ascender

IMO we don't have any strikers in our squad who would like to play a long ball game. That's why it baffled and frustrated me last season to see us just pumping the ball up from the back to front, game after game after game.

That's a really strange piece to read, particularly as it comes across to me that Smith has been back to what he reckons is match fitness for ages and sounds pissed off that he never got his place back. So does that mean that last season all the rumours about his career being over were just nonsense and actually he's been available for selection for a while?

Not sure why a 22 year old at the start of his career is shooting his mouth off like that though. How to win over your manager in one easy step...

The new Hearts top might give us a clue and I do like the look of it. Similar to the above, nice and simple.

But why sign him and never give him a chance? I know that they opposition weren't exactly great, but in the few games he played for us, he looked fairly skillful, wanted to play football and at the very least, deserving of another chance.

Very strange.

I just don't know what the problem is with Fergie though and I mean that in terms of why we're not getting the best out of him.

Are we playing him out of position?

Is it the system that doesn't suit him?

Are his injuries worse than has been made public?

Does he need better players around him?

The subject of movement amongst our forwards has been mentioned, but even with someone like JCD and Novo who can run the channels well, Fergie doesn't seem to make those defence splitting passes any more for forwards or wingers to run on to.

Whether he individually plays well or not, he seems to bring "something" to the team which those around him don't. But at times, apart from this influence or whatever it is he has, he's often a passenger. And I don't think we can afford passengers, especially going forward from what happened last season and trying to correct some of the problems and limitations we have.

So looking at the possible lineups, where do you play him next season?

I also think that its not the best message to send out to our other players that he's untouchable in the team. I know he's the captain, so maybe we need to take that away from him so there's less pressure on him and less pressure on WS to play him.

I guess the problem is that none of our current squad have made the wide positions their own and they're still up for grabs. I think this season will be an interesting one as it could be make or break for a few players depending on how they perform and rise to the challenge (or not) of keeping their place in the team or trying to win their place back.

The Maloney rumour has been around for a while and I'd certainly take him, but I can't see it happening.

I am pretty sure it was based on league games.

Just seems like a really strange thing to have.

Even still, if Buffel was rated by any of the management teams, I'm sure the money would have been found.

Its one of those things that hasn't worked out for one reason or another and we'll never know why. I guess why people are pleased he's gone is that if we weren't going to play him, then it was an awful waste of wages. We could argue forever about whether he ever showed his true potential or even if he was given a fair chance to do so, but like some other players in recent times, he's not been able to break in to the team really, so we just have to accept that.

BTW, I don't understand the payment thing. If we were due �£400,000 when he played x number of games, why was he eligible for cup games as usually that sort of clause just applies to all games? Is it just one of those rumours which has been around for so long that its accepted as fact?

Is Gribz allowed to come.....don't want him putting a downer on the party for us

Every party needs someone to look miserable and sit on the sofa for the duration. Besides, his "I ♡ Sebo" t-shirt will give us some amusement if things start to drag on

Result.

Who's hosting the party? I'll bring the booze, someone needs to sort out the streamers, party hats and the food.

As they have no manager or coach, their sprint trainer is taking pre-season training and just doing running work for a few days until they hopefully have someone across from Lithuania who can start ball work with them. Meanwhile clubs wanting to sign players are complaining because they can't get in touch with anyone at Hearts to open negotiations.

Can't wait to see what happens to them in the league this season.

* sits back, grabs a beer and waits for the entertainment to start *

My main reasons for not liking Setanta are the poor picture quality (not to mention the frequent dropouts) & amateur commentating team. When compared to Sky Sports SD service, let alone their HD one, it just feels like amateur hour. Maybe with their renewed commitment to the SPL they'll try to improve things a bit.

That's good news, I'm just gutted its still with Setanta rather than Sky.

Great thread, just one thing that might help a bit is that WS was saying today that he wants to play Lafferty as a striker rather than in midfield.

I read a similar piece earlier and thought the same. I really hope we're not finished, but it does sound like we need players to leave before signing anyone else. That's worrying tbh if we're not going to sign a creative midfielder.

The RST statement certainly appears to have been written very carefully.

Very carefully so that it tells us absolutely nothing! Great work lads!

Another manager has turned them down due to Vlad's plan for transfers which is to continue to bring players to Tynecastle from his other two clubs.

Its hard to feel sorry for them given the bile that most of their fans spout about the OF, us in particular.

I think Dudek had a bit of a hard time at Liverpool, especially as I don't think Reina is really any better than him. Both have their failings as keepers and its surprised me that Liverpool have stuck with Reina for so long tbh.

There was mention today of him and Lennon going on loan next season to get first team action, so I think that could be a good move for them both, so long as they come back and then get a decent crack at the first team.

The Daily Record claimed we'd listen to offers. I just assumed that when we loaned him from Wigan, we agreed to buy him once the legal stuff had been sorted which was why we couldn't then pull out of the deal.

Who knows, a good pre-season could make all the difference to him.

That's what I thought, he wanted to play regularly for another year and we couldn't offer him that.

Boyd and Gow have not been Walters favourites that is for sure and it certainly looks to me that something has happened off the field. I am not saying the drug rumour is true as it probably isn't but Gow's situation is not football orientated imo.

Who knows what goes on behind the scenes at clubs. Many people who've seen Gow play say he's just not good enough and there's nothing more sinister than that. I guess the U21 rule won't be helping his cause either.

I'd have thought if any of our players had an issue like that, they'd either be sacked or helped through it an in a country this size, the media would be all over it. In fact, they'd even be all over the rumours surely if there was any credence to them?

I was delighted to see him at first as he wasn't afraid to shoot from distance which made a nice change. But I thought he tailed off in to mediocrity at best, although he wasn't helped by injuries or being played in numerous different positions and our long ball game.

If Cuellar and Weir are going to be the first-choice partnership, we seem to have an awful lot of backup centre halves, that's all. Especially if Smith comes back in to the LB slot.

So long as we sign a proper RB and someone creative for the midfield, I'll be a happy Bear.