***** Official Heart of Midlothian v The Rangers Scottish Cup Final 2022 Match Thread *****

[PapaShango]

6 minutes ago, Zen Jambo said:

I’ve been an absolute hater of Halliday. 
 

Glad over the course of the season I’ve been proven wrong. 
 

I’d like to see him start and Devlin to come on later in the game to pick the tempo up and get in their face. 
 

So exactly same team as @Rick Sanchezhas chosen. 

I would prefer Devlin but only if he’s fit enough. No problem with Halliday in there tho he’s been great this season. 

[Sooks]

22 minutes ago, PapaShango said:

I hope your right would love nothing more than for him to score the winner next week! 

Fingers crossed mate : - )

[Sooks]

Devlin for me too although I would not be unhappy to see Halliday start in a few positions

[OTT]

Smith is a million miles away from being anything other than a liability. Maybe over the summer he'll regain his fitness etc. but sadly I think the final has came a bit too soon for him. 

 

Think we'll probably go:

 

Gordon

Atkinson Souttar Halkett Kingsley Cochrane

Haring Halliday

McKay Boyce

Simms

[indianajones]

Underdog as usual vs those two horrible swines. 

 

Neilson just needs to play to OUR strengths and go for it. 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

1-0

 

Smith (pen)

 

AET

[indianajones]

3 minutes ago, OTT said:

Smith is a million miles away from being anything other than a liability. Maybe over the summer he'll regain his fitness etc. but sadly I think the final has came a bit too soon for him. 

 

Think we'll probably go:

 

Gordon

Atkinson Souttar Halkett Kingsley Cochrane

Haring Halliday

McKay Boyce

Simms

 

This is the team for me too i think. 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

My team:

 

Gordon - Smith, Souttar, Halkett, Kingsley - Devlin, Haring - Atkinson, Boyce, McKay - Simms

[heartsfc_fan]

4 minutes ago, OTT said:

Smith is a million miles away from being anything other than a liability. Maybe over the summer he'll regain his fitness etc. but sadly I think the final has came a bit too soon for him. 

 

Think we'll probably go:

 

Gordon

Atkinson Souttar Halkett Kingsley Cochrane

Haring Halliday

McKay Boyce

Simms

Agreed

[queensferryjambo]

It's a big ask, but **** it why not.

 

We will need to be at our best and hope they are at their worst.

 

There have been bigger upsets than this.

 

Rangers 1 - 2 Heart of Midlothian AET

[1971fozzy]

It’ll be tough but all cup finals are (Hibs aside).

we get into them and unsettle them. We will need to be top of our game, and hope Collum has no wtf moments.

Come on the JTs  2-1 aet 🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻

[OTT]

1 minute ago, 1971fozzy said:

It’ll be tough but all cup finals are (Hibs aside).

we get into them and unsettle them. We will need to be top of our game, and hope Collum has no wtf moments.

Come on the JTs  2-1 aet 🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻

 

He's going to have them. 100%, just need to make sure we're not giving him any chances to change the course of the game (i.e penalties).

[Cruyff]

                      Gordon

         Souttar Halkett Kingsley 

Atkinson  Haring Halliday Cochrane 

                Gino       McKay

                       Simms

 

We weren't far away from Celtic and Rangers early doors but as the seasons progressed they've moved up a level. We're massive underdogs and we need everyone to give their souls to win this. I personally think it'll be more 96 than 98, hope I'm wrong. 🤞

[Hackney Hearts]

21 minutes ago, 1971fozzy said:

It’ll be tough but all cup finals are (Hibs aside).

 

Tim Lovejoy just reminding everyone this morning on Sunday Brunch....

[jambopilms]

As always we need to be at the top of our game and hope they have an off day. IMO we have too many recovering from injuries to be fully fit and on top of their game for 90 mins

[Marvin]

It's going to be a harder tie than 98.  Just along we don't get 10 minutes injury time should we be winning after 90 minutes like what we got from Willie Young 24 years ago.   

[Marvin]

18 minutes ago, Cruyff said:

                      Gordon

         Souttar Halkett Kingsley 

Atkinson  Haring Halliday Cochrane 

                Gino       McKay

                       Simms

 

We weren't far away from Celtic and Rangers early doors but as the seasons progressed they've moved up a level. We're massive underdogs and we need everyone to give their souls to win this. I personally think it'll be more 96 than 98, hope I'm wrong. 🤞

 

Me too.

[R1874]

Fitness and injuries has kind off ruined this

 

Also rangers being quite good recently but to be expected 

 

Worried about Halks, Devlin and few others. Don’t want situation where guys are having to come off or can’t put the shift in

Edited May 15, 2022 by R1874

[Howdy Doody Jambo]

I just wonder how Eintract Frankfurt will approach their game on Rangers and how to expose them may influence how Robbie could use to our gameplan and team selection 

Let's just hope they go to extra time on Wednesday night and we can play with high intensity packing the midfield, which may mean bringing on fresh legs after an hour to keep out levels high 

Every Hearts player has to be at it 100% for us to win the game and lift the cup 

[LochcarronJambo]

2 hours ago, JimmyCant said:

It wasn’t a disgrace and it wasn’t shameful. You’ll have seen plenty disgraceful and shameful performances if you’ve been a Hearts fan for 64 years.

 

It was a meaningless game we treated as a training session to keep players ticking over and assess the fitness if someone players.

 

Ignore what Rangers B did to a team playing at 20% capacity. It’s completely irrelevant and it repeats almost exactly a pattern we have done in the past before winning cups.

 

 

Well you settle for that THEN, Hearts went into the game with No desire & no belief….meaningless !!! Playing them is not meaningless, We should aim to win every game , I dont expect to turn up & accept yesterdays poor effort,it was shocking

[GBJambo]

Spoiler

13 minutes ago, LochcarronJambo said:

Well you settle for that THEN, Hearts went into the game with No desire & no belief….meaningless !!! Playing them is not meaningless, We should aim to win every game , I dont expect to turn up & accept yesterdays poor effort,it was shocking

 

Your missing the point! 
 

Had we gone toe to toe with them and put in 100% .

Chances are we would have won the game or at worse draw. But we could have picked up injuries and it would have meant it would have been risky to put Halkett and Souttar into that game at that intensity 

[Lfhearts]

Devlin was towing a truck in first half, cannot see him starting based on that.

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

Does Robbie get to go to Seville this week to scout Rangers? 🤔

 

Look. What will be will be.

 

Lets not pretend that to have a proper realistic chance of beating Rangers we need our best team fit and ready to go.

 

We simply are not going to have this.
 

I haven’t written us off but we couldn’t really have had a worse prep for a big final with so many of our key players injured or only part fit.

 

We can still win and I have a small sense that some of the coincidences from previous wins repeating themselves this cup run may just mean fate is on our side.

 

What I would say though is:

 

1. Not sure when we last beat Rangers twice in a row but I am glad we don’t have that stat to worry about.

2. I actually prefer going into a big game like this lacking in confidence. I have nearly always been disappointed when I have been very confident before a bit game.

3. If we are a bit patched up on Saturday we should be playing the 4-0 game against Celtic to the players for some believe. Our team that days was shite looking back and look what we did. Celtic hadn’t been beaten in over 60 games.

 

I know I’ll be pissed off if we lose next week but we can’t let it ruin our season or let it ruin our general unity.

 

No matter what happens this week we are going to have a better team and an even more fun season next year. It will be brilliant.

 

Chins up everyone.

Edited May 15, 2022 by Tom Hardy’s Dug

[Hackney Hearts]

12 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

1. Not sure when we last beat Rangers twice in a row but I am glad we don’t have that stat to worry about.

 

I was consoling myself with this too.

But the last time was quite recent - Jan/Feb 2020, 2-1 in the league, 1-0 in the cup.

 

Before that, the first two games of the Championship season.

Before that, the 98 cup final followed by the opening game of the next season.

Before that, the Magic hat-trick at Ibrox in 96, followed by a 2-0 win at Tynecastle (then the 1-5 cup final!).

 

Fact remains, if we were granted a wish to get a great Hearts performance and the breaks of the ball in one of this week's matches, we all know which one we'd choose. 

[Tasavallan]

Due to ill health I am having to give this a miss.  However. I am so proud that my 4 kids will be going.

[Mikey1874]

[No Idle Talk]

If we play 3-4-3 on that wide open pitch we will lose the midfield and probably the match. 4-2-3-1 with Halkett on the bench is what I would go for. 

 

More hopeful than optimistic but we can definitely win this. 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

5 hours ago, Sooks said:

I think you are being a little harsh on him to be honest …………….. I remember similar things used to be said about Suso and he played a big part in us winning our last Cup crossing is not his game but if he runs at the defence then we could get a goal a penalty or a free kick in Kingsley range

 

I think Gino could be especially useful in the final, as we will be having to stay compact (even if we do a high press, as I suspect Robbie may try again) to contain them early. Because of his pace, he can shake loose the back of their defence and keep them from piling forward on top of us. In that way he's a good complement to Simms, who can do the same with his size and power.

 

I thought he had a decent game yesterday, showed better connection with his teammates than he has at times this season, and better decision making as he got in towards the box.

[Sooks]

3 minutes ago, Led Tasso said:

 

I think Gino could be especially useful in the final, as we will be having to stay compact (even if we do a high press, as I suspect Robbie may try again) to contain them early. Because of his pace, he can shake loose the back of their defence and keep them from piling forward on top of us. In that way he's a good complement to Simms, who can do the same with his size and power.

 

I thought he had a decent game yesterday, showed better connection with his teammates than he has at times this season, and better decision making as he got in towards the box.

I agree with all of that

[Samuel Camazzola]

18 hours ago, GBJambo said:

Hope we are practicing penalties! 
 

2006 we beat Gretna on penalties . Liverpool win the FA cup on penalties.

 

2022 Liverpool win the FA cup on penalties 
Is this going to penalties?….

Won't be needed (unless it's a 2nd minute pen) 

 

1998 - Celtic win league and league Cup. Rangers finish second, Hearts third and Cup winners. 

 

2022 - As above. 👍 😉 

 

Also, Scotland to appear at the World Cup... 🙂

[JimmyCant]

4 hours ago, LochcarronJambo said:

Well you settle for that THEN, Hearts went into the game with No desire & no belief….meaningless !!! Playing them is not meaningless, We should aim to win every game , I dont expect to turn up & accept yesterdays poor effort,it was shocking

We went with a full team with no intention of exerting ourselves. Yes perhaps that is selling the fans a wee bit short since they had to pay to watch it, but it’s all about being prepared for next week. We decided to lightly train the first team, Rangers decided to rest the first team. Either option was fine by me and I didn’t go partly because common sense told me what to expect. It WAS meaningless, nothing more than organised excercise, same as all our last 5 games was.

 

Folk really need to give themselves a shake over yesterday. Get past it and look at the bigger picture.

Edited May 15, 2022 by JimmyCant

[JimmyCant]

3 hours ago, Lfhearts said:

Devlin was towing a truck in first half, cannot see him starting based on that.

My son said he was looking a bit upset yesterday at the lap of honour and he took from it that Devlin knows he isn’t making the final

[Rudy T]

Honestly we’re going to pump them. They’ll be flatter than a witches tit after Seville. 2-1 at half time, it’ll be backs to the wall for the first 20 mins second half then we’ll hit them on the break 3-1 game over! 
 

 

[GBJambo]

It’s been too long since we last won the cup! 
 

**** Rangers we are ****ing winning this!!

 

[therefsajambo]

I think we've got this. We've got to be of that mindset. On and off the park. Full wall of Maroon and white confidence standing facing them at kick off time on Saturday. 

 

I'm bouncing into work this week full of confidence. I'll take the slagging being the token Jambo, don't need any Celtic boys lending a hand and will happily take anyone's bet. I've heard a couple of 3 n 4 goal scorelines being branded after yesterday so there will be a couple of 1 and 2 goals a start wagers to sort that out . Old firm fans . Easiest to take money off.

I reckon we will start and end the game strong down to the circumstances. Its wot we do during those spells and a Craig Gordon wonders show in the middle of the match  for me. They're a good team  but after the prep, playing euro final and eventual come down from winning or losing  before dragging their attention to the "smaller final "  I reckon we can get an early lead, push on, manage the game and see another goal near end. 

 

 

[Bazzas right boot]

We need to stay compact and defend properly, the opposite  from out last two visits to Glasgow v the OF were we have shipped 9 goals in 2 games.

Worryingly we never started too badly either, so can't blame it down to getting battered in the first 30 minutes or so.

Do that and we have a basis to win the game from.

Our midfield needs to hold on to the ball better  and our forward players need to give them an outlet in which to do that effectively, if not we'll simply be crushed under wave after wave of attack.

Gordon needs to have a good game and unlike at Ibrox last time we ned to put our chances away.

We also need the ref to get the bigs call right, unlike for Celtics equaliser at Parkhead last time.

 

Defend properly, don't do anything stupid, do the basics like keep the ball for periods and hope the key decisions go our way then we have a chance.

 

A lot needs to go right for us to win, but we can win.

"Having a go" and playing open from the off is not an option, they will murder us.

 

If we win it it's gonna be a nail biter.

 

 

Having said all that.......6-3 Hearts.

 

 

 

 

[Bongo 1874]

6 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

We need to stay compact and defend properly, the opposite  from out last two visits to Glasgow v the OF were we have shipped 9 goals in 2 games.

Worryingly we never started too badly either, so can't blame it down to getting battered in the first 30 minutes or so.

Do that and we have a basis to win the game from.

Our midfield needs to hold on to the ball better  and our forward players need to give them an outlet in which to do that effectively, if not we'll simply be crushed under wave after wave of attack.

Gordon needs to have a good game and unlike at Ibrox last time we ned to put our chances away.

We also need the ref to get the bigs call right, unlike for Celtics equaliser at Parkhead last time.

 

Defend properly, don't do anything stupid, do the basics like keep the ball for periods and hope the key decisions go our way then we have a chance.

 

A lot needs to go right for us to win, but we can win.

"Having a go" and playing open from the off is not an option, they will murder us.

 

If we win it it's gonna be a nail biter.

 

 

Having said all that.......6-3 Hearts.

 

 

 

 

What you see here folks is the Craig Levein coaching manual being implemented by Robbie Neilson, Sit in and try frustrate Rangers, with the odd counter attack. 

 

Resulting in a pumping and an easy day for The Huns. 

 

The sooner we get rid of this sort of poo the bed mentality the better. 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by Bongo 1874

[Bazzas right boot]

7 minutes ago, Bongo 1874 said:

What you see here folks is the Craig Levein coaching manual being implemented by Robbie Neilson, Sit in and try frustrate Rangers, with the odd counter attack. 

 

Resulting in a pumping and an easy day for The Huns. 

 

The sooner we get rid of this sort of poo the bed mentality the better. 

 

 

 

We won the 98 final and 2012 sf by doing that.

 

Going toe to toe with them will have the game over in the first 20 minutes.

 

I'd call it the Conte play book when his teams play better sides.

 

If done properly counter attacking is great way to win a game v a better team.

 

Counter attacking isn't a new or a CL thing.

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by Bazzas right boot

[Bongo 1874]

1 minute ago, jonesy said:

I think that, because it almost worked against Celtic in 2020, this is what Neilson will do.

 

Whether it's the right thing or not, will ultimately be shown by the outcome. If he pulls it off, it's a genius move, if we lost 4-0, then it wasn't. 

 

C'est la fitbaw.

I just think giving rangers nothing to worry about, and worrying about them is the wrong mindset/attitude to have. 

 

We have the player's to cause damage why can't we go toe to toe for 90 mins or more? 

 

If we get beat so what, but go down fighting. 

[Jean Louis Valois]

Still have a sneaky feeling we are going to do it. It's not the Hearts way to win all our games and go into a final flying, I might be wrong but I think our previous winning finals our form has been sketchy. Plus I agree that beating Rangers twice in a week was unlikely, this Saturday is the one that matters.

[Bazzas right boot]

1 minute ago, jonesy said:

Fair enough, but the reality is that they have players who are simply better at taking advantage of an open game - more clinical, more ruthless. We do have players who can cause problems, true. But they are nowhere near as consistent as the Huns, unfortunately.

 

Neilson knows that winning the cup against the OF would be a massive achievement - possibly the biggest thing he'll ever do in his career - and so I trust that whatever lineup/strategy he deploys next week will be the one he has spent weeks planning and pondering alongside his fellow coaches and senior pros.

 

I'd love to see us try keeping possession early doors, giving our players time to get comfortable with the ball and the occasion. It'd also frustrate them. What I fear is an early succession of corners and edge of the box free kicks because we cannot clear our lines properly the they start scudding our box. There's no way our defence stands up to that for 20-30 mins.

 

Yip and that comes back to us countering and using possession, too often v the OF in Glasgow we win the ball, panic and give it back to them way too quickly.

 

Defending well and being organised is no use if we give the ball away all the time.

[JimmyCant]

21 minutes ago, jonesy said:

I think that, because it almost worked against Celtic in 2020, this is what Neilson will do.

 

Whether it's the right thing or not, will ultimately be shown by the outcome. If he pulls it off, it's a genius move, if we lost 4-0, then it wasn't. 

 

C'est la fitbaw.

In what way did it ‘almost work’ It was a tactical disaster in the first half and we had to bin the tactic entirely to claw ourselves back into the game. 
 

Neilson loses a whole season of goodwill in 90 minutes if he puts in a shitebag tactical set up here and loses. Doesn’t mean he won’t do it but it’s a gamble for him personally. He’s had weeks to prepare something other than 9 men behind the ball and hope for a counter.

 

Just play the damn game properly. Defend properly when they attack. Keep the ball when we get it back. Progress forward quickly. Press when they have it when we can press safely. Minimise mistakes. Don’t fail to take whatever chances we get.

Edited May 15, 2022 by JimmyCant

[Rudy T]

1 minute ago, JimmyCant said:

In what way did it ‘almost work’ It was a tactical disaster in the first half and we had to bin the tactic entirely to claw ourselves back into the game. 
 

Neilson loses a whole season of goodwill in 90 minutes if he puts in a shitebag tactical set up here and loses. Doesn’t mean he won’t do it but it’s a gamble for him personally.

 

Just play the damn game properly. Defend properly when they attack. Keep the ball when we get it back. Progress forward quickly. Press when they have it when we can press safely. Minimise mistakes. Don’t fail to take whatever chances we get.

See when you finished typing that did the drums from the east Enders theme tune come on? Drama Queen!

 

Neilson loses nothing if we don’t win, he’s cruised us to 3rd guaranteed European football, pumped the Hibs to get us to the final and building a very good team. We’re playing a team who are in the Europa cup final ffs not Raith Rovers. 
 

Just get behind the manager and team.

[Rudy T]

24 minutes ago, Bongo 1874 said:

I just think giving rangers nothing to worry about, and worrying about them is the wrong mindset/attitude to have. 

 

We have the player's to cause damage why can't we go toe to toe for 90 mins or more? 

 

If we get beat so what, but go down fighting. 

 

What does going toe to toe actually mean in football terms? 

[J80MBO]

14 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

In what way did it ‘almost work’ It was a tactical disaster in the first half and we had to bin the tactic entirely to claw ourselves back into the game. 
 

Neilson loses a whole season of goodwill in 90 minutes if he puts in a shitebag tactical set up here and loses. Doesn’t mean he won’t do it but it’s a gamble for him personally. He’s had weeks to prepare something other than 9 men behind the ball and hope for a counter.

 

Just play the damn game properly. Defend properly when they attack. Keep the ball when we get it back. Progress forward quickly. Press when they have it when we can press safely. Minimise mistakes. Don’t fail to take whatever chances we get.

Really???

[JimmyCant]

11 minutes ago, Rudy T said:

See when you finished typing that did the drums from the east Enders theme tune come on? Drama Queen!

 

Neilson loses nothing if we don’t win, he’s cruised us to 3rd guaranteed European football, pumped the Hibs to get us to the final and building a very good team. We’re playing a team who are in the Europa cup final ffs not Raith Rovers. 
 

Just get behind the manager and team.

 

1 minute ago, J80MBO said:

Really???

So you both favour the shitebag park the bus tactics being discussed here ? Meaning they get the ball, we defend and not much else, and you applaud the manager if that’s the sum total of his tactical plan ?

[Rudy T]

5 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

 

So you both favour the shitebag park the bus tactics being discussed here ? Meaning they get the ball, we defend and not much else, and you applaud the manager if that’s the sum total of his tactical plan ?

You think Neilson loses the support if we lose the cup final 😂😂😂

[Bongo 1874]

13 minutes ago, Rudy T said:

 

What does going toe to toe actually mean in football terms? 

Not sitting of them and giving them the confidence to bombard our box, pressing them, making them work hard, believing we can win the game on our terms by attacking them and not giving them an inch of Hampden Park, we are going to attack, we are going to play our game, on this pitch they have no breathing space this pitch is ours. 

 

 

[martoon]

Card happy Gollum is a worry but I still believe we'll win.

 

What, really, is the point in not believing Hearts will win the Cup, 2022?

 

Optimism, even sheer, blinded faith and belief, costs nothing.

 

I feel a bit sorry for those who can't be optimistic before the event.

[Rudy T]

Just now, Bongo 1874 said:

Not sitting of them and giving them the confidence to bombard our box, pressing them, making them work hard, believing we can win the game on our terms by attacking them and not giving them an inch of Hampden Park, we are going to attack, we are going to play our game, on this pitch they have no breathing space this pitch is ours. 

 

 

We will play our game though, we’ll go with a low block play through McKay and Boyce and work it to Simms. That’s our game, if we try and press them to high they’ll do what they did to us at Tynie first time round and go long.

 

They’re in Seville on Wednesday night, so we can let them have the ball and huff and puff up the pitch and see how long they can keep a high tempo and then pick them off. 
 

We cannot afford to go all out against them they’ve got to many runners from midfield we’ll get destroyed.

 

Play our game and we beat them.