What's going on at Hearts

Last updated : 23 August 2006 By Gadgey

Hearts fans have been voicing their concerns of the lack of movement in the transfer market in recent weeks.

With only a week to go before the transfer window firmly shuts, Hearts fans are crying out for a striker and a left-sided midfielder. Rudi Skacel's £1.6million move to Southampton in pre-season has left a gaping hole in the left hand side of the Hearts midfield. Apart from the 16 goals he scored last season, his pace and ability to run defences ragged is also sorely missed. Neil McCann was thought to be the ideal replacement, but upon reflection, looks to just be a cheap quick-fix. The 32 year old in his 2nd spell at Tynecastle, has failed to show the ability he had at Hearts the 1st time round.

Up front, Hearts have a lack of strikers too. Jankauskas has been struggling all season with a hamstring problem, Bednar, after a lightning start to the campaign, has lost his edge for some apparent reason. Elliot looks to be farmed out to Motherwell for a season long loan spell (?!) So the strikeforce is a wee bit thin on the ground as well.

The optimists at Hearts would say that Mr Romanov is holding fire with the chequebook until he sees which Euro competition Hearts will be competing in this season. It is looking very unlikely it will be the Champions League after the 2-1 reversal from AEK Athens a fortnight ago.

If Hearts DO fail to qualify for the Champions League, they will drop into the UEFA cup competition. That will be when Vlad puts the cheque book back in his pocket I think.

The problem with being a Hearts fan at the moment is last season raised our expectation levels far too high. A cup win and Champions League qualification gave us a successful appetite. This season hasn't gone as planned. Plenty time though, if only Mr Romanov wafts cash in players faces. Starts tonight at Athens! Come on the Hearts!

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