Kmcalpin

This. A lot is going to depend on the formation we play. I'm no tactician, far from it, but I wouldn't class the likes of Hylton and Hastie (and Seedorf) as strikers, more wide midfielders. I believe we're still looking for another striker to complete the jigsaw. One of our attacking problems last term (yes we did finish 3rd), was that the lone striker was too isolated from the wingers and central midfielders.

Seems fairly clear now that there's more to this story than meets the eye.

You'd think that, in their position, they'd be careful about spending money.

Interesting......

I don’t know about Jake Carroll but I’m confused about the lockdown guidelines. Plenty of shops and businesses are too.

Absolutely. Many fans have expressed disquiet because we can’t compete with the wages on offer down south. Now we know one of the reasons why. I’m happy with our approach.

Its not just footballers. I'm sure most of us could produce a list, the length of your arm if not longer, of those who have broken lockdown rules.

Should it be front page news?

Well, that would certainly split opinion. Maybe I'm wrong but he seemed to be less effective before he left. Was that because his mind was elsewhere or other teams had him sussed?

Yes. Was never 100% sure he’d stay until the official announcement was made. This will give us more continuity going forward and will help our preparations for the new season.

Maybe they want to pay £22 to help the club?

Thats ok if we have these young lads, but as far as I know we don't. We're ok in central defence with David Devine and Yusuf Hussain pushing on, likewise with central midfield with Dean Cornelius and Jamie Semple but thats it I think. It would be great to see these 4 young lads break through this coming season but they need game time, and I hope they get it. We seem to be light out wide (defensively and offensively) and up front just now.

Tabloid press is reporting that we've offered Robbo an improved deal to try and persuade him to stay.

According to Alan Burrows twitter (Captain Oats P & B) we're looking for another couple of players up front. Probably no surprise to most of us.

Luc Nijholt is only a phone call away. What about Simo?

At the very worst though, the club won’t lose out of it. At best it’ll make a good few thousand. If it makes even a modest return then it’ll have been worth it. What’s not to like?

It’s also worth noting that had Tait signed the club’s most up to date offer, it promised him that, as soon as there was clarity over fans returning this would be reviewed.

Agree 100%. For too long now, decades in fact, we've had players (or their agents) making controversial statements in the press and the fans jumping up and down slagging off the club as a result. The club is quite entitled to reply to defend itself and in this case it has struck the right note. As far as the BBC is concerned, it could have waited a tad longer to publish a balanced report. The story wasn't that urgent. Sometimes journalists can ring you up, pose a complex question/query and demand a reply there and then. If you say that you'll ring them back they'll just go ahead and publish, saying that the organisation wouldn't comment. When similar situations arise in future I'd expect and hope that the club will defend itself and reply, in a reasonable tone.

Neilson won't come cheap and Hearts will have to fork out hefty compensation to United. They'll also have to pay Stendel's contract. In the current and future financial climate how can Hearts afford this?

I'd like to hear the club's take on this. Just my opinion but I think he regressed last season, losing a fair bit of pace. Grimmy ousted him from the starting 11 at right back and we had a first choice left back. A good servant, but was he worth another deal and being a year older too? Probably not in Robbo's plans, or if so, only as squad back up - speculation on my part though. From a hard footballing perspective, not a great loss, but good luck to him.

It depends on what type of players are coming through the youth ranks. We seem to be well covered in central midfield and central defence with the likes of Dean Cornelius, Jamie Semple, David Devine and Yusuf Hussain progressing but we don't seem to have any young strikers or wingers coming through at the moment.

As far as centre backs go, management may not see Mugabi as a long term option and may view Donnelly and Maguire as midfielders - will the latter even move on. Gallagher of course could move on although I'm not aware of any evidence he will. Charles Dunne - on a short term contract and injury prone. In midfield, a player or two could move on who knows? You also have to take into account the type of player in there, where we need a balance of defensive and attacking types. Agreed, the way things are shaping up, we do look a bit stronger than last term, if we can add more firepower up front. All that said, it'd be great to see some home grown talent push through and establish themselves.

At the rate we're going now I think Declan Gallagher is taking the club over with his mates. Thats about 4 in recent weeks!

Any word yet if any of the following players have accepted the new deals they've been offered? They could be an important part of our squad this season. Charles Dunne Christopher Long Barry Maguire Peter Morrison Harry Robinson Yusuf Hussain

As far as I know Maguire has not yet signed a new deal.