DC92 Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 3 minutes ago, Thenorthernlight said: The drop off in quality in this years Conference League is huge. Hearts should be looking to progress out of that lot, surely? Looks a very kind draw. Not the worst draw, but it could have been a bit kinder going by the other teams in the pots. Shamrock Rovers and TNS were in the same one as Cercle Brugge for example. There's a tendency to underestimate some of these eastern European diddy teams as well. Both are champions of their respective leagues and will very likely be capable of giving us a hard time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HK Hibee Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 43 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said: Not the most glamorous of draws Copenhagen (A) Denmark Heidenheim (H) Germany Omonoia (H) Cyprus Cercle Bruges (A) Belgium Petrocub (H) Moldova Dinamo Minsk (A) Belarus Copenhagen and Bruges away should be good trips. Not sure about Minsk though… 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 1 hour ago, lennyzer0 said: Bit surprised at the relatively easy time Boyce is getting on here. Might as well have played 70 minutes with ten men, for all the use he was. Won a couple of headed flickons to nobody and that was about all he did positively, so far as I could see. I really am beginning to wonder if all those opposition fan claims that Naismith is clueless and got saved by Shankland essentially being a cheat code for much of last year might have had some validity after all. There's nothing to indicate we're signing a striker but I still can't believe we're happy to go ahead with the options as they are. Surely letting Tagawa go only made sense if he was being replaced. There can't be many (any?) teams in the league with a weaker back-up than 33 year old Boyce. On the other hand, if we get a decent one in I'd be reasonably content with the squad as it is. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamntg Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 7 minutes ago, HK Hibee said: Copenhagen and Bruges away should be good trips. Not sure about Minsk though… Are they allowed to play at home? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thenorthernlight Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 27 minutes ago, adamntg said: Are they allowed to play at home? No. They play in Hungary, 300km east of Budapest, behind closed doors. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thenorthernlight Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 48 minutes ago, DC92 said: Not the worst draw, but it could have been a bit kinder going by the other teams in the pots. Shamrock Rovers and TNS were in the same one as Cercle Brugge for example. There's a tendency to underestimate some of these eastern European diddy teams as well. Both are champions of their respective leagues and will very likely be capable of giving us a hard time. The drop in quality is high. I know it’s a different set up this year, but last year Aberdeen drew Eintract Frankfurt. PAOK. Helsinki. Larne qualified by beating the might of the Gibraltar champions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insert Amusing Pseudonym Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 Absolute minimum standard is making the play off round. Failure to do that would be poor 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamntg Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Thenorthernlight said: The drop in quality is high. I know it’s a different set up this year, but last year Aberdeen drew Eintract Frankfurt. PAOK. Helsinki. Larne qualified by beating the might of the Gibraltar champions. Larne were national champions though, that’s why they get an easier draw which is fair enough imo. Edited August 30 by adamntg 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thenorthernlight Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 13 minutes ago, adamntg said: Larne were national champions though, that’s why they get an easier draw which is fair enough imo. Yeh I’m aware. I suppose it gives “diddy clubs” an easy route to European football. The dilution in quality is huge though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamntg Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 (edited) 6 hours ago, Thenorthernlight said: Yeh I’m aware. I suppose it gives “diddy clubs” an easy route to European football. The dilution in quality is huge though. It gives clubs from smaller countries the opportunity to get European football. Got to be a good thing where everything else seems to be set up for the benefit of big clubs in four big TV markets. Doesn’t help the middle sized clubs in the middle sized leagues who have to watch the Chosen Ones in their domestic leagues sail away over the financial horizon, and are routinely offered up as sacrificial lambs for middle sized clubs from richer leagues like Alkmaar, Aston Villa and so on. A different issue though. Edited August 30 by adamntg 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 1 hour ago, DC92 said: There's nothing to indicate we're signing a striker Although with many of our signings there was nothing to indicate that they were about to happen so that doesn't really tell us much 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 How was Fraser for you last season? Frame it in the best way you can to soften the blow of him being McCowan's replacement, please. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insert Amusing Pseudonym Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 11 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said: How was Fraser for you last season? Frame it in the best way you can to soften the blow of him being McCowan's replacement, please. I've seen worse players. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 (edited) 5 hours ago, Thenorthernlight said: The drop in quality is high. I know it’s a different set up this year, but last year Aberdeen drew Eintract Frankfurt. PAOK. Helsinki. Larne qualified by beating the might of the Gibraltar champions. I'm aware. Hearts had a similar draw a couple of years ago. Overall there are 4 more teams in each competition (CL, EL, ECL) this year so the overall quality is diluted, but it's still going to be difficult to qualify for the knockouts. Edited August 30 by DC92 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 Unfortunately we finish the window having completely failed to address the main flaws in the team from last season. We now have three right-backs, half a dozen central midfielders and two number 10s who don't fit and don't start. Meanwhile our attack still completely hinges on a player who will leave for free in a year and whose backups are now a 33 year old and a 17 year old. That is sheer, mind-blowing incompetence. I've no idea what's out there in the free agent market but we simply have to bring someone in. Even Stephen Humphreys would be a relief at this point. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HK Hibee Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 22 hours ago, Thenorthernlight said: No. They play in Hungary, 300km east of Budapest, behind closed doors. If you don’t beat them you are basically saying, as a club, that you support Putin. No pressure lads…. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 On 30/08/2024 at 14:32, Thenorthernlight said: The drop off in quality in this years Conference League is huge. Hearts should be looking to progress out of that lot, surely? Looks a very kind draw. We're going to read a lot of this, but I think "surely" is a bit of a stretch. There are three fixtures we could lose without doing anything wrong in Copenhagen and Cercle away and the Germans at home, and it comes down to delivering in the more winnable games. We've got a chance, but the draw could certainly have been kinder when you look at the pots. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 Getting sent to Azerbaijan for absolutely no reason before we go to Pittodrie. Great stuff. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 Facrical stuff. Still, that's Bruges and Copenhagen booked. Can't f**king wait. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukDukGoose Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 1 hour ago, DC92 said: Getting sent to Azerbaijan for absolutely no reason before we go to Pittodrie. Great stuff. You know what football is like. That'll be your first win and our first loss. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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