January 8, 2025
OIF (24)

Regarding the Jamie McCart transaction, Michael Stewart has once again attacked the Hearts’ decision-makers.

After first negotiating a pre-contract agreement, Hearts signed Rotherham defender McCart on a permanent basis.

The 27-year-old McCart has a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Jambos that ensures he will remain at Tynecastle until he turns 31.

Stewart, a Premier Sports analyst, is quite concerned about this and finds it incomprehensible that Hearts approved McCart’s four-and-a-half-year contract.

The choice is “mind-boggling,” he said, adding the deal is a sign that agents are controlling the contract negotiations.

Stewart then mentioned sporting director Graeme Jones by name and asked about his contract-negotiation background, assuming that Jones was a key player in the McCart negotiations.

Michael Stewart criticises Hearts for extending McCart’s contract.

“I have a serious concern about the administrative level at Hearts once again,” Stewart stated in an interview with The Scottish Football Social Club podcast. I just don’t understand a four-and-a-half-year contract.

“When you consider that he is currently 27 years old and has lived in the South for a number of years, who offers a four-and-a-half-year contract at that point in your career?

“You protect your asset by doing that for younger players.” You don’t offer a four-and-a-half-year contract at that point. It is astounding!

“You don’t offer him a four-and-a-half-year contract at Hearts, regardless of how good or bad he is. Who is currently negotiating contracts is another issue that worries me.

“Because that gives me the impression that agents could control what happens, and that worries me.”

After asking who is in charge of contract negotiations at Hearts, host Darrell Currie suggested that it might be Graeme Jones, the sporting director who was hired in September.

Stewart then answered: “Well, if it is, what kind of contract negotiation experience does Graeme Jones have? I would think there would be none.

According to Alan Hutton, McCart’s contract should last three years.

Alan Hutton continued the discussion by stating that McCart would have been better off with a three-year contract rather than a four-and-a-half-year one.

“You see, there’s no sell-on value when you get to 30,” the commentator stated. Given his advanced age, you are unable to recoup that money.

“Then you would give him three years, which is acceptable at the age of 27, and then you would reevaluate it going forward.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *