Jamestown under pressure as Hearts' data partner face their biggest test at Tynecastle
New leadership required on and off the pitch
When Tony Bloom first introduced Hearts officials to Jamestown Analytics’ algorithms more than two years ago, he wanted a partnership specifically for this kind of scenario. A combination of injuries, expiring contracts and Rangers’ plundering leaves Riccarton somewhat ransacked of leading characters with pre-season starting next week. Jamestown, the London-based recruitment firm, shoulders the pressure of finding replacements.
The spine has been ripped out of Hearts’ team by the departures of head coach Derek McInnes, captain and principal goalscorer Lawrence Shankland, influential midfielder Beni Baningime, and possibly his partner-in-crime Cammy Devlin. Factor in ruptured Achilles tendons for both dominant defender Craig Halkett and loanee midfielder Marc Leonard - now returned to parent club Birmingham City - and there is serious replenishing work to be done.
Hearts players are due to report back to base on 25 June to begin pre-season preparations. The club hope a new manager will be in place by then. Informal talks have taken place, with interviews scheduled this week after Jamestown provided a list of potential candidates - British and foreign - to replace McInnes. He is joining Rangers on a three-year deal to replace Danny Rohl, who is leaving Scotland for the Austrian club RB Salzburg. Shankland and Baningime have already gone, with Devlin’s future still unclear. Halkett and Leonard may not play again this year.
This is the biggest test so far of Jamestown’s relationship with Hearts. They operate secretively from a small Camden office in the same building as Bloom’s Starlizard gambling firm. Both use similar software. JTA scour the globe for players and coaches with untapped potential and pride themselves on being world-leaders in doing so. Now they need to unearth multiple gems if Hearts are to perform at the same level as last season.
McInnes was exactly what Tynecastle Park needed this time last year. He brought stability, identity, drive and very nearly a historic first league title in 66 years to a club which finished seventh in the Premiership weeks before he took over. In the space of a few months, Hearts went from losing at home to Dundee to beating Rangers three times and Celtic twice. Players played for McInnes, loved his management style and his personal touch, and they wanted to win for him and his staff - Paul Sheerin and Alan Archibald. The prospect of seeing all three, plus Shankland, move to a rival club with only six-figure compensation understandably upsets some supporters.
Jamestown are not about to become flustered under the microscope, though. Recruitment is their speciality and they prepare for moments like this. Granted, they perhaps wouldn’t want to have to replace so many leading figures at the same club all at once, but players and coaches regularly come and go at the other clubs they work with. Hearts will be no different going forward. Whether it’s Brighton and Hove Albion in the English Premier League, Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium, Melbourne Victory in Australia, Como in Italy, IK Start in Norway, Heracles Almelo in the Netherlands, Djurgardens in Sweden or Grimsby Town in the English Football League, JTA are often busy bees.
And they have already been attending to business in Gorgie in collaboration with Hearts’ sporting director, Graeme Jones. Wingers Josh McPake and Calvin Miller, plus defender MJ Kamson-Kamara and forward Amadou Ba-Sy are all confirmed Hearts signings this summer. Two more should follow in the shape of centre-back Malachi Fagan-Walcott and midfielder Tom Renaud. McPake and Miller can compete for Islam Chesnokov’s place in the squad as the Kazakhstan international winger prepares to head back to Asia. Kamson-Kamara is Frankie Kent’s replacement after the Englishman’s contract expired, Fagan-Walcott is likely to step into Halkett’s position, and Renaud should fill Baningime’s No.6 role.
Finding another Shankland will be impossible unless Hearts spend a hefty seven-figure sum. Ba-Sy is not the same type of player and isn’t being signed to assume Shankland’s mantle. However, the giant Frenchman’s data ranked extremely high on Jamestown’s player evaluation software. He is someone they believe has enormous potential to thrive in Scotland. Replacing the captain and the manager are the biggest jobs and Jamestown need to furnish Hearts with people who can take on those leadership roles in the cut-throat and competitive Premiership.
It is pressure but pressure they are used to. Naturally, the more new players Hearts bring in, the less opportunities young academy graduates are likely to get in the senior team. One of the best to emerge from the club’s youth system in recent years is James Wilson. He debuted at 16 and is now a two-cap Scotland internationalist at 19. After falling out of favour and finding his game time limited under McInnes last season, he joined Tottenham Hotspur on loan for the second half of the campaign. He now has a fresh opportunity to impress back in Edinburgh under McInnes’ successor.
He will have multiple new team-mates and new coaching staff to work with. This Hearts rebuild is one of the most extensive in recent memory, with Jamestown front and centre. Supporters will soon learn what this company are made of - and what the data-driven future in Gorgie looks like.