djchapsticks Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 A wee rarity in the offing with two back to back league games against the same opposition as we face Hearts in Paisley on Sautrday and the rearranged fixture from earlier in the season at Tynecastle the following Friday night. The two sexiest away strips in the league meet at last. Hearts are clearly the best of the rest again this season and have strengthened up front with Shankland being an inspired signing after questions over his ability to score regularly in the top flight in Scotland at Aberdeen then Dundee Utd. He's been on fire for Hearts this season and is the obvious danger man in the two games. We come into it in a really strong position, 5 points behind Hearts having played a game less than them. The admittedly extremely unlikely scenario of 6 St. Mirren points would see us third with a game still in hand. We're still a bit up in the air how we'll go into this. Erhahon will definitely be suspended for both games and probably sold by then anyway and Ayunga is still touch and go up front, at least for the first meeting. I'd be happy right now with an exchange of wins in the two games. Both sides are proving hardest to beat so far out of the 'other 10' this season with only 6 league defeats each. Tynecastle is a horrendous hunting ground for us though and we generally do not too badly against Hearts on our own patch. A win and a defeat apiece is definitely more palatable for both sides than cancelling each other out over both games but I'd imagine Hearts will be looking for a minimum of four points between the two games. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pozbaird Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 (edited) Interesting couple of games ahead. Reasons for concern/optimism in decent measure. St Mirren are strong at home, but we should really be looking to nail on the three points at Tynecastle. We're good at home and they've only won once away all season. That said, they've just picked up two decent draws on the road, so maybe they're turning a corner there. While St Mirren have an impressive home record, our away form has quietly picked up. Good win at St Johnstone last week, decent point at United. We've only lost at Aberdeen (when we had nine players out) and 1-0 at Rangers in our last seven aways, picking up three wins and two draws. We also score away. Three at Motherwell, three at St Johnstone, twos at Killie, United, Ross County. We're in good form in general. 17 points from 24 available since we lost to Celtic. St Mirren have 10 from their last 24. A home-win swap wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but with four points we really lock on control of the race for third, and I'd bite your arm off for that now. We've got St Mirren and Aberdeen at home before the end of the month. Win those two games and we'll be getting towards being tough to catch. Edited January 3, 2023 by VincentGuerin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Always Hearts Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 I’ve been very impressed with St Mirren this season - should finish in top 6 for sure. Two tough matches for Hearts particularly given we are definitely missing Gordon, Halkett, Beningame and Boyce and possibly Kingsley, Smith and Halliday. Lots of guaranteed starters there. I would be delighted with 4 points just to keep things ticking over until the injuries ease or/and we get some reinforcements in. I wouldn’t be overly surprised if we lose in Paisley. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RudiSkacel51 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Will be a tough game in paisley for us, I would probably take a draw right now and then look to win the next game at Tynecastle tbf, in an ideal world we can take all 6 points but I feel st Mirren are no mugs and will be a difficult proposition to play against. Robinson doing a great job there much like Martindale is at Livi imo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Wonder Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 As said above the away game will be tough but we have to fancy ourselves at Tynecastle. 4 points would be a very acceptable return, but ideally we can grind out another win which will set us up nicely for a couple of home fixtures. Interesting to see who's out injury wise, hopefully get a few back. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insert Amusing Pseudonym Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Worried about the backline away as we are not set up well against physical strikers which St Mirren definitely have. We should be good enough to win both games but a draw or defeat in Paisley seems quite likely 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Div Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Looking forward to both games. Hearts in Paisley is always a tasty affair and who does not love Friday night football in the Capital? Our home form has been brilliant obviously, I don't really fear anyone in Paisley these days, but Hearts have players that can hurt us if we gift them chances so we'll need to be at our very best at the back and take our chances when they come our way at the other end. Gogic will be a straight replacement for Ethan and O'Hara coming back is a massive plus. Still expect Brophy to start over Ayunga but hopefully the big man will be fit enough to make the bench. Hard to see us getting much at Tynecastle, probably the third hardest place to visit in the league and not a ground we have fared well at over the years but our style of football is ideally set up for playing a team like Hearts who really want to attack so fingers crossed we can cause them some problems on the counter when that one comes around. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 Not sure I was expecting mutual respect from both sides in the early exchanges on here! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendo Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 1 minute ago, djchapsticks said: Not sure I was expecting mutual respect from both sides in the early exchanges on here! Indeed, we need some of the wacko Killie fans in here to shake it up. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS77 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 (edited) 20 hours ago, Always Hearts said: I’ve been very impressed with St Mirren this season - should finish in top 6 for sure. Two tough matches for Hearts particularly given we are definitely missing Gordon, Halkett, Beningame and Boyce and possibly Kingsley, Smith and Halliday. Lots of guaranteed starters there. I would be delighted with 4 points just to keep things ticking over until the injuries ease or/and we get some reinforcements in. I wouldn’t be overly surprised if we lose in Paisley. I don’t think I’ve seen a team as unlucky for injuries in a long time, some massive players missing near enough every week. Edited January 4, 2023 by SS77 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgie greatness Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 I was passing the tele earlier when pointless was on, a contestant says St mirren which came in pointless…hope this trend continues 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 I kind of see St Mirren as the opposite of us this season. Solid, experienced, settled back line with forwards who are pests rather than necessarily being deadly. If we lose the first goal we'll probably be in trouble. Harsh on Ginnelly, but I'd probably go with a front three of McKay, Shankland and Humphrys for this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pozbaird Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Gorgie greatness said: I was passing the tele earlier when pointless was on, a contestant says St mirren which came in pointless…hope this trend continues Edited January 4, 2023 by pozbaird 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houston_bud Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 11 hours ago, Div said: Gogic will be a straight replacement for Ethan and O'Hara coming back is a massive plus. I wonder if he might bring O'Hara in for Erhahon and keep Kiltie in the starting line up. I don't really see any of our centre midfielders as like for like. They all bring something different. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navallion Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Nothin' impressive about St Mirren at all, bunch of hammer throwers and a bang average manager. Away and a home win for the Hertz. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molotov Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 9 minutes ago, Navallion said: Nothin' impressive about St Mirren at all, bunch of hammer throwers and a bang average manager. Away and a home win for the Hertz. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Reese Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 St Mirren just quietly going about their business, and doing very well this season. They have managed to get themselves clear of the diddy war at the bottom, and will be looking upwards with optimism. HMFC have to treat this game the same as we would a fixture vs Aberdeen. They are a serious rival for third, and we need to work hard and be clinical to take them out of the equation. St Mirren 1 vs 2 HMFC HMFC 3 vs 1 St Mirren 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coventry Saint Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) Have to say Robbie Neilson has exceeded my expectations at Hearts. When he dropped down again after labouring somewhat to get United promoted, I wondered if he was doubting his own top flight creds. But you have to say he's clearly made the right long-term decision there. While you could argue that 3rd/4th place absolutely has to be par for Hearts, we know Scottish football doesn't always work like that. I still resent him for turning us down and us ending up with Stubbs in charge in 2018, but you can't deny he's doing a good job now. I don't think we'll lose the home game. Head says 1-1. Hoping we can avoid defeat at Tynecastle. Heart says 1-1. Edited January 5, 2023 by Coventry Saint 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coventry Saint Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 9 hours ago, Navallion said: a bang average manager. S'fine. In the past decade we've had Tommy Craig, Alex Rae, Ian Murray and Alan Stubbs in charge, so bang average isn't the diss you think it is. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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