Robbie Neilson has silenced chaotic Hearts fan message boards this summer with transfer deals - Ryan Stevenson

Flying under the radar isn’t something Hearts have any form for. Firefighting is usually the norm. Every summer it seems there is a panic to recruit new players, fans’ message boards are normally full of anxiety and it’s all a bit chaotic.

This pre-season has been a picture of calm and stability and long may it continue. I have liked what’s been going on around the club, the silence isn’t deafening, it’s all quiet and it bodes well for the challenges ahead. There’s hardly been a whisper from anyone for weeks about what’s going on within the camp, a training break in Spain almost went unnoticed and that’s how it should be.

Even the fans have fallen a bit silent. It says a lot when the message boards struggle to find someone to start an online uproar. This is a club that had had so many issues following it around for season after season, but I haven’t seen any upheaval, nobody shouting from the rooftops about losing players or demanding the manager make more signings.

Alan Forrest, Lewis Neilson, Alex Cochrane, Jorge Grant and Australian Kye Rowles all appear to be useful additions to bolster a squad that is already packed with quality. So often in the past Hearts have been panic-buying when it comes to signing players but things look so well thought out.

Sporting director Joe Savage has had time to assess what the team needs and he recently said it will be quality over quantity which is great to hear as it hasn’t always been the case. There is a thought process to every signing and it’s meticulous.

The manager Robbie Neilson has also had a season to get back to grips with what’s needed and you can see the areas he has identified as needing strengthened with his new recruits. Neilson appears far more comfortable in the