DC92
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Posts posted by DC92
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I'm enjoying Aberdeen's season so far but they're probably the third most impressive opponent we've come up against after Celtic and Hibs, could easily have got a result today and probably would have beaten St Mirren comfortably last week without the red card. They've definitely got their problems at the back but I'd expect them to start picking up results again soon and finish top six.
Motherwell, St Johnstone and St Mirren all have decent squads and decent managers, while Dundee United look solid so far. I'd expect all of these teams to finish well clear of danger.
It's still very early, but I'd be pretty surprised if the current bottom three don't occupy 10th, 11th and 12th at the end of the season.
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Neilson has managed 61 games for us in the Premiership, won 30, drawn 19 and lost 12. That's a PPG of 1.79, which is usually enough to finish third.
I'll happily admit I wanted him out after the dross we watched between January and March this year (culminating in an utterly disgraceful result in Brora) and I still believe he has his limitations, but his overall league record for us is undeniably good. With a proper recruitment set-up behind him he'll reliably get us finishing where we should.
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1 hour ago, the jambo-rocker said:
I thought both the pens and the free kick were dubious at best, and on another day it would have been a draw. We played okay and still won, which is the mark of champions*
*I'm now officially on brand we'll win the league until at least November when we usually run out of steam
The first penalty looks dubious until you see the angle from behind the goals - Kelly pulls out of the challenge but his knee catches Boyce. I'd agree the second one is on the soft side (although it also should have been retaken).
I couldn't remember the challenge for the free-kick until I watched it back just now and it's as blatant a foul as you can get.
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The first goal comes from cutting Motherwell open. Once we were 2-0 up and comfortable there wasn't as much of an onus on creating chances for the remaining 70 minutes, but we still did.
McKay had a moment early in the second half when he just had to roll it across the six-yard box for Boyce but blazed it out for a throw. Devlin had a shot just wide from about 8 yards out just before the second penalty. Then there was the penalty itself, which came from Devlin being in a good position at the corner of the 6-yard box. Baningime had a good effort well saved from inside the box. There was a great move which led up to Halliday slicing a volley wide from the edge of the box. GMS just had to get his effort on target late on (and should have played Boyce in for a one-on-one anyway).
Watt should have scored his chance and Woolery should have done better with his, but it would have needed a very good finish from there to beat Gordon. There were other chances, but they weren't anything better than we had in the second half even excluding the fact we missed a penalty.
We played some good stuff today, created plenty and were well in control of the game until the penalty miss/Halkett injury. Motherwell put us under pressure after that and on another day it might have finished 2-2, but the same could be said of 3/4-0 for us.
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1 minute ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:
To be fair he was hung out to dry by his defence.it was hardly an unforced error
And he surely achieved some kind of redemption on the second penaltyHe was really shite for the free-kick as well to be fair. There was only ever one place Kingsley was putting that and he was nowhere near it, despite it being on his side.
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14 minutes ago, Empty It said:
Good showing from Hearts, second half not so much. Concerning how many defensive injuries we're picking up and our replacement is Halliday...
That seemed a really weird move. Not sure why we needed to move 2 players when we could have just slotted Haring in there. The international break is probably coming at a good time for us as far as injuries are concerned.
That and Boyce's penalty miss knocked us out of our rhythm a bit and gave Motherwell a lift. They had their moments after that and could have nicked a goal and put the pressure on.
We were very good again prior to that, though. I've been cautious about our prospects this season and didn't expect much other than an uninspiring midtable finish, but we're looking strong all over the pitch and there's no reason we can't be right in the mix for third now. It's amazing what happens when you give a decent budget to a proper recruitment team.
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Well that was frustrating.
Neilson gambled and lost (drew) with the team selection today. We created plenty of chances, particularly in the first half, but the extra defensive vulnerability cost us 2 points. It's not ideal when you're behind and you're having to make defensive subs.
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Awful time to concede.
We've missed at least 2 or 3 sitters and should have more than 1 goal but this system leaves us far more vulnerable at the back.
Anything between a 4-1 defeat and a 4-2 win feels possible at the moment.
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Our line-up looks like one of those ones clueless fans put up on forums, thinking they can play without a proper midfield and shoehorn 5 attackers into various positions and it'll automatically yield loads of goals. Seems a bit of a drastic departure from a system which has worked pretty well so far and likely only needed one or two tweaks.
Hopefully it works and it'll turn out I'm the clueless fan.
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17 hours ago, Fraser Fyvie said:
I did enjoy Boyler absolutely ragdolling the second coming of Iniesta.
That's a bit of a daft comparison. He's clearly more like Patrick Vieira.
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38 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:
True but if, for the sake of argument, we’re assuming that this was all preplanned then we have to ask whether GMS would have been operating at quite that work rate if he was starting his last half hour as opposed to completing his last 5 minutes.
Possibly, but he doesn't have to be on for the full half hour. If we'd waited to see if his effectiveness faded over the next few minutes, then fair enough. Making changes is always a gamble in some respects, but it feels like a more unnecessary gamble when you've got the momentum and you're taking off one of the main contributors to that momentum while they're in full flow.
I agree that Smith going off also disrupted the balance. It still seems strange to me that we didn't target a RWB in the window given that he's not especially effective there and we have no senior alternatives.
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9 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:
If it was preplanned then asking GMS to do 90 minutes of work in 60 minutes before bringing on a fresh Ginnelly isn’t an intrinsically bad idea.
I reckon the dip toward the end had more to do with Smith being taken off destabilising us at the back and given that he was injured on international duty I’m assuming that was a necessary change as opposed to a voluntary one
people who followed on TV or radio may have more detail on that
The point isn't that it was an intrinsically bad idea, it's that subs should reflect how the game is actually going rather than preconceptions. GMS was really lively in the few minutes before he was subbed and if I was a Hibs fan I'd have been very happy to see him go off. Why not wait another 5 minutes?
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The subs felt like they were pre-planned by Neilson rather than based on how the game was going.
We were well on top when GMS and Woodburn came off and both looked threatening. Lost our way after that.
Boyce would have been a better candidate for substitution and Gnanduillet coming on might have given us a different dimension.
Hibs are a decent team and had chances of their own but that's a disappointing result in the end.
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Hibs have clearly had an easier run so far but you can only beat what's in front of you and they have. I'm still concerned that we lack the cutting edge to put games to bed when we're on top, so I'm not going to be taking home wins over Livi and Ross County for granted just yet.
Having said that, the result of this match will be a 4-0 victory for Heart of Midlothian FC.
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24 minutes ago, TheScarf said:
Is John Souttar..........good?
John Souttar has been good since at least 2018.
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1 minute ago, ArabianKnight said:
Easy as eating pancakes.
Gifs and tears comments within a minute.
Sit down lads your team paid 6 figures for Neilson.
And how much of that was then spent on Micky Mellon?
Anyway, a deserved win given we dominated for 70 minutes but nothing to get too excited about and the final ball is still a concern. We could easily have lost an equaliser in that last 20 minutes.
I get the feeling "if it wasn't for Craig Gordon" is going to be a frequent excuse for opposition teams this season, but I'll echo the comments above that his saves were all decent but routine today. I'd rather he didn't have to make so many towards the end of the game, though.
Found the Dundee United TV commentators' attitude very bizarre. United showed next to no ambition in that first half and barely threatened at all but they were acting like they had Hearts right where they wanted us. I'd have been seething if we'd put in that performance in a home game against another Premiership team.
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3 minutes ago, ArabianKnight said:
Gordon kept Hearts in the game and their hammer throwers were decking themselves at every opportunity.
Disgraceful stuff from Hearts.
Meh.
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7 minutes ago, Frank Grimes said:
Bates on a permanent deal
Happy with that
And it’s nice to pip Hearts to a signing. Makes a nice change from Hibs.
Ken your place, Edinburgh cuntos
The last two players that happened with were Curtis Main and Craig Bryson. Best of luck.
(there's also nothing to suggest we were seriously interested)
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18 minutes ago, Rodhull said:
Hmm, strange one. Linked with Hearts but Derek Rae was implying a move for him had fallen through and he preferred staying in Germany or elsewhere in Europe rather than coming home. Wouldn't be the worst signing but liked the idea of signing the young lad Hamilton from Accies.
The article that linked him with Hearts also suggested Moore from Bristol City was the preferred option, so I'm not sure that move was from us.
I don't remember him being too bad in the handful of matches he played for Scotland, although he did play in that Kazakhstan game.
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Ben Woodburn has agreed to sign on loan from Liverpool until January. He hasn't set the heather alight in his previous loan spells but he was quite impressive in pre-season by all accounts and was on the bench for them at the weekend.
Very much on board with this but also dreading him signing for Rangers in January of he ends up being good.
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1 hour ago, DC92 said:
5 defenders and 3 defensive minded midfielders in the line-up with no real out-ball (Gino on the bench and Gnanduillet not involved).
Could be a long afternoon.
Oh, Robbie.
Firmly second best but who knows what might have happened if we'd had any means of getting the ball away from our goal in the first half.
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5 defenders and 3 defensive minded midfielders in the line-up with no real out-ball (Gino on the bench and Gnanduillet not involved).
Could be a long afternoon.
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Mad that Tony Fitzpatrick thinks St Mirren are a top six club when they haven't finished there in four generations.
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23 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said:
First 25 minutes we were excellent, then we sat too deep and St Mirren got to grips with our system.
They had a fair bit of the ball in the second half but it was clearly our gameplan to allow it and try to catch them out and they genuinely done f**k all with the possession. All long balls and humps into the box, pretty much all comfortably dealt with until the one they scored from.
The introduction of Gnanduillet really helped us, he caused problems and got us 15 yards further up the park.
We had the better chances and defended comfortably despite not being at our best on the ball. Stick on red card as well, idiot. All in, correct result.
Agree with this with the exception that I don't think that middle period of the game was particularly comfortable. Ok, St Mirren didn't create anything clear-cut, but you're asking for trouble playing that deep and it wouldn't have been a massive surprise if they'd nicked one in that period.
They didn't lay a glove on us between Gnanduillet coming on and their goal so it was annoying to be hanging on at the end.
We definitely need more depth in the front three, particularly in the wide/attacking midfielder positions. I'm not sure Ginnelly is consistent enough (or consistently fit enough) to be a guaranteed starter at this level. A more athletic option at right-wing-back option than Smith would give us something different as well.
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Steven caulker
in Tartan Army Ramblings
Posted
It's also completely disingenuous to we're being "forced" to play a midfielder in defence without him. Everyone knows it's a tactical decision to have McTominay there rather than an out-and-out defender. We had one who captains an English Premier League team on the bench for a start.