Serio is peeing against the scottish wind

[Zico]

It's political correctness gone mad!

[Walter Bishop]

Anybody that has a clue about football must surely agree.

Our current squad do not have the ability to play the way manager wants them to.

We have been emptied out of the cup tonight from a nothing team.

The excitement has dropped in Hearts since Sergio took over compared to the optimism we had before JJ was sacked.

 

PS should have brought players who could play his style of football in the summer or he should have adapted the current squad to play to the best of their abilities until he had the chance to do so.

 

PS needs to wake up fast as the honeymoon is well and truly over.

:Vlad-Stupid:

[Charlie-Brown]

4 wins in a month ? Have you resorted to making things up now ? I can understand Charlie B doing that crap but expected better Francis.

 

Last season ended and we finished 3rd, JJ had 2 games with his squad this season and we played Rangers off the park for large spells in 1 of them.

 

JJ has gone I fully except that and I actually like PS but can we stop making things up to make him look good or JJ look bad.

 

Do you think last season was a success Dazo? a complete success, a partial success or one purple patch of form over 11 games surrounded by some very dodgy form either side of that run? 1 win in 14 SPL games isn't an invented statistic. Neither is 3 wins, 2 draws & 1 defeat in 6 SPL games since PS arrived.

[The Treasurer]

JJ had built a team that could play to its strengths, no matter what anybody says PS has not got the team doing the same.

 

Those "strengths" were lumping it up to KK. Once he was unavailable there was never a plan B.

No coincidence that our good run last season pettered out when KK was no longer available.

 

 

[Dazo]

Do you think last season was a success Dazo? a complete success, a partial success or one purple patch of form over 11 games surrounded by some very dodgy form either side of that run? 1 win in 14 SPL games isn't an invented statistic. Neither is 3 wins, 2 draws & 1 defeat in 6 SPL games since PS arrived.

 

Other than a decent cup run last season is as good as it gets CB.

[andrew]

Sergio needs to be able to bring in his own players.

 

He won't be able to do that until next summer.

 

It would be unfair to judge him before then.

[Jam Tarts 1874]

I have heard murmerings that many of the senior players are very unhappy about Sergio's training sessions. Also that many are not happy as they believe they are too good to learn anything.

 

So I expect things to bump along just as they have for the past 10 years or so. The bottom line is that we have not been bringing enough well trained youngsters through and we don't have enough grafters. That has been the position since Jefferies cup winning side was broken up.

 

As far as the expectations of some fans are concerened, well I just have to assume that the over-rating of our players that is very much in evidence is perhaps down to the ages of those concerned and that they have never seen a good Hearts team.

 

We are seriously lacking quality, leadership on the pitch and attitude. I doubt if Sergio can change all that in any less than 3-4 seasons.

[Rick Grimes]

see thats the problem with kickback theres far to many people on here easily pleased imguessing you loved our brazil like 2-0 win on sat against a poor st midden team i didnt neither did alot off fans around me infact alot of them were saying sergio hasnt got a clue but wait a minute we canni say that coz the pc brigade will say sergio is god his tactics and team selection is awesome get real sergios formation is ok just the wrong players he selected owell if the pc brigade love him so much cant wait tosee us finish bottom 6

 

 

**** me sideways. that's a new low.

[Jam Tarts 1874]

JJ had built a team that could play to its strengths, no matter what anybody says PS has not got the team doing the same.

 

 

PS

You fail to answer my question.

 

 

Does Romanov know how to pick a manager? yes or no?

 

You seem to forget that outside the excellent run of games we had when Skacel and Kyle were in the team last season, we were pish. That includes the months that Jefferies had the previous season. Why should Sergio not have the same time as Jefferies had to bring in some players?

[Gods a Jambo]

I would like Paulo to get some time, however there appears to be a myth going about on here, that we somehow just want to play football along the deck. What we do is, knock the ball along the back line, try and make a wee pass into midfield, nothings on, so wee punt it long up the middle or long into the channels. Last night was frustrating due to the fact the players appeared to have no positional sense when it came to the final third. Every single free kick or corner went to an Ayr player. When Ayr had a corner they looked like scoring, partly due to Balogh the seagul, flapping about as if the ball was a grenade.

 

We never had anyone in the box awaiting the cross ball, they were either at the front post when it was played to the back, and visa versa. The wind is howling a gale and we just kept punting it high and long right into the middle of the goals, time and again it was cleared, yet we still persisted with this. A complete lack of penetration when coming forward and each time we had the ball out wide, I would see who was coming into the box and the players just didnt look hungry for it. I honestly wonder whey Grainger was raising his arm before each corner, clearly it was a signal of the type of ball he was intending to play in, problem was nobody appeared to know where it was going to go. Paulo must work on the final third more, as we look like we could have played all night and not scored again.

[Feeno]

The players we have cant play the way the manager wishes, they just DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY.

 

 

 

How long will it take for PS to realise this?

 

Not seen a good performance since the guy arrived! FFS!

 

 

I hope he pees in your face, one of them good ol drunk pisses too.

[The Treasurer]

I have heard murmerings that many of the senior players are very unhappy about Sergio's training sessions. Also that many are not happy as they believe they are too good to learn anything.

 

Funny. There have been may ITK reports of how much the players are enjoying the new training regime.

So I expect things to bump along just as they have for the past 10 years or so. The bottom line is that we have not been bringing enough well trained youngsters through and we don't have enough grafters. That has been the position since Jefferies cup winning side was broken up.

 

Berra, Wallace, Gordon, Temps. Jonnson, Black, Stevenson to name but a few

As far as the expectations of some fans are concerened, well I just have to assume that the over-rating of our players that is very much in evidence is perhaps down to the ages of those concerned and that they have never seen a good Hearts team.

 

I've seen good and bad Hearts teams, the current squad are not either end of the spectrum but certainly in the top half rather than the bottom

We are seriously lacking quality, leadership on the pitch and attitude. I doubt if Sergio can change all that in any less than 3-4 seasons.

 

Other than building a league winning side, which would be hard for anyone outside the OF we still have a squad capable of 3rd and with a couple of additions can get closer to 2nd than 4th.

Cup runs are something that are lacking and can't be simply addressed by bringing in different players as has been proved in recent years,

[Shaggy2]

I have heard murmerings that many of the senior players are very unhappy about Sergio's training sessions. Also that many are not happy as they believe they are too good to learn anything.

So I expect things to bump along just as they have for the past 10 years or so. The bottom line is that we have not been bringing enough well trained youngsters through and we don't have enough grafters. That has been the position since Jefferies cup winning side was broken up.

 

As far as the expectations of some fans are concerened, well I just have to assume that the over-rating of our players that is very much in evidence is perhaps down to the ages of those concerned and that they have never seen a good Hearts team.

 

We are seriously lacking quality, leadership on the pitch and attitude. I doubt if Sergio can change all that in any less than 3-4 seasons.

Presumably that's a dig at the players but it really all depends on what he's trying to teach them. I once heard a story that when Andy Roxburgh became Scotland's coach he tried to start a training session by trying to teach the players how to trap a ball. Guys who had played in England, Italy and a much better Scottish Premier...I believe it was Graeme Souness who told him to **** right off and I don't think he played again!!!

 

It probably isn't a case of being too good to learn anything rather than being coached like 12 year olds by a guy who is reading straight from a Football Coaching for Dummies book?

[I.J]

I hope he pees in your face, one of them good ol drunk pisses too.

 

PC gone mad.

 

[Stupid Sexy Flanders]

see thats the problem with kickback theres far to many people on here easily pleased imguessing you loved our brazil like 2-0 win on sat against a poor st midden team i didnt neither did alot off fans around me infact alot of them were saying sergio hasnt got a clue but wait a minute we canni say that coz the pc brigade will say sergio is god his tactics and team selection is awesome get real sergios formation is ok just the wrong players he selected owell if the pc brigade love him so much cant wait tosee us finish bottom 6

 

 

 

The danger of using words/phrases when you don't know what they mean is that you end up looking like an arse.

 

 

As has happened to young Mr Gerrard here.

[heartsfc_fan]

Already over the defeat from last night. Penalties are a lottery, and anything can happen.

 

Sergio has done ok since he came in IMO. Spurs defeat aside, we've picked up points in the league and are now clear in 4th. Win on Sunday and we'll forget about last night.

[DalryJambo]

Changing the manager is an easy option, but the reality is that its the players that need to change/improve. Both alternatives will take more than 2 months to implement. Under JJ we could have scrapped for another season and possibly sneaked third again, but that was very much the ceiling of our/his ambition.

 

I suppose you need to ask yourself the question, Would we rather play a traditional Scottish style of football and broadly follow the path taken for the last 40+ years or try something different, which might be difficult to achieve, and possibly achieve something spectacular.

 

I like the idea of changing the style of play at the club, but it needs to be seen mid/long term project. Hopefully in two years time when the current crop of under 19s have been working under the new style for a few years + the best of what we have now are conditioned to the new style we might be in a position to reap the rewards of this change of approach.

 

VR must show courage and stick with this decision and not buckle the way Rangers did when they appointed PLG.

 

The bits and pieces i hear from around the club make me think we have the correct manager to make this happen.

[Feeno]

Just to further, the scottish wind is shite, is dull, aged and out of touch with current winds, a bit stale like its been brewing in the colon too long. This has been complained about over and over. Here we have some new fresh wind, that is just finding its feet in the gale force stakes and then the muppets who moaned about JJ's skittery ol diarreaha wind are moaning that we didnt beat Ayr (with the players that a few of the moaners have been moaning about not gettin played) Ayr and wind, pish and shite, PC Brigade

 

 

Paulo doesnt need gale force yet, he prefers slight breezes as it messes up a fine side score. **** the haters

[peebles jambo]

no fire in their bellys last night, it's as if no one cares about us getting beat, as long as their wages are there

[magicTs]

This thread is a hoot. In my opinion we were shite last season and we are just as shite this. No doubt some will argue we finished 3rd, big fecking deal. Its by default as far as I'm concerned such is the complete dearth of competition. In much the same way Rantic will always finish 1st and 2nd anything less than 3rd is failure in the current SPL given the resources at Hearts. That we crawled over the line whilst being knocked out of the 2 cups pitifully by Falkirk and St Johnstone says it all. And here we are this season and its the same old story. Zero improvement, yet another manager who will be lucky to last the season nevermind build something tangible, masses of mediocre overpaid average journeymen footballers when we should have a streamlined squad augmented by the promising youngsters. Its really not that difficult but Hearts are run in such a haphazard bombscare manner that little ever improves. One of the best examples of this is the 5 year contract handed out to Calum Elliot, I mean really WTF.

 

 

[Feeno]

This thread is a hoot. In my opinion we were shite last season and we are just as shite this. No doubt some will argue we finished 3rd, big fecking deal. Its by default as far as I'm concerned such is the complete dearth of competition. In much the same way Rantic will always finish 1st and 2nd anything less than 3rd is failure in the current SPL given the resources at Hearts. That we crawled over the line whilst being knocked out of the 2 cups pitifully by Falkirk and St Johnstone says it all. And here we are this season and its the same old story. Zero improvement, yet another manager who will be lucky to last the season nevermind build something tangible, masses of mediocre overpaid average journeymen footballers when we should have a streamlined squad augmented by the promising youngsters. Its really not that difficult but Hearts are run in such a haphazard bombscare manner that little ever improves. One of the best examples of this is the 5 year contract handed out to Calum Elliot, I mean really WTF.

 

 

 

 

It really is 2008

 

 

.

[magicTs]

It really is 2008

 

 

.

 

Your usual pish response. Care to enlighten me or are you actually agreeing that we remain rank as we were in 2008 !!

[Clerry Jambo]

This thread is a hoot. In my opinion we were shite last season and we are just as shite this. No doubt some will argue we finished 3rd, big fecking deal. Its by default as far as I'm concerned such is the complete dearth of competition. In much the same way Rantic will always finish 1st and 2nd anything less than 3rd is failure in the current SPL given the resources at Hearts. That we crawled over the line whilst being knocked out of the 2 cups pitifully by Falkirk and St Johnstone says it all. And here we are this season and its the same old story. Zero improvement, yet another manager who will be lucky to last the season nevermind build something tangible, masses of mediocre overpaid average journeymen footballers when we should have a streamlined squad augmented by the promising youngsters. Its really not that difficult but Hearts are run in such a haphazard bombscare manner that little ever improves. One of the best examples of this is the 5 year contract handed out to Calum Elliot, I mean really WTF.

 

Oh MagicT where have you been, I have missed your posts, as usual a superb scribe

[Feeno]

Your usual pish response. Care to enlighten me or are you actually agreeing that we remain rank as we were in 2008 !!

 

 

Me agree with you? nae chance pal, just seein your wee greetin handle after a bad performance sends shivers doon the spine and takes me back in masochisitc kinda way.

 

If you are trying to say we're as rank as we were in 2008 then you are a bigger dafty than I give you credit for

[Charlie-Brown]

Lets boil it down to it's essence - without Kevin Kyle Jim Jefferies teams were struggling to win many/any games and Skacels goals last season hid a multitude of sins and won us points in games we otherwise would have struggled to take anything from - in just over a month in charge in a new country, with a new team entirely made up of the previous managers players and without the benefit of any pre-season games to try things out the new manager has, without Kevin Kyle, managed to win 3, draw 2 and lose 1 in his first 6 league games in charge. It's not perfect and he's not perfect but it is an undoubted improvement on the results and form that got Jim Jefferies the sack - is there still plenty room for improvement - yes of course.

[Feeno]

Oh MagicT where have you been, I have missed your posts, as usual a superb scribe

 

 

 

 

:bitgay:

[shaun.lawson]

This thread is a hoot. In my opinion we were shite last season and we are just as shite this. No doubt some will argue we finished 3rd, big fecking deal. Its by default as far as I'm concerned such is the complete dearth of competition. In much the same way Rantic will always finish 1st and 2nd anything less than 3rd is failure in the current SPL given the resources at Hearts. That we crawled over the line whilst being knocked out of the 2 cups pitifully by Falkirk and St Johnstone says it all. And here we are this season and its the same old story. Zero improvement, yet another manager who will be lucky to last the season nevermind build something tangible, masses of mediocre overpaid average journeymen footballers when we should have a streamlined squad augmented by the promising youngsters. Its really not that difficult but Hearts are run in such a haphazard bombscare manner that little ever improves. One of the best examples of this is the 5 year contract handed out to Calum Elliot, I mean really WTF.

 

If you're going to routinely dismiss 3rd place as some total non-achievement, you do realise this means you'll never be happy as a Hearts fan? Never, ever, ever?

[Feeno]

If you're going to routinely dismiss 3rd place as some total non-achievement, you do realise this means you'll never be happy as a Hearts fan? Never, ever, ever?

 

 

you do know thats Magic T your talking to, he never, ever, ever, ever, evereverevereverever is

[Creepy Lurker]

My only real issue with Sergio is the fact that he's made of cauliflower. How are players meant to respect a manager who they'd really rather be eating in a cheese sauce?

 

Paulio Sergiflower

[shaun.lawson]

My only real issue with Sergio is the fact that he's made of cauliflower. How are players meant to respect a manager who they'd really rather be eating in a cheese sauce?

 

Paulio Sergiflower

 

Some good posts here. I do like my cauliflower.

[Clerry Jambo]

:bitgay:

 

Aye wiz a bit, but possibly too sensible a post for your good self!!

 

:dealwithit:

[magicTs]

Oh MagicT where have you been, I have missed your posts, as usual a superb scribe

 

 

Cheers CJ but it pisses me off as much as ever that we are still going round and round and nothing changes. Its unbelievable that we continue to fail when the opportunity genuinely exists for us to challenge in Scotland. If only more care was taken in building the club properly we have so much going for us instead we lurch from one shambles to another and as I said scrambling over the line in 3rd does not a season make. Nor does it mean that progress is being made because it is sure as hell not. The example I used is only one of countless ridiculously costly mistakes, I mean do Hears really have ?1 million quid + to give Calum Elliot, its insane when you look at the individual contribution of many of the players when you then think what their salary is likely to be. the problem is there appears little desire to improve or chaneg things, decisions are made on a wing and a prayer and completely on a whim. PS could be a superb coach in the making but whether we will ever find that out is extremely doubtful as he is likely to be handicapped in so many ways that he will either bin us through frustration or not get the required support to do what is necessary. If Hearts are truly to turn a new leaf, play in a different manner, build something more long term we literally do need to have an enormous clear out. There are more who need to go than to stay and we need a far smaller squad, guys who want to play week in week out. We need to stop signing so many squad players, guys who are no better or worse than what we already have, simply here clogging the place up and picking up wages we can't afford to pay for little return. The kids should be filling the squad role within HMFC. I said on a thread last night a club like Hearts in the current climate and given our debt should not be able to make 8 changes for an important cup tie (and we still had countless others not even involved). I don't expect anything to happen though and we will be sitting here next year saying the same old thing with some dude from Mexico having overseen a defeat away to Morton.

[magicTs]

If you're going to routinely dismiss 3rd place as some total non-achievement, you do realise this means you'll never be happy as a Hearts fan? Never, ever, ever?

 

 

Now you know thats not what I'm saying Shaun so don't be so obtuse ! Recently I thoroughly enjoyed the occasion at WHL and the defeat of Hibs (even though I had to make do with the TV). But in my eyes it is the bare minimum and given you are somebody who is all about the pecking order in world football, the fact it all about the money then you can't have it both ways. There is no two ways about it in the current climate less than 3rd in this league for Hearts is failure. We have an enormous squad, by far and away the 3rd biggest wage bill and support, good facilities, a terrific home ground etc etc. We are making no progress. The same stuff happens over and over again. We make the same mistakes on and off the field losing to part time clubs ffs and handing out contracts to footballing nobodies. It is beyond the pale.

[Bainy]

All this dross about it being a mince wee cup is a shocking attitude.

 

Hearts should be going into every competition wanting to win it even if its a pre season tournament you should want to win. And as for our players don't have the ability - They are professional footballers getting a ridiculous amount of money a week they should be abel to pass and move. the standard of some of the football in the SPL for what the players get paid is quite ridiculous.

[magicTs]

Me agree with you? nae chance pal, just seein your wee greetin handle after a bad performance sends shivers doon the spine and takes me back in masochisitc kinda way.

 

If you are trying to say we're as rank as we were in 2008 then you are a bigger dafty than I give you credit for

 

The problem with you Feeno is your complete lack of football knowledge. As with Hearts some things never change

[shaun.lawson]

Now you knwow thats not what I'm saying Shaun so don't be so obtuse ! Recently I thoroughly enjoyed the occasion at WHL and the defeat of Hibs (even though I had to make do with the TV). But in my eyes it is the bare minimum and given you are somebody who is all about the pecking order in world football, the fact it all about the money then you can't have it both ways. There is no two ways about it in the current climate less than 3rd in this league for Hearts is failure. We have an enormous squad, by far and away the 3rd biggest wage bill and support, good facilities, a terrific home ground etc etc. We are making no progress. The same stuff happens over and over again. We make the same mistakes on and off the field losing to part time clubs ffs and handing out contracts to footballing nobodies. It is beyond the pale.

 

Depending on the accuracy of what a generally extremely well informed poster wrote some weeks back, I wouldn't be so sure about that. And as your good mate Charlie-Brown, amongst others, would point out: over the piece of Vlad's stewardship, we've achieved more than under that of his predecessor, and more than that of Wallace Mercer either.

 

This is Hearts, magic. Though we sometimes go down, we can aye come back up. It'll always be this way, mate. Enjoy it if you can, and cheer up: if we think being a Jambo is torture, imagine what it must be like being a Hibs fan!

[Boris]

This thread is a hoot. In my opinion we were shite last season and we are just as shite this. No doubt some will argue we finished 3rd, big fecking deal. Its by default as far as I'm concerned such is the complete dearth of competition. In much the same way Rantic will always finish 1st and 2nd anything less than 3rd is failure in the current SPL given the resources at Hearts. That we crawled over the line whilst being knocked out of the 2 cups pitifully by Falkirk and St Johnstone says it all. And here we are this season and its the same old story. Zero improvement, yet another manager who will be lucky to last the season nevermind build something tangible, masses of mediocre overpaid average journeymen footballers when we should have a streamlined squad augmented by the promising youngsters. Its really not that difficult but Hearts are run in such a haphazard bombscare manner that little ever improves. One of the best examples of this is the 5 year contract handed out to Calum Elliot, I mean really WTF.

 

 

 

Isn't this how Scottish football has always been though?

[Kramer]

I think the real issue is the standard of players in our squad. We have a squad full of average players and there is not one player that really excites me or looks like he could change a game (except perhaps a fully fit Andy Driver). In the past when we had average teams there would always be a player such as Cameron, Hartley, Fuller, Johnston, Colquhoun, Robertson etc who could change a game or provide the spark. This squad has no-one like that.

 

Last season with this average squad JJ tried his direct style of play and it worked for the period of games in Autumn/Winter but apart from that was pretty poor. From January until the end of the season the performances were terrible and it was obvious to most that this direct style of play was not working.

 

PS has arrived and decided to play his style of football with basically the same squad. When a new manager arrives you would expect him to implement his new ideas. Due to the squad of average players he has inherited it's going to be difficult to play his style but really it can't be much worse than the last few months of last season. The fact that he is winning games with this squad perhaps shows that he is actually quite a good manager. I think he knows that the players available to him are poor and he will have discussed this with Vlad. At the moment I think he is assessing the squad to see if there are any players that can fit into his system and at the same time he's putting a solid team on the pitch with the view of picking up points until January or the end of the season. The players he is selecting may not provide much entertainment on the park, but I don't think this squad of players would under any manager or system.

 

I think the important thing at the moment is to put a solid team on the pitch that will grind out results. I'd much rather grind out narrow home wins than lose these games. When or if PS is given the chance to change the squad and bring in the players he wants, that's when PS can be judged. No matter what style we play, with this squad of players we will be an average team that finishes 3rd or 4th this season because we are slightly better than the rest.

[magicTs]

Depending on the accuracy of what a generally extremely well informed poster wrote some weeks back, I wouldn't be so sure about that. And as your good mate Charlie-Brown, amongst others, would point out: over the piece of Vlad's stewardship, we've achieved more than under that of his predecessor, and more than that of Wallace Mercer either.

 

This is Hearts, magic. Though we sometimes go down, we can aye come back up. It'll always be this way, mate. Enjoy it if you can, and cheer up: if we think being a Jambo is torture, imagine what it must be like being a Hibs fan!

 

 

Shaun, whilst our overall spend may have been slashed there is no way on this earth we are atill not paying out miles more than anyone other than the gruesome twosome. The sheer volume of bodies which the Hearts continue to employ is evidence enough of that. I note that nobody can put any sort of argument against the points I am making regarding that and that we should be get a huge amount more value for money as has been the case for the last few years. Credit does have to go to Romanov and team for providing these funds but absolutely no credit can be given for how they have and continue to be used. We should be doing so much better given this financial backing but the way it is invested is oh so wrong. I would have no issue with a rollercoaster of results and or performances if it was down to the mid/longer term outlook ie a 85-86 mixture of experience and youth something that it would not be difficult to put together but the truth is we are mixmash of journeymen from both these shores and abroad thrown together with no coherent plan. Its a complete nonsense.

[magicTs]

Isn't this how Scottish football has always been though?

 

In many ways yes and look where it has got us ! If it is time for change and Romanov/Hearts are going to lead that then great but do it fecking properly and start from scratch. Don't do it half ersed like we are trying to miss out parts like getting rid of all the dross before implementing the plan.

[Toronto Jambo]

All this dross about it being a mince wee cup is a shocking attitude.

 

Hearts should be going into every competition wanting to win it even if its a pre season tournament you should want to win. And as for our players don't have the ability - They are professional footballers getting a ridiculous amount of money a week they should be abel to pass and move. the standard of some of the football in the SPL for what the players get paid is quite ridiculous.

 

I agree with this 100%

[shaun.lawson]

Shaun, whilst our overall spend may have been slashed there is no way on this earth we are atill not paying out miles more than anyone other than the gruesome twosome. The sheer volume of bodies which the Hearts continue to employ is evidence enough of that. I note that nobody can put any sort of argument against the points I am making regarding that and that we should be get a huge amount more value for money as has been the case for the last few years. Credit does have to go to Romanov and team for providing these funds but absolutely no credit can be given for how they have and continue to be used. We should be doing so much better given this financial backing but the way it is invested is oh so wrong. I would have no issue with a rollercoaster of results and or performances if it was down to the mid/longer term ie a 85-86 mixture of experience and youth something that it would not be difficult to put together but the truth is we are mixmash of journeymen from both these shores and abroad thrown together with no coherent plan. Its a complete nonsense.

 

Even at our most extravagant, we've been paying, what, a quarter of what Celtic pay, and a third of what Rangers pay. So why should we be doing 'so much better'? Last season, we finished 3rd, with 63 points: that seems pretty good to me.

 

It has never, ever been realistic for a club this size, which sells players to bigger clubs all the time, changes managers, breaks up the team and starts again, to keep it going year-in, year-out. Outside the OF, the SPL is cyclical: it's just that, thankfully for us, we reach a high point of our cycle considerably more often than anyone else.

 

And I can only repeat: that wage bill is being slashed, maybe much more than you or I actually realise. So much so that we might now be paying something like an eighth of what Celtic pay, and a sixth of what Rangers do.

[Charlie-Brown]

I think the real issue is the standard of players in our squad. We have a squad full of average players and there is not one player that really excites me or looks like he could change a game (except perhaps a fully fit Andy Driver). In the past when we had average teams there would always be a player such as Cameron, Hartley, Fuller, Johnston, Colquhoun, Robertson etc who could change a game or provide the spark. This squad has no-one like that.

 

Last season with this average squad JJ tried his direct style of play and it worked for the period of games in Autumn/Winter but apart from that was pretty poor. From January until the end of the season the performances were terrible and it was obvious to most that this direct style of play was not working.

 

PS has arrived and decided to play his style of football with basically the same squad. When a new manager arrives you would expect him to implement his new ideas. Due to the squad of average players he has inherited it's going to be difficult to play his style but really it can't be much worse than the last few months of last season. The fact that he is winning games with this squad perhaps shows that he is actually quite a good manager. I think he knows that the players available to him are poor and he will have discussed this with Vlad. At the moment I think he is assessing the squad to see if there are any players that can fit into his system and at the same time he's putting a solid team on the pitch with the view of picking up points until January or the end of the season. The players he is selecting may not provide much entertainment on the park, but I don't think this squad of players would under any manager or system.

 

I think the important thing at the moment is to put a solid team on the pitch that will grind out results. I'd much rather grind out narrow home wins than lose these games. When or if PS is given the chance to change the squad and bring in the players he wants, that's when PS can be judged. No matter what style we play, with this squad of players we will be an average team that finishes 3rd or 4th this season because we are slightly better than the rest.

 

This ^^^^^

[Feeno]

In many ways yes and look where it has got us ! If it is time for change and Romanov/Hearts are going to lead that then great but do it fecking properly and start from scratch. Don't do it half ersed like we are trying to miss out parts like getting rid of all the dross before implementing the plan.

 

 

And you just accused me of having no footballing knowledge, wowwawee

[magicTs]

Even at our most extravagant, we've been paying, what, a quarter of what Celtic pay, and a third of what Rangers pay. So why should we be doing 'so much better'? Last season, we finished 3rd, with 63 points: that seems pretty good to me.

 

It has never, ever been realistic for a club this size, which sells players to bigger clubs all the time, changes managers, breaks up the team and starts again, to keep it going year-in, year-out. Outside the OF, the SPL is cyclical: it's just that, thankfully for us, we reach a high point of our cycle considerably more often than anyone else.

 

And I can only repeat: that wage bill is being slashed, maybe much more than you or I actually realise. So much so that might now be paying something like an eighth of what Celtic pay, and a sixth of what Rangers do.

 

 

Sorry Shaun, not letting you away with this one. I never once mentioned being above Celtic or Rangers though I do believe we should be capable if run in a much better manner of sustaining some sort of threat. However "why should we be doing so much better", so far this season we have failed to score in 3 SPL matches against M'well, Killie and D.Utd and managed 1 goal in games against ICT, Ayr and Paks. Note nothing to do with competing against the Old Firm. Pathetic. Just one example of simpley not good enough and in no way acceptable. I'm sure Romanov would agree as well.

 

The wage bill may well have been slashed from its ludicrous high but we are still paying too much money to way too many players. We would be better if Romanov is going to continue to pay out these monies to have half the size of squad with some actual quality players earning twice or thrice what the donkeys we have now earn. As I say though nobody knows what they are doing and decisions are made on a whim. I repeat we have as an example Calum Elliot taking a ?million + contract from Hearts. Insane. Thats conservatively 2000 season tickets on him alone

[Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC]

Shaun, whilst our overall spend may have been slashed there is no way on this earth we are atill not paying out miles more than anyone other than the gruesome twosome. The sheer volume of bodies which the Hearts continue to employ is evidence enough of that. I note that nobody can put any sort of argument against the points I am making regarding that and that we should be get a huge amount more value for money as has been the case for the last few years. Credit does have to go to Romanov and team for providing these funds but absolutely no credit can be given for how they have and continue to be used. We should be doing so much better given this financial backing but the way it is invested is oh so wrong. I would have no issue with a rollercoaster of results and or performances if it was down to the mid/longer term outlook ie a 85-86 mixture of experience and youth something that it would not be difficult to put together but the truth is we are mixmash of journeymen from both these shores and abroad thrown together with no coherent plan. Its a complete nonsense.

 

We finished 3rd last season, exactly where our finances dictate we should be, so what the **** are you greeting about?

[magicTs]

We finished 3rd last season, exactly where our finances dictate we should be, so what the **** are you greeting about?

 

I'm not greeting about anything, unfortunately I'm reiterating the points I've made over several seasons after yet another appalling defeat for our club last night. The sad thing is nothing changes, your a wise ass as usual but offer little reasoned debate as to why our club continues to in my eyes at least (and I struggle to understand how anyone sensible could think otherwise given our pathetic cup record) to get little value for money and generally underperform. Coming 3rd is not the be all and end all if we are not improving or progressing, if we are not seeing the alleged plan of young players coming through on a regular basis (and we sure as hell aren't seein many who are creating a big impression). The SPL is weaker year on year and Hearts are in a great position to take advantage of that given our relative strength and the continued budget Romanov is providing but we seem to be sleep walking through yet another season. Its astonishing that we still after the mistakes of the last few years have a bloated squad lacking in the required quality.

[Feeno]

I'm not greeting about anything, unfortunately I'm reiterating the points I've made over several seasons after yet another appalling defeat for our club last night. The sad thing is nothing changes, your a wise ass as usual but offer little reasoned debate as to why our club continues to in my eyes at least (and I struggle to understand how anyone sensible could think otherwise given our pathetic cup record) to get little value for money and generally underperform. Coming 3rd is not the be all and end all if we are not improving or progressing, if we are not seeing the alleged plan of young players coming through on a regular basis (and we sure as hell aren't seein many who are creating a big impression). The SPL is weaker year on year and Hearts are in a great position to take advantage of that given our relative strength and the continued budget Romanov is providing but we seem to be sleep walking through yet another season. Its astonishing that we still after the mistakes of the last few years have a bloated squad lacking in the required quality.

 

 

Maybe its because you talk utter pish and just regurgitate the same tired ol drivel that isnt relevant, that make people just wanna take the pish.

 

Who was it you lied about having a bevvy with again, was it Csaba?

[shaun.lawson]

Maybe its because you talk utter pish and just regurgitate the same tired ol drivel that isnt relevant, that make people just wanna take the pish.

 

Who was it you lied about having a bevvy with again, was it Csaba?

 

I may be in disagreement with him on this thread, but:

 

1. He didn't lie about it.

 

2. People should flipping leave him alone about it.

 

FFS.

[Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC]

I'm not greeting about anything, unfortunately I'm reiterating the points I've made over several seasons after yet another appalling defeat for our club last night. The sad thing is nothing changes, your a wise ass as usual but offer little reasoned debate as to why our club continues to in my eyes at least (and I struggle to understand how anyone sensible could think otherwise given our pathetic cup record) to get little value for money and generally underperform. Coming 3rd is not the be all and end all if we are not improving or progressing, if we are not seeing the alleged plan of young players coming through on a regular basis (and we sure as hell aren't seein many who are creating a big impression). The SPL is weaker year on year and Hearts are in a great position to take advantage of that given our relative strength and the continued budget Romanov is providing but we seem to be sleep walking through yet another season. Its astonishing that we still after the mistakes of the last few years have a bloated squad lacking in the required quality.

 

The league position has to be where the club is judged on how it is performing. We finished 3rd last season so we are performing to expectations. To judge the club on cup competitions is complete nonsense. In one off cup games anything can happen as we've just witnessed, it is wrong to judge the club on a one off game.

 

And you are spot on about nothing changing. Still whining like a wee lassie about Mr Romanov despite a decent season last season and signings we all agreed with in the summer. Infact I'm sure you would've been one of the first calling for us to sign experienced SPL players during the POP days.

 

You were no where to be seen when we were good last season though. Funny that.

 

As for the comment about young players not coming through on a regular basis, more pish. About half the squad are academy graduates.