Heart of Midlothian v Motherwell -Sunday 3 September

[Gorgie greatness]

Not a lot of positive to consider but hopefully the 3 amigos will have noticed when you play sibbick in his correct position that we had better control of the game. TF we have a break before cracking on with championship bound sheepers 

 

 

[mwellhighland]

Nothing beats a win at Tynecastle 

At least the Hearts fans will get to tell their grandchildren they saw Lennon Miller play in the flesh

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

45 minutes ago, Gorgie greatness said:

Not a lot of positive to consider but hopefully the 3 amigos will have noticed when you play sibbick in his correct position that we had better control of the game. TF we have a break before cracking on with championship bound sheepers 

 

 

I fucking hate 3 at the back, however when you've got no central midfield to speak of it gives you a foothold in the game at least.

The 4-5-1/ 4-3-3 we've been playing doesn't work without McKay and Ginnelly stretching the game.  You could maybe get away with Oda, if he was fully fit, Vargas and Tagawa, if he wasn't playing like an idiot, beside Shankland but Lowry wide left and Boyce and Shankland is hopeless

[Swello]

Secretly expected that.

Firstly - hearts were genuinely shite - slow, one paced and not what you usually get at tynecastle. This wasn't us beating a good hearts team but it was still *really* enjoyable. 

I thought we started at a really high tempo and didn't let hearts get into it and controlled the first half to the point I was a bit disappointed that it was only 1-0. 

2nd half was more chaotic and we put in a proper fucking shift to get the shut out.  Weird thing when you're shiting yourself watching 10 men and the home stands are rapidly emptying - but it wasn't going to be Hearts' day. 

It was a clichéd "no failures" performance but I'm singling out Mugabi and Bair as both did what they're not meant to be capable of. Also worth mentioning that this is our best midfield in a few years. Slattery is a different player. Spencer looks to be an absolute find of the type that we seem to manage more than most. 

Final word to the Hearts ultras. Never seen them before but standing with your arms folded for 90 minutes in coordinated leisurewear is certainly a refreshing change from all the singing, clapping and pyro that everyone else does. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, rowsdower said:

 

Boyce should have done a short clothesline before for that DDT, you never go straight for the finisher, you have to protect it.

 

Edited September 3, 2023 by Guest

[joewarkfanclub]

4 hours ago, Antiochas III said:

Brodie Spencer is the most one footed player I have ever seen.   

 

Mugabi was a rock at the heart of our defence, and I'm sure Casey would knock down his whole family to win the ball.  

You did see Davy Cooper, right?

[ropy]

I thought the shadow on the Hearts pitch was very reminiscent of a World Cup many years ago.

[joewarkfanclub]

28 minutes ago, ropy said:

I thought the shadow on the Hearts pitch was very reminiscent of a World Cup many years ago.

Mexico 86?

[Archie McSquackle]

6 hours ago, rowsdower said:

I thought Lowry played like he was a billy big baws on loan from rangers.

Brodie Spencer turning back when one on one instead of shooting must have been some sort of protest. Absolute cock block right there.

Boyce should have done a short clothesline before for that DDT, you never go straight for the finisher, you have to protect it.

It's weird not seeing that old stand.

Spencer got into a position a couple of times last week where he could have ran into the box and he lost all composure. Hopefully some coaching and playing him on the right can improve that as he looks as though he could be a real threat. 

[Doonhame Buddie]

I’ve just watched the “highlights” and haven’t read every post on this thread so apologies if this has already been said:  Hearts look absolutely shite and Motherwell were lucky to come up against such shite opponents. Reminded me of two one-legged men in an arse kicking contest. Awful stuff. 

[Stevie Kirk]

I agree . Your post is indeed “awful stuff” and yet it captures that childlike jealousy which is the cornerstone of your support.

[Al B]

21 minutes ago, Doonhame Buddie said:

I’ve just watched the “highlights” and haven’t read every post on this thread so apologies if this has already been said:  Hearts look absolutely shite and Motherwell were lucky to come up against such shite opponents. Reminded me of two one-legged men in an arse kicking contest. Awful stuff. 

It hasn't already been said, mainly because that's not how it was.

[lennyzer0]

15 hours ago, Empty It said:

Fair play Well, we are fucking shite.

Like watching someone playing Championship Manager - we're losing! Chuck on more strikers!

[lennyzer0]

15 hours ago, dezz said:

Reckon that’ll be us as title favourites now considering the nick of the two arse cheeks. Imagine what we’ll be like when we get all our strikers fit.

That was a cracking performance though. Had a bit of everything, some great football for the goal and really had to dig in at the end there but don’t really think Kelly had a save to make thanks to some excellent performances from Casey and Mugabi. Onward. 

I was very impressed by your defensive line.

Fair enough, we we were clueless and looked like we had no game plan for the entire first half, but when we had about 9 strikers on in the second half, your boys were stepping onto, or chucking themselves in front of, everything (though if Kawaga didn't have a head like a 50 pence piece, we'd have got the draw that we probably deserved over the 90 minutes).

[Desp]

29 minutes ago, lennyzer0 said:

I was very impressed by your defensive line.

Fair enough, we we were clueless and looked like we had no game plan for the entire first half, but when we had about 9 strikers on in the second half, your boys were stepping onto, or chucking themselves in front of, everything (though if Kawaga didn't have a head like a 50 pence piece, we'd have got the draw that we probably deserved over the 90 minutes).

Indeed.  Thought Dan Casey was absolutely incredible yesterday.  Even big Bevis played to his strengths, which is just heading the ball away and getting in the road of things.  A daft thing for an experienced head like McGinn to get involved in for the second yellow, however.  Boyce played him like a fiddle, McGinn should know better than that.

Despite my concerns over Theo Bair (mainly, he's no very good) I thought he put in a good shift up top on his own, keeping it simple and getting the ball off to Spittal & Slattery.  I know I've discussed these two before, but they're massive players for us. Particularly now when having no real quality up top.  Slattery has been tremendous so far this season and I'd say pushing him up alongside Spittal has seen him perform even better.  Would you class them as just two #10s or a couple of Trequartistas @Busta Nut? 

[Al B]

46 minutes ago, lennyzer0 said:

I was very impressed by your defensive line.

Fair enough, we we were clueless and looked like we had no game plan for the entire first half, but when we had about 9 strikers on in the second half, your boys were stepping onto, or chucking themselves in front of, everything (though if Kawaga didn't have a head like a 50 pence piece, we'd have got the draw that we probably deserved over the 90 minutes).

I was saying during the game yesterday that what we have in our favour at the moment, is defenders who absolutely love defending, and a bunch of players who seem to detest even the idea of losing. Chuck in a few players who are genuinely talented footballers into that mix, and that's a fantastic base to build on. Much has (rightly) been said about what a talent Lennon Miller is but in addition to his talent, watching a boy who's just turned 17 desparate to chuck his head/face/body/whatever he can in to make blocks was unreal.

I mean, I doubt any of us are under any illusions and fully aware we'll have a point in the season where we can't buy a win, but a good start to the season is absolutely crucial in this league whatever your goals are.

Also to add - I'm just gona say it....I really like big Theo! All going well he's obviously not in my starting 11, but he did what he was asked to do, very well yesterday and there were more than a few lovely little lay off's and examples of him moving passages of play on quickly and effectively.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Al B

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

57 minutes ago, lennyzer0 said:

Like watching someone playing Championship Manager - we're losing! Chuck on more strikers!

Think we finished that game with a 5 0 5.  Unsurprisingly we didn't make many chances in the last period of the game

Edited September 4, 2023 by Insert Amusing Pseudonym

[VincentGuerin]

6 minutes ago, Insert Amusing Pseudonym said:

Think we finished that game with a 5 0 5.  Unsurprisingly we didn't make many chances in the last period of the game

What really finished us off was their red card.

Not a prayer we were going to have the brains to score a goal against a side that was well organised and focused on just defending. Long-term it's maybe better we didn't get a spawny goal to paper over the cracks.

There's two sides to every game, and Motherwell did a good job yesterday and definitely deserved to win. But they'll not get such a clueless attack to play against every week.

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

Just now, VincentGuerin said:

What really finished us off was their red card.

Not a prayer we were going to have the brains to score a goal against a side that was well organised and focused on just defending. Long-term it's maybe better we didn't get a spawny goal to paper over the cracks.

There's two sides to every game, and Motherwell did a good job yesterday and definitely deserved to win. But they'll not get such a clueless attack to play against every week.

Aye, said that yesterday. Easily our best spell was the 25 minutes between Spittal's miss and the red, where we actually moved the ball a lot quicker and had some decent link-up.

Once they camped in we could have played for a month without scoring - those spells are where we could use someone like Lowry who might pick a pass out.  He should be a bench option atm

[Al B]

2 minutes ago, VincentGuerin said:

What really finished us off was their red card.

Not a prayer we were going to have the brains to score a goal against a side that was well organised and focused on just defending. Long-term it's maybe better we didn't get a spawny goal to paper over the cracks.

There's two sides to every game, and Motherwell did a good job yesterday and definitely deserved to win. But they'll not get such a clueless attack to play against every week.

I fully understand the frustrations of you guys as a support, but I feel like the Hearts fans in general are being a touch harsh on their attack. For some reason our players seem to be channeling some sort of "the ball is not getting past me" thing from some where, but if you'd been facing the usual - stand with your hands behind your back then turn your back on the shot - thing that most defenders seem to do these days, a few of your efforts yesterday are going straight in.