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Key Turning Points This Season


Highlander

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Standing scratching my head last night at McDiarmid Park trying to work out why St Johnstone had been given a penalty, I wondered if there was another reason for our current position.

No doubt our current injury list has played a big part in a decrease in self-belief and self-confidence but, this season, the biggest turning points have largely been down to the SFA.

Hearts 0 v 0 Hibernian - Legitimate goal by Dikamona called off side

Hearts 1 v 2 Rangers - Illegitimate goal by Morelos called on side
St Johnstone 2 v 2 Hearts - Illegitimate penalty against Gordon given

If these decisions are called correctly, we are still top of the league and one point clear.  

And throw in things we could have done better like Naismith scoring his penalty against Livingston and we are three clear. 

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My thinking on last night's penalty ( I wasn't there - just the Alba viewing) is that Haring was probably viewed as "persistently fouling" in the immediate run-up to the penalty … then rightly or wrongly (obviously the latter) Dallas took the opportunity to punish him by giving the penalty.

 

Gordon = Haring in your post, or had Peter got a new nickname ? 

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Berra gets injured - out for 3 months

Souttar and Ikpeazu get injured - out for 5 months

Naismith gets injured - out for 2 months

Dunne gets injured - out for 2 months

 

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As much as the two decisions this week were ridiculous and key, if we had our better players fit then individual referee errors would have had far less effect. 

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4 minutes ago, jambovambo said:

Gordon = Haring in your post, or had Peter got a new nickname ? 

 

Gordon - the name of player against whom the alleged offence was committed.

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5 minutes ago, Highlander said:

 

Gordon - the name of player against whom the alleged offence was committed.

 

Liam Gordon ex Hearts. Given his chance by Tommy Wright so fair play. 

 

Notable for missing the penalty in shoot out that would have won us the 2014 Youth Cup. 

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bringonthesevco

Not replacing Lafferty either with a loan signing until Jan , securing Vanecek early or by cancelling the loan of one of our young strikes .....

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1 minute ago, bringonthesevco said:

Not replacing Lafferty either with a loan signing until Jan , securing Vanecek early or by cancelling the loan of one of our young strikes .....

 

Uche replaced Lafferty 

 

Just the sequence was in different order

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SectionDJambo

The injuries to key players have been, for me, the main turning point. By key players, I mean the 2 leaders in Berra and Naismith, and the big guy Uche, who would probably have made a big impact similar to De Vries, as far as his physical presence up front is concerned. Souttar is a big miss but Dunne was doing a great job there, and him and Berra together would have tied up our back line.

A very unfortunate time with these injuries and we have been unlucky with some crucial decisions from the officials as well.

Nobody could have predicted all these injuries before the transfer window closed.

General confidence of the team suffered and may take a bit of getting back.

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28 minutes ago, Highlander said:

Standing scratching my head last night at McDiarmid Park trying to work out why St Johnstone had been given a penalty, I wondered if there was another reason for our current position.

No doubt our current injury list has played a big part in a decrease in self-belief and self-confidence but, this season, the biggest turning points have largely been down to the SFA.

Hearts 0 v 0 Hibernian - Legitimate goal by Dikamona called off side

Hearts 1 v 2 Rangers - Illegitimate goal by Morelos called on side
St Johnstone 2 v 2 Hearts - Illegitimate penalty against Gordon given

If these decisions are called correctly, we are still top of the league and one point clear.  

And throw in things we could have done better like Naismith scoring his penalty against Livingston and we are three clear. 

Not sure the goal v Hibs was legit htough I'd have happily taken it BUT you're missing the one wrongly disallowed for offside from MacLean v Killie which was played through by a Killie player. Would have put us 1 up and forced Killie to abandon sitting deep and counter attacking which they eventually scored from. That would have kept us top of the league too.

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EastSideJambo
4 minutes ago, SectionDJambo said:

The injuries to key players have been, for me, the main turning point. By key players, I mean the 2 leaders in Berra and Naismith, and the big guy Uche, who would probably have made a big impact similar to De Vries, as far as his physical presence up front is concerned. Souttar is a big miss but Dunne was doing a great job there, and him and Berra together would have tied up our back line.

A very unfortunate time with these injuries and we have been unlucky with some crucial decisions from the officials as well.

Nobody could have predicted all these injuries before the transfer window closed.

General confidence of the team suffered and may take a bit of getting back.

What do you make of our midfield creativity and ability to make clear cut chances? 

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We might find we can get back to a good team in the next weeks. 

 

Many people seem to think the manager is hopeless. But we played good attacking football up to before the semi final. 

 

So not all lost. 

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26 minutes ago, EastSideJambo said:

What do you make of our midfield creativity and ability to make clear cut chances? 

Very poor since the Naismith injury. 

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2 minutes ago, farin said:

 

Yep, losing Berra was bad but Naismith was the key turning point, it’s been downhill since then partly helped by refereeing incompetence. Once he’s back we’ll see a different hearts team & better results hopefully.. 

If we base it on performances before he was injured then logic suggests that will be the case. ??‍♂️

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1 hour ago, RobboM said:

Not sure the goal v Hibs was legit htough I'd have happily taken it BUT you're missing the one wrongly disallowed for offside from MacLean v Killie which was played through by a Killie player. Would have put us 1 up and forced Killie to abandon sitting deep and counter attacking which they eventually scored from. That would have kept us top of the league too.

 

Good shout! I knew there'd be at least one I'd missed.

 

The Hibs goal was legit because it hit the defender last before going in. 

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I think Naismith was the 'noise' on the pitch. Either firing up opponents or firing up the Hearts players around him.

 

Berra is a fantastic Captain but I feel the loss of Naismith has been more significant than thought possible.

All through my years of following Hearts we have dealt with 1 or at most 2 main players being injured at once. Levein, McClaren, Locke, Cameron etc, but we could mostly cope with 1 or 2 out long term. Having 4 players that you have too consider as first picks for a Saturday has knocked the team confidence wise.

 

We are Hearts supporters so dodgy ref decisions are the norm. Some of the new players I think are just now getting wise to the old firm leanings of the controlling body and the ref's who work for it.

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The turning point in our season started with the 1st minute booking of Steven MacLean in the semi. That has set the tone for everything that has followed since. Also coincides with the game that we embarrassed the SFA and got them to change the venue of the semi from the national stadium, making the SFA look ridiculously incompetent, even more than they manage themselves. That wouldn’t surely be the reason behind the refs and SFA circling the wagons on us, that would be crazy Celtic talk ?

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10 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

The turning point in our season started with the 1st minute booking of Steven MacLean in the semi. That has set the tone for everything that has followed since. Also coincides with the game that we embarrassed the SFA and got them to change the venue of the semi from the national stadium, making the SFA look ridiculously incompetent, even more than they manage themselves. That wouldn’t surely be the reason behind the refs and SFA circling the wagons on us, that would be crazy Celtic talk ?

Its not a bad point actually - the Sheep have also been victim of some dodgy decisions recently..

But its all just a big unlucky coincidence- isn't it ?:mw_rolleyes:

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4 minutes ago, merrymac said:

Its not a bad point actually - the Sheep have also been victim of some dodgy decisions recently..

But its all just a big unlucky coincidence- isn't it ?:mw_rolleyes:

Just human error mate. These things level out as the season goes on. Add in the fact that our manager also name dropped the head ref. 

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Just now, busby1985 said:

Just human error mate. These things level out as the season goes on. Add in the fact that our manager also name dropped the head ref. 

Beware the revenge of the Referee posse:rofl:

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Nineteenthofmay

Last 3 games weve been robbed of:

1 point v Killie- they got given 2. (Offside goal should have stood)

1 point v rangers- they gained 2.

2 points v St J- they gained 1.

Avoid those decisions and the league table is looking great. Tough to take

 

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10 minutes ago, merrymac said:

Beware the revenge of the Referee posse:rofl:

It will be swept under the carpet as nothing sinister but it’s glaringly obvious now that something is going on. 

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1 hour ago, farin said:

 

We’ve sorely missed his drive & goals, quicker he’s back the better. ?

Also his movement and harrying meant we would defend from the front. That means the opposition are a bit more cautious when attacking

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43 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

It will be swept under the carpet as nothing sinister but it’s glaringly obvious now that something is going on. 

Its been going on since god was a boy. A combination of more focus and more cameras at games is bringing it to the fore.

Combined with them trying to put us back in our box,at the moment.

You watch Kilmarnock will be next, cos they are daring to steal the headlines from the uglies.

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The main turning point was Naisy getting injured at Murrayfield. That was the straw that broke the camels back. Then we fell apart at the seams. 

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Losing Souttar, Uche and Naismith has hindered our game plan that was proving effective. We play it out from the back too slow with Dikamoma. It's switched side to side slowly so teams can sit in. There's no focal point in uche to occupy 2 defenders and hold the ball up for willing runners. 

Naismith was a great link between uche and the midfield. Since losing him Lee and Haring don't look the same either in possession. 

Missing leaders in Naismith and Berra has resulted in poorer performances and the standard has dropped with no leader getting on players back or picking them up. Haring isn't a captain tbh.

 

As bad as the refs decisions have been, had we had our best players on the park those games would be totally different. 

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3 hours ago, busby1985 said:

Just human error mate. These things level out as the season goes on. Add in the fact that our manager also name dropped the head ref. 

 

There is actually a lot of sense in both your posts. In relation to the above, it was fascinating to note Levein's unusual display of discretion in his Sky News interview where he refused to comment on the penalty or what he said to Dallas after the match. 

 

Calling our discrepencies this season has done him no favours, other than endear him more to his own fans, but it has certainly been a thorn in the side of the SFA.

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Leadership on the pitch vanished along with Naismith. 

 

Nobody stepped up to the plate as soon as he went off against Celtic and nobody did until Berra returned on Sunday. 

I'm hoping this will change over time and the new players will settle and hopefully a few will become more vocal and step up. Bozanic looks like a feisty character, can't see Lee or Haring taking a grip of a game and Djoum doesn't seem vocal enough. 

It's difficult for young players take leadership on their shoulders.

I'm sure it's something that's been noted by Mr Levein and I expect this issue to be addressed rather quickly.

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Tokyo Drifter
6 hours ago, Highlander said:

Standing scratching my head last night at McDiarmid Park trying to work out why St Johnstone had been given a penalty, I wondered if there was another reason for our current position.

No doubt our current injury list has played a big part in a decrease in self-belief and self-confidence but, this season, the biggest turning points have largely been down to the SFA.

Hearts 0 v 0 Hibernian - Legitimate goal by Dikamona called off side

Hearts 1 v 2 Rangers - Illegitimate goal by Morelos called on side
St Johnstone 2 v 2 Hearts - Illegitimate penalty against Gordon given

If these decisions are called correctly, we are still top of the league and one point clear.  

And throw in things we could have done better like Naismith scoring his penalty against Livingston and we are three clear. 

I think if Naisey had buried the pen against Livingston we'd still be top.

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We have had a terrible run with a mixture of long term injuries to key players, our manager having a heart attack and some poor referee performances. I agree with others that losing Naismith has had a more profound effect on the team as our midfield has been relatively ineffective since he was injured. 

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4 minutes ago, Macros said:

We have had a terrible run with a mixture of long term injuries to key players, our manager having a heart attack and some poor referee performances. I agree with others that losing Naismith has had a more profound effect on the team as our midfield has been relatively ineffective since he was injured. 

Totally agree.

Suggest we get Naisy signed on a pre-contract sharpish in January, or we will face the same issues next year.

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SectionDJambo
8 hours ago, EastSideJambo said:

What do you make of our midfield creativity and ability to make clear cut chances? 

I think they have been found out by Naismith's absence. We badly need a midfield player who can run beyond the front one or two. Someone like Cameron and Hartley, who don't grow on trees. 

 

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EastSideJambo
12 minutes ago, SectionDJambo said:

I think they have been found out by Naismith's absence. We badly need a midfield player who can run beyond the front one or two. Someone like Cameron and Hartley, who don't grow on trees. 

 

We are crying out for that type. Sadly that type of player isn't overly prevalent in this era of football 

 

Djoum could potentially be that player in the right circumstances.  That was an excellent goal he got last night 

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7 hours ago, Highlander said:

 

Good shout! I knew there'd be at least one I'd missed.

 

The Hibs goal was legit because it hit the defender last before going in. 

it wasn't

2 hours ago, jambomjm74 said:

We didn’t sign the big Czech centre forward —— not that we didn’t try but ... 

we did but he cant play till January

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queensferryjambo
7 hours ago, Nineteenthofmay said:

Last 3 games weve been robbed of:

1 point v Killie- they got given 2. (Offside goal should have stood)

1 point v rangers- they gained 2.

2 points v St J- they gained 1.

Avoid those decisions and the league table is looking great. Tough to take

 

 

We went 1-0 up against Killie and goal was chalked off. Hearts played very well in that game and IMO had MacLean's goal stood I think we would have won 3 points.  

 

Just my opinion of course. In reality we might have went 1-0 up and got beaten 2-1 you just never know.

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If (big if) we can beat Motherwell and Kilmarnock continue their unbeaten run against Celtic then it will be even tighter at the top after this weekend. Rangers will have Morelos out for a few games as well now as he was already due a suspension and now has a red card on top. Does he miss two games or three now?

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9 hours ago, Cruyff Turn said:

The main turning point was Naisy getting injured at Murrayfield. That was the straw that broke the camels back. Then we fell apart at the seams. 

 

Bringing on Amankwaa in his place was the start of the freefall.

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The rot started with a sloppy second half performance against ST Mirren(4-1 game) followed by a woeful attacking display (and tactics) against Livingston(0-0 game) and  then we shat the bed against the Hun(0-3 game) shortly afterwards.. Until Hearts stop defending leads and go for more goals, like the OF do, we will be inferior to them. Its all about mentality.

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Not so much turning points, but key points in the season. 

 

1-0 Vs Celtic (Showed we could dominate games against the old firm) 

 

0-1 Vs Motherwell (We could grind out results, but also could play some great football)

 

3-1 Vs Rangers (Maybe we’re not as good as we thought) 

 

0-3 Vs Celtic (Naismith’s Injury)

 

2-0 Vs St Mirren (We’re back to exactly where we were last season and maybe even worse) 

 

Aberdeen 22/12 (Naismith back =Hearts back to being a half decent attacking team and hopefully back to what we saw before November)

 

 

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Terrible signings yet again

missing penalty v Livi

Losing Berra, Uche, Souttar and Naismith for so many games

Wrong end of terrible decisions by the officials

Drop in form of Zlamal, Lee and Haring

Playing Wighton and Mclean

 

A lot to cram in before the half way point. You gotta hope that the we have seen the worst.

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33 minutes ago, lsimp77 said:

Not so much turning points, but key points in the season. 

 

1-0 Vs Celtic (Showed we could dominate games against the old firm) 

 

0-1 Vs Motherwell (We could grind out results, but also could play some great football)

 

3-1 Vs Rangers (Maybe we’re not as good as we thought) 

 

0-3 Vs Celtic (Naismith’s Injury)

 

2-0 Vs St Mirren (We’re back to exactly where we were last season and maybe even worse) 

 

Aberdeen 22/12 (Naismith back =Hearts back to being a half decent attacking team and hopefully back to what we saw before November)

 

 

 

 

Naismith missing the penalty v Livi. That game knocked the wind out our sails.

Edited by i8hibsh
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Interesting comments re: Naismith. And to think that the last time we had a close challenge for the title we had Rudi Skacel in effectively the same position. 

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Definitely losing Naismith

he would drive at least one opposing player to the brink of suicide with his constant in their face 

 

Is he still top scorer in the league?

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