Martin_T Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 -Two SPL clubs paid any fee at all for players this transfer window. Celtic for McGinn and Flood, Hearts for Balogh. -Hearts cannot continue to be reliant on the subsidy of Romanov/ UBIG -Rangers, with a considerably higher turnover and fanbase bought no one this transfer window and actively tried to sell several key players. -There were very few permanent transfers made in the EPL, with only Man City and Tottenham spending significantly. The global recession is having a severe impact on almost all football clubs. Hearts have made moves to make our wage bill and debt significantly more sustainable. If we had continued as we had done, with a huge squad and several high earners, we'd have been putting the club in mortal danger. A policy of using home grown players, coupled with signing value for money bosman's such as Ian Black, is the only long term sustainable plan for HMFC. In my opinion, there will be severe wage and transfer fee deflation in football over the next year, any club saddled with a large debt after that time, will be in real danger of going bust. I include in that several teams in the current English premiership. It is time for us to put our trust and our faith in our young players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I agree with the main thrust of your OP Martin - apart from the Premiership bubble there was fewer permanent transfers & lower transfer fees, mostly loan deals etc and when hundreds of players are released or go out of contract in the summer then that too will be a downward pressure on wages & transfer fee's as clubs will seek to a) release unwanted players look to sign out of contract players instead of paying transfer fees if possible......does anyone have any idea if the total spending & number of deals is up or down on previous January windows? I expect it has declined but it would be interesting to see hard numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 True but I wish we would show some initiative and look for realistic loan signings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fabuloso Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 One could argue that expensive imports don't necessarily mean better results. If Hearts played in a fashion which mirrored their wage bill we'd be doing much better. I wasn't at Hamilton (surprise) however from what I gather we looked 'cheaper' than them by a mile. The gap between 3rd and, off the top of my head 9th, is almost non-existent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 True but I wish we would show some initiative and look for realistic loan signings. We don't appear to do loans that don't have the option to buy built in or else in the case of Kaunas players where the owners already control their contracts........which I suppose begs the question does anybody know or remember if we have a pre-arranged option to buy Tullberg? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victorian Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 True but I wish we would show some initiative and look for realistic loan signings. very true but vlad tends only to do loan signings from outwith kaunas if there's a pre-agreed sale at the end of it. i imagine he sees 'dead-end' loans as non profit making possibilities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 very true but vlad tends only to do loan signings from outwith kaunas if there's a pre-agreed sale at the end of it. i imagine he sees 'dead-end' loans as non profit making possibilities? That's probably spot on. Frustrating as hell for the fans though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jambotony Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I agree with the main thrust of your OP Martin - apart from the Premiership bubble there was fewer permanent transfers & lower transfer fees, mostly loan deals etc and when hundreds of players are released or go out of contract in the summer then that too will be a downward pressure on wages & transfer fee's as clubs will seek to a) release unwanted players look to sign out of contract players instead of paying transfer fees if possible......does anyone have any idea if the total spending & number of deals is up or down on previous January windows? I expect it has declined but it would be interesting to see hard numbers. ?161,900,000 was spent this window without the Arshavin deal compared to ?146,000,000 last Jan according to Sky Sports News Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victorian Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 That's probably spot on. Frustrating as hell for the fans though! it's not great but i suppose we've all had quite a few so-called transfer windows to get used to the fact that we don't do an awful lot of business in them. as others have said it's possibly a bonus that we've lost very few players compared to some who we suspected we might lose. we'll see how we go from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 ?161,900,000 was spent this window without the Arshavin deal compared to ?146,000,000 last Jan according to Sky Sports News Was that ALL transfers? or just the Premiership? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bighusref Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Economic reality : Failure to qualify for Europe will cost Hearts money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 What is undeniable is that Scottish transfer market has all but collapsed with even outgoing transfers to England having declined significantly in overall value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin_T Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Economic reality : Failure to qualify for Europe will cost Hearts money. It's a paradox, spending money on chasing European qualification would definitely cost Hearts more money. Especially if it wasn't achieved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Economic reality : Failure to qualify for Europe will cost Hearts money. From a financial perspective surely European qualification is additional bonus income and not pre-budgeted income? Regardless if the club doesn't have sufficient available funds to speculate on transfers or signings then it's a moot question? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin_T Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 ?161,900,000 was spent this window without the Arshavin deal compared to ?146,000,000 last Jan according to Sky Sports News By rough calculation: Spurs Palacios ?14 million Keane ?12 million Chimbonda ?5 million Defoe ?12 million = ?43 million ....and Man City Nigel De Jong ?18.5 million Bridge ?12 Million Bellamy ?15 million = ?45.5 million ..account for ?88.5/162 = 55% of all transfer fees spent. Staggering, and as has already been said, some clubs are living in a bubble. It can't and wont last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstruck Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Economic reality : Failure to qualify for Europe will cost Hearts money. By all measures we were pretty rank last year and yet ended up only 5 points behind 3rd place (Motherwell 53, Hearts 48). In fact, at the end, 10 pts covered 3rd to 9th. IMHO, even without Berra and without a new striker, Hearts are good enough to come 3rd as Utd and Aberdeen will fade (as they inevitably do) in latter half of the season. There is enough skill and experience in the Hearts squad - some need to apply themselves more and a little more adventure would be welcome Truth is, there is no need to spend big sums to prosper in SPL; the standard is rank and getting worse. It is possibly a gamble that we have the depth of squad to claim 3rd or 4th but, in current climate, possibly not a daft punt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bighusref Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 It's a paradox, spending money on chasing European qualification would definitely cost Hearts more money. Especially if it wasn't achieved. In that case, we should have sold Driver as well, these pesky footballers cost money. From a financial perspective surely European qualification is additional bonus income and not pre-budgeted income? Regardless if the club doesn't have sufficient available funds to speculate on transfers or signings then it's a moot question? Motherwell signed two strikers today. They lost Porter a day or so ago, moved quickly and replaced him with two coming in. Sheridan is a loanee and will not be particularly expensive, they also picked up the lad from down south (another loanee) to challenge for that role. We lost our captain and did not replace him, in the first game post Berra we lost quite convincingly to Hamilton and were roundly criticised for our defensive performance. We have also been crying out for a striker all season. Laszlo didn't recognise this pre-season but admitted during the season that it was a priority, we failed to do that. It surely cannot be argued that we are weaker today than we were before Berra left? With that and the gross negligence when it comes to signing a forward, I believe we will struggle to attain a European place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scallywag Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 2 inexpensive loan signings......1 Forward, 1 Central Defender. Then we have a great chance of Europe and a substantial casjh windfall. Christ even Motherwell can do it ! The economic reality was selling Berra......there is no excuse for the inbalanced squad the manager will be dealing with until the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spellczech Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 From a financial perspective surely European qualification is additional bonus income and not pre-budgeted income? Regardless if the club doesn't have sufficient available funds to speculate on transfers or signings then it's a moot question? Tell that to the Gers! Our rivals haven?t strengthened so why should we? We secured the loan GK we already had, pocketed over 2mill for Berra, released 5-6 fringe players/youths deemed surplus, and have Ian Black secured from the summer. United strengthened their defence but lost one of their main midfielders and didn?t even get any money for him as they didn?t own him - got to be the ultimate in OF weakening the opposition!!! and we?ve seen a few instances of that. Rangers tried to flog everyone but only managed to get rid of Gow and loan out Adam! I reckon Murray will be taking the bus to see the bank manager tomorrow... Motherwell borrowed a player or two and so did Hamilton. Hibs signed a GK and JJ(pfft! washed up from what I saw) and let a couple go. Inverness lost 2 players but not until next summer. There ain?t no money available at the moment and there will be a glut of players being released all over the place in the summer, including from ourselves - should be a fun summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstruck Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 We lost our captain and did not replace him, in the first game post Berra we lost quite convincingly to Hamilton and were roundly criticised for our defensive performance. I think you will find that we lost two goals in similar circumstances last week to a lowly ranked team and Christophe Berra was in the team. Apart from the two set-piece goals, how many times was Jamie McDonald troubled during the game? We have lost quite convincingly to Kilmarnock, Utd, Falkirk, Celtic, Aberdeen and Motherwell before we lost convincingly to Accies. This is a team that has had bad results all season, losing Berra will not help but it is a bit OTT to suggest that the malaise only started on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Tell that to the Gers! Our rivals haven?t strengthened so why should we? We secured the loan GK we already had, pocketed over 2mill for Berra, released 5-6 fringe players/youths deemed surplus, and have Ian Black secured from the summer. United strengthened their defence but lost one of their main midfielders and didn?t even get any money for him as they didn?t own him - got to be the ultimate in OF weakening the opposition!!! and we?ve seen a few instances of that. Rangers tried to flog everyone but only managed to get rid of Gow and loan out Adam! I reckon Murray will be taking the bus to see the bank manager tomorrow... Motherwell borrowed a player or two and so did Hamilton. Hibs signed a GK and JJ(pfft! washed up from what I saw) and let a couple go. Inverness lost 2 players but not until next summer. There ain?t no money available at the moment and there will be a glut of players being released all over the place in the summer, including from ourselves - should be a fun summer! Motherwell lost their main striker, Hearts lost their main central defender, United lost their main creative midfielder as well as losing another key midfield player to long term injury .... Hibs & Aberdeen stayed approx the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stirlingshirejambo Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 plus Shay Given for City?160m in the premiership and most between these two teams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spellczech Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Motherwell lost their main striker, Hearts lost their main central defender, United lost their main creative midfielder as well as losing another key midfield player to long term injury .... Hibs & Aberdeen stayed approx the same. Oh yeah, forgot about Killen (I was that excited by the prospect of signing him!) The only thing that troubles me at all is that we let Rapnik go too. I thought he was the one to step into the void when Berra left but suddenly he was away too...12 times on the bench and never blooded. That troubles me. I would happily sacrifice 3rd for blooding a few youths in the second half of the season. I?d hope we get 4th at worst though... If Tullberg ever gets fit it will be like a new signing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 True but I wish we would show some initiative and look for realistic loan signings. Realistic loan signings (just to fill gaps) still cost money and block up the channels for youth coming through eg when is Ryan McGowan going to get a chance if not now? Loan signings like Balogh, Kingston etc with a price tag option do serve some purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitster Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 The answer in this economic climate must surely be to get rid of the transfer window all together. I have never been a fan of it, go back to the way it was before, if you like the look of a player and you can afford him, you have the opportunity to buy him. It would also end up with less panic buying and having sub standard players brought in when you lose key players late on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxteth O'Grady Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 ......which I suppose begs the question does anybody know or remember if we have a pre-arranged option to buy Tullberg? Does anyone want him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Does anyone want him? He has't done anything at all to make an informed judgement and if he doesn't play then the answer is clearly no however does anyone remember if we had an option on him like we did with Balogh etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bighusref Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 By all measures we were pretty rank last year and yet ended up only 5 points behind 3rd place (Motherwell 53, Hearts 48). In fact, at the end, 10 pts covered 3rd to 9th. IMHO, even without Berra and without a new striker, Hearts are good enough to come 3rd as Utd and Aberdeen will fade (as they inevitably do) in latter half of the season. There is enough skill and experience in the Hearts squad - some need to apply themselves more and a little more adventure would be welcome Truth is, there is no need to spend big sums to prosper in SPL; the standard is rank and getting worse. It is possibly a gamble that we have the depth of squad to claim 3rd or 4th but, in current climate, possibly not a daft punt. So, we were rank last year, finished eighth, with largely the same squad bar our captain you think we will be good enough to come third? Bizarre. I think you will find that we lost two goals in similar circumstances last week to a lowly ranked team and Christophe Berra was in the team. Apart from the two set-piece goals, how many times was Jamie McDonald troubled during the game? We have lost quite convincingly to Kilmarnock, Utd, Falkirk, Celtic, Aberdeen and Motherwell before we lost convincingly to Accies. This is a team that has had bad results all season, losing Berra will not help but it is a bit OTT to suggest that the malaise only started on Saturday. I think you will find, if you look back, that the comment you quoted is 100% accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Tiresias Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 -Two SPL clubs paid any fee at all for players this transfer window. Celtic for McGinn and Flood, Hearts for Balogh.-Hearts cannot continue to be reliant on the subsidy of Romanov/ UBIG -Rangers, with a considerably higher turnover and fanbase bought no one this transfer window and actively tried to sell several key players. -There were very few permanent transfers made in the EPL, with only Man City and Tottenham spending significantly. The global recession is having a severe impact on almost all football clubs. Hearts have made moves to make our wage bill and debt significantly more sustainable. If we had continued as we had done, with a huge squad and several high earners, we'd have been putting the club in mortal danger. A policy of using home grown players, coupled with signing value for money bosman's such as Ian Black, is the only long term sustainable plan for HMFC. In my opinion, there will be severe wage and transfer fee deflation in football over the next year, any club saddled with a large debt after that time, will be in real danger of going bust. I include in that several teams in the current English premiership. It is time for us to put our trust and our faith in our young players. A policy of using home grown players, coupled with signing value for money bosman's such as Ian Black, is the only long term sustainable plan for xxxxxxxx. where xxxxxxxx is any club in the SPL outside the OF. We're really no better or worse than the rest in that respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstruck Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 So, we were rank last year, finished eighth, with largely the same squad bar our captain you think we will be good enough to come third? Bizarre. I think you will find, if you look back, that the comment you quoted is 100% accurate. So, you don't think that this season is a big improvement on last year! Beyond bizarre! As for your second point, are you saying the defence was troubled by Berra being absent? If so, please enlighten me as to why it was similarly troubled the previous Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bighusref Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 So, you don't think that this season is a big improvement on last year! Beyond bizarre! As for your second point, are you saying the defence was troubled by Berra being absent? If so, please enlighten me as to why it was similarly troubled the previous Saturday. Jeezo man, you really are labouring over this aren't you? First point, nothing has been won or claimed thus far this season, let's see how we finish the season. Second point, here is what I posted and you quoted. We lost our captain and did not replace him, in the first game post Berra we lost quite convincingly to Hamilton and were roundly criticised for our defensive performance. I also said that it was 100% accurate, which you question above. Did we lose our captain? Did we replace him? Did we lose quite convincingly to Hamilton in the first game post Berra? Were we roundly criticised for our defensive performance? Simple really, well, it should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spellczech Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Jeezo man, you really are labouring over this aren't you? First point, nothing has been won or claimed thus far this season, let's see how we finish the season. Second point, here is what I posted and you quoted. I also said that it was 100% accurate, which you question above. Did we lose our captain? Did we replace him? Did we lose quite convincingly to Hamilton in the first game post Berra? Were we roundly criticised for our defensive performance? Simple really, well, it should be. We?re doomed! DOOOOOMED! I tell you! mwah-ha-ha-ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddysteele Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Yes I'm pretty sure we had the option to buy Tullberg as Vlad only seems to do this as it is more beneficial to us...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 We lost Berra, although Hearts received a semi-decent fee for him. But we could've lost Driver and Bruno too. At least we still have a team to see out the season. I'm glad that we're cutting the wage bill back. I want us to have a first team squad of 19 or 20 taking up just 60% of the club's turnover. If anything, it would make us more attractive to any possible buyer. Buffalo Bill . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wavydavy Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 -Two SPL clubs paid any fee at all for players this transfer window. Celtic for McGinn and Flood, Hearts for Balogh.-Hearts cannot continue to be reliant on the subsidy of Romanov/ UBIG -Rangers, with a considerably higher turnover and fanbase bought no one this transfer window and actively tried to sell several key players. -There were very few permanent transfers made in the EPL, with only Man City and Tottenham spending significantly. The global recession is having a severe impact on almost all football clubs. Hearts have made moves to make our wage bill and debt significantly more sustainable. If we had continued as we had done, with a huge squad and several high earners, we'd have been putting the club in mortal danger. A policy of using home grown players, coupled with signing value for money bosman's such as Ian Black, is the only long term sustainable plan for HMFC. In my opinion, there will be severe wage and transfer fee deflation in football over the next year, any club saddled with a large debt after that time, will be in real danger of going bust. I include in that several teams in the current English premiership. It is time for us to put our trust and our faith in our young players. According to the late STV Sports News Rangers managed to hold on to their key players despite a late attempt by Bolton to tempt Pedro Mendes back to the EPL. How could they be so audacious to even consider trying to buy a player from the mighty Rangers. Aye right just a few days ago they were trying hard to punt Barry the Crab, not to mention Boyd and McGregor. Waken up STV everybody knows that had any club made a realistic bid for any Rangers player they would have been off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstruck Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Jeezo man, you really are labouring over this aren't you? First point, nothing has been won or claimed thus far this season, let's see how we finish the season. Second point, here is what I posted and you quoted. I also said that it was 100% accurate, which you question above. Did we lose our captain? Did we replace him? Did we lose quite convincingly to Hamilton in the first game post Berra? Were we roundly criticised for our defensive performance? Simple really, well, it should be. I think you will find that, if you you do me the courtesy of reading my posts, you will see that I was simply trying to contextualise your comments. You, however, seem to take any perceived disagreement with you viewpoint as a personal attack. You clearly don't agree that we have made any improvement over last season. That's fine, we are all entitled to our own opinion. I don't believe I said your comment re Saturday was inaccurate but I did ask if you might explain how we were similarly affected and criticized for our defensive performance the previous week and on several occasions earlier in the season, all before the sale and non-replacement of our erstwhile Captain. I await your answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettigrewsstylist Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Economic reality : Failure to qualify for Europe will cost Hearts money. Football reality: Failure to play 2 strikers will cost Hearts any chance of euro qualification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capone Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 You can see from hearts cutting players etc. that they are preparing wel in advance. I am happy to see that. Some people dont like the idea of selling all our good players and using the youngsters etc but if it means that we will still be around in 10years i am more than happy. Once we get this debt down then we can maybe look at spending some money, if that dosnt happen, thats when all hell will break loose...... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only a Game Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Football reality: Failure to play 2 strikers will cost Hearts any chance of euro qualification What absolute nonsense. We have played without two strikers all season and here we are in February with a BIG chance of Euro qualification. What MIGHT cost us in order of importance 1. Players having trouble applying themselves for routine SPL games (against the likes of Hamilton away) 2.We havent replaced our organiser at the back and for the first time this season, at Hamilton, we looked horribly disorganised, exposed and vulnerable at the back. This is a whole lot different from previous games where we occasionally switched off or made mistakes. This was wholesale disorganisation 3. Neither Aberdeen nor Dundee Utd have a bad patch between now and the end of the season. We need that to happen because they both look in better shape than we do and both are more consistently able to get results than we are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettigrewsstylist Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 What absolute nonsense. We have played without two strikers all season and here we are in February with a BIG chance of Euro qualification. What MIGHT cost us in order of importance 1. Players having trouble applying themselves for routine SPL games (against the likes of Hamilton away) 2.We havent replaced our organiser at the back and for the first time this season, at Hamilton, we looked horribly disorganised, exposed and vulnerable at the back. This is a whole lot different from previous games where we occasionally switched off or made mistakes. This was wholesale disorganisation 3. Neither Aberdeen nor Dundee Utd have a bad patch between now and the end of the season. We need that to happen because they both look in better shape than we do and both are more consistently able to get results than we are. Well we shall see come May eh, i note they have both had harder fixtures than us latley, we have the OF to look forward to shortly along with Easter road You think we have BIG chance of Euro Qual?? i find that absolute nonsense i think we have outside chance at most, im more worried about getting in the top 6 tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldar Hadzimehmedovic Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 -Two SPL clubs paid any fee at all for players this transfer window. Celtic for McGinn and Flood, Hearts for Balogh.-Hearts cannot continue to be reliant on the subsidy of Romanov/ UBIG -Rangers, with a considerably higher turnover and fanbase bought no one this transfer window and actively tried to sell several key players. -There were very few permanent transfers made in the EPL, with only Man City and Tottenham spending significantly. The global recession is having a severe impact on almost all football clubs. Hearts have made moves to make our wage bill and debt significantly more sustainable. If we had continued as we had done, with a huge squad and several high earners, we'd have been putting the club in mortal danger. A policy of using home grown players, coupled with signing value for money bosman's such as Ian Black, is the only long term sustainable plan for HMFC. In my opinion, there will be severe wage and transfer fee deflation in football over the next year, any club saddled with a large debt after that time, will be in real danger of going bust. I include in that several teams in the current English premiership. It is time for us to put our trust and our faith in our young players. Good post, but will it actually happen? Despite the relative success of some of our young players this season we have, generally, had a scattergun approach to bringing players through under Romanov. Now is the time for a logical, progressive strategy. For example, Ryan McGowan and David Templeton, who both turn 20 this year, should be getting some game time now. Not after the split, not when we clinch Europe, not next season, but right frickin' now. I can count on one hand the number of quality footballers who hadn't made a mark somewhere before they turned 20. It's all very well saying we will rely on youth but we have to have the courage to actually do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bighusref Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I think you will find that, if you you do me the courtesy of reading my posts, you will see that I was simply trying to contextualise your comments. You, however, seem to take any perceived disagreement with you viewpoint as a personal attack. You clearly don't agree that we have made any improvement over last season. That's fine, we are all entitled to our own opinion. I don't believe I said your comment re Saturday was inaccurate but I did ask if you might explain how we were similarly affected and criticized for our defensive performance the previous week and on several occasions earlier in the season, all before the sale and non-replacement of our erstwhile Captain. I await your answer. Improvement is all relative, what if we finish eighth this season? Of course, we are in a better position league wise right now. I would be interested to know where we are points wise and to compare the respective points hauls. However real progress will be shown in our final league position or the strengthening of the squad. We have obviously hindered the latter, the former is up for grabs, well IMO it was up for grabs yesterday. As for your second part, fair enough, I wasn't going to waste my time responding as I did last weekend and you ignored half of my responses, making your courtesy remark laughable. Let's see how we do with a midfielder and your bombscare mate in defence, unfortunately I do not forsee our defence coping very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstruck Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 As for your second part, fair enough, I wasn't going to waste my time responding as I did last weekend and you ignored half of my responses, making your courtesy remark laughable. Let's see how we do with a midfielder and your bombscare mate in defence, unfortunately I do not forsee our defence coping very well. A bit rich that coming from a master of equivocation! Let's just leave it that you don't want to answer the difficult question. As for the "my bombscare" remark, petty in the extreme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JamboRobbo Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 As for your second part, fair enough, I wasn't going to waste my time responding as I did last weekend and you ignored half of my responses, making your courtesy remark laughable. Thunderstruck lecturing anyone about courtesy is laughable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bighusref Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 A bit rich that coming from a master of equivocation! Let's just leave it that you don't want to answer the difficult question. As for the "my bombscare" remark, petty in the extreme. "answer the difficult question"? This from the guy that avoided question after question last week? Poor soul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMA MAROON Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Realistic loan signings (just to fill gaps) still cost money and block up the channels for youth coming through eg when is Ryan McGowan going to get a chance if not now? Loan signings like Balogh, Kingston etc with a price tag option do serve some purpose. Why shoukd the youths get a chance when we can train and give experience some other teams players? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Why shoukd the youths get a chance when we can train and give experience some other teams players? Exactly. It has been a big problem at Hearts, bringing in so many of Kaunas' players on loan. As for the economic reality - it is clear that UBIG/Hearts don't have any cash for players. Too much money still being paid to journeymen like Kingston, Nade etc. But that doesn't mean we need such an unbalanced squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstruck Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 "answer the difficult question"? This from the guy that avoided question after question last week? Poor soul. Perhaps you should refer to last week's thread and answer the question put to you. Which was "please tell me which questions remained unanswered." this was followed by a deafening silence on your part. Still interested in your views regarding last week's "bombscare" moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only a Game Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Well we shall see come May eh, i note they have both had harder fixtures than us latley, we have the OF to look forward to shortly along with Easter road You think we have BIG chance of Euro Qual?? i find that absolute nonsense i think we have outside chance at most, im more worried about getting in the top 6 tbh Two massive games coming up THIS MONTH that will answer the question. Lose both and your right, we're not going to Europe. Dont lose any ground and we are still in with a BIG shout IMO. Win both (OK unlikely IMO) and I'll be digging out the passport. Top six IMO is a stick on, unless we have a catastrophic collapse of Malofeev proportions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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