OFFICIAL HEARTS JUGGERNAUT THREAD 2020-

[Gorgie greatness]

25 minutes ago, johnnydun said:

Just very surprised that an Aberdeen fan, who has a season ticket but also works away, would disappear while Aberdeen are shite, then suddenly reappear after 8 wins.

You're not a newcomer and of course you're welcome here.

But you know how this place works, take whatever is coming.

[TPAFKA Jersey 2]

1 hour ago, DC92 said:

All of Aberdeen's players were bottom 6 players last season.

That’s quite funny. Worthy of a comment rather than just a greenie.

[Ewanandmoreagain]

10 hours ago, Connor7 said:

Hearts definitely have the 3rd best squad in the league on paper. I have seen a few of your games this season and it looks you have no identity 

 

The only other person I have heard using " identity " in this manner is Michael Stewart 

Well Connor7. ?

 

and   X Ray Spex

[Connor7]

1 minute ago, Ewanandmoreagain said:

 

The only other person I have heard using " identity " in this manner is Michael Stewart 

Well Connor7. ?

 

and   X Ray Spex

Haha thanks mate, feel insulted

[gazelle83]

On 25/08/2024 at 22:01, RandomGuy. said:

This logic is flawed.

You're probably right, players who've went for that value routinely end up at clubs of our level and fail. 

[topcat(The most tip top)]

11 hours ago, gazelle83 said:

You're probably right, players who've went for that value routinely end up at clubs of our level and fail. 

On the other hand 18 year old boy signed as a promising prospect by a megaclub, instantly becoming independently wealthy, is loaned out to smaller clubs, fails to fulfil his potential, ends up playing in the middle of nowhere and retires in his mid 20s is a fairly common story.

So we can't rule that possibility out.

Invariably the choices available are players who've excelled at a lower level or ones who've failed at a higher level

with the ones moving up you hope they maintain their momentum

with the ones moving down you hope they don't

 

[DC92]

Remarkable given how much business we've done that Shankland's injury means we will very likely be starting Liam Boyce up front in a European game in 2024.

[Darren]

3 hours ago, DC92 said:

Remarkable given how much business we've done that Shankland's injury means we will very likely be starting Liam Boyce up front in a European game in 2024.

I've seen Jamie Mole start up front in a European game so I'll keep hold of my pitchfork until after the match.

[kingjoey]

On 26/08/2024 at 18:50, johnnydun said:

Just very surprised that an Aberdeen fan, who has a season ticket but also works away, would disappear while Aberdeen are shite, then suddenly reappear after 8 wins.

You're not a newcomer and of course you're welcome here.

But you know how this place works, take whatever is coming.

He must be related to @Elixir.

[DukDukGoose]

11 hours ago, DC92 said:

Remarkable given how much business we've done that Shankland's injury means we will very likely be starting Liam Boyce up front in a European game in 2024.

Depth.

[DC92]

54 minutes ago, DukDukGoose said:

Depth.

I'd be surprised if anyone has ever claimed we have depth at striker. Definitely another required before the end of the window.

[Galajambo]

It's pretty grim the striker situation, we let Tagawa go back to Japan and he'd be the natural replacement, and Boyce is even slower than me these days! If Shanks doesn't make it, then it's time to get Levein back to give Naisy lessons on how to play without a striker... 

[DC92]

Naismith took a while to (mostly) win over the fans after a poor start last season. He is very quickly smashing the goodwill he built up to bits. Strange team selections in 4 out of the 6 games so far and each one predictably resulted in a terrible performance. Tonight's might actually be the worst of the lot given it was a free hit at 1-0 down and none of his actions suggested he was remotely interested in trying to win.

Worse still, despite our biggest issue last season being a lack of threat outside Shankland, despite millions in prize money from Europe, despite selling a striker who was likely on very decent money, and despite signing 9 players, we still haven't brought in a single forward ready to play in the first team and it looks like we aren't going to. That is utterly f**king mental, frankly.

Maybe we should try the set-up we used in our only good performance this season before it was completely abandoned for no reason, and save the cautious 5-3-2 for away games in Glasgow or in Europe. It won't fix all our problems, but it might be a start.

[RandomGuy.]

Was away to ask if Naismith is under pressure.

Ewan Cameron has randomly starting popping up on my Twitter and he must be posting multiple times a day over the past couple of weeks demanding Naismith is sacked.

[VincentGuerin]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

Was away to ask if Naismith is under pressure.

Ewan Cameron has randomly starting popping up on my Twitter and he must be posting multiple times a day over the past couple of weeks demanding Naismith is sacked.

Throw your device in the bin. The man, in my opinion, is a buffoon and nobody whose brain works has any interest in anything he has to say.

Edited August 30 by VincentGuerin

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

Boyce needs games to get match fit. We saw that with Beni last season. It takes a while for players that have had long term injuries. Going to be the same for Halkett.

Maybe see Musa on the pitch at the weekend.

[VincentGuerin]

9 hours ago, DC92 said:

Naismith took a while to (mostly) win over the fans after a poor start last season. He is very quickly smashing the goodwill he built up to bits. Strange team selections in 4 out of the 6 games so far and each one predictably resulted in a terrible performance. Tonight's might actually be the worst of the lot given it was a free hit at 1-0 down and none of his actions suggested he was remotely interested in trying to win.

Worse still, despite our biggest issue last season being a lack of threat outside Shankland, despite millions in prize money from Europe, despite selling a striker who was likely on very decent money, and despite signing 9 players, we still haven't brought in a single forward ready to play in the first team and it looks like we aren't going to. That is utterly f**king mental, frankly.

Maybe we should try the set-up we used in our only good performance this season before it was completely abandoned for no reason, and save the cautious 5-3-2 for away games in Glasgow or in Europe. It won't fix all our problems, but it might be a start.

I'd like us to play four at the back generally, no disagreement there. But I can see why we approached the game last night the way we did.

We were missing Beni and Hoff in the middle, and that severely weakens that part of the pitch. Then also missing Shankland meant Naismith obviously felt the first thing to do was avoid being out of the tie by half time. I can see his working there and I think it worked. First half I thought was a perfectly decent European performance. Nothing daft, probed at them a wee bit without over-committing, and stayed in the tie. Like European teams often do to us.

The issue was not then having a pop in the second half until it was much too late. And once we make the switch, we almost immediately chuck it with a silly individual error.

With the personnell available we were never likely to come out all guns blazing, and I can see why we did what we did.

We are a striker short, absolutely no question, and I'd like to see us reverting to four at the back generally. I think once Beni is back we will.

[Eednud]

Cameron Devlin and Kye Rowles in the Australian squad for WC qualifiers v Bahrain (Gold Coast, 5 Sep) and Indonesia (Jakarta, 10 Sep).

[DC92]

45 minutes ago, VincentGuerin said:

I'd like us to play four at the back generally, no disagreement there. But I can see why we approached the game last night the way we did.

We were missing Beni and Hoff in the middle, and that severely weakens that part of the pitch. Then also missing Shankland meant Naismith obviously felt the first thing to do was avoid being out of the tie by half time. I can see his working there and I think it worked. First half I thought was a perfectly decent European performance. Nothing daft, probed at them a wee bit without over-committing, and stayed in the tie. Like European teams often do to us.

The issue was not then having a pop in the second half until it was much too late. And once we make the switch, we almost immediately chuck it with a silly individual error.

 

 

 

With the personnell available we were never likely to come out all guns blazing, and I can see why we did what we did.

We are a striker short, absolutely no question, and I'd like to see us reverting to four at the back generally. I think once Beni is back we will.

 

We didn't have Beni and Nieuwenhof against Rangers but we played 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 and played well. Against Zurich (Devlin+Grant), Rosenborg (Devlin+Denholm) and PAOK (Devlin+Cochrane) at home we did the same and those were all much more respectable performances than last night's despite having a weak midfield on paper.

I'm fully aware we could have been carved open if we'd been more expansive (and said as much before the game) but 1) that didn't happen in the aforementioned games and 2) it would still have been preferable to losing with a whimper like last night. With the safety net of the Conference there was no real reason not to have a go. 

Edited August 30 by DC92

[VincentGuerin]

2 minutes ago, DC92 said:

We didn't have Beni and Nieuwenhof against Rangers but we played 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 and played well. Against Zurich (Devlin+Grant), Rosenborg (Devlin+Denholm) and PAOK (Devlin+Cochrane) at home we did the same and those were all much more respectable performances than last night's despite having a weak midfield on paper.

I'm fully aware we could have been carved open if we'd been more expansive (and said as much before the game) but 1) that didn't happen in the aforementioned games and 2) it would still have been preferable to losing with a whimper like last night. With the safety net of the Conference there was no real reason not to have a go. 

It's a different dynamic. Losing to Rangers in game one of thirty-eight is a different thing to a two-legged tie which is your only shot at getting into the Europa League. And we didn't start that game already a goal down.

I think if we'd had different players available, we'd have played it in a different way. But making sure we didn't lose it early was fine. People watch these games like they are normal games. We see it in match threads on here all the time. People saying it's dull, or wanting more aggression etc. But that's how teams tend to play these ties. You stay in them, then you try to win them.

I've got no issue with last night up to half time.