OFFICIAL HEARTS JUGGERNAUT THREAD 2020-

[paranoid android]

5 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

My brother is earning more money down south and it's a little bit annoying

I have four older brothers - I reckon they're all making more than me, and two of the c***s have retired! 

[Kyle Reese]

See that's Mick Smith signed a season's extension this morning. A good sensible piece of business that. Natty Akka in at RWB, along with re-signing the rest of our defence long term should insulate us against the possibility of Souttar leaving during this window. 

Feels good to be doing these things to a bit of a plan now. 

[lennyzer0]

3 minutes ago, Kyle Reese said:

See that's Mick Smith signed a season's extension this morning. A good sensible piece of business that. Natty Akka in at RWB, along with re-signing the rest of our defence long term should insulate us against the possibility of Souttar leaving during this window. 

Feels good to be doing these things to a bit of a plan now. 

Sensible extension length too. Good to see.

[paranoid android]

[Kyle Reese]

Just now, lennyzer0 said:

Sensible extension length too. Good to see.

Absolutely. He plays a few positions well. He's not going to start getting younger though, so I'm glad we have younger options in the three positions he has experience in playing. 

[Kyle Reese]

Just now, paranoid android said:

Trying to look younger so he keeps his place in the team. Crafty old devil that he is.

[Guest]

Always said and stand by I don't begrudge Souttar a move unless its to the OF, if he does go to Rangers it shows a complete lack of ambition

[AJF]

7 minutes ago, Empty It said:

Always said and stand by I don't begrudge Souttar a move unless its to the OF, if he does go to Rangers it shows a complete lack of ambition

Surely it would depend on what his ambition is? What will he be losing out on joining Rangers as opposed to joining, say, Blackburn who were reported to be in the running?

[Kyle Reese]

3 minutes ago, Empty It said:

Always said and stand by I don't begrudge Souttar a move unless its to the OF, if he does go to Rangers it shows a complete lack of ambition

Something certainly needs to give:

• Neilson wants to keep him until the summer at least, (unless a good remuneration offer is made)
• Rangers will not want to pay anything for him
• Souttar only wants to go there if it's in this window
• The supporters will turn on Souttar and Neilson if he signs a pre-contract at Rangers, but stays until summer
• His injury record suggests he could break down again at some point in the next few months

 

[Guest]

Surely it would depend on what his ambition is? What will he be losing out on joining Rangers as opposed to joining, say, Blackburn who were reported to be in the running?

Fair enough if his ambition is to sit on the bench at Ibrox then he'll have fulfilled that. You don't see the difference in playing with a top end championship club with a real possibility of getting promoted whilst playing in a competitive league as opposed to playing (if he even gets a game) in a 2 team league?

[Guest]

Something certainly needs to give:

• Neilson wants to keep him until the summer at least, (unless a good remuneration offer is made)
• Rangers will not want to pay anything for him
• Souttar only wants to go there if it's in this window
• The supporters will turn on Souttar and Neilson if he signs a pre-contract at Rangers, but stays until summer
• His injury record suggests he could break down again at some point in the next few months

 

If he signs a pre contract with them I'd be quite happy to see him not play for us. You're not going to get the best from a player that has signed a pre contract with competition.

[DMCs]

12 minutes ago, Empty It said:

23 minutes ago, AJF said:

Surely it would depend on what his ambition is? What will he be losing out on joining Rangers as opposed to joining, say, Blackburn who were reported to be in the running?

Fair enough if his ambition is to sit on the bench at Ibrox then he'll have fulfilled that. You don't see the difference in playing with a top end championship club with a real possibility of getting promoted whilst playing in a competitive league as opposed to playing (if he even gets a game) in a 2 team league?

You're not taking into account the European football aspect. If we win the league this year there is a very strong chance we'd be straight into the Champions League group stages.

Plus by "real chance" we are talking less than a 2/1 chance. He has a kid that's not even a year old yet so moving to Blackburn of all places based on that chance is a risk.

[Kyle Reese]

2 minutes ago, Empty It said:

18 minutes ago, Kyle Reese said:

Something certainly needs to give:

• Neilson wants to keep him until the summer at least, (unless a good remuneration offer is made)
• Rangers will not want to pay anything for him
• Souttar only wants to go there if it's in this window
• The supporters will turn on Souttar and Neilson if he signs a pre-contract at Rangers, but stays until summer
• His injury record suggests he could break down again at some point in the next few months

 

If he signs a pre contract with them I'd be quite happy to see him not play for us. You're not going to get the best from a player that has signed a pre contract with competition.

Completely agree. Neilson has a bit of a history of underestimating the views of the fans though. He has been saying that he wants to keep playing Souttar until the summer if he doesn't move anywhere this window. He will be starting to pick up on the mood of the support around this though, and he will be reluctant to return to the bad old days of his "money spinner" backlash.

That's the state of the game up there in the bullet points. Something needs to give. We should have a system in place, like they have in England, where a player cannot sign a pre-contract agreement with a club in the same league/division as their current club, until the 1st June.

[Kyle Reese]

The next step in this:

Rangers offer £100-250k to take him now. 

 

[AJF]

10 minutes ago, Empty It said:

21 minutes ago, AJF said:

Surely it would depend on what his ambition is? What will he be losing out on joining Rangers as opposed to joining, say, Blackburn who were reported to be in the running?

Fair enough if his ambition is to sit on the bench at Ibrox then he'll have fulfilled that. You don't see the difference in playing with a top end championship club with a real possibility of getting promoted whilst playing in a competitive league as opposed to playing (if he even gets a game) in a 2 team league?

Both Goldson and Balogun are out of contract and Simpson and Katic will likely be moved on. If Souttar comes in I'd be confident he'd get plenty of minutes.

The possibility of Blackburn getting promoted is probably in the same boat as the possibility of Rangers playing group stage Champions League football next season so that could be a draw for him as well as a more realistic opportunity to win trophies. Blackburn's highest finish in the Championship in the last 10 seasons has been 8th. While they are doing well so far this season, it's a bit of a stretch to label them a top end championship club.

I don't necessarily think he'd be more ambitious by joining Rangers, but I'd hardly say Blackburn offer a lot more in terms of a learning experience.

 

[AJF]

2 minutes ago, Kyle Reese said:

The next step in this:

Rangers offer £100-250k to take him now. 

 

Just the way football works I suppose. It's exactly what Hearts done to Dundee Utd to sign Souttar in the first place.

[Kyle Reese]

10 minutes ago, AJF said:

Just the way football works I suppose. It's exactly what Hearts done to Dundee Utd to sign Souttar in the first place.

Oh, I don't really blame Rangers for trying to get good players for as little as possible. It is just the way it goes really. I'm more focused on what Hearts do next if he does sign a pre-contract there. Neilson wants to keep playing him, but the fans wouldn't react well to that. Neilson has built a fair amount of good credit back up again, after the fans turning on him for the money spinner comments and shite Europa League qualification efforts in his first term as manager, and Brora Rangers last season. He will not want to return to the days of the fans ripping in to him again. 

On the Dundee United thing though. Are you sure that's how it went? I can't remember exactly, but i think he had been moved in to defensive midfield, and he was struggling.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Kyle Reese

[AJF]

1 minute ago, Kyle Reese said:

Oh, I don't really blame Rangers for trying to get good players for as little as possible. It is just the way it goes really. I'm more focused on what Hearts do next if he does sign a pre-contract there. Neilson wants to keep playing him, but the fans wouldn't react well to that. Neilson has built a fair amount of good credit back up again, after the fans turning on him after the money spinner comments and shite Europa League qualification efforts in his first term as manager, and Brora Rangers last season. He will not want to return to the days of the fans ripping in to him again. 

On the Dundee United thing though. Are you sure that's how it went? I can't remember exactly, but i think he had been moved in to defensive midfield, and he was struggling.

I just meant in terms of how he signed for Hearts. He had already turned down a new deal at Utd after interest from Hearts and, going into the final 6 months of his contract, ended up signing for Hearts in the January for a likely nominal sum.

[Guest]

Oh, I don't really blame Rangers for trying to get good players for as little as possible. It is just the way it goes really. I'm more focused on what Hearts do next if he does sign a pre-contract there. Neilson wants to keep playing him, but the fans wouldn't react well to that. Neilson has built a fair amount of good credit back up again, after the fans turning on him for the money spinner comments and shite Europa League qualification efforts in his first term as manager, and Brora Rangers last season. He will not want to return to the days of the fans ripping in to him again. 
On the Dundee United thing though. Are you sure that's how it went? I can't remember exactly, but i think he had been moved in to defensive midfield, and he was struggling.
 
 

I've got my "Neilson out" banner and my airplane at the ready.

[sairyinthat]

regarding pre contracts a simple solution to prevent it ever happening to us again with any of our players on three year contracts if we want to keep our player then as he approaches the second year we should if we intend to keep him or not offer him an extended contract and if he delays accepting it stick him  on the transfer list that transfer window immediately. That solves any hanky panky by agents etc as the following january window approaches. It's how I would overcome it.