DC92 Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 A status of Horts are falling apart has been officially declared. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 (edited) f**k it. Sick of going to watch Hearts at Hampden anyway. Ram your League Cup. Looking forward to 24/25 Trip 1 starting tomorrow. Bratislava Monday night, Brno Tuesday night, Prague Wednesday night, into Pilsen on Thursday. Only dampener on my enthusiasm is that a cancelled family function means I am now able to attend Fir Park on Sunday. Edited August 18 by VincentGuerin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 3 hours ago, DC92 said: A status of Horts are falling apart has been officially declared. These times are sent to try men’s souls 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 (edited) Fundamentally, the squad is stronger and deeper than last season without a doubt. But to me that means you can slot players into a settled line-up/system if needed without weakening the team too much. It doesn't mean you can make wholesale, unenforced changes every week and see no ill effects. Even if the personnel on paper are good enough, that's just going to lead to disjointed performances. Yesterday was always going to be a tricky game even with a first choice team. I appreciate we started reasonably well and had several chances, and I also appreciate Shankland did nothing after coming on, but we'd lost a grip of the game by then. If he'd started we might have taken one or two of those chances and it's a completely different outcome. Falkirk started off a bag of nerves but then grew in confidence because we couldn't kill them off, while we went the opposite way and ran out of ideas. My lingering concern throughout this transfer window has been that we've not used the cash to significantly improve the starting XI. Lack of cutting edge outside of Shankland is still an issue. Lack of goals from midfield is still an issue. Lack of quality out wide is still an issue. Any central defensive combination without Kent is still an issue. I don't think we can unequivocally say right-back is solved either. Also, what is the plan with some of these new guys? I thought Dhanda was a number 10, but his two starts have come out wide. I also thought Spittal was a number 10, but he's been played deeper. Can you even play a traditional number 10 in a team that has Shankland in it? Did we sign them expecting Shankland would leave and we'd replace him with a different kind of striker, or was it just opportunism? Edited August 18 by DC92 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 4 hours ago, DC92 said: Fundamentally, the squad is stronger and deeper than last season without a doubt. But to me that means you can slot players into a settled line-up/system if needed without weakening the team too much. It doesn't mean you can make wholesale, unenforced changes every week and see no ill effects. Even if the personnel on paper are good enough, that's just going to lead to disjointed performances. Yesterday was always going to be a tricky game even with a first choice team. I appreciate we started reasonably well and had several chances, and I also appreciate Shankland did nothing after coming on, but we'd lost a grip of the game by then. If he'd started we might have taken one or two of those chances and it's a completely different outcome. Falkirk started off a bag of nerves but then grew in confidence because we couldn't kill them off, while we went the opposite way and ran out of ideas. My lingering concern throughout this transfer window has been that we've not used the cash to significantly improve the starting XI. Lack of cutting edge outside of Shankland is still an issue. Lack of goals from midfield is still an issue. Lack of quality out wide is still an issue. Any central defensive combination without Kent is still an issue. I don't think we can unequivocally say right-back is solved either. Also, what is the plan with some of these new guys? I thought Dhanda was a number 10, but his two starts have come out wide. I also thought Spittal was a number 10, but he's been played deeper. Can you even play a traditional number 10 in a team that has Shankland in it? Did we sign them expecting Shankland would leave and we'd replace him with a different kind of striker, or was it just opportunism? I think Naismith is still seeing what can be done with some of these guys. Playing Spittal deep was an idea, but I think we've seen it doesn't work. And it's unlikely to ever even be an issue when we have the likes of Benni and Hoff available, as the shape of the midfield will never require it. Yesterday is a bad result, no denying that, but I think there is significant mitigation at this stage. It's not the time for toys out the pram. In terms of cash, I remember ITK journo types pointing out last time we were in the groups that Hearts had spent very little of the available money from that, and I'm pretty sure McKinlay confirmed later that the club was rationing it out for fallow times. I reckon you'll see more of the money released next year, especially if we don't make the groups again. No sense in splurging it all at once when we have the bones of a good squad anyway. Mark Donaldson confidently said we'd offered Shankland £14k per week, and Donkey is an extremely ITK Hearts source. So, there's money there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Wonder Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 (edited) 1 hour ago, VincentGuerin said: I think Naismith is still seeing what can be done with some of these guys. Playing Spittal deep was an idea, but I think we've seen it doesn't work. And it's unlikely to ever even be an issue when we have the likes of Benni and Hoff available, as the shape of the midfield will never require it. Yesterday is a bad result, no denying that, but I think there is significant mitigation at this stage. It's not the time for toys out the pram. In terms of cash, I remember ITK journo types pointing out last time we were in the groups that Hearts had spent very little of the available money from that, and I'm pretty sure McKinlay confirmed later that the club was rationing it out for fallow times. I reckon you'll see more of the money released next year, especially if we don't make the groups again. No sense in splurging it all at once when we have the bones of a good squad anyway. Mark Donaldson confidently said we'd offered Shankland £14k per week, and Donkey is an extremely ITK Hearts source. So, there's money there. We've also have spent money. There were fees for Oyegoke, Boateng and to make Vargas deal permanent. In addition to that there are loan fees for Salazar and Taylor with the intention of a significant outlay to make them permanent. It all adds up. My opinion is we seem to have added well, and we have good quality throughout. So far though Naismith doesn't know his best 11 and the best way to get out of them, and he has to figure that out soon. We could also do with a spell of not having some of our beat players injured. Even one of Nieuwenhof or Beni would help us significantly. I think fans need to be a bit patient as we discussed previously. Sadly it looks like folk are losing the run of themselves already. Edited August 18 by Tony Wonder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgie greatness Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Hertz weemen are topping the league! Wots aw the doom & gloom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 6 minutes ago, Gorgie greatness said: Hertz weemen are topping the league! Wots aw the doom & gloom Naismith out, Eva in! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 16 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said: We've also have spent money. There were fees for Oyegoke, Boateng and to make Vargas deal permanent. In addition to that there are loan fees for Salazar and Taylor with the intention of a significant outlay to make them permanent. It all adds up. My opinion is we seem to have added well, and we have good quality throughout. So far though Naismith doesn't know his best 11 and the best way to get out of them, and he has to figure that out soon. We could also do with a spell of not having some of our beat players injured. Even one of Nieuwenhof or Beni would help us significantly. I think fans need to be a bit patient as we discussed previously. Sadly it looks like folk are losing the run of themselves already. I'm quite happy with how we've dealt with the money we've got. I think all of our signings this summer have a decent rationale behind them, and the squad we have is sufficient for what we want to do this season. Injuries absolutely shafted us last time we were in the groups, and that's just the way it goes sometimes. But we've got a deeper squad now and I'm quite content knowing that if we finish in the bottom half this year, for example, we'll be well-positioned to throw some money towards fixing any issues in the next couple of years. We're not going to have unbroken success, and what we're trying to do this year is difficult. We just need to stick with it and keep the big picture in mind. We're well-positioned just now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Panzer Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 23 hours ago, jonty said: Your first choice midfield is miles away from our first choice midfield. In quality. I feel slightly embarrassed to have to point this out. Is Aberdeens first choice midfield not basically the same as the one that scraped to avoid relegation last year? Looking at the Aberdeen side I’d say you look weaker than last season with the loss of Hoilett and Miovski - albeit you’ve strengthened in goal. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dons_1988 Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 On 17/08/2024 at 19:55, FK1Bairn said: I'm not here to gloat as I've got quite a few Hearts supporting work colleagues and friends Don’t follow 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonty Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 23 minutes ago, Der Panzer said: Is Aberdeens first choice midfield not basically the same as the one that scraped to avoid relegation last year? Looking at the Aberdeen side I’d say you look weaker than last season with the loss of Hoilett and Miovski - albeit you’ve strengthened in goal. Nope. It’s not. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Just now, jonty said: Nope. It’s not. How's the hangover? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 2 hours ago, VincentGuerin said: I think Naismith is still seeing what can be done with some of these guys. Playing Spittal deep was an idea, but I think we've seen it doesn't work. And it's unlikely to ever even be an issue when we have the likes of Benni and Hoff available, as the shape of the midfield will never require it. Yesterday is a bad result, no denying that, but I think there is significant mitigation at this stage. It's not the time for toys out the pram. In terms of cash, I remember ITK journo types pointing out last time we were in the groups that Hearts had spent very little of the available money from that, and I'm pretty sure McKinlay confirmed later that the club was rationing it out for fallow times. I reckon you'll see more of the money released next year, especially if we don't make the groups again. No sense in splurging it all at once when we have the bones of a good squad anyway. Mark Donaldson confidently said we'd offered Shankland £14k per week, and Donkey is an extremely ITK Hearts source. So, there's money there. 1 hour ago, Tony Wonder said: We've also have spent money. There were fees for Oyegoke, Boateng and to make Vargas deal permanent. In addition to that there are loan fees for Salazar and Taylor with the intention of a significant outlay to make them permanent. It all adds up. My opinion is we seem to have added well, and we have good quality throughout. So far though Naismith doesn't know his best 11 and the best way to get out of them, and he has to figure that out soon. We could also do with a spell of not having some of our beat players injured. Even one of Nieuwenhof or Beni would help us significantly. I think fans need to be a bit patient as we discussed previously. Sadly it looks like folk are losing the run of themselves already. I'm not questioning the amount of money spent, just whether we've used it to properly strengthen the first XI. The window isn't over and the new signings can't all be judged yet so I'm not jumping to any conclusions but that's my concern at the moment. The worry for me re: Dhanda and Spittal is that they're being tried out in different positions from the one they earned the move in because that position doesn't really fit with the rest of the team. I'm not sure Shankland works on his own up front with a #10 in behind because he tends to drop into the same spaces and he's not likely to be chasing after through balls. That means we're trying the two of them in different positions to fit them in. This probably goes against the grain, but I'm leaning towards three at the back being the formation which best suits the current makeup of the squad, despite its flaws. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Wonder Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 46 minutes ago, DC92 said: I'm not questioning the amount of money spent, just whether we've used it to properly strengthen the first XI. The window isn't over and the new signings can't all be judged yet so I'm not jumping to any conclusions but that's my concern at the moment. The worry for me re: Dhanda and Spittal is that they're being tried out in different positions from the one they earned the move in because that position doesn't really fit with the rest of the team. I'm not sure Shankland works on his own up front with a #10 in behind because he tends to drop into the same spaces and he's not likely to be chasing after through balls. That means we're trying the two of them in different positions to fit them in. This probably goes against the grain, but I'm leaning towards three at the back being the formation which best suits the current makeup of the squad, despite its flaws. My reply wasn't really aimed at you mate, your points make sense to me. However I think with Taylor it's an upgrade at RB. Salazar we obviously don't know but I'm hopeful he'll be a standout and given Cochrane is gone you assume it's an upgrade on Penrice. Dhanda I believe has often played wide but is comfortable in a few so I think we are just trying to see how he best fits in given we have other options. Spittal shouldn't be playing deep and it's not really fair for him to have to do so, but I also dont think that happens of we have our other midfielders available. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galajambo Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 15 hours ago, Tony Wonder said: My reply wasn't really aimed at you mate, your points make sense to me. However I think with Taylor it's an upgrade at RB. Salazar we obviously don't know but I'm hopeful he'll be a standout and given Cochrane is gone you assume it's an upgrade on Penrice. Dhanda I believe has often played wide but is comfortable in a few so I think we are just trying to see how he best fits in given we have other options. Spittal shouldn't be playing deep and it's not really fair for him to have to do so, but I also dont think that happens of we have our other midfielders available. Replace the hide and seek champion Barry Mackay with Dhanda, and play Spittal in his preferred role until the Hoff comes back, makes sense to me. I'll also be a lot more confident when Beni and Hoff are back in the fold, we're hamstrung without them right now because a spine of Kent, Beni, Hoff and Shanks with players to slot in around them is solid! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 Inevitably there are some rumours that Clark's absence last night was due to a bid coming in from down south. I've always thought of him as an above average Premiership keeper who makes mistakes from time to time but is generally solid without ever being spectacular. I can't say I'd be too fussed about him going if we get a decent fee, especially as Gordon's looked fine from what I've seen of him since coming back. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insert Amusing Pseudonym Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 Naismith said he was injured but obviously that could be bollocks. If we get a good offer then aye, Gordon still looks capable of at least a decent level and we can look at hopefully Stone or McFarlane kicking on 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afc_blockhead Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 1 hour ago, DC92 said: Inevitably there are some rumours that Clark's absence last night was due to a bid coming in from down south. I've always thought of him as an above average Premiership keeper who makes mistakes from time to time but is generally solid without ever being spectacular. I can't say I'd be too fussed about him going if we get a decent fee, especially as Gordon's looked fine from what I've seen of him since coming back. He was responsible for Falkirk's second goal wasn't he with a poor clearance? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 12 minutes ago, afc_blockhead said: He was responsible for Falkirk's second goal wasn't he with a poor clearance? Compare that with Dundee's first 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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