The ex Jambo recalls, in his latest column, a time when there were 63 players on the bloated books - and lots of resentment as a result.
Anyone wondering why Steven Naismith is talking about keeping Hearts’ summer transfer business tight needs to know one thing. Crammed dressing rooms can absolutely squeeze the life out of football squads.
The poor guy then had to go and sit with the bomb squad who had no lockers and just hung their kit on pegs. Obviously he was raging. Straight away he hated me! I was cringing. I’d come from an Ayr dressing room with a third of the number of payers in it but where everyone was tight knit as a result. At some stage that Euro dream ends and you’re left with a bulky squad of bodies sitting in the stands every week and that causes problems.
It needs to be players who know the levels required, who can handle the pressure of fans wanting to win every week and who are hungry to succeed. Having the Euro money there should allow them to do that. One thing for definite is that they need to bring in help for Lawrence Shankland. Only time will tell now how long he has left at the club but - while I hope and pray it’s a while - nobody could ever grudge him a move at this stage of his career. The campaign isn’t over though and it would be great to see Lawrence hit the 30 goals mark and Hearts to finish strongly.
Ryan Stevenson Steven Naismith Scottish Premiership Lawrence Shankland
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