Heart of Midlothian FC v Ross County

[Kyle Reese]

Always a bit of a slog when you have to play a few teams who are fighting for survival in a row. Next up on the list is Ross County. Injuries and suspensions always start to bite at this time of year, and we are without Beni, Devlin, Kingsley, and probably Boyce. All first picks. No excuses though, we should still have enough to win it at home.

My guess at our starting eleven:

Gordon

Cochrane - Souttar - Halkett 

Halliday - McEneff - Haring - Moore

McKay - Ginelly - Walker

Not a huge fan of Halliday (putting it mildly), but don't really see what we have left, so just have to hope he's on his game. I can't remember the last time Walker started a game and wasn't a disappointment. He scored though, so he probably deserves the chance. There's a pattern with him though.

I don't think Woodburn or GMS will start. Both are doing some good stuff (not enough admittedly) that is being ignored just now, and people are fixating on the stuff they aren't doing so well at. This is always the way when we are toiling to score goals though, good runs and build up play are not enough to get the crowd onside.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Kyle Reese

[Tony Wonder]

21 minutes ago, Kyle Reese said:

Always a bit of a slog when you have to play a few teams who are fighting for survival in a row. Next up on the list is Ross County. Injuries and suspensions always start to bite at this time of year, and we are without Beni, Devlin, Kingsley, and probably Boyce. All first picks. No excuses though, we should still have enough to win it at home.

My guess at our starting eleven:

Gordon

Cochrane - Souttar - Halkett 

Halliday - McEneff - Haring - Moore

McKay - Ginelly - Walker

Not a huge fan of Halliday (putting it mildly), but don't really see what we have left, so just have to hope he's on his game. I can't remember the last time Walker started a game and wasn't a disappointment. He scored though, so he probably deserves the chance. There's a pattern with him though.

I don't think Woodburn or GMS will start. Both are doing some good stuff (not enough admittedly) that is being ignored just now, and people are fixating on the stuff they aren't doing so well at. This is always the way when we are toiling to score goals though, good runs and build up play are not enough to get the crowd onside.

 

 

 

 

Could easily get rid of Halliday by playing Smith or Logan at right wing back and putting Cochrane LWB with Moore at CH. Would 100% prefer that.

I think Boyce will play, he had a medical assessment before Saturday's game which suggests he was close to making it. If he's not available I'd rather play Gnanduillet up top than the 3 wingers thing again. That's worked once, and been rubbish 3 times now. I also don't buy Gnando is anywhere near as bad as made out and would give us a focal point. He's had bad games, he's also had ones where he's been decent. 

[Kyle Reese]

2 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said:

Could easily get rid of Halliday by playing Smith or Logan at right wing back and putting Cochrane LWB with Moore at CH. Would 100% prefer that.

I think Boyce will play, he had a medical assessment before Saturday's game which suggests he was close to making it. If he's not available I'd rather play Gnanduillet up top than the 3 wingers thing again. That's worked once, and been rubbish 3 times now. I also don't buy Gnando is anywhere near as bad as made out and would give us a focal point. He's had bad games, he's also had ones where he's been decent. 

It's his ball control that always seems to let him down. He's not a target man by any stretch of the imagination, as you see when he attempts to take a ball out of the air and control it. He doesn't seem to be able to score enough from headers or shots from corners etc either. I know what you are saying about the three wide men up top, as it's been pretty toothless a couple of times now, but it did work really well that one time v United. I'm struggling to remember when Gnando did a really good job as the focal point of attack, i think it might have been in the Championship when he'd not long arrived?

Hopefully Neilson manages to cobble something together from the players we have left. 

[lennyzer0]

16 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said:

Could easily get rid of Halliday by playing Smith or Logan at right wing back and putting Cochrane LWB with Moore at CH. Would 100% prefer that.

Definitely this.

[Tony Wonder]

41 minutes ago, Kyle Reese said:

It's his ball control that always seems to let him down. He's not a target man by any stretch of the imagination, as you see when he attempts to take a ball out of the air and control it. He doesn't seem to be able to score enough from headers or shots from corners etc either. I know what you are saying about the three wide men up top, as it's been pretty toothless a couple of times now, but it did work really well that one time v United. I'm struggling to remember when Gnando did a really good job as the focal point of attack, i think it might have been in the Championship when he'd not long arrived?

Hopefully Neilson manages to cobble something together from the players we have left. 

He was really good up top at McDiarmid Park. His link up play is good when you get it to his feet. He had 3 good efforts that night as well where he was unlucky, maybe one he should've done better with. He's not had many other starts, Pittodrie where he was left about 40 yards from his nearest support.

I'm not saying he's great or the answer, but I'd rather an actual forward play of possible.

 

[Kyle Reese]

2 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said:

He was really good up top at McDiarmid Park. His link up play is good when you get it to his feet. He had 3 good efforts that night as well where he was unlucky, maybe one he should've done better with. He's not had many other starts, Pittodrie where he was left about 40 yards from his nearest support.

I'm not saying he's great or the answer, but I'd rather an actual forward play of possible.

 

It certainly highlights where we need to recruit.

[Girth]

Hopefully a cheeky win for The Bakewells.

Thank you.

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

109-0 to Hearts, sending these jobbers back to Perthshire with their tails between their hindquarters.

Or it'll be quite tough, one of the two

[Kyle Reese]

21 minutes ago, Girth said:

Hopefully a cheeky win for The Bakewells.

Thank you.

Going against our ‘bitter rivalry’ there.

[Girth]

9 minutes ago, Kyle Reese said:

Going against our ‘bitter rivalry’ there.

[Kyle Reese]

Good to see former players putting their pals’ game time before the success of the team and attempting to undermine the manager at a time when third place is not yet in the bag, and we need to be sticking together: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/former-hearts-star-lashes-out-at-head-coach-robbie-neilson-over-use-of-jamie-walker-3501443

Lets all just forget about the cycle of:

Walker starts > Walker does nothing and gets subbed > Walker benched > Walker subbed on and scores > Walker starts > Walker does nothing and gets subbed >

Obviously it’s far more important to give Walker game time, even when it’s like starting with a man down most of the time. 

[Rcfc fan]

We have St Johnstone to contend with first so will reserve predictions on line up and score until we see what comes of that , I think on our current form we should be looking for a draw in this game which hearts should take as compliment due to our recent 1-0 pumping of their leith neighbours

[Tony Wonder]

3 hours ago, Kyle Reese said:

Good to see former players putting their pals’ game time before the success of the team and attempting to undermine the manager at a time when third place is not yet in the bag, and we need to be sticking together: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/former-hearts-star-lashes-out-at-head-coach-robbie-neilson-over-use-of-jamie-walker-3501443

Lets all just forget about the cycle of:

Walker starts > Walker does nothing and gets subbed > Walker benched > Walker subbed on and scores > Walker starts > Walker does nothing and gets subbed >

Obviously it’s far more important to give Walker game time, even when it’s like starting with a man down most of the time. 

I don't think Black does Walker any favours, but they are brother in laws, he's obviously just frustrated seeing him not get a chance.  I'm sure Robbie will pay it no heed.

As for the cycle that was maybe the case previously, the bigger issue is why it's not even been the case of "Walker subbed on" at any point in the last 3 months when we've been crying out for options off the bench.

[Kyle Reese]

29 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said:

I don't think Black does Walker any favours, but they are brother in laws, he's obviously just frustrated seeing him not get a chance.  I'm sure Robbie will pay it no heed.

As for the cycle that was maybe the case previously, the bigger issue is why it's not even been the case of "Walker subbed on" at any point in the last 3 months when we've been crying out for options off the bench.

Didn’t know they are brothers in law. Explains a lot though. The whole “or pack yer bags” shite just stinks of Hearts social media rabble-rousing. Black goes way down in my estimation after what I can only assume was a drunken Instagram tantrum.

You only have to look around Twitter etc to see the nonsense that this will feed. I honestly start to to wonder if I’ve just imagined sitting there through games where Walker has started, and him doing absolutely nothing. It frustrated the hell out of me back when he was about all we had in a creative sense, but now that we have other options, I’m far less willing to suck that up.

When Walker starts, he leaves big gaps that the opposition exploit, and he ends up getting subbed off. When he comes on as a sub, he generally affects the game in a positive manner.

It’s frustrating that so many fans want us to repeat the same process over and over again, when it has played out the same way every time. 

I expect Walker will start v County, and I expect it will allow County to get more possession than we would like. 

Would love to be proven wrong, but how many times can you watch the same story and expect a different outcome?

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Kyle Reese

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

3 hours ago, Kyle Reese said:

Good to see former players putting their pals’ game time before the success of the team and attempting to undermine the manager at a time when third place is not yet in the bag, and we need to be sticking together: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/former-hearts-star-lashes-out-at-head-coach-robbie-neilson-over-use-of-jamie-walker-3501443

Lets all just forget about the cycle of:

Walker starts > Walker does nothing and gets subbed > Walker benched > Walker subbed on and scores > Walker starts > Walker does nothing and gets subbed >

Obviously it’s far more important to give Walker game time, even when it’s like starting with a man down most of the time. 

Walker hasn't started a game since February.  And he had a goal and 3 assists in his last 5 starts.

Does he always play well from the start, no.  Should he start every game, no.  

But given the game time other players have had this season, he'd 100% have done more with it

[Kyle Reese]

1 minute ago, Insert Amusing Pseudonym said:

Walker hasn't started a game since February.  And he had a goal and 3 assists in his last 5 starts.

Does he always play well from the start, no.  Should he start every game, no.  

But given the game time other players have had this season, he'd 100% have done more with it

I’m sorry, I don’t agree. He needs to do more when he starts games. He’s had a great many chances at this club, to nail down a starting position. If he was doing enough, he would be getting picked. It’s not personal, or some kind of disagreement between the player and manager. If he was doing enough, he’d be getting starts. Why would a manager not choose a player if he was the best option available? 

I am 90% sure he’ll get his chance this weekend. I genuinely hope he grasps it with both hands and doesn’t look back. Sadly, I’ve just seen it too many times now, and don’t expect a different result. We shall see though, I suppose.

All of that said, Blackie is doing him/us zero favours with that stupid social media post.

[Tony Wonder]

6 minutes ago, Insert Amusing Pseudonym said:

Walker hasn't started a game since February.  And he had a goal and 3 assists in his last 5 starts.

Does he always play well from the start, no.  Should he start every game, no.  

But given the game time other players have had this season, he'd 100% have done more with it

This is where I am.  Neilson also said that Walker needed to be fitter, but gave him no run of games in the Championship to do so. Yet GMS got about 11 in a row and contributed absolutely nothing. Walker never got anywhere near the same opportunities. Even when he did start, he was never rewarded when he done well. Raith away last year, he started, played 90 minutes and was our best player, 2 assists and ran riot. Next game, he was back on the bench.

I don't think Walker should start every week as you say, but he should have been given more opportunities and I'm not surprised there's frustration from Walker watching guys get chance after chance while he goes 3 months between sub appearances.

And aye, Black was probably pissed. It was daft, but I don't think it'll make much impact on anything.

[Tony Wonder]

3 minutes ago, Kyle Reese said:

I’m sorry, I don’t agree. He needs to do more when he starts games. He’s had a great many chances at this club, to nail down a starting position. If he was doing enough, he would be getting picked. It’s not personal, or some kind of disagreement between the player and manager. If he was doing enough, he’d be getting starts. Why would a manager not choose a player if he was the best option available? 

I am 90% sure he’ll get his chance this weekend. I genuinely hope he grasps it with both hands and doesn’t look back. Sadly, I’ve just seen it too many times now, and don’t expect a different result. We shall see though, I suppose.

All of that said, Blackie is doing him/us zero favours with that stupid social media post.

He played well in a lot of his starts last season, this thing he never turns up when started is a bit of a myth tbh. His last few starts last season were Ayr, Raith and Alloa and he was probably our best player in all 3.

He's played 152 minutes all season, and none from the start, where is this great many chances? He's contributed when involved this season, yet has been constantly overlooked as even an option.

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

5 minutes ago, Kyle Reese said:

I’m sorry, I don’t agree. He needs to do more when he starts games. He’s had a great many chances at this club, to nail down a starting position. If he was doing enough, he would be getting picked. It’s not personal, or some kind of disagreement between the player and manager. If he was doing enough, he’d be getting starts. Why would a manager not choose a player if he was the best option available? 

I am 90% sure he’ll get his chance this weekend. I genuinely hope he grasps it with both hands and doesn’t look back. Sadly, I’ve just seen it too many times now, and don’t expect a different result. We shall see though, I suppose.

All of that said, Blackie is doing him/us zero favours with that stupid social media post.

Since he returned to the club, he's started 30 games,  in total.  He's got 13 goals, admittedly with a number off the bench.

I've got no arguments with players getting dropped off the back of bad performances.  He was murder in the cup final and the Hibs game last season for example.  But he's not started a game since February and still managed 5 goals.

[topcat(The most tip top)]

Even if you think Ian Black is talking rubbish

“Let he who is without the sin of posting nonsense about hearts in the internet cast the first stone”

In the words of this week’s birthday boy Jewish raconteur, conjurer and secretary of lower Galilee Hearts Jesus H Christ