Drylaw Hearts Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 the one that really got to me? Velicka. The fact that VR was willing to flog our top goal scorer in the middle of the season when we were still pushing for Europe, finally made me wake up to the fact that the 'dream' was over! I think that was the day many finally realised exactly what VR was all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flecktimus Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Robbo: The guy was a ray of sunshine after the 70s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 IIRC, Mercer suggested that Robbo was, or going to be too fat to justify his wage demands. Yet it didn't stop Mercer taking a hundred grand a year home. Buffalo Bill . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 I think that was the day many finally realised exactly what VR was all about. The Velicka sale ****ed me right off because he was worth more to 'us' than what we got for him. However, in hindsight, I think that Vlad was possibly trying to show (whoever else was interested) that he COULD bring Lithuanian players over to these shores and sell them on for (what he considered to be) a tidy sum. Shame though, as I really rated the player in the same way I rated Andy Kirk. Buffalo Bill . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossthejambo Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Losing Cameron hurt but the one or maybe 2 that stick in my mind are McCann and Ritchie. Ritchie purely because it was then i realised what the OF were all about, poaching good young players from the rest of the league. Can't think of anyone recently that has bothered me so much. Losing Pinilla this season annoyed me more than hurt because he was a striker with bags and bags of talent and we wasted alot of money getting his head sorted to just release him. What a waste of time, especially when we're crying out for a striker now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blairdin Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Losing Colin Cameron was a sore one. Wolves got an absolute steal and it took Hartley a long time to truly fill the gap. More recently, the departure of Skacel was disappointing - I don't buy all of that half-season pish that many spout, he was a key player for us for the whole season. His early season form was stunning, and unsustainable. The departure of Elvis was disgraceful. He should have finished his career at Tynecastle and I'd go as far as to say he should be in the dug out beside Lazslo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordy Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Willie Hamilton to Hibs for next to nothing. Hearbreaking if you pardon the pun. Beat me to it mate! Losing Willie was devastating, and to the lochenders made it quite as painful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rab obanheartsno1 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 yup was gutted letting colin cameron plus elvis was a right kick in the balls,would take him back as a coach now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartsfc_fan Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 I was gutted when Neil McCann went (first time round obviously!) Cameron was more of a shock though...and Niemi? I think we all knew it was coming tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bighalders Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Robbos departure to Necastle and the complete destruction of the sqaud that had been assembled during 05/0 6 season, still say that team could have really done something (far more than they did even) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosanostra Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Cameron and McCann. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagar the Horrible Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 The Velicka sale ****ed me right off because he was worth more to 'us' than what we got for him. However, in hindsight, I think that Vlad was possibly trying to show (whoever else was interested) that he COULD bring Lithuanian players over to these shores and sell them on for (what he considered to be) a tidy sum. Shame though, as I really rated the player in the same way I rated Andy Kirk. Buffalo Bill . We did not even get the money it went to Kaunas did it not, and I agree the whole deal smelled of Webster gate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagar the Horrible Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 The first for me was Bannon, but normally after that, it is just part and parcel of football that to keep thinks fresh people have to move on,. It is just that when the OF get involved it is usualy done in such a backhanded way, that it is dificult to wish players well, and in most cases that wish usually comes true as they usually end up as bench warmers. My next wish it to outlive the OF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johanes de Silentio Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Cammy Fraser to Dundee for a mere 60k in 1980. Sold to Glasgow Rangers for 165k within a year! Bobby Moncur - good bloke - **** manager! Donald Park swapped for Dennis McQuade and John Craig from Partick in '79 - both freed at the end of the season - has there ever been a worse deal made? Willie Ormond, mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 QUOTE=speedbump;642570]Almost forgot Crabbe, shaking with rage when Jordan forced him out of the door:mad: Finally, my hero gets a mention - I still hate Joe Jordan for that :mad::mad: Pressley was the straw that broke the camel's back for me - a sickening way to treat a legend. I remember Alan MacLaren being interviewed on Reporting Scotland when he joined Rangers and you knew he didn't want to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshallschunkychicken Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Good shout. I thought Ulster Andy was a very capable striker and should have been kept on. It ****ed me off when we didn't sign Ricardo Fuller after him being the one shining light that season. Now playing in the Premiership. I remember being pi**ed up in Why Not and pretty much begging Fuller to stay. He said he'd love to, but it wasn't going to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boabyarsebiscuit Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 IIRC, Mercer suggested that Robbo was, or going to be too fat to justify his wage demands. Yet it didn't stop Mercer taking a hundred grand a year home. Buffalo Bill . If we're talking about the John Robertson sale to Newcastle, Mercer was not the driving force behind the deal, one "half" of our then current management team was. That "half" had left the building by the time Robbo came back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut The Crap Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Callachan, then Bannon, then Robbo, then McCann. At that point, after 20 years and at the age of 33, I finally realised that our good players will always leave. Now I just wish them well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 If we're talking about the John Robertson sale to Newcastle, Mercer was not the driving force behind the deal, one "half" of our then current management team was. That "half" had left the building by the time Robbo came back. Interesting: I don't know that. What did the other half (not his wife) have to say about it? I was just going by what Mercer said in the book, 'Heart to Heart'. Buffalo Bill . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hearts Heritage Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Historically the sale of Alex Massie was probably the worst ever in the history of the club. This prevented the club from going from challenging Rangers to actually overtaking them. The sale of Dave MacKay, Alex Young and George Thompson at the end of the 50s prevented that great side from continuing to dominate. The first big outrage sale I remember was Hibs getting upset by the sale of Colin Stein to Rangers. The first Hearts one that had a big impact was Eddie Thomson going to Aberdeen. Recently Pressley was undoubtedly the worst because by then you knew there was 'something rotten in the state of Denmark'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 Recently Pressley was undoubtedly the worst because by then you knew there was 'something rotten in the state of Denmark'. ....which of course is where Elvis ended up going. Buffalo Bill . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Alan Maclaren. I remember writing an angsty blog entry about how upset I was. I grew out of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makween Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Neil MacFarlane going to sheep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troonjambo Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Colin Cameron and terry for me. nowadays i try not to get to upset. ps i hated Hartley going to them but like nearly everyone else wish him well something i had never ever done to a ex player going to the old firm before amazing what a hat trick can do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jam Tarts 1874 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Bannon, the timing was awful but we needed the cash. Don't know why Pressley's name appears so often on this thread - he wasn't sold. He was quite rightly sacked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hackney Hearts Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 quite rightly sacked. o-oh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZacBaker Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Strange because i now hate the tool. Lee Miller! I thought he was superb the season he played for us, and then he was on the verge of signing! But my mother woke me up one morning and told me the news that he'd broken off negotiations! I was devastated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Albert Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Just to amplify the case for Willie Wallace. It wasn't the first unnecessary sale at a ludicrously low value (see Dave Mackay and Alex Young, but at least those were not to the OF)) but it was the nail in the coffin of Hearts aspirations to be a contender in Scotland. We had only recently lost the league on goal average (by one goal!) to Kilmarnock. Over the previous decade our crowds, in the days when TV revenue and replica shirt sales barely existed, had been comparable with Celtic's and not that far off Rangers (certainly by comparison with today's 4 or 5 to 1 ratio). They had fallen off, particularly after the Killie defeat, but there should not have been any economic necessity to sell Wallace, particularly at the give-away price. Since then, I think every sale on this thread could be easily justified by economics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosewood Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 For me it has to be Neil McCann. I was gutted when I heard he had been sold but what made it so much harder was that he returned to play against us so soon after. I remember sitting in the Gorgie Stand and McCann coming to warm up at our end as a sub rather than in front of the orcs at the other end. Had a lump in my throat at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 But you one the one that really got to me? Velicka. The fact that VR was willing to flog our top goal scorer in the middle of the season when we were still pushing for Europe, finally made me wake up to the fact that the 'dream' was over! But Velicka wasn't our player! If HMFC got a ?1m offer for Calum (yes, I know), how would we feel if Livi tried to block it. We have always been a selling club and will be for the foreseeable future. I have watched most of the players mentioned, transferred out for financial (and sometimes behavioural) reasons and can add Dave Mackay, Alex Young and George Thomson at a time when we won things regularly. We'll just have to accept it and get on with it unless we get a real Hearts supporting billionaire to bankroll us out of love for the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe.gausden Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 JC for me. Remember him telling us at a player of year dance that he was desperate to stay but was being forced out; a certain poster on here sat on his knee crying. jimmy Sandison had to tell JC to tell the boy he was staying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 But Velicka wasn't our player!If HMFC got a ?1m offer for Calum (yes, I know), how would we feel if Livi tried to block it. We have always been a selling club and will be for the foreseeable future. I have watched most of the players mentioned, transferred out for financial (and sometimes behavioural) reasons and can add Dave Mackay, Alex Young and George Thomson at a time when we won things regularly. We'll just have to accept it and get on with it unless we get a real Hearts supporting billionaire to bankroll us out of love for the club. Almost everybody is a selling club when it comes down to it. Hearts were no more able to keep pace with Neil McCann's accelarating financial value than Dundee or Airdrie had been before us. Rangers in turn aren't big enough or rich enough to have kept the likes of Gattuso and Van Bronkhurst away from Milan and Arsenal. Arsenal weren't able to keep Ashley Cole away from Stamford Bridge and even Barca ended up selling Luis Figo to Real Madrid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambo Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Robbo, McCann, Niemi, Skacel and Pressley. And you being the man wo rigidly sticks to what the thread title asks. tut tut. What player sale left you wounded? Who did we sell Pressley to? (same question goes to others who said Pressley) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 In three and a half years as a Kickbacker, I have never started an opinion poll, but I wished I had now. What I love about this thread is that is shows quite evidently that it's 'pain' and 'disappointment' that brings us all together!! Lots of different names have cropped up, from lots of decades. Numerous mentions for Neil McCann in particular; I guess the first of the 98 big guns to go (bar JR). Buffalo Bill . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 Gambo, I said in the OP that people were invited to mention 'players leaving in general'. Buffalo Bill . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Winstone Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Was pretty cut up when David Weir and Jim Hamilton left for such paltry amounts. I guess owing to the age I was when we won the cup in 98 (10) I was pretty cut up when each of the winning team left or was sold off because of what they represented to me at that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Gosling Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Neil McCann. What made it worse was that his first game was at Tynecastle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WASTREL Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 For me it was Colin Cameron to Wolves in 2001. Gutted, as I loved the wee man. What a player he was. I decided after that not to get too attached. Another one was not a sale, but an enforced retirement: Levein in 1997, two years after he last kicked a ball, so lets include that sort of thing too in this thread - players leaving in general. Buffalo Bill . I can still feel the sadness I had when I watched the Colin Cameron transfer go through. I worked at Hearts at that time and being a fan, watching the breakup of the Cup Winning team was really sad for me to witness. My saddest loss was watching Stephan Adam leave. Watching his cup final goal go in ... rates way up there in the emotional scale with watching my kids being born. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redm Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Neil McCann. What made it worse was that his first game was at Tynecastle. Yup. I loved Neil McCann, he was and probably still is my favourite Hearts player. The worst thing about it was that we knew it was coming, it was like someone ripping the plaster off slooooowly. I was at a party when the transfer speculation was at its height and David Murray was there, so I asked him about it...face to face...looked him in the eye I did...and he laughed and said he wasn't remotely interested in Neil McCann. I didn't believe him, which was just as well cos the transfer went through shortly afterwards. I was devastated and I've had an extra reason to dislike Murray ever since. Hartley was tough too, but McCann was the worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walter Kidd Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Yup. I loved Neil McCann, he was and probably still is my favourite Hearts player. The worst thing about it was that we knew it was coming, it was like someone ripping the plaster off slooooowly. I was at a party when the transfer speculation was at its height and David Murray was there, so I asked him about it...face to face...looked him in the eye I did...and he laughed and said he wasn't remotely interested in Neil McCann. I didn't believe him, which was just as well cos the transfer went through shortly afterwards. I was devastated and I've had an extra reason to dislike Murray ever since. Hartley was tough too, but McCann was the worst. Was he legless? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilnunb Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Wasn't Neil McCann sold on the eve of a game against Celtic too? I seem to remember turning up at Tynecastle still a bit stunned he had gone. Maybe mind playing tricks though Like others, was saddened when the likes of McLaren, Naysmith left. Was also sad to see Derek Ferguson leave. I know he split a lot of fans though and I guess with everything that had happened in his personal life at the time it was a good time for him to move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maroonedinoz Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Raold Jensen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redm Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Was he legless? That's exactly what my Dad said when I told him about that encounter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamboelite Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Niemi was a hard one for me to take albeit yes McCann, JC etc... and obviously Cameron but for some reason Niemi was a right kick in the you know whats. I think it was because he had a love of the club, was a great guy, didnt want to leave but knew for finance reasons he had to go and later after he left the fondness he had for the fans. Couldnt find a nicer guy and as he has left Fulham they speak the same way of him. He was also the best keeper i have seen in a Hearts jersey although Gordon may go onto be better we had Niemi in his prime. I think i remember him going full length at a shot in the Dunfermline game and not only did he save it he caught it full length when most wouldnt have even got near it never mind catch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CF11JamTart Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Almost forgot Crabbe, shaking with rage when Jordan forced him out of the door:mad: And we got a left back in return? Scott Crabbe was my hero at that time. So that was the sale that crushed me. The front-line of JC, Robbo and Crabbe was irrestistible when it was "on fire". Subsequent player sales that involved us getting much needed ???s (McCann, Niemi, Mickey, McLaren), I tried to be philosophical about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibpc Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 The sale of Dave MacKay, Alex Young and George Thompson at the end of the 50s prevented that great side from continuing to dominate. It also saw the end of my boyhood innocence and the belief that Hearts were the only team in the world anyone could want to play for. The others which have followed all seemed part of life in the big wide world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibpc Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 The biggest shock departure was tuning into the radio on the way to Tynecastle when we were "unbeatable" and hearing that Burley had simply gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CF11JamTart Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 The biggest shock departure was tuning into the radio on the way to Tynecastle when we were "unbeatable" and hearing that Burley had simply gone. I was in Habitat en route to the game when I heard. Haven't stepped in the door of Habitat since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Don Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Think the worst one was Wee Robbo when he left. But when he returned it was the happiest ever time. The others i was annoyed at but not to the same extent as we all knew they would go eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micole Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 JimCruickshank i know i know BUT! it was the way he was forced out,broke my heart, he was my hero. Robbo was a sore one as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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