PrinceEgypt Posted October 19, 2008 Share Posted October 19, 2008 As inherited, the Hearts first team squad comprises 26 players, although the quirk of this is that no fewer than ten players are loan signings. Morale is also desperately poor, with most players in low spirits across all levels of the squad. Most positional options are well covered for depth, but there are some issues with the squads quality as you seek to close the gap to Celtic and Rangers. The board will give you around $3m to spend on transfers, so it’s not a huge amount to play with, but there is quality out there for the patient manager. Heart Of Midlothian Nation: Scotland Year Founded: 1874 Status: Professional Reputation: National Chairman Status: Loves The Club Favoured Personnel: Steven Pressley, Paul Hartley, Neil McCann, Craig Levein Fierce Rivals: Hibernian Other Rivals: None Finances: OK Estimated Value: £40.5m (Loan Debt: £55M) Stadium: Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh Stadium Capacity: 17402 all seater with undersoil heating Pitch Dimensions: 100x64 Maximum Pitch Dimensions: 113x71 Reserve Stadium: Forthbank Stadium, Stirling Training Facilities: Top training facilities Youth Facilities: Good youth facilities and youth academy Continental Competition: None Media Prediction: 4th Squad Average Age: 24 Squad Personality: Professional Home Shirts: Maroon with white collar and side trim Away Shirts: White with purple pinstriping Sponsor: Ukio Bankas Captain: Christophe Berras Vice Captain: Robbie Neilson History: Formed in 1874, known as the Jam Tarts or Maroons, and playing in the capital city of Scotland Edinburgh, Heart Of Midlothian can legitimately claim to be Scotlands 3rd biggest club with a passionate fan base and a solid financial footing, although this hasn’t necessarily translated to trophies. The championship last made residence at Tynecastle in 1960, and the club infamously lost the league title to Celtic in the last fifteen minutes of their final game at Dundee in 1986, when Albert Kidd scored two goals for the Dark Blues as a substitute. On the positive side, the club won the Scottish Cup in 1998 and in 2006, and finished 2nd in the table in 2006, sampling Champions League football. In the last few years, the club has been bought by the Lithuanian Vladimir Romanov, who has turned over managers at a fast rate, and who has interfered in team matters and caused disharmony with senior players. He has also brought in many players on loan from another club he owns, Kaunas. It’s against this challenging background that an FM 2008er inherits a squad with the potential to challenge for the championship, but which could also fall apart and go the other way. Expectations: The expectations on Hearts are that the club gets itself into a position within two years to challenge Rangers and Celtic for the championship. A third place finish is more than attainable in the SPL and qualification for continental competition will go a long way towards helping build stronger finances for transfers. With just over 3 million dollars to spend on transfers, building a championship winning side in the first season is difficult. The board are also hopeful the side will perform well in the cup competitions. The club hasn’t qualified for continental competition in 2007/08, so it is important to establish a fast and positive start with the fans as you aim to get back into Europe. It might be worth targeting the derby with Hibernian and the League Cup early rounds as a chance to stamp some authority into the season and build a good rapport with the supporters. Squad Overview As inherited, the Hearts first team squad comprises 26 players, although the quirk of this is that no fewer than ten players are loan signings. Morale is also desperately poor, with most players in low spirits across all levels of the squad. Most positional options are well covered for depth, but there are some issues with the squads quality as you seek to close the gap to Celtic and Rangers. The board will give you around $3m to spend on transfers, so it’s not a huge amount to play with, but there is quality out there for the patient manager. In goal, the departure of Craig Gordon to Sunderland has left a big hole between the posts. The options in the first team squad are the Frenchman Anthony Basso and the on loan Lithuanian Eduardas Kurskis. Narrowly, Basso is the better goalkeeper and it’s hard to say there is anything drastically wrong with either goalkeeper – however both are limited in comparison to a top line purchase or what Gordon would have offered. This should be one are of the side that you seek to strengthen, particularly in regards to seeking a long term option with Basso 30 years old and Kurskis on loan. Hearts are served well at right back. The Scottish international Robbie Neilson just about heads the pack with a reasonable amount of skill and bags of determination. The other options in the first team squad are the Senegalese player Ibrahim Tall, and the Greek 24 year old Christos Karypidis. In truth, the difference between the three is minimal, although Karypidis is still developing and improving and Tall is a better option in the centre of defence. At left back, Hearts are served by the impressive Portugese youngster Jose Goncalves and the 19 year old Scot Lee Wallace, along with the on loan Lithuanian Tomas Kancelskis. Kancelskis is very much a third and final option, and someone who’s loan spell you might look at terminating. Goncalves is probably the preferred option, although the way Wallace plays he can push forward and help you create goals. It’s a judgement call since both players are young and hungry and the kind of players you should look to build around. At the heart of the centre of your defence you can plug in Karypidis, Goncalves, Tall or Kancelskis. At least one of your options however should be to start club captain Christophe Berra, the determined and aggressive Frenchman. What he lacks in technique, he makes up for in leadership and solidity. The final option at central defence is the young on loan Lithuanian Marius Zaliukas, who is an average player who is still developing. It’s worth tinkering with the myriad of options the flexible, multi positional defence offers you until you find the partnership you are looking for and find the players who suit your system. Beyond the defence, Hearts are extremely strong. On the left of midfield, the first team squad offers many options. Lee Wallace is the defensive choice, 19 and worth a look. Narrowly heading the pack might be the defensively minded neat and tidy Spaniard Ruben Palazuelos who is a fine passer of the ball. Alternatively, Hearts have a trio of on loan Lithuanians who are more attack minded, Deividas Cesnauskis, Kestutis Ivaskevicius and Audrius Ksanavicius. Cesnauskis is the best of the trio and the one with the most upside, and all three can provide a creative spark from the bench, if a goal is needed, but at least one of the latter two should probably be considered surplus to your requirements. The final option is the young Englishman Andrew Driver, who you should file in the reserves and keep an eye on. On the right, the options are the Ghanaian international Laryea Kingston, Cesnauskis, Ivaskevicius and another on loan Lithuanian Saulius Mikoliunas. Kingston is the star man in the team, a driving and purposeful strong force too good for most of the Scottish SPL sides. As he can also play in the centre of midfield, it’s down to your system where you play him, as long as he is played. If used in the centre of midfield, it’s probably down to Cesnauskis to carry the duties on the right, with Mikoliunas struggling to make an impact. In the centre of midfield, Palazuelos can step into the role with comfort, Kingston is a star whether he is used on the right or in the centre, and Ivaskevicius and Ksanavicius are your back up options. Also in the centre, acting as a strong pair are the Portugese loan signing Bruno Aguiar and the Scot Michael Stewart. Both are decent players, although not quite top liners. Beyond the goal keeping position, investing in the centre of midfield should be considered the next priority, particularly with the position thin and containing a lot of loan signings. Up front, Hearts are well served by five decent strikers. The three permanent strikers can all get you a goal, being the Frenchman Christian Nade, the Czech Michal Posposil and the Chilean Mauricio Pinilla. On loan from Lithuania are the duo of Ricardas Beniusis and Andrius Velicka who have their own strengths, respectively strength in the air and a great amount of determination. It’s fair to say that there’s not one striker who stands out from the pack by a long way, but the idea should be to develop your own long term strikeforce, so the permanent pairing of Nade and one of Posposil or Pinilla should be enough to fire you up the table. The reserves squad for Hearts doesn’t contain a lot to work with or pay attention to. A hidden gem is the winger David Templeton, who can gain experience on loan and is a strong performer in future years. The biggest name in the reserve squad is the former Rangers midfielder Neil McCann, who is worth a punt with, as at 32 he can do a job, although he is inconsistent. In the under 19s, far and away the best player is the Icelandic athlete Eggert Jonsson, who is almost ready to play first team football straight away. The Romanian Dimitriu Copil and the young goalkeeper Mark Ridgers have a lot of talent among a pool of strong youngsters, and it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on the results and development of the young stars over time. Recommended Signings Kamil Contofalsky (G) – Zenit St Petersburg (Permanent, $2.9m) Aleksandrs Kolin’ko (G) – Rubin (Permanent, $1.6m) Steve Simonsen (G) – Stoke (Permanent, $1.2m) Alan Martin (G) – Leeds (Permanent, 28K) Robert Snodgrass (AM L R/ST) – Livingston FC (Permanent, 100K) Brian Easton (D L C) – Hamilton (Permanent, 30K) James McCarthy (M R C) – Hamilton (Permanent, 85K) The first and foremost priority with Hearts should be to find a goalkeeper. Contofalsky, Kolin’ko or Simonsen are break the budget signings, but all very capable players. A longer term option might be the Scotland under 19 goalkeeper Alan Martin, who blossoms into a strong player in time. With all the loan signings, it’s worth seeking to build a strong squad of younger Scottish players with an eye on the future, and Snodgrass, Easton and McCarthy are the kind of players you can seek to really develop in three or four years time once the budget is spent on a goalkeeper. Recommended 4-4-2 Formation Basso Goncalves Tall Berra Neilson Palazuelos Aguiar Stewart Kingston Nade Posposil Summary: There’s a lot of intrigue in taking Hearts, and a lot of inconsistencies. While the squad can go as far as challenging for the title and comes with a lot of ability, and is certainly well placed to at worst qualify for Europe and challenge for cup silverware, it is in poor confidence, is exceptionally weak in goal and contains ten loan signings, most of whom are season long, and a lack of planning could leave you short in season two. With that in mind, a title challenge might be seen as a longer term aim, with a squad overhaul and more permanent, hungrier young players offering the best solution to the problem of ending Hearts 48 year wait for a championship. (this may be for FM2007...if it is, please delete or let me know) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
4oKuTo Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Finished second in my first season,also lost League Cup final.Won FA Cup and League Cup in second season but Celtic won the title again with a point ahead because of my draw against Dundee United and that was awful...However great results in Champions League: Smashing Brugge in 3rd qualifying round: http://i.data.bg/08/10/20/1206489_orig.jpg 2 famous victories against AC Milan in group stage: http://i.data.bg/08/10/20/1206490_orig.jpg http://i.data.bg/08/10/20/1206492_orig.jpg First in CL Group Stage- http://i.data.bg/08/10/20/1206482_orig.jpg Lost 1/8 final against Porto...Main squad: Logan Bailly,Leyrielton,Gioda,Nasuti,Wallace,Ropotan,Buonnanote,Mihelic,Driver,Kaebi,Dentinho.Key reserves:Daniel Sturridge,Ibrahim Tall,Ruben Palazuelos... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purefun Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Bailly is a great gk. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.