tropicalafc
Member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2013
- Messages
- 205
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 16
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I have taken the reigns at Hearts with the club in administration and heavily tipped for relegation. The short term goals are to guide the club through financial difficulty and to preserve our status in the SPL.
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The squad is small and full of youngsters. Of 21 players, only 3 are above the age of 22. Goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald (27), midfielder Jamie Hamill (26) and midfielder Ryan Stevenson (28). Providing they are not sold by the administrators, these three could be key in any successes of the coming season.
The bright side is the remainder of the squad are full of potential. Defender and club captain Danny Wilson (21) is one of a few players whose contract is not up at the end of the season and is someone I am desperate to keep hold of. Jason Holt (20) is expected to provide the attacking thrust from midfield and is already well on his way to fulfilling the great potential seen in him. Unfortunately he is one of the many in the final year of their contract and depending on how the season goes, I do not expect to be able to keep him.
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The administrators have sold promising midfielder Scott Robinson to St Johnstone for ?100k. I am obviously disappointed with his departure but not entirely surprised. I just hope there are not too many more departures.
Pre-Season Friendly
Exeter 1-0 Hearts
A disappointing performance of few chances for either side. We go down to a first half free kick from David Wheeler. Defensively sound but toothless in attack. Liverpool next.
Thankfully Kevin McHattie rejected an offer from Crystal Palace. The deal would have been lucrative for the club but potentially disastrous for the team. Kevin is our only natural left back. However, with 2 months left of the transfer window there is still plenty of time for things to go pear shaped.
Pre-Season Friendly
Hearts 1-1 Liverpool
Delight! It was all Liverpool in the first half and they went ahead through Luis Suarez. But a far more even second half resulted in David Smith scoring a deserved equaliser 10 minutes from the end. A super display against top opposition.
The club announce an extension of our credit facilities which will hopefully ensure the club's long-term future. I am still concerned with the short-term doubt over the squad but this is good news going forward.
The chase is hotting up for our young goalkeeper Jack Hamilton. Kilmarnock were snubbed by the player a few weeks back but Partick have now joined in. As we currently have 3 goalkeepers, I will not be overly disappointed with his departure.
Alas, a few days later he has signed for St Johnstone who came in with a late bid of ?30k.
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It is announced that goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald will miss the season opener away to St Johnstone through injury. Thankfully that should be the only game he misses.
On the morning of the first game of the season it is announced that offers of ?575k from Newcastle and Norwich have been accepted for Callum Paterson. Should a deal go through then it will be financially significant for the club but I will be gutted to lose a player who is so vital to the first team.
I have taken the reigns at Hearts with the club in administration and heavily tipped for relegation. The short term goals are to guide the club through financial difficulty and to preserve our status in the SPL.
View attachment 403103
The squad is small and full of youngsters. Of 21 players, only 3 are above the age of 22. Goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald (27), midfielder Jamie Hamill (26) and midfielder Ryan Stevenson (28). Providing they are not sold by the administrators, these three could be key in any successes of the coming season.
The bright side is the remainder of the squad are full of potential. Defender and club captain Danny Wilson (21) is one of a few players whose contract is not up at the end of the season and is someone I am desperate to keep hold of. Jason Holt (20) is expected to provide the attacking thrust from midfield and is already well on his way to fulfilling the great potential seen in him. Unfortunately he is one of the many in the final year of their contract and depending on how the season goes, I do not expect to be able to keep him.
View attachment 403102
The administrators have sold promising midfielder Scott Robinson to St Johnstone for ?100k. I am obviously disappointed with his departure but not entirely surprised. I just hope there are not too many more departures.
Pre-Season Friendly
Exeter 1-0 Hearts
Thankfully Kevin McHattie rejected an offer from Crystal Palace. The deal would have been lucrative for the club but potentially disastrous for the team. Kevin is our only natural left back. However, with 2 months left of the transfer window there is still plenty of time for things to go pear shaped.
Pre-Season Friendly
Hearts 1-1 Liverpool
The club announce an extension of our credit facilities which will hopefully ensure the club's long-term future. I am still concerned with the short-term doubt over the squad but this is good news going forward.
Pre-Season Friendly
Accrington 3-0 Hearts
Truly awful from start to finish. First half goals from Danny Webber and George Bowerman and an unlucky own goal from young Jordan McGhee. I was surprised to see we had 14 shots in the game, not surprised to see 0 on target.. Just not good enough. I'll see how the game against Torquay goes and then consider changing things up. Not ideal with 2 games to go until the start of the season.Accrington 3-0 Hearts
Pre-Season Friendly
Torquay 2-3 Hearts
Better. Much better. Dale Carrick opened the scoring for us after a dominant first 30 minutes and we were unlucky to go in level at half time. Danny Wilson made up for a few weak performances by putting us ahead in the second half. Kevin McHattie scored a superb free kick a few moments later before a late Courtney Cameron goal for Torquay. The scoreline flatters Torquay immensely.Torquay 2-3 Hearts
The chase is hotting up for our young goalkeeper Jack Hamilton. Kilmarnock were snubbed by the player a few weeks back but Partick have now joined in. As we currently have 3 goalkeepers, I will not be overly disappointed with his departure.
Alas, a few days later he has signed for St Johnstone who came in with a late bid of ?30k.
Pre-Season Friendly
Dagenham & Redbridge 1-2 Hearts
A decent win and performance. Callum Paterson putting us ahead early on before a superb strike from Dagenham's Abu Ogogo. Ryan Stevenson got us a deserved winner late on. Like Torquay, Dagenham scored with their only shots on target. It's not too much of a worry and it has been pleasing to get 2 dominating performances after the shocker at Accrington.Dagenham & Redbridge 1-2 Hearts
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Pre-Season Review
Pre-season over and it's been a mixed bag. Im pleased with the two most recent results and am hoping the Accrington game was just a blip. There has been a lot of team changes throughout for fitness purposes and I'm hoping stability will iron out some of the more obvious flaws in our game. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can get through this month without too many departures. It would be foolish to think there will not be one or two. Because of the club entering administration, we will begin the season on -15 points. It's vital we get above 0 as quickly as possible.
Pre-season over and it's been a mixed bag. Im pleased with the two most recent results and am hoping the Accrington game was just a blip. There has been a lot of team changes throughout for fitness purposes and I'm hoping stability will iron out some of the more obvious flaws in our game. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can get through this month without too many departures. It would be foolish to think there will not be one or two. Because of the club entering administration, we will begin the season on -15 points. It's vital we get above 0 as quickly as possible.
It is announced that goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald will miss the season opener away to St Johnstone through injury. Thankfully that should be the only game he misses.
On the morning of the first game of the season it is announced that offers of ?575k from Newcastle and Norwich have been accepted for Callum Paterson. Should a deal go through then it will be financially significant for the club but I will be gutted to lose a player who is so vital to the first team.