U20s away to Killie tonight

[David McCaig]

Interesting to hear Denis back at centre half, he was awful there on Friday night v Spartans

 

I guess mitigation for some of the players last Friday, would be there of recent game time.

 

Denis was good tonight and Jason Holt was excellent after a disappointing first 10 minutes.

 

I was very impressed with young Adam King at Right Back.

 

Disappointed with Gordon Smith, dont know if he was carrying a knock, but subbed at half-time and very lacklustre.

[Harry Palmer]

Hope Murray wasn't bawling and shouting at the players too much.

[vlad on the tyne]

What's happened to Mullen?

[jamboinglasgow]

What's happened to Mullen?

 

injured.

[Uncle Buck]

[David McCaig]

Hope Murray wasn't bawling and shouting at the players too much.

 

Impeccably behaved throughout and constructive in his comments :-)

[J.C 7]

I like him.

 

Wondering if changing from a forward to a midfielder was a mistake, though - whose idea was that?

 

Thought he looked good at start of last season,gd v spurs at WHL and remember him having a stormer v aberdeen in 3 0 game too.

 

Was really looking for him to kick on this season and make that midfield his own. I like him and think he is capable of more,just seems to have lost his way a bit. Think black helped him a lot in midfield,talk him through games sometimes.

[Winston Ingram]

Interesting how people see games differently. I thought Robinson was excellent and dictated lots of the play. Hearts in general much sharper in second half. Both Kings (special mention to Adam playing out of position) good, as were Tapping and the sub Sam Nicholson. Also mention to Alan Combe, who had a fine game including an excellent save when William Gros was one on one. Don't think it totally out of question he could appear in first team.

 

Negatives- Denis sloppy at centre back. Smith dreadful for the 45 mins he played, shown up more by how lively Nicholson was in his place. Thought Holt was pretty average and Walker also a disappointment (didn't look fully fit or sharp).

 

Generally though Hearts played a lot of good stuff as to be fair did a young Killie side.

[David McCaig]

Interesting how people see games differently. I thought Robinson was excellent and dictated lots of the play. Hearts in general much sharper in second half. Both Kings (special mention to Adam playing out of position) good, as were Tapping and the sub Sam Nicholson. Also mention to Alan Combe, who had a fine game including an excellent save when William Gros was one on one. Don't think it totally out of question he could appear in first team.

 

Negatives- Denis sloppy at centre back. Smith dreadful for the 45 mins he played, shown up more by how lively Nicholson was in his place. Thought Holt was pretty average and Walker also a disappointment (didn't look fully fit or sharp).

 

Generally though Hearts played a lot of good stuff as to be fair did a young Killie side.

 

Personally, I thought Holts passing was much more incisive than Robinson and certainly wouldnt have described Denis as sloppy.

 

I agree with you about Alan Combe though.

[jamboinglasgow]

He's been playing in midfield recently, has he not, rather than right-back?

 

Yet more positional tinkering from McGlynn/Murray?

 

He is being used more as a midfield playmaker, I actually think that is a good move as his passing is one of, if not the best at the club. We do need playmakers at the club and I think it would really benefit us if Fraser can adapt to that role.

[Winston Ingram]

Re Mullen- knee injury. Starts back training tomorrow.

[Gerd Muller]

How old is Tapping?

[Floyd]

Good to hear that the young lad Combe had a good game and a shut out, high hopes for that lad.

[HampdenHearts]

Pum was always a midfielder at school, played in my year he was that good, I'm 2 years older than him.

 

Still to see the best of him, he's not a goalscorer but he doesn't break up the play.

 

Playmaker.

[Footballfirst]

I'm just back from Kilmarnock (via the pub). As expected, a much more experienced side made quite a difference.

 

The first half was fairly even in terms of chances as Kilmarnock might have gone ahead early on before Hearts started to create a few opportunities of their own. I thought Tapping and Billy King were most prominent in the first half along with Killie's left winger Chris Johnston who showed good pace and trickery down the flank.

 

Hearts started the second half with Nicholson in place of the disappointing Gordon Smith, but played with a better tempo and a little more aggression in midfield and that is where Holt and Robinson started to dominate the flow of the game by ptting Killie onto the back foot. The Killie left back was a bit unfortunate with the own goal, but it was a great first time cross from Keegan. The second goal also had a bit of good fortune to it. From a Walker corner on the left, Tapping mis-hit his shot but fell perfectly for Brad McKay three yards out to tap-in (pun intended). Hearts continued to create some good opportunities through Walker and Robinson while Kilmarnock were limited to fewer opportunities. The penalty came in the 91st minute when Sam Nicholson was up-ended and Billy King made an expert job from the spot.

 

I think Killie had a couple of overage players plus a couple of others with first team experience, so the teams were fairly well matched in that respect.

 

Other good performances came from Denis at the back and Adam King who seems to be settling in nicely at RB. Alan Combe also gave lots of confidence and guidance to the defenders in front of him as well as providing good distibution.

 

I spoke to the injured Fraser Mulen and Jordan McGhee who were at the game. Fraser is back training again tomorrow and Jordan is 2-3 weeks away.

[Ross21]

Pum was always a midfielder at school, played in my year he was that good, I'm 2 years older than him.

 

Still to see the best of him, he's not a goalscorer but he doesn't break up the play.

 

Playmaker.

 

Hmm interesting, you must have been in my bro's year at school but funny cos Pum never played at school at all. I know, cos I was 4 years above him & we all tried getting his big brother to ask him but he never did. Would've been good enough mind

 

[kamac1]

I'm just back from Kilmarnock (via the pub). As expected, a much more experienced side made quite a difference.

 

The first half was fairly even in terms of chances as Kilmarnock might have gone ahead early on before Hearts started to create a few opportunities of their own. I thought Tapping and Billy King were most prominent in the first half along with Killie's left winger Chris Johnston who showed good pace and trickery down the flank.

 

Hearts started the second half with Nicholson in place of the disappointing Gordon Smith, but played with a better tempo and a little more aggression in midfield and that is where Holt and Robinson started to dominate the flow of the game by ptting Killie onto the back foot. The Killie left back was a bit unfortunate with the own goal, but it was a great first time cross from Keegan. The second goal also had a bit of good fortune to it. From a Walker corner on the left, Tapping mis-hit his shot but fell perfectly for Brad McKay three yards out to tap-in (pun intended). Hearts continued to create some good opportunities through Walker and Robinson while Kilmarnock were limited to fewer opportunities. The penalty came in the 91st minute when Sam Nicholson was up-ended and Billy King made an expert job from the spot.

 

I think Killie had a couple of overage players plus a couple of others with first team experience, so the teams were fairly well matched in that respect.

 

Other good performances came from Denis at the back and Adam King who seems to be settling in nicely at RB. Alan Combe also gave lots of confidence and guidance to the defenders in front of him as well as providing good distibution.

 

I spoke to the injured Fraser Mulen and Jordan McGhee who were at the game. Fraser is back training again tomorrow and Jordan is 2-3 weeks away.

good post eric, glad that you are now appreciating the king brothers, disappointed to hear about our ex-strikers son getting subbed at half time, he did have an illness recently, just wonder if it has still affected his fitness, (this could well be the case). I'm pretty sure pogo will be encouraging his son until he can regain some form again, still hopeful this player will come good. Adam King is improving rapidly, whereas his elder brother works like hell on his fitness in his spare time, very dedicated young player. Not a fan of Combe due to him being an out and out hibby but despite his years possibly still a far superior goalie to Jamie Mac, would not be a surprise to see him in the first team.

[Meadows]

Hmm interesting, you must have been in my bro's year at school but funny cos Pum never played at school at all. I know, cos I was 4 years above him & we all tried getting his big brother to ask him but he never did. Would've been good enough mind

 

 

Pum DID play for the school, including a cup final at Meggatland versus Craigmount (lost2-1) Pum scored a pen against Gordon Marshall the third !

[the geezer]

I'm just back from Kilmarnock (via the pub). As expected, a much more experienced side made quite a difference.

 

The first half was fairly even in terms of chances as Kilmarnock might have gone ahead early on before Hearts started to create a few opportunities of their own. I thought Tapping and Billy King were most prominent in the first half along with Killie's left winger Chris Johnston who showed good pace and trickery down the flank.

 

Hearts started the second half with Nicholson in place of the disappointing Gordon Smith, but played with a better tempo and a little more aggression in midfield and that is where Holt and Robinson started to dominate the flow of the game by ptting Killie onto the back foot. The Killie left back was a bit unfortunate with the own goal, but it was a great first time cross from Keegan. The second goal also had a bit of good fortune to it. From a Walker corner on the left, Tapping mis-hit his shot but fell perfectly for Brad McKay three yards out to tap-in (pun intended). Hearts continued to create some good opportunities through Walker and Robinson while Kilmarnock were limited to fewer opportunities. The penalty came in the 91st minute when Sam Nicholson was up-ended and Billy King made an expert job from the spot.

 

I think Killie had a couple of overage players plus a couple of others with first team experience, so the teams were fairly well matched in that respect.

 

Other good performances came from Denis at the back and Adam King who seems to be settling in nicely at RB. Alan Combe also gave lots of confidence and guidance to the defenders in front of him as well as providing good distibution.

 

I spoke to the injured Fraser Mulen and Jordan McGhee who were at the game. Fraser is back training again tomorrow and Jordan is 2-3 weeks away.

 

 

 

 

 

Dissapointed to hear Smith struggled- hopefully the game will help his fitness and his chance comes again.

 

FF- Do you know why they brought 4 overage players in along with Walker and Holt? Are we likely to see this type of team going forward?

[Footballfirst]

Dissapointed to hear Smith struggled- hopefully the game will help his fitness and his chance comes again.

 

FF- Do you know why they brought 4 overage players in along with Walker and Holt? Are we likely to see this type of team going forward?

Most of the other teams appear to be using it as a reserve league, using their best U19 and U20 players and fielding overage players. In order to be competitive Hearts needed to do the same, hence we saw Holt and Walker coming back in plus the overage guys. Given the performance against Spartans, I think some of the guys also needed and received a kick up the backside (U20s and overage players alike)

 

I think we will see a similarly experienced side play in future games, albeit with some rotation of personnel. We still have Mullen, McHattie, Paterson, Carrick and McGhee who could feature in future, although Paterson seems to be settled into the first team at the moment.

 

Combe only played because Jack Hamilton was playing with Scotland U19s last night. We need to keep G Smith, Prychynenko and Robinson match fit and I think the U20 league is the best way of doing so. The downside is the impact it has on the younger ones like Sam Nicholson and Gary Oliver so we may see some bounce games at U18 level organised on Thursdays or Fridays to give them and the promising U17s more action.

[KillieMitch]

When I was still able to have a season ticket at Rugby Park I went to a lot of the old Reserve games as you got in free with the season ticket. How things have changed in the last 5-10 years with these games. The average age of the Killie team last night was about 17/18 and that is pretty much all the players we have aside from the matchday squad and subs. It used to be that we (along with all the SPL clubs) would have pretty much a full second side of players that would regularly play in the reserve league. I think we are in a good place now though - it's great that youngsters like O'Hara who played last night at 16 get more experience in games (he played against Stenhousemuir as well). Hopefully the guys from both squads last night can get more time in the SPL.

[Charlie-Brown]

Most of the other teams appear to be using it as a reserve league, using their best U19 and U20 players and fielding overage players. In order to be competitive Hearts needed to do the same, hence we saw Holt and Walker coming back in plus the overage guys. Given the performance against Spartans, I think some of the guys also needed and received a kick up the backside (U20s and overage players alike)

 

I think we will see a similarly experienced side play in future games, albeit with some rotation of personnel. We still have Mullen, McHattie, Paterson, Carrick and McGhee who could feature in future, although Paterson seems to be settled into the first team at the moment.

 

Combe only played because Jack Hamilton was playing with Scotland U19s last night. We need to keep G Smith, Prychynenko and Robinson match fit and I think the U20 league is the best way of doing so. The downside is the impact it has on the younger ones like Sam Nicholson and Gary Oliver so we may see some bounce games at U18 level organised on Thursdays or Fridays to give them and the promising U17s more action.

 

FF do you know if there is any plans to send some of the lads out on loans (preferably to SFL clubs) ? For me guys like Mullen, Tapping, Nicholson, Hamilton, McKay etc would probably develop more by going away and playing first team football in the SFL as McGowan, Ridgers, Smith, Walker, Holt etc all did before them.

[Footballfirst]

FF do you know if there is any plans to send some of the lads out on loans (preferably to SFL clubs) ? For me guys like Mullen, Tapping, Nicholson, Hamilton, McKay etc would probably develop more by going away and playing first team football in the SFL as McGowan, Ridgers, Smith, Walker, Holt etc all did before them.

 

I'm not aware of anyone going on loan at the momemt, although I am aware that Hearts were looking for Ewan Saunderson and Marcus McMillan either to leave or go on loan at the start of the season.

 

I agree that it would be beneficial for some players to go on loan at this point. I noticed Paul Hartley in the crowd last night and saw him speaking to John McGlynn, so you never know what's being discussed.

[Charlie-Brown]

I'm not aware of anyone going on loan at the momemt, although I am aware that Hearts were looking for Ewan Saunderson and Marcus McMillan either to leave or go on loan at the start of the season.

 

I agree that it would be beneficial for some players to go on loan at this point. I noticed Paul Hartley in the crowd last night and saw him speaking to John McGlynn, so you never know what's being discussed.

 

I think Combe can provide adequate cover until Ridgers comes back and as you say we need to keep the first team fringe players like D.McGowan, Prychynenko, Robinson, G.Smith, Holt, Walker, Carrick, McHattie etc kept up to speed so if we let the ones who i think are less likely to play first team football in the immediate term ie Hamilton, McKay, Tapping, Mullen & Nicholson etc go out on loans to play first team football toughen them up mentally & physically it would still allow the younger/youngest youth players to play in some of these games and develop alongside some of the more experienced first team fringe players. I think the ones like Mullen & Tapping etc need to prove themselves at a higher level than U20.

[Guest Bilel Mohsni]

Guys like Andy Kirk made themselves unable to be ignored using the old reserve league didn't they? Surely this league has to be treated as a proper set up that can be used to feed the first team squad.

[From Perth to Paisley]

Guys like Andy Kirk made themselves unable to be ignored using the old reserve league didn't they? Surely this league has to be treated as a proper set up that can be used to feed the first team squad.

 

It was the old U21 league he did well in, again it allowed overage players. However we did have a fulltime U19 or may have been 18s side as well.

 

What we seem to have done now is create a reserve league and lost the youth one. I'm not sure that was the idea behind the U20 league.

[Guest Bilel Mohsni]

It was the old U21 league he did well in, again it allowed overage players. However we did have a fulltime U19 or may have been 18s side as well.

 

What we seem to have done now is create a reserve league and lost the youth one. I'm not sure that was the idea behind the U20 league.

 

I thought the old set up worked pretty well until it was scrapped.

[Charlie-Brown]

I thought the old set up worked pretty well until it was scrapped.

 

In the 1990's & early 00's there was the U18's and U21's with the older age group being allowed a maximum of 3 older players plus a keeper and it did work okay, at some point the U18's morphed into U19's and the U21's was done away with and simply became an any age reserve team league which basically became a midweek run out for 1st team fringe players trying not to get any injuries and the youth development aspect of it got neglected.

 

I think Germany has U17, U19 & U23 below 1st team level which seems to me to be the most sensible way to divide players acording to age & development needs.

[the geezer]

Most of the other teams appear to be using it as a reserve league, using their best U19 and U20 players and fielding overage players. In order to be competitive Hearts needed to do the same, hence we saw Holt and Walker coming back in plus the overage guys. Given the performance against Spartans, I think some of the guys also needed and received a kick up the backside (U20s and overage players alike)

 

I think we will see a similarly experienced side play in future games, albeit with some rotation of personnel. We still have Mullen, McHattie, Paterson, Carrick and McGhee who could feature in future, although Paterson seems to be settled into the first team at the moment.

 

Combe only played because Jack Hamilton was playing with Scotland U19s last night. We need to keep G Smith, Prychynenko and Robinson match fit and I think the U20 league is the best way of doing so. The downside is the impact it has on the younger ones like Sam Nicholson and Gary Oliver so we may see some bounce games at U18 level organised on Thursdays or Fridays to give them and the promising U17s more action.

 

Would dissapoint me to see guys like Nicholson and Oliver lose game time at this level.This is where they need to be to develop IMO,not under 18 games arranged midweek and to be honest i think that is the way DM will see it.

 

Seems they done well last night with an experienced side as you would expect - maybe they could look to strike a balance between some of last nights team and the less experienced lads.

[Guest Bilel Mohsni]

In the 1990's & early 00's there was the U18's and U21's with the older age group being allowed a maximum of 3 older players plus a keeper and it did work okay, at some point the U18's morphed into U19's and the U21's was done away with and simply became an any age reserve team league which basically became a midweek run out for 1st team fringe players trying not to get any injuries and the youth development aspect of it got neglected.

 

I think Germany has U17, U19 & U23 below 1st team level which seems to me to be the most sensible way to divide players acording to age & development needs.

 

Aye, the nineties one, where Kirk, Wales and Jaunjo cut their teeth, that was a worthwhile excercise in my opinion.

[From Perth to Paisley]

U17s to U20s seems a big gap and I'm not sure how many of the promising U17s will get game time when you can also play over age players.

 

Seems like a half arsed attempt at youth development par for the course with the SPL/SFA.

[From Perth to Paisley]

In the 1990's & early 00's there was the U18's and U21's with the older age group being allowed a maximum of 3 older players plus a keeper and it did work okay, at some point the U18's morphed into U19's and the U21's was done away with and simply became an any age reserve team league which basically became a midweek run out for 1st team fringe players trying not to get any injuries and the youth development aspect of it got neglected.

 

I think Germany has U17, U19 & U23 below 1st team level which seems to me to be the most sensible way to divide players acording to age & development needs.

 

I think it was brought in during the 98/99 season with the SPL. Along with a minimum 2? U21s in the first team match squad.

 

Seems a better system than what we've got now.

[Footballfirst]

I actually spoke to Darren Murray about the U20 league set up last night. He understood that it was Mark Wotte's intention that it would be an U20 league with no overage players, as it would give young players that extra year's development before they either made it with a senior contract or were culled. What Darren believed happened is that most SPL chairman, with an eye on finances, decided that they needed to accommodate overage players, otherwise they felt it would be necessary to maintain a full time squad of U20 players.

 

Darren would rather have had a Reserve league and maintained an U18 or U19 league, thus being able to retain players who were still at school while having a flexible approach to pushing the younger players on. The reserve and youth games would also be scheduled to allow players to play in both.

 

There is also an anomaly with the youth cup. It has been changed to U20 ostensibly to tie in with the U20 League. However, this works against all the teams in the SFL and other associated leagues who had previously run U19 outfits. It means that the "smaller" teams are being required to change their setups while they remain outside the new league . There is no reason why the cup needed to change.

[HMFCH]

Pum DID play for the school, including a cup final at Meggatland versus Craigmount (lost2-1) Pum scored a pen against Gordon Marshall the third !

 

Spoke to an ex biology teacher of mine at Boroughmuir and he was telling me that Pum only gt into the team when he turned up at school (which wasnt very often in his latter school years)