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FM12 Heart of Midlothian FC - Forever we remember


makie1874

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Heart of Midlothian Football Club was founded in 1874 and took its name from the Royal Mile dance hall frequented by the founders. Tom Purdie became the first captain, winning a one-v-one competition to secure that honour.

The club initially played at the Meadows, Powburn and Powderhall before taking up residence in the Gorgie area in 1881, moving to the existing Tynecastle site five years later in 1886.

Hearts were the only club from the East of Scotland to become founder members of the Scottish League in 1890 and success came quickly with two league titles and four Scottish Cup wins between 1895 and 1906, including a 3-1 win over Hibernian in the only Scottish Cup Final to be played outside Glasgow, at Logie Green in 1896. This period saw many great players wear the maroon jersey including arguably the best of all, Bobby Walker, who won 29 caps for Scotland.

The First World War brought more fame to the club but not on the field of play. The entire playing staff volunteered to join the forces and, in doing so, encouraged thousands of supporters to follow suit. Seven players were killed in action, few of the survivors managed to play again after the horrors of the trenches, but their sacrifices have never been forgotten and every year a Remembrance Service is held at Haymarket where a war memorial to the club stands proudly.

Despite having a reputation for exciting football and setting record attendances at many away grounds, the club had to wait until the fifties for its next silverware. Under manager Tommy Walker the Scottish Cup returned to Gorgie in 1956, with the League Championship flag following in 1958 (a season which saw the side score a record 132 League goals) and 1960. The side, which contained legendary names such as Alfie Conn, Willie Bauld, Jimmy Wardhaugh, John Cumming, Dave Mackay and Alex Young, also won the League Cup on four occasions.

A period of decline followed this golden era, culminating in the club dropping out of the top division on three occasions in the late seventies and early eighties. However, in 1983 Hearts came back to the top division for good and came close to bringing success to the supporters on a number of occasions. Although no trophies arrived the fans at least had an unparalleled streak of 22 league games without defeat against rivals Hibernian to celebrate.

The breakthrough finally came in 1998 when under manager, Jim Jefferies, himself an ex-player, Hearts lifted the Scottish Cup defeating Rangers 2-1 in the final at Celtic Park.

Over the next couple of years Hearts form was inconsistent at times, and this resulted in the eventual departure of the cup-winning hero Jefferies in late 2000. In his final months at Hearts, the team came dramatically close to eliminating VfB Stuttgart from the UEFA Cup, having recorded a memorable win over the Germans in Edinburgh.

In December 2000 former captain Craig Levein was appointed as head coach to replace Jefferies. The new boss immediately set to work on restoring the fortunes of the team by adopting a fresh philosophy within the squad. His approach had proved a successful one, particularly in the league, where Hearts have now recorded back to back third-place finishes and consequently successive UEFA Cup qualifications for the first time since the 1960s.

This has followed a season during which the team went to France and memorably defeated Girondins de Bordeaux in their own Parc Lescure stadium, where Mark De Vries poked home one of the most remarkable away goals in many a year. Unfortunately the French side overturned the first-leg deficit at Tynecastle, however no supporter will ever forget that magical night.

Levein's second consecutive third place finish again gave his side a crack at the UEFA Cup, now operating in an exciting new group format. Hearts made it to this stage by taking care of Portuguese side SC Braga 5-3 on aggregate. Drawn in a group with Feyenoord, Schalke, Ferencvaros (all previous winners of this trophy) and Basel, it looked a tough task to qualify.

This became even more difficult when Levein and Houston left to join Leicester City in October 2004. There was really only one candidate for the job and nobody was surprised when Tynecastle striking legend John Robertson was plucked from Inverness Caledonian Thistle a matter of days afterwards. Despite a memorable victory in Basel in the UEFA Cup, his arrival came too late to earn progression into the last sixteen.

In February 2005 Vladimir Romanov completed deals to buy shares from Leslie Deans and Chris Robinson which gave his investment group Ubig a 29.9% share of the club. As part of the deal chief executive Chris Robinson resigned. He was, after an interim period under Sergejus Fedotovas, replaced by former Scottish Rugby chief Phil Anderton.

Heart of Midlothian Football Club were changing and with that John Robertson's short spell as head coach came to an end after six months. His replacement was a clear statement of intent. George Burley, who commanded a fine reputation across Europe, was lured from England, where he had managed Ipswich Town and Derby County, and embarked on a spectacular spending spree with support from the club's major financial backer.

Short time success was secured, but after "irrevocable differences" George left the club. He was replaced by Graham Rix, the former Chelsea coach. Just after the departure of George, chief executive Phil Anderton left the club. Although not a direct replacement, Campbell Ogilvie, the former Rangers director arrived in Edinburgh as operations director, with a remit to run the football club on a day-to-day basis.

Although life was difficult at the beginning for the new coach, Graham slowly began to get the team playing as he wished. He was later aided by Jim Duffy, who joined the club as a coach, initially, before becoming director of football. Alas for Graham and Jim, their partnership was short lived. Both were dismissed barely before the end of March. The new man was an internal appointment: Valdas Ivanauskas was handed the job on an interim basis.

He will forever go down as the man who delivered Hearts seventh Tennent's Scottish Cup, after a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Gretna, and perhaps more importantly a crack at the UEFA Champions League for the first time as runners-up in the league.

Ivanauskas resigned from his post as head coach with hearts in february 2007 due to a illness.Anatoly Korobochka was next to take charge of hearts however his spell in charge was not great and with his friend and mentor Angel Chervenkov leaving the club on the 31st of december 2007 Anatoly decided to return to his post as sporting director.Former player Stephen Frail stepped up from the role of assistant coach on 1st January 2008 to become the club's caretaker manager, with Hearts confirming it will seek to appoint a first 'football manager' since the arrival of George Burley.His spell in charge was also not great and that ended in him leaving the club.The first actual manager since George burley was Hungarian manager Csaba Laszlo.The likeable Hungarian took over as Hearts coach in 11th July 2008. A former Ferencvaros coach, Csaba had left his team to victory over Hearts in a UEFA Cup tie in 2004. Arriving from Uganda where he had been national team coach, the 44-year-old made an instant impact, leading his side to third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and a shot at Europe once more, for the first time in 2006. Lazlo was sacked and on the same day hearts appointed Jim Jefferies as manager.Jim alreadywell known and loved by the supporters was warmly welcomed back by the loyal hearts fans.However he did not do very well as manager he managed to gain some credibility for hearts in his first 6 months back.Then he had his first full season back in which we started very well and eventually finished 3rd but the 15 game without winning streak eventually caught up with jim and ended with him leaving the club in July 2011.In came Paulo Sergio formerly manager of sporting lisbon,Paulo has tried to get hearts playing passing football and so far its not doing to great but there is always hope of it paying off in the long run.

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Club Honours

Scottish Champions: 1894-95; 1896-97; 1957-58; 1959-60

Scottish League Runners-up: 1893-94; 1898-99; 1903-04; 1905-06; 1914-15; 1937-38; 1953-54; 1956-57; 1958-59; 1964-65

Scottish Premier Division Runners-up: 1985-86; 1987-88; 1991-92

Scottish Premier League Runners-up: 2005-06

Scottish First Division Champions: 1979-80

Scottish FA Cup Winners: 1890-91; 1895-96; 1900-01; 1905-06; 1955-56; 1997-98; 2005-06

Scottish FA Cup Finalists: 1902-03; 1906-07; 1967-68; 1975-76; 1985-86; 1995-96

Scottish League Cup Winners: 1954-55; 1958-59; 1959-60; 1962-63

Scottish League Cup Finalists: 1961-62; 1996-97

Victory Cup Finalists: 1918-19

Scottish League East & North Division: Runners-up: 1939-40

Scottish Southern League Cup Finalists: 1940-41

Texaco Cup Finalists: 1970-71

Boardroom Staff

Roman Romanov

Chairman/Interim Chief Executive

Sergejus Fedotovas

Non-executive Director

Julija Goncaruk

Non-executive Director

Vitalijus Vasiliauskas

Non-executive Director

Coaching staff

Manager - Paulo Sergio

Assistant Manager - Alberto Cabral

Assistant Manager - Sergio Cruz

First Team Coach - Gary Locke

Interim Goalkeeping Coach - Alan Carswell

Head Physiotherapist - Rob Marshall

Sports Therapist - Phil Turner

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Playing Staff

Goalkeepers

Marian Kello

Nationality: Slovakian

Date of Birth: 05/09/1982

Height: 6' 2" (188cm)

Weight: 13st 10lbs (87.0kg)

Previous

Clubs: FBK Kaunas

Position: Goalkeeper

Jamie MacDonald

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 17/04/1986

Height: 6' 1" (185cm)

Weight: 12st 6lbs (79.0kg)

Previous

Clubs: Queen of South (loan)

Position: Goalkeeper

Janos Balogh

Nationality: Hungarian

Date of Birth: 29/11/1982

Height: 6' 4" (192cm)

Weight: 13st 1lbs (83.0kg)

Previous

Clubs: Debrecen

Position: Goalkeeper

Defenders

Right Backs

Jamie Hamill

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 29/07/1986

Height: 5' 8" (173cm)

Weight: 11st 2lbs (70.82kg)

Previous

Clubs: Kilmarnock

Position: Midfielder

Ryan McGowan

Nationality: Australian

Date of Birth: 15/08/1989

Height: 6' 3" (191cm)

Weight: 11st 9lbs (74.0kg)

Previous

Clubs: Partick, Ayr United (loan)

Position: Defender

Darren Barr

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 17/03/1985

Weight: 10st 4lbs (65.37kg)

Previous

Clubs: Forfar (loan), Falkirk

Position: Defender

Left Backs

Daniel Grainger

Nationality: English

Date of Birth: 28/07/1986

Height: 5' 10" (178cm)

Weight: 10st 10lbs (68.0kg)

Previous

Clubs: Dundee United, Rushden & D, Gretna, St Johnstone, Brechin City

Position: Defender

Kevin McHattie

Nationality - Scottish

Position - Defender

Center Backs

Andy Webster

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 23/04/1982

Height: 6' 0" (183cm)

Weight: 10st 0lbs (63.56kg)

Previous

Clubs: Bristol City (loan), Dundee United (loan), Rangers, Wigan Athletic, Arbroath

Position: Defender

Marius Zaliukas

Nationality: Lithuanian

Date of Birth: 10/11/1983

Height: 6' 3" (190cm)

Weight: 13st 3lbs (84.0kg)

Previous

Clubs: FBK Kaunas

Position: Defender

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Midfielders

Right Midfielder

Suso Santana

Nationality: Spanish

Position: Midfielder

Born: 2 March 1985

Height: 177cm.

Signed: June 2009.

David Templeton

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 07/01/1989

Height: 5' 9" (176cm)

Weight: 9st 13lbs (63.0kg)

Previous

Clubs: Stenhousemuir, Raith Rovers (loan)

Position: Midfielder

Left Midfielders

Andrew Driver

Nationality: English

Date of Birth: 20/11/1987

Height: 5' 9" (175cm)

Weight: 10st 12lbs (69.0kg)

Position: Midfielder

Arvydas Novikovas

Nationality: Lithuanian

Previous Clubs: St Johnstone (loan)

Position: Striker

Born: 18 December 1990

Height: 179cm.

Center Midfielders

Eggert Jonsson

Nationality: Icelandic

Date of Birth: 18/08/1988

Height: 6' 2" (188cm)

Weight: 11st 5lbs (72.18kg)

Position: Midfielder

Ian Black

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 14/03/1985

Height: 5' 8" (173cm)

Weight: 9st 13lbs (63.1kg)

Previous Clubs: Inverness CT

Position: Midfielder

Ryan Stevenson

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 24/08/1984

Height: 5' 11" (180cm)

Weight: 13st 7lbs (85.8kg)

Previous Clubs: Ayr United, St Johnstone

Position: Midfielder

Rudi Skacel

Nationality: Czech

Date of Birth: 17/07/1979

Height: 5' 10" (178cm)

Weight: 12st 2lbs (77.0kg)

Previous Clubs: Hearts (loan), Hertha Berlin (loan), Panathinaikos (loan), Southampton, Marseille, Larissa, Slavia Prague

Position: Midfielder

Mehdi Taouil

Nationality: Moroccan

Date of Birth: 20/05/1983

Height: 5' 8" (173cm)

Weight: 11st 7lbs (73.0kg)

Previous Clubs: Montpellier, Kilmarnock

Position: Midfielder

Adrian Mrowiec

Nationality: Polish

Date of Birth: 01/12/1983

Height: 6' 3" (190cm)

Weight: 13st 3lbs (84.0kg)

Previous Clubs: Hearts (loan), FBK Kaunas

Position: Midfielder

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Strikers

Kevin Kyle

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 07/06/1981

Height: 6' 3" (191cm)

Weight: 13st 0lbs (82.63kg)

Previous Clubs: Wolves (loan), Sunderland, Coventry City, Kilmarnock, Hartlepool (loan), Huddersfield (loan), Rochdale (loan), Darlington (loan)

Position: Striker

Stephen Elliott

Nationality: Irish

Date of Birth: 06/01/1984

Height: 5' 9" (176cm)

Weight: 11st 9lbs (74.0kg)

Previous Clubs: Sunderland, Preston, Wolves, Manchester City, Norwich City (loan)

Position: Striker

John Sutton

Nationality: English

Date of Birth: 26/12/1983

Height: 6' 0" (183cm)

Weight: 14st 0lbs (88.98kg)

Previous Clubs: St Mirren, Swindon Town, Millwall, Wycombe, Motherwell, Carlisle (loan), Raith Rovers, Dundee

Position: Striker

Calum Elliot

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 30/03/1987

Height: 6' 0" (183cm)

Weight: 12st 6lbs (78.99kg)

Previous Clubs: Motherwell (loan), Livingston (loan)

Position: Striker

Gordon Smith

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 18/12/1980

Height: 6' 3" (191cm)

Weight: 14st 13lbs (94.88kg)

Previous Clubs: Stirling (loan), Livingston, Peterhead (loan)

Position: Striker

Gary Glen

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 22/03/1990

Height: 5' 10" (177cm)

Weight: 12st 6lbs (79.0kg)

Position: Striker

Scott Robinson

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 12/03/1992

Height: 5' 6" (168cm)

Position: Striker

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Squad Numbers

1 Janos Balogh

2 Jamie Hamill

3 Daniel Grainger

4 Eggert Jonsson

5 Darren Barr

6 Andy Webster

7 Suso Santana

8 Ian Black

9 Kevin Kyle

10 Stephen Elliott

11 Andrew Driver

12 David Templeton

13 David Obua

14 Calum Elliot

15 John Sutton

16 Ryan Stevenson

17 Ryan McGowan

18 Arvydas Novikovas

19 Rudi Skacel

21 Mehdi Taouil

22 Gordon Smith

23 Gary Glen

25 Marian Kello

26 Marius Zaliukas

27 Scott Robinson

30 Jamie MacDonald

31 Adrian Mrowiec

Players out on Loan

Jason Thomson (on loan to Dunfermline)

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 26/07/1987

Height: 5' 11" (180cm)

Weight: 11st 7lbs (73.09kg)

Previous Clubs: Livingston (loan)

Position: Defender

Mark Ridgers (on loan to East Fife)

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 09/08/1990

Height: 6' 0" (183cm)

Weight: 12st 13lbs (82.17kg)

Previous

Clubs: Airdrie Utd (loan), East Fife (loan)

Position: Goalkeeper

Michael Deland (on loan to East Fife)

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth: 06/01/1991

Previous

Clubs: East Fife (loan)

Position: Defender

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Surely Gordon Smith is not 6ft 3! :p

Had a dabble only with Hearts so far, dont usually start a proper game with them until all the bugs are sorted and patches in place.

Driver looks like he has gone back in terms of ability since previous years, and templeton advanced a lot. Both pretty accurate reflections of real life! Clum still has stats that are far too good considering how rank he is in reality. Robinson and Smith look good prospects, less so Prynchenko which is a shame.

Might give a proper go to Hearts tonight, see where it goes.

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Surely Gordon Smith is not 6ft 3! :p

Had a dabble only with Hearts so far, dont usually start a proper game with them until all the bugs are sorted and patches in place.

Driver looks like he has gone back in terms of ability since previous years, and templeton advanced a lot. Both pretty accurate reflections of real life! Clum still has stats that are far too good considering how rank he is in reality. Robinson and Smith look good prospects, less so Prynchenko which is a shame.

Might give a proper go to Hearts tonight, see where it goes.

Yeah smith is a monster.Idont ever start as hearts i start unemployed and work my way up to get to them someday hopefully.Prychenko i honestly thought after his performances for the u19s last year he would have much better stats and eboth eliotts can gtf

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  • 2 weeks later...

Currently at January 2013 in my Hearts save. Sold/binned McDonald, Balogh, Barr, both Thomson fullbacks, both Elliott strikers, Stevenson, Suso, Black, Obua, Skacel, Glen & Mrowiec during the first season. Ridgers is developing nicely as my back up GK. Ryan McGowan, Scott Robinson & Prynchenko are becoming amazing players just by getting games in the first team.

I signed James McFadden on a free but lost him to a buy out clause at the end of the season (£1.3m). In the summer Temps said he wanted to leave for a bigger club so he went to Everton for £600k and a 20% sell on. Managed to win the league and diddy cup double in the first season but the game is a bit too unrealistic at times. For example Hibs were leading the league until February before the wheels came off and finished 4th behind Hearts, Rangers & Dundee Utd with Celtic finishing in 5th!!

I then signed 2 strikers, 2 wingers and 2 fullbacks in the summer all on free transfers - I basically want to see how good our U19's will become if they actually were to get a game in the first team. Another two to look out for are Jason Holt and Fraser Mullin.

Will try to post some screenshots when I'm back at home to show who I've bought and how the stats of the youngsters have improved.

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Forever we remember;

Pte. James Speedie, 7th Cameron Highlanders killed in action 25 September 1915

Cpl. Thomas Gracie, 16th Royal Scots died in service 23 October 1915

Sergt. Duncan Currie, 16th Royal Scots killed in action 1 July 1916

Pte. Ernest Ellis, 16th Royal Scots killed in action 1 July 1916

Pte. Henry Wattie, 16th Royal Scots killed in action 1 July 1916

L-Cpl. James Boyd, 16th Royal Scots killed in action 3 August 1916

Sergt. John Allan, 9th Royal Scots killed in action 22 April 1917

RIP lads, Lest we forget

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  • 2 weeks later...
Nice to see the young boys coming through well this year.

How are Jason Holt and Gordon Smith getting along.

Would especially like this see his progression in this years game as he was rubbish in FM 11. He won under 19 player of the season IRL last season so he should be good in FM 12.

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  • 1 month later...

I was thinking about using the editor to do whats happening real life at Tynecastle by getting rid of Vlad (if you can in the editor) and getting rid of at least half the squad/high earners...but with Vlad we just dont know if that really is whats happening or if he is just trying to get the wage bill down a bit!

Anyway, I'll try that at a later date.

Started my main save last week, not got rid of anyone only deal that was on the cards was Obua to Palace for £445k but if fell thorugh when he couldnt get a permit. Brought in JLoydd Samual who is actually doing a great job at left back. Also brought in McFadden even although three EPL clubs (Including Liverpool) made offers...I just offered him the best contract I could and he accepted it over the six other offers he had! I then went hunting for a few youngsters to bring into the U19's. I had asked the board to find a parent club more in hope of extra funds than players because in previous saves/versions I have never really been given a decent player - on this occasion though I got Arsenal and they kindly sent me two wingers, Sanchez Watt who is rank the now but will be a good player and for some reason they sent me Alex Chamberlain, their £12m signing from the Summer - No complaints at this end.

The only blips has been Europe and League Cup, won the first leg against some mince but was then drew against Palermo...suffered a gutting last min 1-0 defeat to them in Italy before the return leg, a fantastic 3-2 win at Tynie...could have been better if Elliot had scored a pen in with ten mins to go! Pinilla came on for them and scored at Tynie, thankfully an OG from a corner! The League Cup, played a weakend team and paid for it by being knocked out by Raith.

So, started off with defeat at Rangers and from there I have went the next eleven unbeaten...although five of them have been draws. I can only blame one person for that, and its not me, Steven Elliot was set as my penalty taker (stat is 17 FFS) but he missed three in a row by blazing them over.

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Stand out players so far...

Kello/Jamie Mac - Kello was injured for six matches and Jamie Mac stepped in and kept the undefeated run going.

McGowan - Centre back or Right Back, he just hardly plays poor!

Black - solid in midfield and scored a couple too

Robinson - Keeping Rudi out the team due to his form

Sutton - Target Man...12 games 10 goals, no need to say more really!

Wingers - assists galore from McFadden, Temps, Chamberlain.

Driver and Suso only just getting back to full fitness, but already scored and set up goals in comback matches.

All in all, one of the better starts to a Hearts save I've had although as per usual the money side of it and size of squad is alarming. Found it impossible to shift players at the start of the season so stuck with a massive squad which I hope to trim in the Jan window.

So, currently sitting 2nd after 12 games and four points behind Rangers...

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Club Honours

Scottish League Runners-up: 1893-94; 1898-99; 1903-04; 1905-06; 1914-15; 1937-38; 1953-54; 1956-57; 1958-59; 1964-65

Scottish Premier Division Runners-up: 1985-86; 1987-88; 1991-92

Scottish Premier League Runners-up: 2005-06

Scottish FA Cup Finalists: 1902-03; 1906-07; 1967-68; 1975-76; 1985-86; 1995-96

Scottish League Cup Finalists: 1961-62; 1996-97

Victory Cup Finalists: 1918-19

Scottish League East & North Division: Runners-up: 1939-40

Scottish Southern League Cup Finalists: 1940-41

Texaco Cup Finalists: 1970-71

:D

You missed out the Tennents Sixes.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Finally a Hearts thread, it took me 4 seasons to break the top 2 and in the 5th season i clinched the league. If it wasn't for the selling of my star players every year, the club would be in a right mess. The board have just agreed a new 27,000 seater called the Robertson Arena however. Have to wait 2 years though :(.

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i think it is very possible to do it quicker than i did, i concentrated on playing youngsters however which effectively cost me a lot of games. I am reaping the rewards now though, except romanov consistently accepting low bids for my players. Gonna take me a few more seasons to crack europe i think.

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Im sitting top 2 points clear of rangers and 5 points ahead of celtic, also made the league cup final and im into the scottish cup quarters. Ive been playing youngsters like prychenko, robinson etc also got afew good player in on free transfers. Ill upload some screenshots at the end of the season, also made the euro cup groupsrages, beat FH in the qualifying round, then got beat 3-2 at home to sevilla but we went to sevilla looking to grab a 2-0 win but instead we won 6-1 haha

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I was Hearts and into my 3rd season but i found it real boring and couldnt make the next step with winning the league or making my mark on Europe, so i've started again wanting to reshape the club and concentrate on youth and the academy. I'm pretty new to the tactics and training side i've always just left it and mucked about with the buying and selling.

So this time im starting from scratch and building up a good U19's, feeder system and scouting/coaching network.

So far i have Antti Niemi as GK coach and Ricky Sbragia as Ass. Manager.

If anyone has any info on decent coaches, scouts or players that Hearts are capible of signing then i'd love the information !!

And also how do i get the best out my players at training to get their stats up??

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ok so ive started my first ever Save Game in Scotland on FM (been playing since CM01/02 and never ever managed in SPL)

Was considering playing from lower leagues upwards but i figured i would start at one of the better teams instead, with the intention to get them rivalling the Old Firm and thus increase the stature of the league vastly, eventually hoping to secure a 3rd CL place from the coefficient. After some thinking i chose Hearts because i feel they are the next best team in the league and being in the capital will probably help.

Have to say i was shocked at just how pathetic the SPL actually is, not intended to be a troll comment, just didnt expect to have zero funds and 60k-80k wage budget every season.

So after some deliberation on strategy i decided my only option will be to snap up unwanted youth players and others who dont make the grade at EPL level in the hope of improving them to some degree and turning a profit. With the intention being to improve the youth facilities and eventually the stadium with the funds. Have to say this has proved harder than i anticipated since the club bleeds money at a ridiculous rate. (Think i have been losing between 400k-800k per month every month in my 5 seasons.)

Playing squad is pretty average and after several years this is my assesment

Andrew Driver - Love this guy, he is awesome, he has improved a lot over the seasons i have been in charge and is Hearts thru and thru

Marius Zaliukas - Very solid defender for the division, unfortunatley after one season he handed in transfer request due to wanting to join a bigger club, having only 12 months remaining on his deal i sold him for 350k to Leicester

Eggert Jonsson - Very promising player with vast room for growth, would have loved to keep him longer term but recieved offer of 500k from Heracles in January 2012 which i felt was to good to turn down

Danny Grainger - sold left back who did well for my over the years, although he was prone to a sending off or two for my side, eventually sold him for 500k to Bristol City

David Templeton - great player who i mainly played on the right flank (due to him being right footed and to accomodate Driver), he was sold to Celtic for 1.5m in my second season after requesting to join a bigger club

Here is a summary of my Season One

tough season for me, getting off to a poor start but eventually turning things around, i decided to get us playing with an attacking short passing game and the team found it tough going, the playing squad was of quite limited ability and didnt adapt as i had hoped. managed to get a parent club in the form of Chelsea which i hoped would help on the loan front.

Key Signings - Luigi Bruins (free), Krisitan Nemeth (free), Emmanuel Boakye(free), Sandy Paillot (free), Conor Clifford(Loan)

Key Sales - Janos Balogh (Wigan 40k), Darren Barr (Tranmere 100k), Adrian Mrowiec (Sheff Wed 160k)

January signings - Thomas Ayasse (AC Arles-Avignon, 20k)

January Sales - Kristian Nemeth (Leeds 350k), Craig Thomson (Released), Callum Elliot (Bristol Rovers, free), Rudi Skacel (contract expired), Eggert Jonsson(Heracles, 500k)

Spl - 4th place (behind old firm and Dundee United)

Scottish Cup - 4th Round (lost to Motherwell)

League Cup - Runner Up (lost to Dundee United)

i wont bore you guys with to much info about future seasons due to randomness of each saved game, but this is brief outlook

Season 2

signed - Rajiv Van la Parra (free), Iain Turner (free), Robbie Brady (free), Jamaal Lascelles (free), Cristian Pasquato (free), Federic Veseli (free)

sold - Arvydas Novikas, Jamie Macdonald, Suso Santana, Kevin Kyle, Marian Kello, Jason Thomson, Ryan Stevenson, David Obua (all released), David Templeton (Celtic 1.5m), Medhi Taouil (loan C.Palace), Marius Zaliukas (Leicester 350k), Jamie Hamill (Southampton 75k), Gary Glen (Bournemouth 35k)

january sold - Stephen Elliot (Mutual Termination), John Sutton (Ipswich 100k)

SPL - 3rd place

Scottish Cup - Winner (vs Dundee United)

League Cup - Winner (vs Dundee United)

Europa League - 4th qualfier (lost to Atletico Madrid)

Season 3

Key signings - centre back Tommy Smith (free), Eric Lichaj (free)

Key sales - Andy Webster, Ryan McGowan, Dylan Mcgowan, Gordon Smith (all released), Medhi Taouil (Bristol Rovers, free), Cristian Pasquato (Basel, 1.4m), Scott Robinson (Bolton, 100k)

SPL - 3rd place

Scottish Cup - Semi Final (lost to Celtic)

League Cup - Runner up (lost to Celtic)

Europa League - Last 16 (lost to Besiktas)

Season 4

Key signings - Barry Bannan (free)

Key sales - Luigi Bruins (De Graafshap, 200k), Ian Black (Leeds, 300k), Danny Grainger (Bristol City, 500k)

SPL - 2nd place (behind Celtic, level points with Rangers)

Scottish Cup - Winner (vs Celtic)

League Cup - Winner (v Celtic)

Europa League - 4th qualifier (lost to Villarreal)

Season 5 (currently september)

key signings - Luke garbutt (free), Nathaniel Chalobah(free)

Champs league - Best place playoff (beat Fenerbahce in previous round, lost to Marseille in playoff round)

Europa League - Group Stage (in progress)

Just for reference here is the current nation coeffcient

2011-12 - 6.750

2012-13 - 4.400

2013-14 - 7.900

2014-15 - 9.625 (helped because we lost a place)

2015-16 - 2.700 currently september but unlikely to improve much (Rangers, Dundee United and Inverness all eliminated in qualifiers) (Celtic in CL group of Inter, A.Madrid, Arsenal)

Club currently undergoing 1.6m improvement to youth facilities, current balance 12m (losing around 800k per month, less when in europe proper eg not quals)

In summary whilst my team has come on leaps and bounds and can now play a stylish passing game whilst retaining scottish players in the form of Barry Bannan, Iain Turner, Andrew Driver and awesome regen Darren Hilson) there is still a mountain to climb. Will maybe take 10+ seasons before i can think about improving our coefficient any further than current 11th place but i will plough on. I think if i can improve the stadium to 30k-40k seater and gain better revenues from sponserships this will help vastly but the fact remains that without significant increase in prize money and TV revenues it will always be a struggle to compete with the big boys. Qualification for groups of Europa is largely dependant on getting a good draw, the one season i got into the groups i drew Anderlecht, the two seasons i failed were against Atletico Madrid and Villarreal.

Sorry if i bored you all with this huge post, just felt like adding my two pennies

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Didn't bore me, good read....good luck with the rest of your save.

Even being a Hearts fan I find it so hard to stay commited to the save as club just bleeds money at an alarming rate and it is so hard to keep going!! In sayiong that, I havent played the save for over a month, but after reading your post I am loading it up now in a bit to re-ignite my interest!!

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  • 4 weeks later...

OK folks, new save started with the new update. Looking foward to a long and successful career with the jambos. I've heard one or two folk on here say that Romanov is in talsk to seel the club in the new update....look forward to seeing th outcome of that.

Anyway, started the new game - key points below

Extended McGowan's deal

Extended Drivers deal

Extended Temps deal

Trying to sell

Park

Hammill

MacDonald

Suso

Grainger

Will keep you updated

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I have read elsewhere that Vlad does go in various saves...one he just handed the reigns to Roman (his son) with no change in financies....another where some bloke took over pumped in £3.5m and wanted to bring in Gordon Strachan in, the guy who was in charge did keep his job though!

Also seen people saying its very difficult to sell players for any decent value since the update....however, there are meant to be loads of good free's available.

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I have read elsewhere that Vlad does go in various saves...one he just handed the reigns to Roman (his son) with no change in financies....another where some bloke took over pumped in £3.5m and wanted to bring in Gordon Strachan in' date=' the guy who was in charge did keep his job though!

Also seen people saying its very difficult to sell players for any decent value since the update....however, there are meant to be loads of good free's available.[/quote']

You are a member of JKB eh? :p

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  • 2 weeks later...

Started a fresh save once the update was done...

Approaching the split in my first season at Hearts, just won the League Cup with a 3-1 win over the Hobo's at Hampden, followed that up with beating them 6-1 at Easter Road two weeks later! Currently sitting seven points clear of Celtic in the league with the split just a couple of games away...in the Semi's of the Scottish Cup and have Celtic in that game too.

The club was taken over in January by Oliver Beifhoff and his consortium who have pumped in £3.5m to help the clubs debts although even in the last few months back down to -£1.8m....NO players with any sale value. On the plus side (and I am not sure if this changed when the takeover happened) but t he £970k monthly loan ends at the end of this season....so will only have to compete with the small £260k one...those figures are approx as cant remember exact figures.

I decided to sign a couple of the more experienced ones on longer deals (Kello/Webster/Driver/Beattie) and gave new deals to what I see as my main players through the next season or two's building (Gowser, Temps, Holt, Ridgers and Pryc...) I have Man Utd/Man City as Parent Clubs so hope to snap up a few good loans. I swooped for some young Mali lad Amakouna as my first signing (free) and only on £1,200 a week till 2016 and the lad (poor stats) has banged in 35 goals in 37 games - value rocketed from £0 to £500k already, but cant sell him due to his goals!!

What is everyone else's experiences with wee bawbag Craig Thomson....I have tried to sell him, tried to give him away for free...tried to release him, yet he is still here collecting his wages - still gets called up for the Scotland U21's - I even tried to offer him a new deal to see what he wanted but no interest from him at all

Had to get rid of the big earners so KK, Rudi, Medi, Barr, Suso, Sutton will all be on their way...think all will just have their contracts run down as its almost impossible to sell anyone since the bloody update. Adrian and Jamie Mac asked for mutual terminations of their contract...so they got it as I was cheesed off at the amount of moaning they done when not playing!

Anyway, back to my save to see if I cant snap up a couple of gems on a pre-contract and see out the rest of my season...the Treble is still on!!

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As for my save...Beat Celtic in the Semi Final of the Scottish Cup to line up a final with Rangers in the final (they beat Hibs in other Semi). Title wise, nine points clear with four games to go - this would be the first time in all my 10+ years of playing FM that I would win the treble with Hearts

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Well the impossible happened, after losing at home to ICT I managed to get the point I needed at Darkheid which made it all so sweet! The Cup Final was a tense affair with Rangers 1-0 up until about ten mins to go when Webster rose like a salmon to get us level, the game went to extra time and another goal from a corner, this time Beattie, secured was is easily my best ever acheivement at FM...the Treble.

Start of the next season manage to beat Hapoel and some random team to make the group stages, but got drawn with Liverpool/Sporting Lisbon/Panathanikos, already lost at Anfield 2-0...but more importantly got just under £7m from reaching the group stages, the attendance money is about £500k every home match and as the big Chairman loan of £700k a month is finished the bank balance is looking good.

Not spent a penny in the transfer market, sold Sutton to Birmingham for £600k and the young star I found Anakouna (i think) for £3.2m to Everton. Got a few loans in (Amos/Cunningham/Pogba/Amuzak) who have all strolled into the first team. Shakey start in the SPL, sitting fourth after five games.

Its all about getting the bank balance sorted this season and qualify for Europe, last season was a fluke even I know that but give it a couple of more seasons I think we'll be battling for all fronts....unless a club comes in from elsewhere and I hate not having money to spend (Hearts board have game me £600k which is no use so just going to leave it)!!

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What is everyone else's experiences with wee bawbag Craig Thomson....I have tried to sell him' date=' tried to give him away for free...tried to release him, yet he is still here collecting his wages - still gets called up for the Scotland U21's - I even tried to offer him a new deal to see what he wanted but no interest from him at all

[/quote']

I'm not Hearts but in my Atletico Madrid save I wondered where Craig Thomson would end up. He never played for Hearts again and was released, no one wanted him (it said he didn't want to stay in Scotland, England) and in the end he went missing in the database.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Started off a new Hearts save a couple of weeks ago, last attempt at a long save on this version.

Probably the best Hearts save ive ever had - Won the treble in first season, then in the second season repeated treble and also won the Europa league! After getting put out of the CL in the group stages, by a bawhair, went on to cruise it. Beat Sevilla in the Semi then Werder Bremen in the final.

2 seasons, 7 trophies! Season 2 i still had Webster and McGowan as regular starters. Also had Rudi and Robinson as rotation players. Most of the rest been replaced. Season 3 i finally have some cash (actually had worse budget in season 2 than 1!) and a shed load of youngesters ive accumulated coming through. Looking to play this one through to finally take the mighty Jambos to the CL!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Great to see a thread on the mighty Jam Tarts on this forum. I started a save with Hearts yesterday so will update soon on how I am getting on.

I play a 4--3--2--1 with two inside forwards in the wide attacking mid positions and a deep lying forward. In midfield it's a flat 3 but one is defensive minded with the middle player an advanced playmaker and the other a central midfieldfer.

Haven't managed to sell anyone yet despite some tentative interest. The debts are crippling, haven't managed to sign anyone yet either. Gave Kello a new contract but wouldn't mind selling him for a decent fee and relieve the club of his 5k a week salary.

Temps is a wee gem and there are some really talented players at the club.

Set up a link with Manchester Utd as a parent club so looking to get a couple of loans to supplement what I already have.

Will update with my first five results this evening.

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