topcat(The most tip top) Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 2 hours ago, DC92 said: If Cochrane isn't going to sign a deal then we should absolutely sell him this summer, even if we have to accept a bit less than we'd ideally have liked. He's a good player but we can cope without him and we need to start making money on player sales so we can grow. Rather depends on how much faith you have in Penrice to deliver 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 1 hour ago, topcat(The most tip top) said: Rather depends on how much faith you have in Penrice to deliver Penrice would be a bit of a strange signing if we were put off accepting a reasonable 7-figure fee at the risk of having to play him. Especially when we'd be faced with the same situation in a year without the financial compensation. There's also a good chance we'll see Kingsley or even Rowles at LB in a 4 a fair bit, as well as the likelihood we'd invest some of the cash in a direct Cochrane replacement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 2 hours ago, DC92 said: Penrice would be a bit of a strange signing if we were put off accepting a reasonable 7-figure fee at the risk of having to play him. Especially when we'd be faced with the same situation in a year without the financial compensation. There's also a good chance we'll see Kingsley or even Rowles at LB in a 4 a fair bit, as well as the likelihood we'd invest some of the cash in a direct Cochrane replacement. Actually I'd got it in my head that Steven Kingsley was a lot older than he is and assumed he wasn't to be relied on. He only turns 30 this month 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Wonder Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 11 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said: Actually I'd got it in my head that Steven Kingsley was a lot older than he is and assumed he wasn't to be relied on. He only turns 30 this month Contract extension for him would be great. Such a good player for us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elixir Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 (edited) Naismith is cooking. Surely third at a canter again if we keep hold of Shankland. Clark Taylor Kent Kingsley Penrice Baningime Nieuwenhof Vargas Dhanda Spittal Shankland Gordon, Halkett, Rowles, Oyegoke, Devlin, Tait, Denholm, Forrest, McKay, Oda, Boyce, Drammeh, Tagawa. Plus some other youths like Neilson and Pollock. We'll surely be looking to ship out Atkinson, Sibbick, and Grant. Could yet lose Shankland. If so, we'll clearly need another striker in. Edited July 14 by Elixir 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoingThe42 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 (edited) 3 hours ago, Elixir said: Naismith is cooking. Surely third at a canter again if we keep hold of Shankland. Clark Taylor Kent Kingsley Cochrane Baningime Nieuwenhof Vargas Dhanda Spittal Shankland Gordon, Halkett, Rowles, Oyegoke, Penrice, Devlin, Tait, Denholm, Forrest, McKay, Oda, Boyce, Drammeh, Tagawa. Plus some other youths like Neilson and Pollock. We'll surely be looking to ship out Atkinson, Sibbick, and Grant. Could yet lose Shankland and/or Cochrane. If Shankland goes, we'll clearly need another striker in. It's a good squad. Not spectacular, but no real weaknesses as long as Taylor can play. As things stand it's the third best squad by a fair bit, but there are weeks to go and nobody has managed a third placed finish while playing group stage football before. It won't be an easy season, but that squad is probably better placed to manage the third and Europe combo than any squad that's tried it before. Good options for rotating when necessary without hugely weakening the side, and that's the key. Without Europe I think that squad could get over 70 points. But Europe is happening, so a lot will depend on how that's handled. Some tough Sunday games coming up. Rangers, Hibs, Aberdeen, Motherwell, and Kilmarnock all away after European games. Hearts will have good options for mixing things up though, and should usually have a really strong bench. Reason for optimism. Edited July 12 by DoingThe42 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elixir Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Tbf, we handled Europe and domestic affairs just fine last time - it was the collapse in March and April after Neilson publicly threw the players under the bus following the 'Snodgrass lone man in midfield against Rangers' debacle that did it for us in the end. Looking at the above, we also have a lot of squad depth, as you'd expect for playing half the season in Europe. Most of those guys should be able to slot in and do just as good a job as whoever they're replacing. I'd still like to see us hit 70-75 points this coming season. If we can continue to pick them up away from home like we did last season, but add to that the sort of home form that Hearts are typically known for, then it really will be an excellent campaign. The 2005/06 side got 74, though the overall quality and competition in the league was considerably higher then. Our goal difference was also +40 that season! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 (edited) Happy with the summer so far, but we'll see what the rest of the window brings. If we play the season with the squad we have now, assuming the likes of Atkinson and Grant are for the off, I'll be happy with that. It'll be interesting to see what the new right hand side is like. Taylor is an unknown. Got a mate who's a Bradford fan who reckons Oyegoke is pish, but he did say he was played out of position quite a bit, so it's hard to say really. I've never had as much of a problem with Atkinson as a lot of Hearts fans seem to, but with these two lads coming in it seems time to ship him off. I don't think Atkinson is brilliant, but I don't think he's as bad as folk make out either. He's been fine. Grant is similar in that I think he's been a relatively handy player to have in the squad, and has delivered for us at times. But we're now that strong in the middle of the park that there seems no reason to have him hanging about. Only thing I'd like to change is swap out Halkett for someone who is likely to actually be fit all season, but that isn't going to happen. Overall, can't complain. We look ready to go. Edited July 13 by VincentGuerin 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 21 hours ago, DC92 said: Penrice would be a bit of a strange signing if we were put off accepting a reasonable 7-figure fee at the risk of having to play him. Especially when we'd be faced with the same situation in a year without the financial compensation. There's also a good chance we'll see Kingsley or even Rowles at LB in a 4 a fair bit, as well as the likelihood we'd invest some of the cash in a direct Cochrane replacement. Coincidentally there are rumours that Cochrane is away to Birmingham and won't be involved in today's friendly. I guess we'll find out if that's true soon enough. I'll be pleased to get it done and get the cash in early if so. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 5 minutes ago, DC92 said: Coincidentally there are rumours that Cochrane is away to Birmingham and won't be involved in today's friendly. I guess we'll find out if that's true soon enough. I'll be pleased to get it done and get the cash in early if so. Pleasing thing about this summer all in is how early eerything has been done. Got to be an advantage having a full pre-season with the squad together. Agree if we're going to sell, just get it done. Feels quite unusual not being able to criticise the club's organisation. I'm uncomfortable with it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crùbag Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Looking forward to today. Hope to catch some of the pipe band on the Maroon Mile too. If Cochrane's away then, aye, get it done and get some dough in for him. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 52 minutes ago, VincentGuerin said: Pleasing thing about this summer all in is how early eerything has been done. Got to be an advantage having a full pre-season with the squad together. Agree if we're going to sell, just get it done. Feels quite unusual not being able to criticise the club's organisation. I'm uncomfortable with it. Yeah it's a nice bonus. Last summer worked out ok eventually but it was pretty clear we went in half-cocked. The summer before we similarly got plenty of business done early but then struggled to add the further quality we needed. The difference this time is that extra quality is a bit less critical and we'd be reasonably comfortable starting the season with the squad we have just now. I still think we could be stronger in a couple of areas. If we can shift Sibbick, Atkinson and a couple of others (Grant and Tagawa?) then that might give us some scope to add 2/3 more. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Anyone get along to the friendly today? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 (edited) 4 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said: Anyone get along to the friendly today? No. Didn't see it. Didn't pay any attention to it. But Naismith out. ETA: I'm not actually sure what the final score was. Naismith out anyway. Edited July 13 by VincentGuerin 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Apparently we lost 2-1 leyton orient also once beat Wales in a friendly in 1995 so this means Hearts will get to the semi finals of Euro 2044 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Unfortunately I did catch it on a stream. We got bullied physically for most of the game and the 2-1 defeat flattered us. I think the two teams used 47 players between them which tells the story. Clark, Shankland, Kingsley, Penrice, Baningime, Nieuwenhof, Taylor and Vargas weren't iinvolved, nor were Cochrane, Sibbick or Atkinson. Sounds like Nieuwenhof has injured his hamstring again. Of the new signings: Oyegoke and Dhanda looked ok, Spittal was pretty anonymous in a midfield two, and Musa looks like he'll need time to adjust to the physicality of the league. If you can take anything away from a game like this, it would be that another CB is required. Halkett looked lightyears off the pace and I wouldn't be banking on him getting back to 2022 Halkett. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoose Rice Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Doesn't matter you guys lost the physical battle and the match today to wee Orient, all about who won the war. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Wonder Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Definition of a training session today. Basically 2 different teams we fielded, neither one will be close to one we'd risk in a competitive game. 2nd half the back 5 was Fulton, Denholm,Kent, Neilson Dall. If we attempt that in a real game I'd want Naismith strung up. No Vargas, Shankland, Clark, Hof, Beni, Kingsley or Penrice either. Halkett looks miles off it, but tbh I think that to be expected. He's barely played in 18 months, he needs games. Folk wanted Beni released when he first came back last season. On a positive I thought Boyce looked sharp and Dhanda looked decent. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 (edited) Leyton Orient beat Wales in a friendly in 1995 so we’re set to reach the semifinals of Euro 2048 Edited July 13 by topcat(The most tip top) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elixir Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 If my time following the Hertz has taught me anything, it's that: Good pre-season friendly results = shit season ahead Bad pre-season friendly results = good season ahead Basically science at this point. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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