Maybe all the bold talk about youth development is not working? I don't think so. The attraction of a lucrative move to the English leagues is far more attractive for aspiring young talent than the OF.
Maybe second-rate foreign players see the SPL as a shop window with the hope of getting a big money move into the EPL or English Championship?
Thankfully, Hearts and Hibs are attempting to develop their own players ... albeit for Hibs this is still regarded as a money-making initiative by the selling club's owners, at the expense of success on the park.
Hearts are managing to support a good youth development infrastrucure for the future and the hope is that the pendulum will eventually swing away from the dependability on foreign sub-standard players.
Let's hope that the new Hearts players coming through the Riccarton ranks will, in time, replace most of the twelve assorted 'faces' on the top messageboard banner and sit alongside the 'Hearts' eight home-grown players shown who have earned their places in the first team squad.
The Romanov Experiment of providing endless poor standard unknown Lithuanian players with a platform in the hope of selling them on at a profit has not worked. Only two Lithuanians have shown they are capable, the rest just didn't cut the mustard.
From the 20 odd players brought in by Romanov over the past five years, only Rudi Skacel (Cz), Roman Bednar (Cz), Andrius Velicka (Lit), Bruno Aguiar (Por), Marius Zaliukas (Lit) & Takis Fyssas (Gre) were good enough for the Hearts.
Only Zaliukas remains. Hearts received transfer fees for only two players, Skacel and Bednar, which offers a scant return on Romanov's investment in rejects.