Calm Down.

[A_A wehatethehibs]

We are actually matching Dundee Uniteds season last season, nearly game for game. They had 5 losses and 5 draws from 27 games. We are assume 8 points clear, I think we’ll finish about 14 clear carbon copy of DUFC. We’ve had 3 losses 2 draws. 

But my defence of Neilson has always been all about promotion, if the gap gets cut down from 8 points... the peg will start to shoogle and those of us who’ve defended him will start to wobble. 
 

[McGlynn The Money]

6 hours ago, Bull's-eye said:

 

No idea, I don't pay any attention to what the club or manager says as its always Shite and generally leads to babymen pulling apart the comments. Good or bad. 

 

So know you're criticising the club. By your own logic that means you want the club to fail.

 

Also, the phrase "babyman".

[MCW1976]

11 hours ago, TheOnlyWayis51 said:

Sod that, you can tell when a team are on the up. That feeling on the morning of a match that you get in your stomach - excitement, anticipation, that you're going to be entertained. Footballers in the team that may be a bit rough around the edges but have the potential to get you out of your seat. The feeling that you're going to go to a team like Morton and give them a proper pumping.

 

None of this "calm down" stuff, this is Hearts, every single player in every other team in the league should be looking at us with fear and jealousy and thinking "I want to be a part of that rather than stuck here". Does anyone think that's happening right now?

We're a soft touch. We need to go and put ten past some ***** like we did with Cowdenbeath a few years back.

 

100%

[Nookie Bear]

21 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

We are actually matching Dundee Uniteds season last season, nearly game for game. They had 5 losses and 5 draws from 27 games. We are assume 8 points clear, I think we’ll finish about 14 clear carbon copy of DUFC. We’ve had 3 losses 2 draws. 

But my defence of Neilson has always been all about promotion, if the gap gets cut down from 8 points... the peg will start to shoogle and those of us who’ve defended him will start to wobble. 
 

Comparing ourselves to a club that was stuck in the Championship for 3 years. And this is a shocking and depleted Championship this year as well. 
 

Not for me. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Nookie Bear

[A_A wehatethehibs]

Just now, Nookie Bear said:

Comparing ourselves to a club that was stuck in the Championship for 3 years. And this is a shocking and depleted Championship this year as well. 
 

Not for me. 

I’m comparing the team not the club, if you look at the results it is almost carbon copy. Boyce has been our shankland.
 

[soonbe110]

11 hours ago, TheOnlyWayis51 said:

TBH from the eyes of a newcomer on here (hello btw), there will always be people who are raging after dropping points, but much as there needs to be a bit of perspective, today sums up a big problem that our league placing is papering over.

 

I'm sure everyone else on here felt the same when we were demoted from the top flight without good reason last season round. I wanted us to take that feeling and use it to drive us through the season, show no respect and to get back to where we belong. Look at the league above us, we should be cruising it in second in that league. We may have shown too much respect in the first half of the final but soon as we started going for it Celtic couldn't live with us. We should be up there fighting to be the second best team in Scotland. 

 

It started well with pumping Dundee. Problem is, that's arguably been the highlight of the league season but that's a pathetic attitude, it should have been the benchmark. The closest their defenders should have come to us today was holding open the dressing room door for them and asking for a ****ing autograph. Instead it's a meek 1-1 draw and it's happened too often. 

 

Add in the fact that general life is miserable just now and we all want to get out and about more often and it's going to create that sort of atmosphere with some people on here. I just want to get to next season now but we had a real opportunity to use that anger and drive it on to a record breaking season and absolutely thrash teams week in, week out. I'm sure that'd make everyone feel better.

 

As it is, much as today is a crap day, good times return, we'll get back into grounds and hopefully then we'll be watching a team that is playing to the level it should do. Those posters will disappear or mellow quite quickly when it happens 

Hope you are correct 

[22games nro]

Tell you what they players that are seriously under performing are very,very lucky there are no fans in the stands, not that I agree getting on players backs is the right thing, but we all know this happens.

So if the likes of Gms, popescu (other under performing players are available !) are maybe short of confidence now imagine if the fans were there, my point being if they can’t perform in the current  circumstances then I seriously fear for them being productive for us when there is a lot more pressure when fans are back.

 

Corners 

whilst I’m at it , anyone else think for the amount of corners we are averaging per game that we should be working in training on these, we seem to hardly ever get anything positive from corners 😡

[Harry Potter]

3 minutes ago, 22games nro said:

Tell you what they players that are seriously under performing are very,very lucky there are no fans in the stands, not that I agree getting on players backs is the right thing, but we all know this happens.

So if the likes of Gms, popescu (other under performing players are available !) are maybe short of confidence now imagine if the fans were there, my point being if they can’t perform in the current  circumstances then I seriously fear for them being productive for us when there is a lot more pressure when fans are back.

 

Corners 

whilst I’m at it , anyone else think for the amount of corners we are averaging per game that we should be working in training on these, we seem to hardly ever get anything positive from corners 😡

aye 12 corners, need to do better from them.

[Ethan Hunt]

51 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

We are actually matching Dundee Uniteds season last season, nearly game for game. They had 5 losses and 5 draws from 27 games. We are assume 8 points clear, I think we’ll finish about 14 clear carbon copy of DUFC. We’ve had 3 losses 2 draws. 

But my defence of Neilson has always been all about promotion, if the gap gets cut down from 8 points... the peg will start to shoogle and those of us who’ve defended him will start to wobble. 
 

And in much the same style as Dundee Utd hence their fans were doing cartwheels when Neilson fecked off.

[iainmac]

There's been a number of games this season where we've only put in a performance for half a game - yesterday being another example.

 

We know teams are going to sit in but, if we don't get a goal in the 1st half, the team seems to slide back nto the sideways / backwards passing stupor and the tempo drops.

 

There's no positive pressure coming from the stands, there's none coming from other teams mounting a league challenge, so it has to come from the manager & coaching staff.

 

It isn't!

 

 

[Billy Hoyle]

58 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

We are actually matching Dundee Uniteds season last season, nearly game for game. They had 5 losses and 5 draws from 27 games. We are assume 8 points clear, I think we’ll finish about 14 clear carbon copy of DUFC. We’ve had 3 losses 2 draws. 

But my defence of Neilson has always been all about promotion, if the gap gets cut down from 8 points... the peg will start to shoogle and those of us who’ve defended him will start to wobble. 
 

If we happen to get dragged into a title race I think we would be in massive trouble!! We don’t look like we have the players to step up to the plate when required. They just go through the motions. So frustrating to watch. 
Luckily for us the other teams are all so poor we should get the job done but it’s certainly not though good play from us. 

[davemclaren]

27 minutes ago, iainmac said:

There's been a number of games this season where we've only put in a performance for half a game - yesterday being another example.

 

We know teams are going to sit in but, if we don't get a goal in the 1st half, the team seems to slide back nto the sideways / backwards passing stupor and the tempo drops.

 

There's no positive pressure coming from the stands, there's none coming from other teams mounting a league challenge, so it has to come from the manager & coaching staff.

 

It isn't!

 

 

Interesting perspective. I certainly agree there seems little animation from the touch line during a match. The first two points you make are likely factors as well. 

[portobellojambo1]

It's sad to say it but I think we are relatively lucky in as much as within this division there is no other side who has played consecutive games well, or chances are we would not be sitting top of the league. Truth is there is no side playing that well and that is benefiting us, but even then we are contriving to make winning this division a lot more difficult than it should be. Any side should be using a season in the Championship as a learning tool, preparation for getting back up, and much though it is hard to say I don't think we are learning an awful lot of positives from this experience. One day I'm sure we'll find out why the choice of the present manager was made, but just looking at it my thoughts are we went for what was considered an easy option, someone who the owner was convinced would come back to us, without geting involved in searching about to find out if there was anyone else available. It might have been better if a lack of confidence in choosing a new manager had meant that Neilson would be given a season at Dundee United in the top division, to see if he had learned anything from his last spell there in charge of us. But we are really no further forward, and although the lack of decent opposition means we should go back up have we really built a side that is able to compete in the top division, a top division that doesn't really set the heather on fire in terms of ability. I'm not convinced the players are all poor, but I don't think we are approaching games in the way we should. It is wrong, in my opinion, for any coach to be unable to break down something as simple as a fundamental part of the game defending in depth. What we have available to us should be able to perform against this level of sides irrespective of how many defenders are put in front of us. But again the fact that bulk defensive systems seem to work against us means there has been no learning since the first time we came up against such a defensive set up, when things don't work you look to change immediately, not continue doing the things where it has been proven they don't work. I, personally, think it is amazing that in this league, given the level of opposition, we go into games with only one man in their penalty area, and fans then complain that one man up front doesn't work, but we still persevere with it. I don't know if it his choice or the coaches decision, but to me the best part of the football field that Steven Naismith has always operated in has been in and around the penalty box, for his whole career. So why, when 1 up front isn't working, and we have a known goalscorer in our ranks do we choose to put that player in the middle of the park instead of up top alongside Boyce, it just doesn't make sense to me.

Edited February 21, 2021 by portobellojambo1

[Nelly Terraces]

1 hour ago, Nookie Bear said:

Comparing ourselves to a club that was stuck in the Championship for 3 years. And this is a shocking and depleted Championship this year as well. 
 

Not for me. 

Bah! But you obviously just “WANT TO THE CLUB TO FAIL!” though mate! 

[Deevers]

The next three or four games are important.  I’m hoping for better things starting on a Friday.  The players have to start taking some responsibility for the performances on the pitch. 

[davemclaren]

2 hours ago, Nookie Bear said:

Comparing ourselves to a club that was stuck in the Championship for 3 years. And this is a shocking and depleted Championship this year as well. 
 

Not for me. 

In what way is it shocking and depleted compared to previous seasons? I get that the seasons when 3 or 2 of the five biggest clubs were in it were exceptional but not sure why this is more depleted than other seasons?

[davemclaren]

3 minutes ago, Deevers said:

The next three or four games are important.  I’m hoping for better things starting on a Friday.  The players have to start taking some responsibility for the performances on the pitch. 

Absolutely. Heading into the final round of matches after next weekend. Time to stand up and be counted and get the job done. 

[sadj]

2 hours ago, OldGorgie said:

So we didn’t win because we didn’t score. Wonderful analysis. Of course our opposition can say exactly the same thing.

You are really just impossible. Your arguments go from shouting points to twisting words. Give up , i wont be replying to you again but just to clarify. Our opposition this season score with a lot of their chances. Our conversion rate is very poor 👍🏻

Just now, davemclaren said:

In what way is it shocking and depleted compared to previous seasons? I get that the seasons when 3 or 2 of the five biggest clubs were in it were exceptional but not sure why this is more depleted than other seasons?

Because we are in it 😉

[NANOJAMBO]

1 hour ago, iainmac said:

There's been a number of games this season where we've only put in a performance for half a game - yesterday being another example.

 

We know teams are going to sit in but, if we don't get a goal in the 1st half, the team seems to slide back nto the sideways / backwards passing stupor and the tempo drops.

 

There's no positive pressure coming from the stands, there's none coming from other teams mounting a league challenge, so it has to come from the manager & coaching staff.

 

It isn't!

 

 

Great post. 

[TheBigO]

47 minutes ago, portobellojambo1 said:

It's sad to say it but I think we are relatively lucky in as much as within this division thereis no other side who has played consecutive games well, or chances are we would not be sitting top of the league. Truth is there is no side playing that well and that is benefiting us, but even then we are contriving to make winning this division a lot more difficult than it should be. Any side should be using a season in the Championship as a learning tool, preparation for getting back up, and much though it is hard to say I don't think we are learning an awful lot of positives from this experience. One day I'm sure we'll find out why the choice of the present manager was made, but just looking at it my thoughts are we went for what was considered an easy option, someone who the owner was convinced would come back to us, without geting involved in searching about to find out if there was anyone else available. It might have been better if a lack of confidence in choosing a new manager had meant that Neilson would be given a season at Dundee United in the top division, to see if he had learned anything from his last speall there in charge of us. But we are really no further forward, and although the lack of decent opposition means we should go back up have we really built a side that is able to compete in the top division, a top division that doesn't really set the heather on fire in terms of ability. I'm not convinced the players are all poor, but I don't think we are approaching games in the way we should. It is wrong, in my opinion, for any coach to be unable to break down something as simple as a fundamental part of the game defending in depth. What we have available to us should be able to perform against this level of sides irrespective of how many defenders are put in front of us. But again the fact that bulk defensive systems seem to work against us means there has been no learning since the first time we came up against such a defensive set up, when things don't work you look to change immediately, not continue doing the things where it has been proven they don't work. I, personally, think it is amazing that in this league, given the level of opposition, we go into games with only one man in their penalty area, and fans then complain that one man up front doesn't work, but we still persevere with it. I don't know if it his choice or the coaches decision, but to me the best part of the football field that Steven Naismith has always operated in has been in and around the penalty box, for his whole career. So why, when 1 up front isn't working, and we have a known goalscorer in our ranks do we choose to put that player in the middle of the park instead of up top alongside Boyce, it just doesn't make sense to me.

All pretty spot on. Maybe not popular but I think we should have been giving Stendel a go at this.

 

The decision to get Robbie, for me, was 100% because we KNEW he'd bring us up 1st time. That was number 1 priority no matter how it happened and I kinda get that I guess.

 

What we've given up in place of that guarantee is an exciting and definite style  in place of very Scottish stolid unimaginative fare.

 

Let's see I guess.

 

What is worth noting is that very very few teams are playing well consistently. Times are tough with restrictions etc and I'd imagine more so for teams with squad turnover and with a lot to work on, which includes us very much. Not an excuse as such but perhaps a factor.

 

I just keep waiting for Robbie to take the shackles off and I have a fading hope he will next season, but it is fading.

 

Your comments on Naismith sum the whole thing up for me. The fullbacks in-possession positioning and continued selection of Halliday other glaring factors which point to a manager whose instinct will always be to play safe.

[gordiegords]

Ive spoken to a few Dundee United fans recently and when i was moaning about our position, style of play etc, everyone of them told me it was like having a convo from last season between united fans, worryingly so this is the style he plays now, its crap, gonna be a long road until he goes to as budge seems to be a big fan. 

[davemclaren]

10 minutes ago, gordiegords said:

Ive spoken to a few Dundee United fans recently and when i was moaning about our position, style of play etc, everyone of them told me it was like having a convo from last season between united fans, worryingly so this is the style he plays now, its crap, gonna be a long road until he goes to as budge seems to be a big fan. 

He’ll end up at Dundee next season as a promotion specialist manager ( assuming we get promoted ). 😉

[credit card]

How about we learn to pass the ball FORWARD three times in a row?

[Jambo in Bathgate]

19 minutes ago, gordiegords said:

Ive spoken to a few Dundee United fans recently and when i was moaning about our position, style of play etc, everyone of them told me it was like having a convo from last season between united fans, worryingly so this is the style he plays now, its crap, gonna be a long road until he goes to as budge seems to be a big fan. 

You are taking a dive from Dundee United fans. 😂

[Jambo in Bathgate]

Just now, Jambo in Bathgate said:

You are taking a dive from Dundee United fans. 😂

That should be advice!!! F...... predictive text . 

[Bainy]

Its getting to the point that to sit at home when I've nothing else to do and watch hearts on a Saturday afternoon is becoming a chore.  Bored to tears of the same garbage, the style has barely changed since levein, slow sluggish passing around at the back with no idea how to break teams down who are happy for us to have 70 percent possession and roll the ball around at the back.  We still have very little quality in the middle that can unlock a defence. 

 

 

[theshed]

2 minutes ago, Bainy said:

Its getting to the point that to sit at home when I've nothing else to do and watch hearts on a Saturday afternoon is becoming a chore.  Bored to tears of the same garbage, the style has barely changed since levein, slow sluggish passing around at the back with no idea how to break teams down who are happy for us to have 70 percent possession and roll the ball around at the back.  We still have very little quality in the middle that can unlock a defence. 

 

 

 

When they scored I just sat and laughed and shook my head when normally I’ve be going nuts. Gave it another 5 mins after they scored and after that I turned it over to sky sports to watch the goals coming in as had a coupon on and got more excitement from that 

 

Ps I lost again and be as well giving that up 😂

[iainmac]

4 minutes ago, theshed said:

 

When they scored I just sat and laughed and shook my head when normally I’ve be going nuts. Gave it another 5 mins after they scored and after that I turned it over to sky sports to watch the goals coming in as had a coupon on and got more excitement from that 

 

Ps I lost again and be as well giving that up 😂

 

That'll teach you to put us down for a home win! 😁

[Glamorgan Jambo]

Not going to pretend yesterday was good

viewing. Especially after they laid off our centre backs in the first 10/15 minutes when we should have been quickly able to establish some tempo to our passing and movement.
 

In the fullness of time the story of this season will emerge. All teams have been affected including the absence of reserve/U21 games to get players up to speed and to keep fringe players match ready. The only team that has managed this well in Scotland is the Orcs at Ibrox. Gerrard regularly rotates his team and of course they have extra European games to ensure players are fresh. Would

love to know what they’re doing in training too. Suspect they have very high standards of the level of commitment needed through the week (didn’t Lafferty get launched for his half baked approach to a closed doors bounce game).

 

Anyway all that matters is getting out of this league. We’ll have the benefit on Friday of Inverness being in the middle of a heavy spell of games after a pretty long break. 

 

[Holyrood_Hearts]

16 hours ago, Selkirkhmfc1874 said:

Most of us agree the football hasn't been great and there needs to be changes on the park in the summer but everytime we lose / draw it's get rid of this one and that one !! Change has happened with bringing in a chief executive and a Director of Football but we've got to give them a little bit of time to make the changes they see necessary.

Most of us??? Everybody can see the football isn’t great. It’s been like that all season. Given the quality of player available to RN, the fact we’ve never won a league game after conceding the 1st goal is a worry. 
 

Looking at the bigger picture, where we are heading is a huge concern. On the pitch there’s lots of questions of Neilson, the tactics, mentality of the team, form of individual players. 
 

As you mention the CEO- where is Andrew McKinlay? He’s barely been heard nevermind seen since his appointment. What’s he doing at the club? 

[22games nro]

The formation obviously isn’t working, why do we not start with 2 up front, big nando and Boyce, if nothing else it would be a change to the rigmarole of struggling to break down teams, I think Boyce would reap benefits of having a striker alongside him rather than the same old stuff every weekend 

[Selkirkhmfc1874]

14 minutes ago, Holyrood_Hearts said:

Most of us??? Everybody can see the football isn’t great. It’s been like that all season. Given the quality of player available to RN, the fact we’ve never won a league game after conceding the 1st goal is a worry. 
 

Looking at the bigger picture, where we are heading is a huge concern. On the pitch there’s lots of questions of Neilson, the tactics, mentality of the team, form of individual players. 
 

As you mention the CEO- where is Andrew McKinlay? He’s barely been heard nevermind seen since his appointment. What’s he doing at the club? 

A agree the football isn't great and have said so many times on here ! I've also said Robbie will get us up but isn't the right man for us once we up ! I agree with all the negativity about performance, recruitment these last few years but my point was let's wait and give the chief Executive/ Director Of Football a chance to see what they do about it because our new Director Of Football is a football man so he'll be seeing it same way as us.

[Deevers]

18 minutes ago, 22games nro said:

The formation obviously isn’t working, why do we not start with 2 up front, big nando and Boyce, if nothing else it would be a change to the rigmarole of struggling to break down teams, I think Boyce would reap benefits of having a striker alongside him rather than the same old stuff every weekend 

It became increasingly obvious that the tactics being employed were not working, yet it took well into the second half before there was and change. I hate to say it but there are times when playing against some teams route one football is the way forward. Yesterday - loads of possession yet only 5 on target attempts at goal.

[Jamhammer]

4 hours ago, 22games nro said:

Tell you what they players that are seriously under performing are very,very lucky there are no fans in the stands, not that I agree getting on players backs is the right thing, but we all know this happens.

So if the likes of Gms, popescu (other under performing players are available !) are maybe short of confidence now imagine if the fans were there, my point being if they can’t perform in the current  circumstances then I seriously fear for them being productive for us when there is a lot more pressure when fans are back.

 

Corners 

whilst I’m at it , anyone else think for the amount of corners we are averaging per game that we should be working in training on these, we seem to hardly ever get anything positive from corners 😡

Every one yesterday was deep. Wee bit variety FFS!

[Robbo-Jambo]

16 hours ago, merrymac said:

Just need a couple more transfer windows...............................................

To bring in another four wingers. 

 

Bound to find a decent one eventually. 😏

[davemclaren]

4 minutes ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

To bring in another four wingers. 

 

Bound to find a decent one eventually. 😏

He found at least one decent one but he got injured. 🥴

[Robbo-Jambo]

1 minute ago, davemclaren said:

He found at least one decent one but he got injured. 🥴

Yeah but that was number five 😅

[BelgeJambo]

Anybody think, that actually, all the championship club’s could probably take points off most of the bottom six in the SPFL.

 

From what I’ve seen this season, Hamilton, Ross County, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, St Johnstone and Dundee United wouldn’t  be running away with the championship anymore than we are currently

[iainmac]

9 minutes ago, BelgeJambo said:

Anybody think, that actually, all the championship club’s could probably take points off most of the bottom six in the SPFL.

 

From what I’ve seen this season, Hamilton, Ross County, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, St Johnstone and Dundee United wouldn’t  be running away with the championship anymore than we are currently

 

No doubt about it but that's not really where our expectations lie.

 

Not one of our opponents has been able to out a run of results together & that's one of the factors in our procession to winning the league. If the pressure was really on, I'm not convinced that this team would be able to handle it, unlike the last time in the Championship.

[henryheart]

7 minutes ago, BelgeJambo said:

Anybody think, that actually, all the championship club’s could probably take points off most of the bottom six in the SPFL.

 

From what I’ve seen this season, Hamilton, Ross County, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, St Johnstone and Dundee United wouldn’t  be running away with the championship anymore than we are currently

 

Maybe not, but how would we get on against the bottom six in the Premier League, or whatever you call it? No matter what you say about these teams, as we saw last season they all know how to defend and can hit on the break and capitalise on mistakes. If we were in the top division this year, I suspect we would lose more goals and would score less than last season, in other words a year down the line we are a worse team. Looking at the competition before the season started, winning the league was always a given. This season should be about more than just getting up; it is about building for the future of which there is no sign of whatsoever.    

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

4 hours ago, BelgeJambo said:

Anybody think, that actually, all the championship club’s could probably take points off most of the bottom six in the SPFL.

 

From what I’ve seen this season, Hamilton, Ross County, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, St Johnstone and Dundee United wouldn’t  be running away with the championship anymore than we are currently

Yes, let’s set our benchmark as a bunch of wank teams in the Premiership 

[Robbo-Jambo]

4 hours ago, henryheart said:

 

Maybe not, but how would we get on against the bottom six in the Premier League, or whatever you call it? No matter what you say about these teams, as we saw last season they all know how to defend and can hit on the break and capitalise on mistakes. If we were in the top division this year, I suspect we would lose more goals and would score less than last season, in other words a year down the line we are a worse team. Looking at the competition before the season started, winning the league was always a given. This season should be about more than just getting up; it is about building for the future of which there is no sign of whatsoever.    

Good post. 

 

Hard to argue with any of that. 

 

We are going backwards under the present management. 

 

 

 

 

[McGlynn The Money]

18 minutes ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

Yes, let’s set our benchmark as a bunch of wank teams in the Premiership 

 

How dare you be so negative? Don't you know we have no divine right to win any game, not even games in the second tier where not every club is full time?

 

The club is in great shape on and off the pitch. Recruitment is a dream and the academy is basically just a conveyor belt of young stars ready to step up to the first team.

 

 

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

18 minutes ago, McGlynn The Money said:

 

How dare you be so negative? Don't you know we have no divine right to win any game, not even games in the second tier where not every club is full time?

 

The club is in great shape on and off the pitch. Recruitment is a dream and the academy is basically just a conveyor belt of young stars ready to step up to the first team.

 

 

and the SKYLOUNGE 💃

[McGlynn The Money]

12 minutes ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

and the SKYLOUNGE 💃

 

Right enough! I forgot about that.

[OldGorgie]

9 hours ago, sadj said:

You are really just impossible. Your arguments go from shouting points to twisting words. Give up , i wont be replying to you again but just to clarify. Our opposition this season score with a lot of their chances. Our conversion rate is very poor 👍🏻

Because we are in it 😉

I think that’s called stating the bleeding obvious. I’ll follow with another bleeding obvious statement our play is dire, our signings are a joke and our performance against teams way below us in the rankings are feeble. Yet some think we can compete against the best in the Premier league. Obvious question is  Why?