Is this the best squad we’ve ever assembled?

[gjcc]

1 hour ago, Mauricio Pinilla said:

I feel like we're going to have a huge bump back down to earth at some point this season. 

 

When we win the league in March and the remaining games become meaningless friendlies. 

[thegreatsd]

It’s an interesting debate. THhink the 05/06 squad slightly edges it. However it’s early days with this new squad and hey have been incredible so far. Also there are some interesting match ups between the squad then and our current one...

Naismith v Hartley 

Bednar v Uche

Neilson v Smith

Mitchell v Miko 

Pressley v Berra

Aguiar v Lee

Webster v Souttar 

Cesanuskis v Morrison

Fyssas v Garuccio 

Jankauskis v Maclean

Johnson v Djoum

Simmons v Cochrane 

Elliot v Mcdonald 

 

there’s quite a few others but done this off the top of my head and I’m getting old! I know some of those are quite one sided or being a bit loose with positions but you get the idea. Some good debates to be had. I know I didn’t compare Rudi as he is in a league of his own..... hopefully  Vanecek though!

 

 

 

 

 

[Debut 4]

2 hours ago, Gashauskis9 said:

How?  Did I mention us winning the treble?  Still waiting for someone to point out a stronger squad.

We can point to depth but it’s always about quality and consistency of selection. 

 

Squads are there for injury or suspension and I think it’s always important for the manager to identify and build his team around his strongest 11. 

 

Im sure CL always had in mind who his spine or core would be. 

 

At the moment I don’t think many fans would swap Souttar, Naismith, Lee, Mitchell, Haring or Ikpeazu just for the sake of rotation.

 

In relation to the standard to the league we have a quality bunch of players but not of the general standard of squad we’ve had in the past, imo. 

 

 

[Bazzas right boot]

39 minutes ago, tartofmidlothian said:

 

The only one which comes close is Cathro's team...

 

Tbh, I think if Cathro taken on Barcelona, they'd crash. 

Johnson and tzilos (sp) prime examples of ruining a player and making them look dug shite. 

[Bazzas right boot]

1 hour ago, Mauricio Pinilla said:

I feel like we're going to have a huge bump back down to earth at some point this season. 

 

 

Nah, whatever happens it will be far better than the past two seasons. 

 

It will also set us up nicely for next season and beyond. 

 

We are in for a good season, how good I don't know. League winners - dream stuff, 2nd- first time in 12 years if that happens, would also be a good season. European football--should be standard for us and an improvement on the last two years. 

 

Cup, we'll wait and see, but already the lc is far better than last season. 

 

Don't think they'll be a big bump, we're allowed to dream a bit and get excited. Most know 3rd and higher in the league would be a good season. 

[Midloth_Iain]

1957-58 squad was quite good ?

[NaturalOrder74]

For these guys to be compared to the greats they will be judged on margin of victory over hibs. 

I fully expect them to 

[NB GIN]

Actually stunned howCL has turned this around from last season

Even though we have some outstanding youngsters coming through the squad is looking very strong

The issues of lack of pace goal scoring threat have been addressed now top of the league for shots attempting and goals scored

 

We have real quality in Mitchell Naismith soapy and the new lad Clare looks special 

 

Very hard to guess first 11 these days 

 

Going to be a good season for sure 

[Sarah O]

Class, first time anyone has pointed this out. 

[Van Wilder]

As much as i'm on board the happy train i've been a Hearts fan long enough to keep my feet on the ground.

 

[JamboJen]

4 minutes ago, Sarah O said:

Class, first time anyone has pointed this out. 

[goldie83]

10 minutes ago, Sarah O said:

Class, first time anyone has pointed this out. 

[Cruyff Turn]

In terms of numbers and strength & quality of the bench, youth players coming through etc...I’d say yes.

 

Best team? Remains to be seen. 

 

For me the 97/98 team was the best side I’ve ever seen, closely followed by 05/06 team.

 

If they equal or better what those sides did them yeah, if we won the league they’d be the best side we’ve had since the 50’s. 

 

[Cut The Crap]

05/06 squad was better. Will likely remain way ahead of anything we've seen in the modern era or will ever see again.

 

97/98 squad was better. Can't really think of anyone in that squad who would be displaced by his counterpart today.

 

85/86 is a decent comparison. That first XI was stronger (Souttar has a chance but apart from him, I don't see youngster of the calibre of Levein, Mackay, Robertson, or Colquhoun in our ranks today). We did lack depth, though, which cost us the league and quite possibly a double as well.

[Guest Paul Allen]

In 05/06 we beat Killie 4-2 away, Hibs at home 4-0, Dundee United away 4-0, also beat Aberdeen and Rangers to make it 8 wins out of 8. We had Skacel in his prime. This year we've started well, but the fixtures have been kind to us. We've yet to play Hibs, Aberdeen or Rangers, and we got Celtic at home between their AEK double-header. If we're still top after we've played everyone once then maybe the OP will have a valid point.

[Unknown user]

6 minutes ago, Paul Allen said:

In 05/06 we beat Killie 4-2 away, Hibs at home 4-0, Dundee United away 4-0, also beat Aberdeen and Rangers to make it 8 wins out of 8. We had Skacel in his prime. This year we've started well, but the fixtures have been kind to us. We've yet to play Hibs, Aberdeen or Rangers, and we got Celtic at home between their AEK double-header. If we're still top after we've played everyone once then maybe the OP will have a valid point.

I think his question's fair, we had a great team in 05/06 but if we'd had more quality in depth maybe we'd have got the league over the line.

This team isn't as good as 05/06 for me, but there's a chance that the squad is indeed better. It's padded out by youngsters, but not as much as in recent years and they're pretty bloody decent youngsters anyway. 

 

I have to disagree with @cb1874 above who reckons we're stronger on the right now than back then. Clare hasn't played a single game yet while Neilson was a quality if unspectacular full back but definitely better than Smith IMO. Miko and Chesney were both full internationals compared to the potential we've got in Godinho and Morrison (both of whom I like a lot so far, but they're still unproven). In six months that might be a statement I can get behind but too many are unproven for now. 

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

It could easily be. But it needs to prove that. Huge potential though 

[Spellczech]

Depth of squad and strength of first XI are two different things. On a limited budget you have to either go for one or the other. We've tried the strong first XI previously and come up short. Now we appear to be trying the strong squad where competition for places boosts performance levels, and we are (hopefully) less exposed to injury/suspension of key players...

 

I still worry that losing Naismith could make us vunerable. Uche needs to sharpen his shooting a bit if that happens or whoever steps in (probably Wighton) would have to hit the ground running. 

 

One thing that excites me about this season is the flexibility it offers. Different formations can be adopted to overcome the defensive or offensive setup of opposing teams. I just hope the players are good enough to make it happen...I think the coaches' decisions are going to be far more important this season than Wee Doddie or JJ ever werre.

[Peebo]

4 hours ago, Gashauskis9 said:

I’m listening ?

Absolutely no competition between the quality of the current starters now vs 97/98 or 05/06, and the latter two were so far ahead that the relative imbalance between first choice XIs and subs etc. does not offset that. 

 

Life is great for us Jambos at the moment, but let’s not forget the standard of Scottish football is ****ing terrible. 

[Rooster20]

The best Hearts team are ones the win trophies or have specular seasons, in that respect I don't think we can judge the strength of the squad for at least another 6 months. Early days are very promising tho

[Morgan]

5 hours ago, Kiwidoug said:

Hibs last good player just turned 72.  Jimmy O'Rourke and he was really good.  Just thought I'd mention it as he was part of the last good squad they had, around 50 years ago.

 

Never understand why I suffer abuse on bankdefaulters when I'm always talking them up like this.

 

Imo this is the strongest squad we've ever had although I know little about the reserve goalie scenario.

Aye, cos you’ve endeared yourself to them even further by calling them ‘bankdefaulters’ Doug.

 

 

[Neon]

4 hours ago, i8hibsh said:

I will tell you in 9 months

Expecting?

[Morgan]

Probably best put into perspective around April or May next year.

 

Looking great at the mo though.

[Angus Ogg]

For me I think the best squad is the 97-98 one

 

Rangers and Celtic were far better than they are today

 

JJ built his squad around youth and signed players like Dave Weir

Colin Cameron Steve Fulton and Neil McCann for pennies plus the odd decent foreigner

 

that squad was seen as a long term project compared to 05-06 where most players had been bought and were picking up massive wages

 

Here is a link to the squads to help yo remember our last two brilliant teams 

 

https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/heart-of-midlothian/1998/2/

 

https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/heart-of-midlothian/2006/2/

[OmiyaHearts]

Can't really judge until the season is finished, IMO. It's a great team to watch and I'm happy with that.

[maroonnicky63]

5 games into the season , bit early to be asking that I would have thought but time will tell.

[Jack Torrance]

6 hours ago, Gashauskis9 said:

Was thinking about this last night, when looking at another thread on our best 11.  

 

Whilst I reckon you could argue that the strongest 11 in 85/86, 97/98 and 05/06 was probably on par if not better, I can’t remember us having this much depth and quality as a squad.  Our subs bench is going to be ridiculous, especially when players come back from injury and Vanacek arrives.

 

85/86 - no depth.  We were pretty much reliant on fielding the same 11 and same approach each week.

 

97/98 - no offence, but Grant Murray and Jose Quitongo weren’t in the same league as Weir and Adam.  That said, I see huge similarities in the starting 11 to our current starting 11 in terms of passion, team spirit and determination.

 

05/06 - no question, the most talented team I’ve ever watched wear the maroon.  However, when Janny and Bednar got injured, we trundled and lost momentum.  In addition, the subs bench for half the season still had Simmons and McCallister. Yes we signed 11 players in January, but most of them were utter keek and didn’t even make the bench half the time.  I dread to think what would have happened that year if Pressley, Hartley and Skacel had missed a number of games.

 

Way before my time, but I don’t think any squad has yet shown they’re better than the 57-58 record breakers. Based on numbers alone they top them all. Maybe some of our more senior posters could comment on the squad in general?....

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957–58_Scottish_Division_One

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

3 hours ago, thegreatsd said:

It’s an interesting debate. THhink the 05/06 squad slightly edges it. However it’s early days with this new squad and hey have been incredible so far. Also there are some interesting match ups between the squad then and our current one...

Naismith v Hartley 

Bednar v Uche

Neilson v Smith

Mitchell v Miko 

Pressley v Berra

Aguiar v Lee

Webster v Souttar 

Cesanuskis v Morrison

Fyssas v Garuccio 

Jankauskis v Maclean

Johnson v Djoum

Simmons v Cochrane 

Elliot v Mcdonald 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On your list I would say

Dead heat

Bednar but by a tiny margin

Neilson

Mitchell 

Berra

Aguiar 

Souttar

Chesney 

Fyssas 

Janny on his day

Djoum

Cochrane

Elliot but only bacause Mcdonald hasn't kicked on yet. 

[Armageddon]

OMG.  This is in my 'BANK'

 

Paul Hartley is my number 1 forever Hearts player.

 

Edited September 19, 2018 by Armageddon

[the jambo poet]

I think a lot of people are comparing squads and determining who was better with regards to who we played, scores, etc when talking about the different eras. However to get a clearer picture of the whole picture you have to perhaps compare our rivals teams/squads also from the same periods/years...

 

For  instance...the Celtic team of 2006 was far far superior to their current team. The one which beat us 3-2 (unfairly) was this....

 

Artur Boruc

Ross Wallace

Neil Lennon

Bobo Balde

Stephen McManus

Paul Telfer

Stylan Petrov

Alan Thompson

Shaun Maloney

Shunsuje Nakamura

John Hartson

 

subs: Mo Camara, Adam Virgo, Stephen Pearson, Paul Lawson, Aiden McGeady, Wei Du, David Marshall

 

our team was:

 

Craig Gordon

Robbie Neilson

Andy Webster

Steven Pressley

Takis Fyssas

Rudi Skacel

Deivadas Cesnauskis

Paul Hartley

Julien Brellier

Edgaras Jankauskas

Calum Elliot

 

subs: Stephen Simmons, Jamie McAllister, Steve Banks, Neil MacFarlane, Michael Pospisil, Lee Wallace, Christophe  Berra

 

If you look at our team/match day squad that's as good as it gets....our subs bench is very strong although Wallace and Berra and I guess Simmons too were youngsters at the time. The majority of that Celtic team played in the English Premier League at some point so were pretty good.

 

Celtic team we beat 1-0 this season :

 

Craig Gordon

K Tierney

M Lustig

J Hendry

J Simunovic

S Sinclair

J Hayes

K Eboue

S Brown

C McGregor

L Griffiths

 

subs:  James Forrest, Michael  Johnston, Kristoffer Ajer, Odsonne Edouard, Olivier Nitcham, Tom Rogic, Scott Bain

 

 

Our current team aren't nearly as good as the 2006 team, but the same can be said of Celtic's current team.

 

What I guess I am saying is,  it's all relative to the teams you are playing against. Yes our new team/squad is looking really strong but not as strong as the best team/squad we have had, which in my opinion, was 2006. However the current champions are in the same boat.

 

[Eldar Hadzimehmedovic]

It doesn't feel like it should be but I'm struggling to answer the OP's question tbh. One thing though, some of the back ups in this squad are being inflated I think because of the great start. Guys like Mulraney, Garuccio, McDonald, Bozanic are pretty average and definitely not much better than back ups we've had most seasons. 

[Debut 4]

1 hour ago, the jambo poet said:

I think a lot of people are comparing squads and determining who was better with regards to who we played, scores, etc when talking about the different eras. However to get a clearer picture of the whole picture you have to perhaps compare our rivals teams/squads also from the same periods/years...

 

For  instance...the Celtic team of 2006 was far far superior to their current team. The one which beat us 3-2 (unfairly) was this....

 

Artur Boruc

Ross Wallace

Neil Lennon

Bobo Balde

Stephen McManus

Paul Telfer

Stylan Petrov

Alan Thompson

Shaun Maloney

Shunsuje Nakamura

John Hartson

 

subs: Mo Camara, Adam Virgo, Stephen Pearson, Paul Lawson, Aiden McGeady, Wei Du, David Marshall

 

our team was:

 

Craig Gordon

Robbie Neilson

Andy Webster

Steven Pressley

Takis Fyssas

Rudi Skacel

Deivadas Cesnauskis

Paul Hartley

Julien Brellier

Edgaras Jankauskas

Calum Elliot

 

subs: Stephen Simmons, Jamie McAllister, Steve Banks, Neil MacFarlane, Michael Pospisil, Lee Wallace, Christophe  Berra

 

If you look at our team/match day squad that's as good as it gets....our subs bench is very strong although Wallace and Berra and I guess Simmons too were youngsters at the time. The majority of that Celtic team played in the English Premier League at some point so were pretty good.

 

Celtic team we beat 1-0 this season :

 

Craig Gordon

K Tierney

M Lustig

J Hendry

J Simunovic

S Sinclair

J Hayes

K Eboue

S Brown

C McGregor

L Griffiths

 

subs:  James Forrest, Michael  Johnston, Kristoffer Ajer, Odsonne Edouard, Olivier Nitcham, Tom Rogic, Scott Bain

 

 

Our current team aren't nearly as good as the 2006 team, but the same can be said of Celtic's current team.

 

What I guess I am saying is,  it's all relative to the teams you are playing against. Yes our new team/squad is looking really strong but not as strong as the best team/squad we have had, which in my opinion, was 2006. However the current champions are in the same boat.

 

Agree with last paragraph. All

that matters is forging a team better than who you are competing against.

 

But I’m sorry, the current side is never as good as 2005-06. That team played some fantastic attacking football in a way we rarely see at Tynie. 

 

Players like Rudi who could score individual goals out of nothing of a standard that’s been hard to match since.  

 

Despite losing, that 2-3 loss to Celtic actually showed the power of Hearts taking into consideration the players playing for Celtic. We absolutely roasted them in the first half with Hearts having chances to go 3 up.  

 

We were genuinely gobsmacking in some matches, the intensity of play and cohesion we showed was scary. 

[graygo]

8 hours ago, McCrae said:

Best team 05/06.... would have won the league if Vlad had not been a nutter.

 

If Vlad hadn't been a nutter we would never have had that team in 05/06,

[Cade]

It's got real depth to it, with multiple players of similar levels of ability in almost every position.

 

Whether the quality is the best ever is debatable.

[cruzabic]

No

[wheatfield to sheffield]

8 hours ago, Kiwidoug said:

Hibs last good player just turned 72.  Jimmy O'Rourke and he was really good.  Just thought I'd mention it as he was part of the last good squad they had, around 50 years ago.

 

Never understand why I suffer abuse on bankdefaulters when I'm always talking them up like this.

 

Imo this is the strongest squad we've ever had although I know little about the reserve goalie scenario.

Hey Doug, you are forgetting Mickey Weir. He was so good we used to sing songs about him!

[loveofthegame]

Without Berra the defence still gives me slight concerns. We’ve been largely untested so far and even in games we’ve won comfortably we’ve shipped some big chances especially down our right flank (ICT before we scored & St Mirren in particular spring to mind). 

 

Smith can be suspect defensively, and Dunne/Dikamona are largely unproven. Sooner Berra is back the better- a suspension or injury to Souttar could be an absolute disaster.

 

same goes for Uche as we’d lose our only target man (until big vanecek comes in).

 

I’ll keep riding the happy train for now and hope it lasts all season but I think the starting line up would lose to 98 and 06 teams comfortably- we don’t have players of the calibre now that we did back then (Naismith, Flogel, McCann, Cameron, Adam, fyssas, Gordon, pressley, Hartley, rudi, janny, bednar). The squad depth looks gd now but most of our back ups would significantly weaken the first team. 

 

I think the point above about the OF being weaker than 98/06 is a valid one however, so to an extent it is all relative.

Edited September 19, 2018 by loveofthegame

[Brighton Jambo]

9 hours ago, Gashauskis9 said:

I think you’ve missed my point.  It isn’t about the starting 11 here it’s about depth and quality of the whole squad and the options available.  I agree, not many would displace the 2006 team (the best I’ve seen), but that side was pretty vulnerable to injuries, suspensions and Vlad-flu.

No my point is that any squad that had Pospisil, Brellier, Berra, Webster, Mikolinius, McCann, Goncalves on the bench is stronger than who we have on the bench today. 

[Jamhammer]

9 hours ago, Nucky Thompson said:

I'm all for being on the happy train, but some folk are getting way ahead of themselves.

 

This for me. I'm very excited by the squad and the way we are playing but it's the middle of September gadgeys.

[Bull's-eye]

Legends already

 

 

nah.

[wheatfield to sheffield]

05-06 had fyssas - a European champion at the time - and jankauskas- a champions League finalist. That was a better team. But I love the no dickheads policy of today. 2018-19 are better people

[redjambo]

My apologies for not reading any of the other answers, but we will only find out if this is the best squad we've assembled by the end of the season.

[Alva-Jambo]

If we are still top or 2nd at Xmas  - yes!   

 

I'll  more realistically suggest we could be third come May, but, will look to our skipper to return, for Djoum to

get back to his best, for Naisy to continue to score nearly a goal a week,m and no more serious injuries. 

I have that funny feeling that Clare will be very good, but the big lad will fade. 

 

[cheetah]

Answer is NO.

 

But imagine a combo of this squad and the 05/06 squad? Champions league easy

[graygo]

8 hours ago, Mauricio Pinilla said:

I feel like we're going to have a huge bump back down to earth at some point this season. 

 

You're right, we should just accept that and be miserable about our chances now.

 

Spoiler

That was sarcasm in case anyone missed it.

 

[Unknown user]

20 minutes ago, wheatfield to sheffield said:

05-06 had fyssas - a European champion at the time - and jankauskas- a champions League finalist. That was a better team. But I love the no dickheads policy of today. 2018-19 are better people

I believe the word you're after is 'winner'

[Maple Leaf]

10 hours ago, Gashauskis9 said:

Was thinking about this last night, when looking at another thread on our best 11.  

 

Whilst I reckon you could argue that the strongest 11 in 85/86, 97/98 and 05/06 was probably on par if not better, I can’t remember us having this much depth and quality as a squad.  Our subs bench is going to be ridiculous, especially when players come back from injury and Vanacek arrives.

 

85/86 - no depth.  We were pretty much reliant on fielding the same 11 and same approach each week.

 

97/98 - no offence, but Grant Murray and Jose Quitongo weren’t in the same league as Weir and Adam.  That said, I see huge similarities in the starting 11 to our current starting 11 in terms of passion, team spirit and determination.

 

05/06 - no question, the most talented team I’ve ever watched wear the maroon.  However, when Janny and Bednar got injured, we trundled and lost momentum.  In addition, the subs bench for half the season still had Simmons and McCallister. Yes we signed 11 players in January, but most of them were utter keek and didn’t even make the bench half the time.  I dread to think what would have happened that year if Pressley, Hartley and Skacel had missed a number of games.

 

When you use the term "ever", you're covering a lot of ground.  That includes the teams of the 1950's when we won the league a couple of times, the Scottish Cup, and a couple of League Cups.

 

Therefore, no, I don't think that this is the best-ever squad.  We could be seeing the most exciting year since 05/06, maybe 85/86, and I'll settle for that.

[The Internet]

49 minutes ago, graygo said:

 

You're right, we should just accept that and be miserable about our chances now.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

That was sarcasm in case anyone missed it.

 

 

Well I'm not saying that and I'm not saying we can't have a great season, I just dread the reaction when we lose away at some mid table team

[Irufushi]

05/06 team would smash this current team into smithereens, imo. 

[graygo]

51 minutes ago, Mauricio Pinilla said:

 

Well I'm not saying that and I'm not saying we can't have a great season, I just dread the reaction when we lose away at some mid table team

 

Yep it'll be mad on here but it will be like that whether we're getting carried away or not so I'm aboard the happy train.