Tracksuit Manager

Transfer deadline day – Midlothian Magic #6

Ah, Jim Whyte. Who else has had enough of him now?

Despite having next to no money in the window we managed to spend £610,000 on transfer fees, We also managed to bringin a total of £158,000 on player sales.

Overall I was delighted with this transfer window, we brought in some high quality players with interational experience and a few Premier League winners medals. We also managed to sell on some players that were not in our plans, this helped with our wage bill for the incoming players.

Let’s see who we managed to bring in:

*Please note all screenshots were taken in April 2020, so I’ve hidden the player stats to prevent ruining the series*

Darren Fletcher

Our first signing for the club was the vastly experienced Darren Fletcher. The former Manchester United and Scotland midfielder who boasts one Champions League winners medal and five Premier League titles joined our ranks on a free transfer.

The ball winning midfielder was an ideal option to bring in. Not only is he a fantastic player still, but he is perfect to have around players like Andy Irving. He was also given the 24 shirt that he has worn throughout his career.

We decided give Darren the vice-captaincy, it’s a no brainer isnt it. He has captained Manchester United, Scotalnd and a host of other clubs too. We didn’t want to take the armband of Christophe Berra, but Fletcher is the ideal captain for when Berra is not in the team.

Ross Wallace

Our second signing was 33 year old Scottish winger Ross Wallace. The former Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday star also joined us on a free transfer after leaving Joey Barton’s Fleetwood Town in the summer.

Wallace adds much needed squad depth in the wides areas as width is going to be a key focus for us this season. The experienced Scot also boasts one Scottish Premier League title, one Scottish Cup and a Scottish League cup all during his time at Celtic. He also got his only cap for Scotland in 2009 whilst at Preston North End.

Wallace was given his prefered number 33 shirt.

Stipe Vucur

We were in the market for a centre half as we feared John Souttar was on his way out. Unfortunately St Johnstone were not willing to budge on their valuation of Jason Kerr and Celtic’s Jack Hendry wanted ridiculous wages.

We stumbled across Hajduk Split centre back Stipe Vucur (Croatian leageus loaded, I’m a big fan). Our scout came back to tell us that he would be a great addition to the sqaud and that we could for between £100,000 and £150,000. We attempted to loan Stipe but it didn’t work out, then two bids were turned down before agreeing on £110,000 in one 12 month installment.

The Austrian defender is strong, good in the air and also a decent passer of the ball and at a push can play as a defensive midfilder. Vucur was given the number 15 shirt.

Zander Clark

*Screenshot will be uploaded tonight*

The one area I wanted to strengthen most was between the sticks. I wasn’t happy with our current goalkeepers, although Joel Pereira is good I didn’t feel he was going to be good enough to get us where we wanted to be this season.

Zander is a player I really like, he’s a good goalkeeper, still quite young and he’s scottish too. St Johnstone were very stern in their negotiations for Zander, however we did manage to agree on £500,000 in one 12 month installment, a big fee but one I feel is fully worth it.

We gave Zander the number 13 shirt which was free due to the depature of Colin Doyle.

Here is a little look at our depatures in this window:

Colin Doyle

Just mentioned about, Colin Doyle left the club this window to join Ross County for £115,000, virtually paying for Stipe Vucur. The experienced goalkeeper was on a decent wage which we felt he did not deserve. He was stuck in the reserves when we arrived and didn’t look like getting anywhere near the first team.

Clevid Dikamona

I’m not going to spend too much time on this guy as he really is a terrible defender. Again another player earning a decent wage and not deserving it. We managed to offload Clevid to Yehuda Te Aviv for £28,500.

Dean Ritchie

Dean Ritchie is a young defensive midfielder who has come up through the youth system. St Johnstone put in a bid of £14,500 for him and I felt his time at Hearts was up, plus it might have helped in our pursuit of Zander Clark.

That’s it for our summer transfer dealings, how did you think we got on? Do you think our additions are good enough to help us reach the top 4 and qualify for the Europa League?

Also let us know if you are enjoying the series, I’m having a lot of fun writing this and would love to hear your feedback!

Betfred Cup Shenanigans- Midlothian Magic #5

We’re now in competitive action with the Betfred Cup Group Stages.

These group stage games kick off right in the middle of pre-season, however it’s a great opportunity to rotate your side in competitive fixtures. We were drawn in Group B alongside Montrose, Arbroath, Brechin City and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Here is how we got on in the group:

Montrose 0 Hearts 1

Overall a poor performance, we had players on the pitch that should have won this game comfortably. We were wasteful in possession and squandered a number of good chances. Our goal came from Jamie Walker on the left hand side, he cut inside and found the top corner of the net.

Montrose did not threaten at all, they sat back and absorbed our pressure. We need to improve in the final third…

Hearts 1 Arbroath 0

A better performance against Arbroath with a rotated side, we brought in Aaron Hickey and Andy Irving who were the two stand out players. We dominated possession and used our wingers well, the goal come early in the second half with Connor Washington finishing a wonderfully worked free kick routine.

Arbroath had chances but fortunately for us their striker never brought his shooting boots. Another 3 points which puts us at the top of the group.

Brechin City 0 Hearts 1

All these 1-0 wins, were like the Arsenal side in 2004!

Another average performance from players that I would expect better from. We did not look good in possession and our crosses were awful, we did not look up for this game at all. Our goal came in the 71st minute, a cross was headed to the edge of the area where Andy Irving volleyed it past the opposition goalkeeper.

Brechin City sat back and defended most of the game. They did venture out of their own half late in the second half but we easily had it covered at the back.

Hearts 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0

Another one as DJ Khaled once said…

In my opinion the toughest opponent in the group was Inverness, managed by former Hearts legend and my name sake John Roberton, what a guy! We actually put in a decent performance and were made to fight for the 3 points. The goal came early in the second half from another one of our new signings, a sublime free kick dipped over the wall and into the bottom corner.

Inverness came with a game plan and executed it quite well. They were tough to break down and fairly quick on the break. Definitely a team that I tip for promotion form the Championship this season.

Group B Table:

Here is how the group B table looked after all rounds of fixtures.

We top the group with Arbroath in second, surprisingly Inverness finished third.

Betfred 2nd Round Draw

Hearts vs Falkirk

The next update will be around our transfer during the summer, we’ll go into detail on our new signings and which players left the club.

Pre-season underway – Midlothian Magic #4

All the introductions are out of the way, no it’s onto the action…

Our pre-season was mainly just getting to grips with the playing squad, identifying our style of play and any gaps where we would need to bring players in.

Tactics

We went with a Custom Wing Play for our style of play with a 4231 formation. We are aiming to get the ball out into wide areas where we have the likes of Jamie Walker and Ryotoro Meshino. We are also looking to utilise the strenghts of Uche Ikpeazu by ensuring our wingers and wing backs deliver the high quality crosses to the target man.

Captain

No change in this category, Christophe Berra remains the captain of the club. The aging centre back is a leader, motivator and quite a good defender. He will be a vital player to the team helping the likes of John Souttar and Craig Halkett with their learning of the game.

Vice Captain

There is a new vice captain for this season, however we wont be telling you until our transfer special blog comes out fairly soon. All we can say is he is an international midfielder player, who has won the Champions League and five Premier League titles… Can you guess who he is?

The Midlothian Cup:

I love creating pre-season tournaments, you will notice that throughout all my blogs.

The Midlothian Cup, held at Tynecastle, invited three European clubs to compete for the newly formed Trophy, the teams involved were: ADO Den Haag, RC Lens and AS Saint-Etienne.

Midlothian Cup Semi-Finals:

Hearts 1 ADO Den Haag 3

An all round poor performance from the team. We played our stronger team in the first half with the youngsters give their chance in the second half. Our goal came from Irish left back Aidan White who happened to find himself at the back post for an over hit cross.

AS St-Etienne 2 RC Lens 0

Simple stuff for AS St-Etienne who stroll through into the Midlothian Cup Final, scenes!

Midlothian Cup Third Place Playoff:

Hearts 2 RC Lens 0

A better performance again RC Lens, arguably a stronger side. We kept a consitant team for this match, rotating well into the second half. Our goals came from one of our new signings and on our loan winger Ryotoro Meshino, he looks like he could be a special player.

Midlothian Cup Final:

AS St-Etienne 3 ADO Den Haag 0

Limbs at Tynecastle as AS St-Etienne lift the Midlothian Cup, this is something that these players will be telling their grandchildren in years to come.

What do you guys think, Midlothian Cup as a yearly competition?

Pre-season Friendlies:

With the monumental Midlothian Cup out of the way, we got stuck into three pre-season friendlies. Here is how we got on:

Hearts 1 RB Leipzig 0

We came up against some tough opponents in RB Leipzig and surprisingly won 1-0. It was a strong display by the team, we kept the ball well and got plenty of service to Uche Ipkeazu. Our goal came from Jamie Walker in the first half, cutting in from the left hand side, he curled it into the bottom corner.

RB Leipzig didn’t threaten much throughout the match. Our defensive stood strong with John Souttar having a great game in particular.

Hearts 0 Standard Liege 1

We rotated the squad from the RB Leipzig game and our performance dropped. Aidan White in particular had a shocker and was replaced by Aaron Hickey at half time.

Liege’s goal came from a corner, Sean Clare not tracking his man who thumped a free header passed on loan Manchester United goalkeeper Joel Pereira.

Peterborough United 1 Hearts 0

Our first away game was against English side Peterborough United. A nothing game really, where we predominantly played our fringe players and youngsters. The likes of Aaron Hickey, Jamie Brandon and Andy Irving played the full 90 minutes of this match.

Peterborough’s goal came from open play, we lost possession on the right hand side and we were punished for it. Glen Whelan who made his first appearance for the team was shown a straight red card for a lunge on the oppositions winger.

The next update will be around the Betfred Cup Group Stages, we’re in Group B. Can we avoid any upsets and progress through to the 2nd round?

A legend returns – Midlothian Magic #3

Breaking news: Hearts have appointed Jim Jefferies as their new Director of Football. The former Hearts player and manager has been brought in to support new manager Adam Robertson, a decision which was made by Chairman Anne Budge.

Anne told TalkSport “Jim is absolutely the right man for this role, he will share his wealth of experience with Adam. Jim’s been here and done it and the fans love him”.

“Yes, I can confirm that Craig Levein was a candidate for this role, but I felt the club needed something different”.

Jim Jefferies also spoke to TalkSport “I’m delighted, I’ve wanted to be involved for a while now, but unfortunately my health hasn’t allowed that. Now that I have fully recovered, I can’t wait to get started”.

“I met with Adam yesterday and we spoke at length about plans for this season. I have confidence in Adam’s ability, having had him as a player at Hearts I know the boy has passion and desire to succeed”.

“We will be sitting down this week with a number of players with a view to bringing them into the squad. We are talking to experienced players that have played in Scotland and in England. We are also in talks with players that have played at international level”.

“Austin McPhee will remain as the Assistant Manager, Adam has told me that he would like to keep Austin on board, he feels that he is a valuable member of the backroom staff”.

A new man at Tynecastle – Midlothian Magic #2

Breaking news: Hearts manager Craig Levein has been sacked by Chairman Anne Budge. Levein led Hearts to the Scottish Cup final last season but after a rumoured bust-up with the clubs board, Levein has been shown the door.

Anne Budge told the Daily Record “Craig has been a magnificent servant to this football club, and we wish him all the best for the future. It’s now time to move in a different direction and get this great club to the next level”.

2 weeks later…

This just in: Hearts have appointed Adam Robertson as their new manager, Robertson signs a two year deal with the club having been promoted from Under 18s manager. The former Hearts and Scotland international has been coaching since his early retirement in 2016. The tireless midfielder played 314 times for Hearts and had 14 caps for Scotland.

He told Sky Sports News “It’s a great honour for me to be appointed the manager of Hearts. I’ve been at this club for 12 years now; I know it like the back of my hand. I can’t wait to lead the team out this season”.

“We have great squad of players here with plenty of youngsters that I believe can make the step up to the first team. I’m already looking to bring quality players in, we’ve spoken to one or two clubs and we’ve given the green light”.

“We’re aiming to be in the top four by the end of the season and want to be competing in the cup competitions. We got to the Scottish Cup final last season losing to Celtic; we’re hoping to win it this season”.

Hearts Chairman Anne Budge told Sky Sports News “We are delighted with the appointment, Adam is one of the best coaches in Scotland and we have no doubts that he will take this club to the next level”.

“He will have our full support with bringing in players to the club. We will also be supporting him in bringing in his own backroom staff, with the imminent appointment of a Director of Football”.

Introducing ‘Midlothian Magic’

Slight change here, our first blog series is going to be ‘Midlothian Magic’.

Essentially, our test save turned out to be so addictive that I’ve decided to write about that instead. I got totally hooked on the save and thought that it could develop into a decent little story.

So ‘Midlothian Magic’, catchy isn’t it?

‘Midlothian Magic’ is a story about taking on Heart of Midlothian Football Club in Scotland, you probably know them as Hearts. The aim of the save is to challenge for silverware in Scotland and disrupt Rangers and Celtic, however we are going to need to get past Aberdeen and Hibs first.

Starting off with a very small budget it’s going to be difficult to bring players in, along with this our club culture is to sign players under 22 and develop players using our youth system. Luckily Hearts are blessed with some talented young lads that can push for a first team sport virtually straight away.

The squad on a whole has a very Scottish spine to it with John Souttar probably the stand out player who we will do well to keep hold of. English midfielder Sean Clare is the talented playmaker in the middle of the park and the Northern Ireland striker, Connor Washington could prove to be a deadly goal scorer in this league.

The season will kick off very earlier with the Betfred Cup Group Stages, so there is little time for pre-season camps in faraway places. Can we take our first cup competition by storm?

Let’s get on with the story, shall we?…

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