Why Hearts' recruitment should be under scrutiny after 87 deals since 2014

Another busy transfer window is expected it Tynecastle. Joel Sked looks at the difficulty the club have had with recruitment since the 2014/15 season

“They offered me a contract that I couldn't refuse at the age of 28.”

In one sentence which is sure to bewilder and frustrate some within the Hearts support, Loic Damour demonstrated both the positives and negatives of the Tynecastle club’s transfer business.

On one hand it shows a club willing to offer competitive contracts. Yet, sitting in the other is a four-year deal which was given to the French midfielder who arrived with a more than reasonable CV.

Juwon Oshaniwa arrived with plenty of hype but didn't deliver at Hearts. Picture: SNS

The topic of recruitment has been an increasingly popular talking point amongst Hearts fans in recent years and one which deserves greater scrutiny. After all, it is one of the key reasons why the club found itself bottom of the Scottish Premiership after a measly four league wins all season, and now heading towards the Championship with a points-per-game average of 0.7667 after the SPFL’s decision to terminate the 2019/20 season.

Externally, possible league reconstruction or legal action could be set to take up plenty of focus. Internally, if one area of the club requires review it is recruitment. More than anything it is good business practice, which will allow for sensible questions to be asked. The first of which should be: ‘Can we do better?’ Yes. ‘What has gone wrong?’ Well…

Gomis – then many others

Six years ago the playing staff required an overhaul. The club had been relegated to the Championship and a new era was under way with Ann Budge, Craig Levein and Robbie Neilson heading a new look Hearts after years of financial mismanagement followed by neglect by Vladimir Romanov.

Initially eight players arrived that summer with the view to improving the starting XI. The likes of Neil Alexander, Osman Sow, Alim Ozturk, Prince Buaben and Morgaro Gomis helped transform a team which had plenty of youthful talent and promise but lacked experience.

Gomis was the first signing post-administration, arriving on 12 June, 2014. Since the arrival of the Senegalese midfielder there has been another 86 first-team deals completed involving 84 players.

Fourteen arrived in total that first season. The subsequent five campaigns have seen 11, 17, 14, 19 and 12 recruited. Those numbers discount players signed for the under-20 side but went on to play first-team football, Dario Zanatta for example.

Remarkably, over that period, Hibs have topped 90 deals. Conversely, Aberdeen have signed 58 in the same period.

Just because the Easter Road side have been slightly more active in the transfer windows shouldn’t distract from what has been a hodgepodge of signings from the UK and abroad. Short-term deals, loans, lucrative contracts. Internationals, experienced heads, youthful promise.

How can an identity be forged?

It is the churn of players which has hammered home the lack of joined-up thinking or obvious plan for a club which seems to have lost that direction and identity it had discovered once more back in 2014.

How can a team create an identity when a whole new team of players arrive each year? How can fans identify with those they play to watch each week when they know there is every likelihood in a season’s time those players they have grown to admire and love won’t be there?

Of the 56 players signed between the 2014/15 and 2017/18 seasons, only four remain contracted to the club – John Souttar, Christophe Berra, Michael Smith and Steven Naismith.

Clubs should of course be looking to constantly evolve and progress, but to do so there has to be a sense of continuity. Players who have an understanding of the club, of the standards required, ones who can provide a connection to the fans.

The average number of games played by the 85 players signed since 2014 is 32.39, their stay at the club lasting just under 469 days.

The director of football role

The figure is impacted by the club employing four different managers during that time, all with different ideas on how football should be played. From Robbie Neilson’s first managerial job to Ian Cathro’s idealistic approach to Craig Levein, known for his functional style of play, to Daniel Stendel’s up-and-at-em, intense pressing philosophy.

In an ideal world a director of football would have installed a framework which allows for not only continuity in personnel but with regards to an identity and style at the club to prevent such a shift from one season to the next.

Having someone who does shape the direction of the football club could be seen as idealistic, especially in Scottish football when such a role has been and still is treated with suspicion, especially when the position is filled by someone as divisive as Craig Levein. Pundits and fans want managers to manage and are wary of influence and interference from above. It is a balance which is tricky to achieve.

It is clear that one of Ann Budge’s biggest mistakes was allowing Levein to operate as director of football and manager. Logically, it was never going to work. Aesthetically it wasn’t a good look after so much skepticism was directed at Levein during Cathro’s tenure.

The 13-and-a-half year deal

When it comes down to it, the players signed have largely not been good enough for a club with European ambitions and the fourth highest budget in Scotland as per the latest accounts. After winning the Championship and third place in the top flight the following season, there have been finishes of fifth, sixth, sixth and now 12th.

While it has to be recognised that a number of excellent signings have been made, whether it was Osman Sow in the first season, Igor Rossi and Arnaud Djoum the following campaign or the likes of Kyle Lafferty, Jon McLaughlin and unearthing of Peter Haring, there has not been a great return on transfer fees. Sow brought in around £1.5million with Rossi and Esmael Goncalves moving on for six-figure sums.

A series of misjudgements have been more costly to the club.

There were some who fans knew straight away were clearly not cut out for Hearts, such as Rafal Grzelak or Cole Stockton. But these can be filed in a low-risk category. It was the long-term deals handed out to Conor Sammon, Malaury Martin, Juwon Oshaniwa and the aforementioned Damour which have frustrated supporters the most.

The quartet signed deals amounting to 13 and a half years in total. Between them they have played 94 games for Hearts, costing the club a figure which would likely even make Romanov wince.

Modify, innovate and improve

Craig Halkett said earlier this week that he is expecting a lot of changes at the club this summer. Whether it is in the Championship or in the Premiership via league reconstruction one phrase has been on fans’ mind: Clear out.

No matter what it is going to be back to the drawing board once more for the club with another extensive transfer period expected. Only this time the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic and the impact it has on budgets brings with it further challenges.

Yet, it may also bring with it opportunity to modify, innovate and improve. The club are no longer in a position where they can afford to constantly revamp and overhaul. It is the time to get more right than wrong.