The recruitment drive at Tynecastle Park this summer saw nine new signings arrive to bolster the Heart of Midlothian squad.

Crucially, work was done early with pre-contract agreements and targets identified. It was an approach that won plenty of early approval and before the campaign started there were a lot of boxes ticked.

Amongst the arrivals were players who were proven in the league. There was a return to the Central - and South - American market following Kenneth Vargas' success, the club adding two internationalists. And then there was Musa Drammeh who became available after a good season in the Spanish fourth tier and was viewed as a young forward with potential.

Naturally, due to the start of the season, it is an area that is being discussed by the club's support.

Steven Naismith told Hearts Standard that is he "happy with the players" that were signed.

The Hearts head coach explained the club's approach to the window. An approach that has largely been in keeping with the last few years.

"They all will add something but be decent assets to the club," he said.

"What we have done over the summer is bring the age of the squad down. The majority of the players we are recruiting are younger and we want to try to develop them over guys who are more experienced and left the club last season.

"The key part of any signing is experience. That’s the bit they are going to need to learn over time. There are some areas where we haven’t looked as strong as we would have liked but with every squad that is going to be the case. We are always going to try to improve.

"That’s where we are. We are not a club that is going to splash millions of pounds on players knowing they are going to be a safe bet in terms of their performance every week.

"There is that element of inconsistency that we need to work on and hopefully improve the players to have that to be what we had in the last two-thirds of last season. We work every day to do that. We are definitely not losing sight of the bigger picture."


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There was disappointment amongst the Hearts support on transfer deadline day when no new striker was added. 

Naismith explained the situation and where James Wilson fits within that, the teenage striker who emerged last season.

"If we want to bring young players through you have to create that opportunity and not block the pathway essentially," he said. "That was part of the reasoning.

"But we had strikers at the club under contract. We are not going to add players for the sake of adding players. We need to utilise them until they are not here and then the situation changes. There was a bit of both within it.

"The jump for James is really big. He showed at the end of last season the promise and the prospect that he is. Some of the friendlies this season he never maybe had as much of an influence within the game when he came on but you also have to remember he is still young."