaunas and that we haven't yet lost any of our first team players. Stability is one of the main factors behind improved performance. Also if we appoint a manager, and he does not fancy some of the purchases we made this January, what happens then? Yes it is irritating that we did not strengthen the team, but I can understand the factors that may have led to this. i wish they thought of all these reasons, seems to me like no players wanted to sign tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmu99425 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I would agree that panic buying in the January Transfer window is not prudent. The squad is still a bit overinflated and the emphasis from now until the summer should be identifying who needs to go before others can come in (e.g. Makela) and blooding some youngsters. The wage bill is likely still too high and needs to be managed better with an emphasis of quality over quantity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstruck Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 With one or two exceptions, the transfers recently completed in Scotland are little more than moving around some bench warmers or journeymen who have failed to make the grade elsewhere. Hearts as a team should not be squandering scarce resources on players simply to satisfy the false frenzy that is the January window; a frenzy doubtless stoked by agents and the media. If players who could have genuinely added quality to the squad had been available at reasonable prices, an attempt to sign them should have been made (and how do we know that attempts hadn't been made). But, please don't bring back players like Maybury just because "we need to sign somebody". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FORTHCLYDE Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I can't believe Vlad's a successful business man. Last year Hearts turnover i.e. money brought in was 10 million however the wages were 10 million, so every penny gained was lost with none going into the infrastructure, so right away Hearts lost money. In the summer we could have sold Concalves and Tall for 1.5 million, why didn't we? We have at least 10 players who are surplus and a couple of days ago we gave a new contract albeit only six months to Kirky the clown, more madness. Makela cost 500k, Beslija 850k why haven't we cashed our chips in for these guys also we should have sold Bednar for decent money. Plus Larry was suspended for weeks then injured and now he's in Africa we pay him 15k a week for what? Also we have lost at least 80k on lawyers fees over Webstergate. Hearts cant keep on losing money hand over fist. But if Vlad really has deep pockets a couple of quality players should have been brought in the transfer window not another dope from Kaunas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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