12 unbeaten ( edited )

[Bazzas right boot]

11 minutes ago, iantjambo said:

Just caught up with this thread.

The camaraderie following Sunday lasted a lot longer than I thought it would to be honest.

 

 

It lasted until a certain poster came back from a ,"wee break"- coincidence??

[iantjambo]

8 minutes ago, BigDave'sHeed said:

 

It lasted until a certain poster came back from a ,"wee break"- coincidence??

 

Ach Hendricks is ok Tosh (like your good self) you’re both clearly passionate about the club and let’s be honest, it would be pretty boring if everyone agreed about everything.

[Hendricks]

9 minutes ago, iantjambo said:

 

Ach Hendricks is ok Tosh (like your good self) you’re both clearly passionate about the club and let’s be honest, it would be pretty boring if everyone agreed about everything.

 

Quite! 

 

Im tickled that my return is seen as the kindling which re-lit this fire however given my post was extremely enthusiastic with regards the events of Sunday afternoon and showered praise on all concerned it’s kind of bizarre! Those who had been stalking what threads I had read and whose assumption was that I wasn’t posting out of choice then took it upon themselves to once again play the poster not what was posted. Sadly they aren’t bright enough to have realized their perception is completely wrong and that virtually any criticism I have had of the playing side of the club is because I believe we are capable of seeing what we witnessed on Sunday in a more regular basis not a bi-generational event. Few people care as much about Hearts as I do or will till my dying breath and therefore I hope I’ll always say it like I see it. 

[Bazzas right boot]

16 minutes ago, iantjambo said:

 

Ach Hendricks is ok Tosh (like your good self) you’re both clearly passionate about the club and let’s be honest, it would be pretty boring if everyone agreed about everything.

 

 

I wasn't referring to Hendricks. 

 

[Bazzas right boot]

32 minutes ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Such a "first to have floodlights" post!

 

 

Such a " adds nothing, says nothing, just want to have a go at someone who actually makes a contribution and start and argument " post

[iantjambo]

2 minutes ago, BigDave'sHeed said:

 

 

I wasn't referring to Hendricks. 

 

 

My bad

 

I’m sure the one you’re talking about is sound as well

 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

45 minutes ago, BigDave'sHeed said:

 

 

Such a " adds nothing, says nothing, just want to have a go at someone who actually makes a contribution and start and argument " post

Dear pot, love kettle.

[Bazzas right boot]

3 minutes ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Dear pot, love kettle.

Unfortunately for you it's not.

The fact this thread exists is testament to that.

 

You don't even realise it.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

25 minutes ago, BigDave'sHeed said:

Unfortunately for you it's not.

The fact this thread exists is testament to that.

 

You don't even realise it.

You keep telling yourself that.

 

Meantime, I will keep cringing at socrates' point scoring efforts which is where you deemed it appropriate to butt in. However, for someone who claims to have put me on ignore you have a fine record of quoting my posts.

[Bazzas right boot]

1 minute ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

You keep telling yourself that.

 

Meantime, I will keep cringing at socrates' point scoring efforts which is where you deemed it appropriate to butt in. However, for someone who claims to have put me on ignore you have a fine record of quoting my posts.

 

I de ignored you a few weeks ago.

 

Bantz

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

2 minutes ago, BigDave'sHeed said:

 

I de ignored you a few weeks ago.

 

Bantz

Cool.

[luckydug]

17 hours ago, Hendricks said:

Evening/morning all.

 

I see my absence has been all too much for some. Notts particularly seems to have extraordinary amounts of time on his hands given the literally hundreds of occasions he has stalked my profile over the last couple of weeks! Dozens of times since Sunday alone........!!  I'm incredibly flattered by his and some of the other sweethearts on Kickback's desires to hear what I have to say about our tremendous result on Sunday and our club in general. 

 

Suffice to say my silence has not been for any other reason than one of the Mods decided to send me to the JKB tin pail for a lengthy time out so much as I would have loved to give the praise that was thoroughly deserved on the back of such a victory it was, alas, impossible! I've only just been released from the naughty step!

 

In my opinion Sunday's victory was a superb demonstration of what we all want HMFC to be all about. Hunger, desire, pride, passion, noise, no little ability, both our players on the pitch and out support in the stands pulling in the same direction. I was personally thrilled for everyone connected, even those I disagree with regularly on here. Genuinely thrilled for each and every one of you regardless of recent views. My Dad hadn't seen Hearts score 4 against Celtic since the 60's, thats a special and memorable game whatever I or anyone else thinks about the football side of things over the last period of time. Nothing can take away form the performance and the staggering scoreline. Fantastic and a game we will all talk about for years to come. 

 

That all said, I have to laugh at some e.g. Ugly American coming on pontificating about how he had seen all this progress etc etc. What a load of complete Tom Kite. There had been absolutely nada indication that the coaching staff or even moreso the players had anything like that in them. We will now see if this is the catalyst moving forward or simply an enjoyable aberration. Its a massive shot in the arm but anyone that thinks we will find it easy to play at that tempo and with that focus and determination on a weekly basis ain't the full shilling. Its a marker but we will soon see if its a benchmark performance that we can attain on a regular basis. People need to get some perspective on what happened which its entirely possible to do at the same time as being over the moon with Sunday afternoon. A week from now this place could be equally ecstatic or a very dark place indeed. Consistency and I don't mean beating the Champions 4 zip will be difficult for this group of players. 

 

Whilst I have had some harsh words for Craig Levein, having initially been pleased with his appointment I was delighted for him to oversee such a momentous result. Surely his biggest domestic club result (personally I'd put the Bordeaux away and particularly the Braga away given it qualified us as bigger) as a club manager. He needed it badly and seeing him in the zone, engaged and excited was superb, back to that driven individual we have witnessed in the past. Ann Budge's comments today were very revealing in that regards and I was delighted to hear that she has given him a nudge now and then as to what is required. I truly hope Sunday got him motivated, reinvigorated and hungry as that will rub off on his squad and these young players. He needs to show that side of his character on the touchline more often, his body language was great and extremely infectious both on and off the park. Lets hope its the start of something so we can all pull in the same direction! 

I don't think anyone thinks we can play like that on a regular basis.

However we do expect the work rate and endeavour to be repeated in the more mundane games as well.

I have to disagree about the gradual improvement in the team over the last month or so. Of course Sunday was special but we had been solid in our previous games and played really well in the game against Dundee so performances had been improving.

Those fans that have stuck with the team over the last few weeks have noticed the improvement. Possibly the ones who insist there had been no improvement are the people who had lost faith and stopped going to the games. The missing thousand or so of our previous attendances.

[upa1]

15 hours ago, BigDave'sHeed said:

 

Yip, then of course one could not bother even posting on the forum.

Well quite.

[Bridge of Djoum]

18 hours ago, Hendricks said:

 

Quite! 

 

Im tickled that my return is seen as the kindling which re-lit this fire however given my post was extremely enthusiastic with regards the events of Sunday afternoon and showered praise on all concerned it’s kind of bizarre! Those who had been stalking what threads I had read and whose assumption was that I wasn’t posting out of choice then took it upon themselves to once again play the poster not what was posted. Sadly they aren’t bright enough to have realized their perception is completely wrong and that virtually any criticism I have had of the playing side of the club is because I believe we are capable of seeing what we witnessed on Sunday in a more regular basis not a bi-generational event. Few people care as much about Hearts as I do or will till my dying breath and therefore I hope I’ll always say it like I see it. 

[sairyinthat]

On ‎21‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 11:41, Thomaso said:

 

I certainly cannot remember the 'Cathro must stay' mob getting such a public flogging when they were proved so badly wrong......they were pretty much the same guys who are dishing out the public floggings now.

 

We are all Hearts fans - we all have different opinions on Managers and players - everybody is entitled to express that opinion IMO.

Depends very much on the reason.

[graygo]

[Bazzas right boot]

[jamdunc]

381 minutes without conceding too

[Lovecraft]

4 minutes ago, jamdunc said:

381 minutes without conceding too

 

Yeah, but there hasn't been any improvement though has there.

 

 

 

 

[Enzo Chiefo]

On 21/12/2017 at 18:34, socrates82 said:

 

I remember a word you used to praise Hibs that riled me was "progressive" in comparison to us. We actually have a case for being the most progressive football club in Scotland off the pitch. On it we certainly have progressed better than Hibs over the last 3 years and our football set-up as a whole is light years ahead of theirs. There's a lot to be proud of our club right now that re-assessing managers' performances on a weekly basis should not be a thing.

 

Not football related: First (and only?) Scottish club committed to paying minimum wage; Fan owned; Great stadium

Football related: DoF model designed to develop more young players; Coaching model designed to develop young coaches; In terms of league results at least we have also progressed better and faster than Hibs over the last 3 seasons.

 

Hibs on the other hand:

 

Silent on minimum wage; Owned by rich benefactor; Drafty stadium

Took three years to get promoted to our one; Are at a lower league position than we were in the first season after promotion

"Progressive" is a word that has been hijacked by no-mark politicians who have never done a proper days work or, certainly in Scotland, never run a business. I'm not sure exactly how it can be applied to football clubs. It's usually used to claim some sort of moral high ground but in reality it's a meaningless word. I'm interested in how results go and in that respect the best indicator of how we are progressing is the league table. Im not interested in whether or not we pay the living wage. If people want to work for us they will, if not they won't. The beauty of market forces. Back to football though, a good point today and another clean sheet sets us up for Wed. 

[dsk1210]

Good point at a tricky ground against a decent team, 7 now.

 

Nice.

[Mars plastic]

Progressive house.  

 

Was as tedious as heck mind.

[Victorian]

Not long ago we couldn't buy a win.    Then we ground out a couple.   Then we were faced with a much harder run of games.   The first two were games we could easily have gotten little out of,  even having played well.    But we have added another 4 points.

 

Yet some people still aren't happy.   Why?    Because the base level of expectation has been raised too much too quickly.

 

The sober news is that we have the same players that we had before the Motherwell match.     FFS be happy with their efforts instead of elevating them to levels that did not exist until this month.

[JamboGraham]

5 minutes ago, Victorian said:

Not long ago we couldn't buy a win.    Then we ground out a couple.   Then we were faced with a much harder run of games.   The first two were games we could easily have gotten little out of,  even having played well.    But we have added another 4 points.

 

Yet some people still aren't happy.   Why?    Because the base level of expectation has been raised too much too quickly.

 

The sober news is that we have the same players that we had before the Motherwell match.     FFS be happy with their efforts instead of elevating them to levels that did not exist until this month.

 

Agreed, many of us thought we had a decent squad of players (not great, not fantastic) but decent for our league. We are now getting some decent results which this squad arguably deserves. To ask for more is unrealistic at this time.

[Unknown user]

12 minutes ago, Victorian said:

Not long ago we couldn't buy a win.    Then we ground out a couple.   Then we were faced with a much harder run of games.   The first two were games we could easily have gotten little out of,  even having played well.    But we have added another 4 points.

 

Yet some people still aren't happy.   Why?    Because the base level of expectation has been raised too much too quickly.

 

The sober news is that we have the same players that we had before the Motherwell match.     FFS be happy with their efforts instead of elevating them to levels that did not exist until this month.

We've conceded 1 goal in the last 6 games, that's fantastic in any league. Those of us old enough to remember will know that Levein's doing what Levein does best - the defence is secured, next he'll give us more creativity and goals. This is potentially very good times ahead

[Victorian]

1 minute ago, Smithee said:

We've conceded 1 goal in the last 6 games, that's fantastic in any league. Those of us old enough to remember will know that Levein's doing what Levein does best - the defence is secured, next he'll give us more creativity and goals. This is potentially very good times ahead

Yep.   We're a good transfer window away from a really promising situation.   Albeit the 'good transfer window' will be just as hard to achieve as that win versus Celtic.    Sometimes you need to be lucky in the transfer window too.

[Tasavallan]

The Celtic game was a blimp.    Levein has shored up the defence but scoring goals is still an issue. 0-0 is a decent result with 10 men.  Maybe Levein could have brought on fresh legs earlier and maybe took Cochrane off before he got his 2nd yellow.

 

if you believe the statistics Hearts had most of the possession but did very little with it.

 

still it is 7.

 

[Cruyff Turn]

We're so much more competitive, so much better defensively, we've improved a great deal since Levein took charge and are continuing to improve. 

 

Still things need addressed, especially in midfield and the left hand side.

 

7 unbeated is excellent though, decent point today.

[Bazzas right boot]

The simple fact is  that after a balance of home and away games we are just about where we should be ( in light of where we started at)

 

Our final position will  only move by one now. We'll be between 4th- 6th by the seasons end.

 

Those pishing their pants before we had even played at Tynecastle this season and dismissing our injuries where either just daft, or imo looking for any reason to batter CL over the head.

 

If folk had waited until the games balance out, they would have saved themselves looking like raspers.

 

We aren't great ( and won't be winning games by 4-0 every week) but we will be no where near relegation and more importantly we will improve throughout the season in time for the second half and the start of next season.

 

We can and imo will beat hibs.

 

Can any maths whizz calculate the odds I would have got on us being unbeaten in December last week November- ish? Just to make me feel like a Richard.

 

Good chance we'll see the month  out unbeaten.

 

 

[Shooter McGavin]

2 minutes ago, Cruyff Turn said:

We're so much more competitive, so much better defensively, we've improved a great deal since Levein took charge and are continuing to improve. 

 

Still things need addressed, especially in midfield and the left hand side.

 

7 unbeated is excellent though, decent point today.

This!

[Bazzas right boot]

18 minutes ago, Tasavallan said:

The Celtic game was a blimp.    Levein has shored up the defence but scoring goals is still an issue. 0-0 is a decent result with 10 men.  Maybe Levein could have brought on fresh legs earlier and maybe took Cochrane off before he got his 2nd yellow.

 

if you believe the statistics Hearts had most of the possession but did very little with it.

 

still it is 7.

 

 

It's almost like there is another team trying to stop us scoring. 

[Judge Fudge]

41 minutes ago, Smithee said:

We've conceded 1 goal in the last 6 games, that's fantastic in any league. Those of us old enough to remember will know that Levein's doing what Levein does best - the defence is secured, next he'll give us more creativity and goals. This is potentially very good times ahead

Spot on, big Jon in goals and Berra have been great signings. Levein did indeed do that first time round, he also had us fit enough to take advantage of teams late in games. One step at a time, but it's looking gd. 

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

1 hour ago, Judge Fudge said:

Spot on, big Jon in goals and Berra have been great signings. Levein did indeed do that first time round, he also had us fit enough to take advantage of teams late in games. One step at a time, but it's looking gd. 

I really hope the keeper gets a longer deal. Been a great addition. 

Leveins done it before. Backbone. Gordon Pressley Hartley De Vries.

 

McLaughlin Berra ? Lafferty 

[soonbe110]

2 hours ago, BigDave'sHeed said:

The simple fact is  that after a balance of home and away games we are just about where we should be ( in light of where we started at)

 

Our final position will  only move by one now. We'll be between 4th- 6th by the seasons end.

 

Those pishing their pants before we had even played at Tynecastle this season and dismissing our injuries where either just daft, or imo looking for any reason to batter CL over the head.

 

If folk had waited until the games balance out, they would have saved themselves looking like raspers.

 

We aren't great ( and won't be winning games by 4-0 every week) but we will be no where near relegation and more importantly we will improve throughout the season in time for the second half and the start of next season.

 

We can and imo will beat hibs.

 

Can any maths whizz calculate the odds I would have got on us being unbeaten in December last week November- ish? Just to make me feel like a Richard.

 

Good chance we'll see the month  out unbeaten.

 

 

6 at home,, 14 away from home is hardly a balanced set of fixtures but I get your point. 

[Bridge of Djoum]

3 hours ago, Tasavallan said:

The Celtic game was a blimp.    Levein has shored up the defence but scoring goals is still an issue. 0-0 is a decent result with 10 men.  Maybe Levein could have brought on fresh legs earlier and maybe took Cochrane off before he got his 2nd yellow.

 

if you believe the statistics Hearts had most of the possession but did very little with it.

 

still it is 7.

 

Ah, no mate, this a blimp...

 

[Kiwidoug]

Not trying to be smart Socrates but it's the living wage, not the minimum wage and it's more than that.  As established on here a few days ago, we are the only accredited living wage football club in Scotland and there are precious few in England.

 

What's that means for anyone who missed it is that all our contractors also have to pay at least the living wage to their staff when they do work for Hearts.

 

I'm no rabid socialist but I strongly believe in the dignity of labour and I'm immensely proud of Hearts in this regard.

 

As an aside, our govt here announced recently that it would be a living wage employer by 2020.  Great news if true but I'll be making an absolute nuisance of myself after the holidays to confirm whether it applies to contractors because if it doesn't it's virtually worthless.

 

And yes, 7 in a row is pretty good.  And yes, Hibs are tripe.

[Kiwidoug]

Perhaps a non controversial flag for the derby would say Pay the Living Wage you Junkie Tramps.

[naeclue]

17 hours ago, jamdunc said:

381 minutes without conceding too

Yup, Soutar is improving defensively, still work to go, but quietly becoming a top footballing centre-half.

[Cruyff Turn]

Update mods.

 

Another undefeated. 

 

Superb run of games and clean sheets. It's just a shame we don't have a midfield or other options in attack. 

 

 

[Bazzas right boot]

When the Hearts go marching on..

 

Well, walking, on. Kind of.

[Koolkeith]

8 undefeated and 5 clean sheets in a row. Great record. Just need the goals now. 

[davemclaren]

1 minute ago, Koolkeith said:

8 undefeated and 5 clean sheets in a row. Great record. Just need the goals now. 

Desperate for an injection of creativity and pace in the coming window. . 

[Koolkeith]

Just now, davemclaren said:

Desperate for an injection of creativity and pace in the coming window. . 

Yeah, need some balance in the team. Decent left back and two creative midfielders

[Statto]

24 minutes ago, Barack said:

Asked on Match Thread, but anyone got a clue, what the record for longest time without a goal conceded is in our league?

 

It's Fraser Forster for Celtic, he went 1,256 minutes without conceding in 2013/14. We'd have to keep another 9 clean sheets in the league to break that record, the game it would be broken, Easter Road in March.

[Statto]

We now have the joint-longest current domestic unbeaten record in Scottish Football, joint with Annan in League Two, they are also 8 games unbeaten (3 wins 5 draws).

 

On to the next one!

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

I would prefer we maybe lost a goal here or there as long as we scored about three at the other end. We are pulling everyone back to defend corners and free kicks and that is helping keep clean sheets maybe but we are really missing the opportunities to break on teams and increase our goal threat.

[VALDOS]

5 minutes ago, Statto said:

We now have the joint-longest current domestic unbeaten record in Scottish Football, joint with Annan in League Two, they are also 8 games unbeaten (3 wins 5 draws).

 

On to the next one!

Its bound to have been studied, which is better psychologically for a player, if you based it over 3 games for example, WLW or WDD. Do players react better to the better points total or does the unbeaten feeling give a longer lasting positive effect.

[Cruyff Turn]

1 hour ago, BigDave'sHeed said:

When the Hearts go marching on..

 

Well, walking, on. Kind of.

I don't think some supporters realise how shite and lacking in quality we are at the moment and should appreciate the fact we can only piss wi the boaby we've got! 

 

If we get another 0-0 in Aberdeen, that would be great. 

 

And then in January when we add some creativity and pace, those draws will become wins.

[Bazzas right boot]

Just now, Cruyff Turn said:

I don't think some supporters realise how shite and lacking in quality we are at the moment and should appreciate the fact we can only piss wi the boaby we've got! 

 

If we get another 0-0 in Aberdeen, that would be great. 

 

And then in January when we add some creativity and pace, those draws will become wins.

 

Quality, yes but also balance.

 

Very unbalanced side.

[rudi must stay]

Terrific achievement considering how bad we were after months ago