***Official Celtic v Hearts LC Match Thread***

[Francis Albert]

5 minutes ago, The Treasurer said:

By their own admission that is the best sellik have played in a long time. So regardless of how the game went I think it shows signs that we are slowly improving. That first half was far from acceptable but Hearts teams of the past would have lost 5 or 6 nil 

I know I'll get slaughtered for this but I prefer the glass half full approach rather than just doom and gloom 

A long time since they were given the freedom of the pitch like in the first half 

[Pasquale for King]

1 hour ago, Horatio Caine said:

Well, the 2020 Cup Final was the same.  Terrible first half, all the wrong tactics, sorted second half.  Robbie's memory presumably doesn't go that far back.

He said after it that we move on, no point going over it. You never learn if you can’t accept mistakes you’ve made and try not to do it again. I would expect the exact same tactics next time we are in Glasgow. 

[Pasquale for King]

37 minutes ago, dustybin said:

When Naismith hung up his boots the priority should have been to sign a striker, Gnanduillet isn't the answer, was he injured for Sunday? 

I was thinking about him yesterday, I know he’s on the bench as a coach but we really needed someone like him to take the ball and get fouls etc to get us up the park. I also think he would’ve told Boyce to stay further up the park, it’s difficult to criticise him for coming so deep to help out but we really needed him higher up the pitch. 

[Robbo-Jambo]

5 hours ago, Boab said:

It won’t be for most league games but you can bet it will be away to the OF.

Yip, and we end up with the same doing.

 

Let's face it 3 - 2 was not a true reflection of the game.

 

Ibrox or Parkhead, he will crap it and try and park the bus until it is too late.

 

He has a losers mentality which will never change imo. 

[frankblack]

20 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

A long time since they were given the freedom of the pitch like in the first half 

 

I wouldn't call a week a long time since they gutted Dundee 5-0.

[frankblack]

Just now, Robbo-Jambo said:

Yip, and we end up with the same doing.

 

Let's face it 3 - 2 was not a true reflection of the game.

 

Ibrox or Parkhead, he will crap it and try and park the bus until it is too late.

 

He has a losers mentality which will never change imo. 

 

3-2 was the final score regardless of how you try to dismiss it.

 

Maybe he should have gone Daniel Stendel and press high and get gubbed 5 or 6 nil?

[Robbo-Jambo]

30 minutes ago, The Treasurer said:

By their own admission that is the best sellik have played in a long time. So regardless of how the game went I think it shows signs that we are slowly improving. That first half was far from acceptable but Hearts teams of the past would have lost 5 or 6 nil 

I know I'll get slaughtered for this but I prefer the glass half full approach rather than just doom and gloom 

If we had any goalkeeper other than Gordon it would have been about six.

 

They did play well but there is no excuse for that first half.

 

The players looked like they had no idea what their role was and had just met each other before kick off.

[Robbo-Jambo]

6 minutes ago, frankblack said:

 

3-2 was the final score regardless of how you try to dismiss it.

 

Maybe he should have gone Daniel Stendel and press high and get gubbed 5 or 6 nil?

Gordon was the only reason it was three. 😏

[The Treasurer]

5 minutes ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

If we had any goalkeeper other than Gordon it would have been about six.

 

They did play well but there is no excuse for that first half.

 

The players looked like they had no idea what their role was and had just met each other before kick off.

We did have CG in goals so your point is irrelevant. 

Agreed, the first half was shocking. 

I think that sellik pinned us back, something we've not been used to for 18 months

[GinRummy]

1 minute ago, The Treasurer said:

We did have CG in goals so your point is irrelevant. 

Agreed, the first half was shocking. 

I think that sellik pinned us back, something we've not been used to for 18 months

If it was Celtic’s plan to pin us back, how happy would they have been to find we were happy to start defending 10 yards inside our own half. 

[Hackney Hearts]

11 minutes ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Gordon was the only reason it was three. 😏

 

Yes Gordon was brilliant, but I think it's unfair to ignore a lot of great work done by the defence (even Halkett occasionally!) - especially as they had to defend for virtually 100% of that first 45, with no respite. Ironically Celtic's opener didn't come from us sitting too deep in numbers - it came from an incisive long through ball when we inexplicably found ourselves up the pitch for a couple of moments. And the second was from a corner where we switched off (or Halkett switched off). 

 

 

More irony: we managed to score 2 goals at Parkhead. If we'd managed to do that at home to ICT, we wouldn't have had to go to bloody Parkhead in the first place.

(money spinner though 😊 👍)

Edited August 16, 2021 by Hackney Hearts

[Robbo-Jambo]

3 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

If it was Celtic’s plan to pin us back, how happy would they have been to find we were happy to start defending 10 yards inside our own half. 

Exactly.

[Robbo-Jambo]

3 hours ago, Brauhauser2012 said:

Many people on here guessed the strategy days before the game started. Its the old we can't win away, its a hard place to get a win thought process. Defending in a league game, its a tactic that can win over the course of the season, but in a cup game its a win or lose situation. Sitting back, and let them hammer us for 45 minutes, was really poor tactics, and it was predictable. I'm guessing Celtic probably expected this too, based on previous games. They probably set their team up with this in mind and we played into their hands. The big question now is, are we going to learn from this?

We won't with the current management team in place.

[iainmac]

1 hour ago, The Treasurer said:

By their own admission that is the best sellik have played in a long time. So regardless of how the game went I think it shows signs that we are slowly improving. That first half was far from acceptable but Hearts teams of the past would have lost 5 or 6 nil 

I know I'll get slaughtered for this but I prefer the glass half full approach rather than just doom and gloom 

 

Lots of people saying this but it is acceptable in our Board room.

[King prawn]

You could tell they were going to have as many shots at goal as they wanted as soon as we lined up with 8 defensive players on the pitch plus Gordon, GMS and Boyce. 
 

As soon as we had someone to give the ball too in Ginnelley we looked a bit better - even more so with McEneff in the middle. 
 

I understand not going to Celtic Park and trying to go toe to toe with them but setting up to sit on the edge of our own box was never going to go well. 
 

Also, hope someone clatters Kyogo the diving wee cheat. Give him a real reason to hit the deck. 

[The Treasurer]

11 minutes ago, iainmac said:

 

Lots of people saying this but it is acceptable in our Board room.

Is it? 

I very much doubt anyone connected to the club would have been satisfied with that first half 

[iainmac]

Just now, The Treasurer said:

Is it? 

I very much doubt anyone connected to the club would have been satisfied with that first half 

 

It was identical to the 1st half in the Cup Final, which gets glossed over due to our snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in that game.

 

They might not be satisfied but they accept it and just move on.

[Savage Vince]

Our opponents certainly ripped up the 'worst Celtic side in a generation' chat from a few weeks ago. 

 

That was as bad a doing as we've had through there and the scoreline flattered us immensely. Their movement was unreal at times, dancing around Halkett, Haring and Smith, who were all worse than rubbish. 

 

The only positive from the match was we didn't get any tickets. 

[Boab]

53 minutes ago, King prawn said:

You could tell they were going to have as many shots at goal as they wanted as soon as we lined up with 8 defensive players on the pitch plus Gordon, GMS and Boyce. 
 

As soon as we had someone to give the ball too in Ginnelley we looked a bit better - even more so with McEneff in the middle. 
 

I understand not going to Celtic Park and trying to go toe to toe with them but setting up to sit on the edge of our own box was never going to go well. 
 

Also, hope someone clatters Kyogo the diving wee cheat. Give him a real reason to hit the deck. 

Yip.

If Ginnelly only had 60mins or so in him, why not start him ? And McEneff ? 

Setting up the way we did was asking for trouble. No team could keep up the intensity they did in the first half. The second half proved it.

[Pasquale for King]

1 hour ago, Savage Vince said:

Our opponents certainly ripped up the 'worst Celtic side in a generation' chat from a few weeks ago. 

 

That was as bad a doing as we've had through there and the scoreline flattered us immensely. Their movement was unreal at times, dancing around Halkett, Haring and Smith, who were all worse than rubbish. 

 

The only positive from the match was we didn't get any tickets. 

None of those three were substituted at HT as bad as they were, Halliday was the worst player on the park. 
We should get a few hundred grand off them which was a positive also. 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Pasquale for King

[Savage Vince]

2 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

None of those three were substituted at HT as bad as they were, Halliday was the worst player on the park. 
We should get a few hundred grand off them which was a positive also. 

 

I forgot he was playing. 

[ri Alban]

4 hours ago, Jambof3tornado said:

Watched the highlights again, halkett looks worse each time you watch it. As for folk blaming gordon for deflecting the 3rd into the net, away and dont talk shite,he was lucky to get a paw on it!!

More his pish clearance.

[leginten]

2 hours ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

If we had any goalkeeper other than Gordon it would have been about six.

 

They did play well but there is no excuse for that first half.

 

The players looked like they had no idea what their role was and had just met each other before kick off.

This is a simple point but it hits the nail on the head. And it’s far from being the only instance in recent years. For 45 minutes - the whole first half - we were just about as clueless, directionless and abject as it’s possible for a football team to be. Any uninitiated neutral looking in would have assumed that one team was from about five tiers below the other; had you explained to them that the team camped in its own half inviting the relentless pummelling had beaten the team in green two weeks previously, they probably would have laughed in your face.

 

Losing to Celtic is not in itself unacceptable. I’ve seen plenty of that in the last fifty years. Playing the way we did in that first half is completely unacceptable, not to mention absolutely mystifying.

[The Treasurer]

1 hour ago, iainmac said:

 

It was identical to the 1st half in the Cup Final, which gets glossed over due to our snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in that game.

 

They might not be satisfied but they accept it and just move on.

By "moving on" do you mean trying to improve the team by authorising the signing of new players. 

If they thought where we are is acceptable then there would be no new players and no restructuring of the scouting system 

[DS98]

After 24 hours of reflection I’ve came to a more positive outlook. 
 

We got well and truly outplayed and outclassed in the first 45, it was very similar to Dundee at Celtic park the week before. They were relentless. Everyone is saying we got off lightly, 3-2 isn’t a fair reflection and if it wasn’t for Craig Gordon etc etc. We’ll you know what? Craig Gordon is our player and our captain. That’s what he is there for. The reason we got beat is we set up poorly and they have better players than us. The reason we never got scudded 6-0 wasn’t luck, it was because we have a class goalkeeper but also we actually defended our box brilliantly. If Celtic play like that at home there is maybe only 1 team out of 11 that could cope and I’m no even sure about that. 

 

 

[Pasquale for King]

50 minutes ago, Savage Vince said:

 

I forgot he was playing. 

He was practically invisible

[Harry Potter]

3 hours ago, The Treasurer said:

By their own admission that is the best sellik have played in a long time. So regardless of how the game went I think it shows signs that we are slowly improving. That first half was far from acceptable but Hearts teams of the past would have lost 5 or 6 nil 

I know I'll get slaughtered for this but I prefer the glass half full approach rather than just doom and gloom 

Some good points there, but that opening 45 mins was a total nightmare, anyway, onwards and upwards.

[davie1980]

10 hours ago, Jamhammer said:

We also tried to park the bus. Again. As we almost always do. Not many expect is to win. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect us to compete.

 

We scored two goals and lost by a single goal against a team that had scored 13 goals in their last 3 fixtures steamrollering opponents domestically and in Europe

We also beat them the game before that run

 🤷‍♂️

[Pasquale for King]

12 minutes ago, davie1980 said:

 

We scored two goals and lost by a single goal against a team that had scored 13 goals in their last 3 fixtures steamrollering opponents domestically and in Europe

We also beat them the game before that run

 🤷‍♂️

It was Dundee and a pub team ffs. 

[Pasquale for King]

Trying to stiff us?

[weegie jambo]

1 hour ago, DS98 said:

After 24 hours of reflection I’ve came to a more positive outlook. 
 

We got well and truly outplayed and outclassed in the first 45, it was very similar to Dundee at Celtic park the week before. They were relentless. Everyone is saying we got off lightly, 3-2 isn’t a fair reflection and if it wasn’t for Craig Gordon etc etc. We’ll you know what? Craig Gordon is our player and our captain. That’s what he is there for. The reason we got beat is we set up poorly and they have better players than us. The reason we never got scudded 6-0 wasn’t luck, it was because we have a class goalkeeper but also we actually defended our box brilliantly. If Celtic play like that at home there is maybe only 1 team out of 11 that could cope and I’m no even sure about that. 

 

 

Now that is a realistic and positive post. Playing Devils Advocate with Robbie saying Gnando would start if it wasn't for his "family issues" and Gino being unwell and allegedly only having 30 + minutes in him was it maybe the case that he was going to play the usual 3-4-3 with Gnando, Boyce and Gino as the front 3? However our lack of squad depth forced him to rethink his approach and instead of playing Henderson from the start reverted to old bad habits with a defensive midfield that isolated Boyce & GMS. Just an idea. Could have played McEnniff or JW from the start to get the midfield closer to the front 3 and press higher.

[HMFC01]

Michael Stewart is the biggest slavering shite I've ever heard on the commentary. 

 

Premier sports 41 minutes in he reviews the second goal.    "that looked offside, perhaps".    This is from the corner being passed to Eduard directly.    

 

Some other inflatable nonsense spoken throughout.    The guy could fill a hot air balloon on a trip around the earth. 

 

😀 

[upgotheheads]

I've been trying to watch the highlights(?) of the Celtic game on Hearts TV, I could only watch the first half due to family commitment so wanted to see the second half (that we won). All I can get is a couple of 30 second clips which show next to nothing. Anybody else getting this problem?

[Wee Mikey]

1 hour ago, upgotheheads said:

I've been trying to watch the highlights(?) of the Celtic game on Hearts TV, I could only watch the first half due to family commitment so wanted to see the second half (that we won). All I can get is a couple of 30 second clips which show next to nothing. Anybody else getting this problem?

 

You could try this:-

 

 

[Psychicjambo]

Robbie shit it. Had he had a go on first half in the cup final and Sundays game. Great chance we would have won both    but to come out and say we went toe to toe.  Then levein says we won the second half    jeez what an embarrassing statement from both.   Everytime we got the ball was like a hot tattie on a bare foot  I watched  in dissarsy as Michael Smith was on the wing a few yards from their box and could have kept going. However he decided to pass the ball back and ended up a few yards  from our box   why?   Next time fans should probably get in  . I just want them to have a go. So what if we get beat 5  3 or something we can come home and think they had a go played fir the Jersey thats all you can ask. But  3¬2 did not reflect  the gane on Sunday   we got of lightly    The only way of defence is attack. But we sat in. Also the fact it was a cup game so we had nothing to lose really.  

[Pasquale for King]

50 minutes ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

You could try this:-

 

 

2nd goal ever so slightly offside, 3rd and own goal. Their finishing was pretty poor. 

[Robbo-Jambo]

16 hours ago, leginten said:

This is a simple point but it hits the nail on the head. And it’s far from being the only instance in recent years. For 45 minutes - the whole first half - we were just about as clueless, directionless and abject as it’s possible for a football team to be. Any uninitiated neutral looking in would have assumed that one team was from about five tiers below the other; had you explained to them that the team camped in its own half inviting the relentless pummelling had beaten the team in green two weeks previously, they probably would have laughed in your face.

 

Losing to Celtic is not in itself unacceptable. I’ve seen plenty of that in the last fifty years. Playing the way we did in that first half is completely unacceptable, not to mention absolutely mystifying.

Neilson would have been chufffed that the end result was so close but the fact is we went out the cup because of a pathetic first half display.

 

He said he had to wait until half time to change the shape etc.

 

Can no one take a message from the touchline in the first half to change it round when we are getting so overrun.

 

Basically we lost the tie because of his hopeless set up in the first 45 mins and his inability to change it quickly enough.

 

To say in the press after the game he wouldn't have done anything differently on Sunday is just a Levein type of thing to say.

 

Stubborness and the fact he cannot admit he made mistakes. 

 

Two very poor qualities to have as a football manager imo. 😏

[Fozzyonthefence]

1 hour ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Neilson would have been chufffed that the end result was so close but the fact is we went out the cup because of a pathetic first half display.

 

He said he had to wait until half time to change the shape etc.

 

Can no one take a message from the touchline in the first half to change it round when we are getting so overrun.

 

Basically we lost the tie because of his hopeless set up in the first 45 mins and his inability to change it quickly enough.

 

To say in the press after the game he wouldn't have done anything differently on Sunday is just a Levein type of thing to say.

 

Stubborness and the fact he cannot admit he made mistakes. 

 

Two very poor qualities to have as a football manager imo. 😏

Two very poor qualities to have in any employment. 

[Fozzyonthefence]

23 hours ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

George Burley wasn’t too keen…

 

What do you get for winning the League cup? 50p?

 

League placing prize money and European qualifiers are much more valuable. 
 

If Robbie had won the league cup and finished bottom 6 this season people quite rightly would be calling for his head (more than usual).

 

Ridiculous statement.

I’d bite your hand off for bottom 6 and a League Cup win. Don’t you want to see Hearts win trophies?  I’m a Hearts fan, I want to see them win trophies, winning things and celebrating them is what makes it all worthwhile.  Are you going to celebrate a 4th place finish?  Will we have an open top bus for that?

 

There’s only 2 we can win so it’s a bit silly to write one off.  What’s ridiculous about that? Burley made a mistake in the LC but maybe he thought he could win the league - we’re nowhere near being in that boat again. 

 

League prize money is shite by the way and some teams actually lose money playing in Europe.  Could be a tidy sum to be made by getting to a League Cup final on the other hand - look at the Murrayfield semi - over 60k  at that (gate money is pooled between the 4 semi finalists and iirc there was over 100k at the 2 games) and if we’d got through we’d have taken a wedge off the money taken in from another full house at Hampden.

 

Ridiculous statement. 

Edited August 17, 2021 by Fozzyonthefence

[upgotheheads]

3 hours ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

You could try this:-

 

 

Ta. Since discovered my mistake, I didn't realise that the highlights are not included in the S/T package. 

[_HeartsReport]

 

[Fxxx the SPFL]

Celtic 3 Hearts 2 Celtic 6 St Mirren 0 I rest my case 

[Forever Hearts]

2 hours ago, **** the SPFL said:

Celtic 3 Hearts 2 Celtic 6 St Mirren 0 I rest my case 

St Mirren had 10 men for the majority of the game. Hearts were absolutely abysmal and should've been about 6-0 down at half time. It was never a 3-2 game in a million years.  

[Fxxx the SPFL]

20 minutes ago, Forever Hearts said:

St Mirren had 10 men for the majority of the game. Hearts were absolutely abysmal and should've been about 6-0 down at half time. It was never a 3-2 game in a million years.  

Final score 3-2 Celtic 6-0 Dundee 

[luckydug]

1 hour ago, Forever Hearts said:

St Mirren had 10 men for the majority of the game. Hearts were absolutely abysmal and should've been about 6-0 down at half time. It was never a 3-2 game in a million years.  

Celtic two games against Hearts

4 goals a piece. 

Celtic two games against other Premier opposition 12-0 to Celtic. 

But, but, but its all Robbies fault etc😂

[Forever Hearts]

5 hours ago, **** the SPFL said:

Final score 3-2 Celtic 6-0 Dundee 

Great. We won the 'beat by the least amount of goals' trophy. 

[Forever Hearts]

4 hours ago, luckydug said:

Celtic two games against Hearts

4 goals a piece. 

Celtic two games against other Premier opposition 12-0 to Celtic. 

But, but, but its all Robbies fault etc😂

What an achievement....

[Gordon Ramsay]

4 hours ago, luckydug said:

Celtic two games against Hearts

4 goals a piece. 

Celtic two games against other Premier opposition 12-0 to Celtic. 

But, but, but its all Robbies fault etc😂

 

Yet the stats from Celtics games against Dundee and St Mirren are almost identical to our defeat at Parkhead. 

 

If we'd have lost by 6 last Sunday it would have probably been a fair result, the most one-sided 3-2 I've ever seen in my life. 

 

Robbie shat it. There's no case for defence. Let's hope we don't fill our nappies today. 

[Wee Mikey]

[Fxxx the SPFL]

5 hours ago, Forever Hearts said:

Great. We won the 'beat by the least amount of goals' trophy. 

Get over it