
The chief executive spoke to the press following the conclusion of the 118th Heart of Midlothian Annual General Meeting.
After the 118th Heart of Midlothian AGM, chief executive Andrew McKinaly fielded questions from the media on a variety of subjects, including the club’s present performance, the January transfer window, and his collaboration with Jamestown Analytics and Tony Bloom.
A summary of the 23/24 season, including the club’s financial status, was given to shareholders at the Tynecastle meeting. There was time for questions from the floor to the board of directors after all formal business had been approved. McKinlay was questioned on transfer business and other topics.
YOU CAN READ EVERY SIGNLE QUESTION AND ANSWER FROM THE HEARTS AGM HERE
Following the discussion, McKinaly went into further detail about a number of these subjects, such as the club’s January transfer window intentions and how they will help head coach Neil Critchley bring in more players for the starting lineup. “Let’s begin with the obvious: January is never a good time to do business,” he added.
“Good players are not generally available in January, etc. We’ve already approved as a board, the finances are available to look at. There’s a particular striker we’re looking at, but not just one, often you don’t get your first choice. We’re looking at a few, all of who have come from Jamestown. Other positions and other things that we do, I think, might depend on what might go out.
“I think we’re all aware that the priority would be a striker. I think we forget as well, hopefully we’ll see him soon, we’ve got Calem Nieuwenhof coming back, he’ll help in the midfield. I’m a little bit concerned after Sunday about some of our defensive injury. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve come to January. What was it, two seasons ago? That disastrous day up at Tarradice where we lost Craig and the other Craig. You just never know what’s going to come. The striker’s the priority and the rest will probably be. January tends to become a bit of an ebb and flow.
Asked directly if bringing someone in involves spending money, McKinlay answered: “It depends on markets and it depends on where you’re bringing them. Different countries have different seasons and some people’s contracts might be out.
“Yes, if we were restricting ourselves to Scotland or England and we tried to take someone out of contract in January, I wouldn’t expect it to be very easy at all. You’ve got to live within your means. We know what our budget is, we know what we’ll go to. That’s where Jamestown can help you. It can help you identify ones that others haven’t identified at levels that are realistic for us.”
Lawrence Shankland’s name cropped up more than once at the AGM, as you might expect, and McKinlay confirmed he believes the club captain will run down his contract and leave at the end of the season. As to a possible January exit for the striker, he said: “As we sit here, I will say again, we’ve not had any offers, we’ve not had any approaches, nothing, either from a third party or from his representatives. You can probably tell I’m bored of this subject but you’re going to ask me about it, it’s not changed.”
Hearts have agreed a deal to work with Jamestown Analytics and it was well documented the part they played in brining in head coach Neil Critchley. While a deal for Tony Bloom to become a minority shareholder in the club is still be negotiated, McKinlay spoke about the ‘game changing’ impact they could have on Hearts in the future.
He said: “Game changing in that context to me is a genuine opportunity to compete with the teams above us in Scotland. I think as I said in the AGM, I’ve been very reluctant to say that up until some of my colleagues have said it and I was criticised when I first came into the club by saying I want to get back to being the third team in Scotland and that I was criticised for showing a lack of ambition.
“The reason I had that view was maybe it was my background, my head led my heart and I just felt the financial disparity is just almost impossible in the same way as you look at Celtic and the Champions League. We’ve all got our levels in the game and it tends to follow finances. But then you look, so what else can we do? What can we do to challenge those top two teams? And when you look around, there’s various examples in Europe, not just Jamestown but others, but Jamestown are probably the real gold standard of this example and they’ve shown that by what they’ve done at other clubs and Union is probably the best one for people to go away and look at when they took over.
“Not only were they not in one of the top teams in Belgium, they were in the second tier and by season three or four they were challenging for the title. and if it wasn’t for the quite weird Belgian system, which I’m sure some of you know about where you half your points, we think we’re crazy in Scotland, so where you half your points after the split, Union would have won the league.
“So that’s the game, I genuinely, and I think I said earlier on, finishing second, I want to do that on the basis that we’ve been good, not on the basis that maybe one of the other teams above us have been bad. And then genuinely, and that’s not going to happen overnight, but genuinely I think with the use of their technology, using our finances wisely, being as smart as we can be, I genuinely think we could challenge in Scotland.”
In closing, McKinlay honored departing Financial Director Jacqui Duncan, who will leave the board at the end of the current campaign after ten years of service to the team.
“Jackie and I are conducting interviews for her replacement just this week,” McKinlay stated. Many workers in such types of positions will be required to give six months’ notice. We’re talking to some really good people, but right now it’s about Jackie, who joined the team just after it was taken out of administration.
Take a look at some of the graphs she posted today that illustrate the club’s past and present locations. Jackie has played a significant role in the club’s success over the past ten years, and as I mentioned before, she will be difficult to replace. I believe that too many people in all walks of life are constantly focused on the here and now and rarely take the time to sit back and consider what we have accomplished. I can’t hold that against her because she is eager to spend more time on the tennis court.