St Johnstone v Heart of Midlothian

[PauloPerth]

1 hour ago, Fifespud said:

Great result. Well done Jambos. Get these cuntos cut adrift asap. 

You are obsessed! You even posted in the Dundee match thread “happy with the result, puts us a point ahead of Saints” or words to that effect.

Did a St Johnstone fan upset you in the past??

 

Spoiler

 

[lennyzer0]

Dull first half, decent second half, delighted to see such a strong bench being used so well.

But it's hard to refute allegations our Head Coach doesn't talk some amount of nonsense when he comes out with lines like 'VAR breaking down before the game started probably didn''t help us much. It allowed them to settle a wee bit and put pressure on us with long throws, free kicks etc'. 

[Fife Saint]

Funny watching these VL Hearts fans lap it up. Kinda thing you'd expect from supporters who have only watched their club lift a single trophy in a season.

The rebuild is In full flow, gents.

[Stylish Kid]

10 hours ago, Tony Wonder said:

Just watched the highlights and I'm unsure as to how anyone thought either goal was offside. Both miles on, in fact Boyce was in his own half when Lowry played him in.

I can only assume it's because Shankland was miles ahead of the Saints defence (albeit not interfering with play). At speed the final pass looked a bit suspect too as it was played forward (but Boyce was ahead of Shankland)

[Jamie_B]

It was Shankland both times who was in an offside position, but at the first he doesn't go anywhere near the ball and the second it's the second phase of play because the initial ball is to Boyce who is in his own half at the time.

Not too fussed at losing the second because obviously we were trying to load the ball forward with bodies up there as much as we can, but the first goal is disappointing given the way it comes about and how well we had defended that for the majority of the game up til that point.

[lennyzer0]

12 minutes ago, Jamie_Beatson said:

Not too fussed at losing the second because obviously we were trying to load the ball forward with bodies up there as much as we can, but the first goal is disappointing given the way it comes about and how well we had defended that for the majority of the game up til that point.

Like, (I suspect) most Hearts fans, I was pretty impressed by the way you set up and the solidity of your defensive line(s). I have to admit, I didn't recognise the doom and gloom descriptions of your team from earlier in this thread when watching the game yesterday.

I don't know if it was a deliberate tactic on our part, but it did look as though we figured out that you'd be defending in depth, without the ball a lot of the time, and picked a starting lineup and a bench to take advantage of the fact you'd obviously tire, and then we could bring on better - if not necessarily match fit/bedded into the team - players to take advantage of that. Because first half there was nothing in the teams, and St Johnstone might even just have shaded it, but from about an hour on, it felt like we pulled away.

[Jamie_B]

10 minutes ago, lennyzer0 said:

Like, (I suspect) most Hearts fans, I was pretty impressed by the way you set up and the solidity of your defensive line(s). I have to admit, I didn't recognise the doom and gloom descriptions of your team from earlier in this thread when watching the game yesterday.

I don't know if it was a deliberate tactic on our part, but it did look as though we figured out that you'd be defending in depth, without the ball a lot of the time, and picked a starting lineup and a bench to take advantage of the fact you'd obviously tire, and then we could bring on better - if not necessarily match fit/bedded into the team - players to take advantage of that. Because first half there was nothing in the teams, and St Johnstone might even just have shaded it, but from about an hour on, it felt like we pulled away.

That's pretty much how I saw it - Hearts took complete control from the hour on, in particular Oda really came into the game and started to cause us real issues. The strength in depth Hearts have is a world away from what we have/will ever likely have. Certainly yesterday we had quite a lot of young lads on there again.

[the jambo-rocker]

15 hours ago, DC92 said:

I'm surprised by that. I think the first hour was pretty even, but we were the much better team in the end. It looked particularly ropy in the first 15, but we mostly settled down after that despite lacking invention in the final third. That last part isn't particularly surprising, though, since Shankland isn't a lone striker, Nieuwenhof isn't a number 10 and Forrest just doesn't have it.

But I thought we looked really dangerous after Lowry and then Tagawa came on and could have scored a couple more, while I can't remember us conceding a single chance in that period. Yeah, St Johnstone were poor, but you can only beat what's in front of you and it was far from shite after making those changes.

You'd think that second half team, with Shankland and Tagawa up front, and Lowry and Oda wide, will be much closer to how we line up for the rest of the season in these games. There's depth there now as well and we were missing quite a few today. Plenty of cause for optimism imo, at least in the attacking third.

I'll not lie that first xi gave me the fear. Agreed on Forrest . He's had enough chances. We start with that finishing team against Rosenberg and I've got confidence in taking something.

10 hours ago, Fife Saint said:

Funny watching these VL Hearts fans lap it up. Kinda thing you'd expect from supporters who have only watched their club lift a single trophy in a season.

The rebuild is In full flow, gents.

[RandomGuy.]

Felt like Hearts took control late on because they could actually keep the ball for a length of time. We just got deeper, and deeper, and deeper, because every time our CBs played the ball forward it was coming straight back.

McGowan does really well in games like that in terms of battling, and we'd be worse without him, but hes let down by not showing for the ball and its made worse when those beside him also hide from that side of it. I'm hoping Smith is better at it.

[Roguetwo]

19 hours ago, Jamie_Beatson said:

I think Shankland was well offside when the first ball was played but didn’t then challenge it. The ball looked very close to an arm when it came down but tbh it could easily have been a Saints arm.

I think that game may have started without VAR then had it reinstated later which is weird. The east stand linesman was very quick with a flag early on against Ballantyne in a good position (which looked a terrible call because Kingsley had dropped miles deeper than anyone else) when you’d normally see them let the move run it’s course before flagging. That assistant had a shocker all in.

Saints were several notches above a total capitulation which is I think what most expected. Mitov was excellent and you know what a difference a competent goalkeeper can make to a poor to average team in this league.

Work in progress up front, with pace needed and a partnership formed. Given the fitness levels and lack of other options I can see why we didn’t start May and Jephcott together today but we need to get to a position where we can play two up front asap.

This one against Ballantyne?

[Jamie_B]

10 minutes ago, Roguetwo said:

This one against Ballantyne?

Perspective is hard there - Kingsley is quite a bit deeper than anyone else there (certainly when you look at the cut of the grass he's a couple of yards into the lighter part the same as Ballantyne). From this angle, with Ballantyne close to the camera he looks off, from basically directly opposite where I sit and Kingsley closer to me, Ballantyne looked on, especially given he was running back fairly quickly towards the ball. I suspect in reality it is fairly tight (though probably offside seeing that picture) - what I was really getting at is that it was close enough that you wouldn't expect the linesman to flag immediately the way he did if VAR was in operation - they'd normally let it play out then put the flag up.

If that's the case it seems a bit odd to start a game without VAR in play, then activate it after an indeterminate period. What if they miss something absolutely blatant when it isn't in play then give something marginal at the end? You're asking for trouble there.

[Widge]

The one I didn’t get was the offside given for Carey’s chance. He was inside by a mile and it was Drey Wright who was offside, who stood with his hands up and didn’t affect play. Yet it got pulled back for offside, both the linesmen and the referee were abysmal yesterday and if that’s a sign of the standards to come then we’re looking at worse than last season which didn’t seem possible. 

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

It's not in the Sportscene highlights but live I thought the one on Max was a penalty. He tried to not go down though. Live anyway it looked like he was tripped. 

[Jamie_B]

2 minutes ago, Widge said:

The one I didn’t get was the offside given for Carey’s chance. He was inside by a mile and it was Drey Wright who was offside, who stood with his hands up and didn’t affect play. Yet it got pulled back for offside, both the linesmen and the referee were abysmal yesterday and if that’s a sign of the standards to come then we’re looking at worse than last season which didn’t seem possible. 

That's at the other end from me but again Carey looked miles on - and if he wasn't he needs shot because he was in miles of space and looking right along the line.

[Widge]

Just now, Jamie_Beatson said:

That's at the other end from me but again Carey looked miles on - and if he wasn't he needs shot because he was in miles of space and looking right along the line.

Ohh he was on by about 3 yards he was well behind the line of the defenders when the ball broke his way. No issues with what he did, I just don’t understand why it was offside! 

[DC92]

2 minutes ago, Widge said:

The one I didn’t get was the offside given for Carey’s chance. He was inside by a mile and it was Drey Wright who was offside, who stood with his hands up and didn’t affect play. Yet it got pulled back for offside, both the linesmen and the referee were abysmal yesterday and if that’s a sign of the standards to come then we’re looking at worse than last season which didn’t seem possible. 

Watched on a stream. If it's the one where he had an effort saved by Clark then the replays showed Carey was offside.

[Widge]

Just now, DC92 said:

Watched on a stream. If it's the one where he had an effort saved by Clark then the replays showed Carey was offside.

Really? Thats mad and shows we watch different things live. As I said he looked well behind play, but fair enough if he was I stand corrected. 

[RandomGuy.]

3 minutes ago, DC92 said:

Watched on a stream. If it's the one where he had an effort saved by Clark then the replays showed Carey was offside.

He wasnt? Ill double check later tonight if nobody has by then, but from memory, as said it wasnt him that was offside when the ball came to him. May wasnt even offside as i thought it was maybe him going for the rebound that brought the flag

[DC92]

Just now, RandomGuy. said:

He wasnt? Ill double check later tonight if nobody has by then, but from memory, as said it wasnt him that was offside when the ball came to him. May wasnt even offside as i thought it was maybe him going for the rebound that brought the flag

I only saw the replay once so I don't remember it clearly, but my recollection was that he was off and the commentators agreed (having thought he was onside initially).

[RandomGuy.]

4 minutes ago, DC92 said:

I only saw the replay once so I don't remember it clearly, but my recollection was that he was off and the commentators agreed (having thought he was onside initially).

Thats just as close as i can get to McGowan headering it.

Wright is out the picture miles offside but doesnt go near the play at all.