Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo has stated his desire for the club to retain the services of on-loan goalkeeper Janos Balogh.
Balogh has held down the number one position for quite a while now and although there are definitely aspects of his game that could do with improving (command of the penalty area being one of note), it
would be fair to say that he hasn’t let anyone down during that period of time. I personally thought that Marian Kello was unfortunate to be dropped earlier in the season, but Balogh has come in and done pretty well, and as he is Csaba’s signing (Kello technically was too but you have to wonder just how much influence he had there) it therefore comes as little surprise that the manager will want to hold onto the Hungarian.
Balogh’s club Debrecan are apparently looking for £150,000 to make the move to Hearts permanent, and Csaba clearly wants the situation resolved one way or another sooner rather than later:
Debrecen are known to want £150,000 to make Balogh’s transfer permanent and Laszlo wants the uncertainty resolved.
‘Balogh showed yesterday that we need him but next week his contract with us is finished,’ he said. ‘I hope that the two clubs can sit down and decide his future. For me, it is very important to know what is going on. His last game for us at the moment will be the next league game and after that, if the two clubs can’t come together, he must go back.’
It would probably be a good move if Hearts could hold onto Balogh now, as the team has a reasonably settled look to it at the back, and the generally speaking the longer that the same group of players stay together in this area, the better understanding they will develop. There’s much talk of Christophe Berra leaving the club in the near future in a move that is bound to unsettle the side, but if both Berra and the goalkeeper were to leave at the same time, I think we’d have much more of an immediate problem in getting the defence settled again.
Hopefully something can be worked out over the next few days.
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First real test / indication of Csaba’s real influence in building the squad IMO. £150K is not a vast sum of money for a footballer, so you have to think that if the money isn’t forthcoming – despite Csaba’s repeated pleadings to keep him – then it could be a bad sign. Not so much for the financial health of the club, but simply that Csaba wants him, and therefore Romanov should support his manager by ensuring that he gets him. Watching this with interest…
Yes – agreed SJ. If you remember, Balogh was over here in July with a view to coming on loan – then had to go home, since Csaba did not have agreement “from above” to sign him. It looked like Kello was the “chosen one” – but somehow Csba got Vladimir to entertain the idea of them both being here for at least 6 months. However for a club with our finances, 150k is actually a lot of money, since we’re basically “skint”. I’m sceptical that we’ll get the sort of money for Kingston/Berra etc that is being quoted in the media, because of the economic belt-tightening that is going on everywhere. A lot may depend on who leaves the club this week – one rumour is that Mr Kingston is heading out any day now.
As you say the Balogh situation, the very sellable Driver wanting to stay and indeed the whole ?fire sale? scenario much loved by the press will be a real measure of Romanov?s intent, his relationship with Csaba and indeed just how bad our financial situation is. As ever we wait and see?
If the comments coming from the club are to be believed, there will perhaps be one or two players sold but only if the money is good. That to me wouldn’t equate to a ‘firesale’, which by definition is the sale of good at heavily discounted prices. The question is, who is more difficult to believe – the press or our club?!
Suppose we get to the end of January and *nobody* is sold (and in fact bring in a couple, including Ian Black). Will the “journalists” come out and admit they got it wrong?
No SJ – the journos will then turn on Vladimir and Hearts, claiming that the project is in tatters due to the players not being good enough to attract buyers !! Seriously – they will allways find an angle to ridicule the club, regardless.
Well, it’s looking likely that a £75K bid has been rejected & tomorrow against Killie will be Balogh’s last game for Hearts. A shame, but we do have plenty of goalkeeper cover, so I’m not too fussed. Does make you wonder why though, if the fee was pre-agreed as part of the loan deal, that Vlad decides to offer half the amount – unless it was payable in installments or based on appearances. Strange one.