St Johnstone v Heart of Midlothian

[Hendricks]

5 minutes ago, Insert Amusing Pseudonym said:

I think dreadful is harsh.  Pedestrian but we had a few reasonable chances and didn't look psrticularly troubled.

As said, the subs transformed it.  Even with Mitov looking inspired you could tell the goal was coming and that strength off the bench, that we were nowhere near last season, is massive.  

With Gordon, Halkett, McKay, Cochrane and Vargas no even involved, the squad looks much stronger already

 

 

Maybe bit harsh, was more the overall spectacle of the game and the lack of quality on show. 

 

Very encouraging last half hour though and exciting that we have so many attacking options. 

[Nelly78]

Surprised at folk saying we were ok, although I suppose expectations have plummeted over the past 2 seasons. We were better at the back than against Stirling and Stenny, but still poor with the ball, I thought. We are also so passive without the ball.

The middle of the park is a gaping weakness in my view. Zero creativity and no one getting up in support of, or beyond, the striker. McGowan does a good job of protecting the defence, but offers no creativity; Phillips offers energy, some daft tackles, poor positioning, but no creativity; Ballantyne offers pretty much nothing at this level. I don't think we can play a 2 in the middle with the options we have, meaning we're left playing 1 up front, when neither of our fit strikers can play that role. 

Even if it's loans, we desperately need more mobility and creativity in the middle of the park, plus a winger or 2 to cover for Wright and Carey. Either that or go to a 3-5-2....... 

[the jambo-rocker]

St Johnstone played shite, we played slightly above shite. Don't think there was much difference today between that.

 

Edit: It's still nice to win away from home though.

Edited August 5, 2023 by the jambo-rocker

[Tony Wonder]

Thought we were brutal for the first 15, but St Johnstone started well. We took a bit control and had some decent chances as the half went on but without looking any good.

Much better second half and as said the subs changed it for us. Depth looks excellent. 

So good to see Boyce and Beni back, Boyce in particular looked sharp.

Really like the look of Tagawa, him and Lowry really helped turn the tide. Atkinson also done well, the inverted full back role suits him well as he's confident coming in side and driving on.

Only seen it at the game but I thought Phillips looked a bit lucky with the yellow he got, looked like he caught him late. Gordon toiled a bit for Saints but Mitov looks a very good goalie.

[Sh*teAndMuck]

I thought that was a massive improvement, not that it would take much after Stirling Albion. Also thought the new guys all looked decent. 
 

Terrible first goal to lose though if it was onside. 
 

Was VAR working? I was convinced both goals were away to be chalked off for offside but no such luck for us. Looked off from where I was sitting although admittedly I wasn’t sitting at a good angle! 

Edited August 5, 2023 by Sh*teAndMuck

[Aylo vanal]

I thought Hearts were pedestrian first half, the middle three never moved/passed or created anything. I thought the boy should've seen red for his challenge on Kent.

I think st Johnstone were right up for it after recent results, I thought the ref was pretty lenient tbh. I thought they were overly physical first half but maybe that's how they'll have to play with the players they have.

 

Second half lowry changed the game for me. Much more creativity. Lots of work for whoever our manager is to do still. 

[PSJ.84]

51 minutes ago, Sh*teAndMuck said:

I thought that was a massive improvement, not that it would take much after Stirling Albion. Also thought the new guys all looked decent. 
 

Terrible first goal to lose though if it was onside. 
 

Was VAR working? I was convinced both goals were away to be chalked off for offside but no such luck for us. Looked off from where I was sitting although admittedly I wasn’t sitting at a good angle! 

First looked off to me -  I’m in line with it - but I don’t have the beauty of the replays. Regardless, East Stand linesman was hopeless 

[Tony Wonder]

16 minutes ago, PSJ.84 said:

First looked off to me -  I’m in line with it - but I don’t have the beauty of the replays. Regardless, East Stand linesman was hopeless 

There was a decent stop before restarting play and they definitely checked it so assume it was on.

[Stylish Kid]

27 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said:

There was a decent stop before restarting play and they definitely checked it so assume it was on.

Radio suggested all sorts like handball as well as offside was being checked ()

[DC92]

1 hour ago, the jambo-rocker said:

St Johnstone played shite, we played slightly above shite. Don't think there was much difference today between that.

 

Edit: It's still nice to win away from home though.

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.

[woolf]

Last 20-30 minutes I thought we completely controlled the game.Clearly a work in progress but I think we’ve got the makings of a really good Hearts team.Boyce,Beningami,Takgawa,Vargas starting in that team makes it pretty impressive 

Edited August 5, 2023 by woolf

[Jamie_B]

21 minutes ago, Stylish Kid said:

Radio suggested all sorts like handball as well as offside was being checked ()

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.

[Stylish Kid]

20 minutes ago, Jamie_Beatson said:

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.

Both Hearts and Dundee United could have avoided recent relegations for want of a competent goalie!

[JamieThomas]

Switched it off at half time it was that bad. Put it back on as soon as we scored and I have zero regrets. 

[Fifespud]

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

[PSJ.84]

1 hour ago, Tony Wonder said:

There was a decent stop before restarting play and they definitely checked it so assume it was on.

Aye, like I say I’d trust them having X amount of replays over me seeing it in person with blue tinted glasses. Did look like it hit a hand too, although probably one of those that shouldn’t be handball. Not trying to sound like I’m blaming it on that though, result was fair. 

[RandomGuy.]

20 minutes ago, JamieThomas said:

Switched it off at half time it was that bad. Put it back on as soon as we scored and I have zero regrets. 

TBF you literally missed nothing.

[Aylo vanal]

48 minutes ago, Jamie_Beatson said:

 

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.

.

I said the same at the time, the lino flagged so fast when they normally pointlessly let the striker chase balls to flag once ether get there etc.

And I thought your keeper looked excellent. 

[VincentGuerin]

That'll do fine.

I get that it was a bit pedestrian, but what did people expect? We've had no competitive games and have a team full of players who are new or being nursed back to fitness. It's hardly surprising that we'd not quite be razor-sharp yet. But that's a good three points and a squad that has the look that it'll be really good once we're up to speed.

Plenty cause for optimism. There's goals in that team, and a good balance to the midfield now. Halkett back next, please.

Edited August 5, 2023 by VincentGuerin

[Tony Wonder]

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.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Tony Wonder