Joe Savage exit raises Hearts million dollar question and there is one thing I would love to see now - Ryan Stevenson

Who do you recruit to replace the recruiter? That’s suddenly the big question for Hearts fans heading into the summer transfer window after Joe Savage’s announcement he was stepping down as sporting director.

Okay Savage’s role was wider than just signing players but that was the main responsibility on which he will be judged. And when you look across his three-and-a-half years in office at Tynecastle you have to say he did a superb job. As a rule of thumb I reckon if you get 60 per cent of signings right then you’re doing remarkably well.

Savage must be well above that percentage though. Both Robbie Neilson and Steven Naismith spoke about their strong relationship with Joe and their trust in the recruitment system. That speaks volumes. There’s been top bracket signings. Lawrence Shankland stands out above all others for obvious reasons. As good a signing as Hearts will make. Then there’s the excellent additions of Frankie Kent, Beni Baningime, Kye Rowles, Zander Clark, Alan Forrest and Robert Snodgrass who, I will argue with anyone, was a top recruit.

Other successes include Cammy Devlin, Barrie McKay, Alex Cochrane, Josh Ginnelly, Ellis Simms, Kenneth Vargas, Nat Atkinson and Calem Nieuwenhof.

That’s not to mention Jorge Grant, Toby Sibbick, Aaron McEneff, Stephen Humphrys and Yutaro Oda who have all contributed at times and some of whom will hopefully continue to do so more regularly.

Honestly I think I could count on one hand the number of signings in Savage’s time that you could say outright haven’t worked. And from 40-odd additions that’s a hell of a good strike rate.

Just look back to my time at the club and after it in the Craig Levein era - the number of players Hearts were going through was frightening. And