Robbie Neilson Tactics

[gowestjambo]

7 hours ago, Jarhead said:

Fair enough. An analysis of what went wrong much better than Tom Hardy’s dug or frank black picking fights left right and centre. 
 

Rangers are a very good side who came within a bawhair of winning one of the major prizes in club football but, regardless of the fitness levels, that was as poor as we have been all season.

 

I don’t think anyone in front of Gordon or the back 3 gets pass marks.

 

I also don’t think that we have been anywhere good enough since beating Hibs. Too many accepted mediocrity in favour of “the bigger picture “ and in the end it came back to bite us in the arse!

The last sentence sums up the difference in mentality between Hearts and the O/F. We had "experts" telling us that losing didn't matter. The fact is we lost our way in the final League games by kidding ourselves on it would be alright on the day. Winning is a habit, and unfortunately so is losing......

[Ex member of the SaS]

2 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

The only finger you can really point at Neilson was we sat too deep from 60 minutes onwards. That was either an instruction from him or something that happened that he had to work out how to change. In mitigation though he’s playing with a team full of niggles and unhealed injuries with key players out of form for weeks (Boyce and McKay) and a weak squad behind the first 11 so his scope for changing it wasn’t huge. You can’t play that long against Rangers with no out ball and I reckon we had all our eggs in the ‘hold on and play for penalties’ basket for too long in the game.

Had he rested players in the last game we would have had fitter players and an un injured Boyce. Managers need a certain spark and the ability to look at a game and see where changes are required. Sorry but Robbie doesn't have that.

[CMc]

18 minutes ago, briever said:

One thing that really stood out for me was why did we turn into a long ball team?  We’ve been playing it out the back all season until yesterday and then suddenly it was launch the ball up to Simms and have nobody running off him as Boyce is being asked to play a game his fitness and body aren’t suited for.

It’s a weird one. It was very effective against Hibs in the semi first half, and I felt we didn’t do enough of it second half after Sibbick invited them to press us. 
 

It completely stopped working second half against the huns. (Did Goldson  go man to man on him or did they just adjust the height of the line - got even worse after Boyce’s injury sub). 
 

I THINK the plan was there to mitigate for their strength on the wings - go direct down the middle and play the wingbacks very conservative so they didn’t get overloaded/countered. 
 

Worked first half. They figured it out. Arguably worked defensively second half, but 5-4-1 gave us no attacking threat and invited a tonne of pressure. 
 

Might have looked a good plan if we had taken our best chances. 
 

For clarity, given we didn’t take those chances, it needed changed by 75 minutes. Didn’t have much on the bench to work with though. 

Edited May 22, 2022 by CMc

[Voxpop]

Rangers are vastly better than us.  We held thrm for 90 mins.  If the shot that hit the post went in from simms we would be cup winners 

[ford donald]

2 minutes ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

Had he rested players in the last game we would have had fitter players and an un injured Boyce. Managers need a certain spark and the ability to look at a game and see where changes are required. Sorry but Robbie doesn't have that.

 Your right,i have my doubts if RN can take us any further,not blaming him for the defeat,just seems to lack player motivation

as a manager,we should as a team be doing better,just my thoughts.

[Diego10]

Until Boyce went off the tactics were absolutely fine.  The failure to change the shape after he did was down to Robbie but tbh the players needed to be better in possession more than it being tactical.

 

you can delude yourself that all we had to do was throw players forward but the 2nd goal showed exactly what can happen if you over commit.  plenty people saying Rangers were tired after Seville but not much actual evidence of it on the pitch.

 

Disappointing result and we certainly weren't at our absolute best but it wasn't some sort of managerial disaster

 

 

[Debut 4]

7 minutes ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

Agree, We should have closed down their defenders and stopped them owning the pitch. We have 5 in defense and not one tackle before the edge of our own box. A high press is what is required against the bigots twins and when you allow them to control the pitch you lose.

In hindsight, we just lack the hunger to do that sort of thing, allied with our set up.   Probably lack in one or two areas aswell regards energy and bite.

 

Tbh, too much to go over.  In the end you can look at individual input as much as having any grievance with the manager.  Finals escape you fast if the tone isn’t set quick and too many players are off colour.  

[JimmyCant]

2 minutes ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

Had he rested players in the last game we would have had fitter players and an un injured Boyce. Managers need a certain spark and the ability to look at a game and see where changes are required. Sorry but Robbie doesn't have that.

It’s a dilemma though isn’t it. You rest players and they lose match sharpness. Boyce hasn’t been fully fit for weeks and even when playing his form was dreadful. I suppose we were trying to get some form back into him but it didn’t really work, although he wasn’t bad first half yesterday. Maybe he should have been taken out the team earlier than he was ?
 

We’ve seen all season that We find it hard to change and adapt mid game. Not sure if that’s  because the squad is weak behind the first 11 or if the system is too rigid or if he just blindly believes it should work therefore it will work.

[gowestjambo]

25 minutes ago, Des Lynam said:

It was a real missed opportunity against a weakened Rangers team. We should have pressed them more and had a proper go. I thought it was a fairly even first half but we just lacked the belief to go on and win the game. McKay had an off day and Haring was walking on egg shells after the early booking. Devlin and Simms didn’t offer much in what was a frustrating and disappointing day. 

 

Any other Manager apart from Neilson, may have realised the last thing rangers wanted was a team in their faces. Instead we allowed them to dominate the game from the off, and continued with Neilson's defensive Master Plan - which has NEVER worked.

 

We know rangers have better players, but is was a one off cup tie, and anything could happen if we gave it a go. Look at how we hammered celtic 4-0 by pressing high up the pitch. I do not think Neilson believes he can beat rangers and celtic, and this must have an affect on the players mentality also. It will go down in history as the Meekest attempt to win a Cup Final.......

[Costanza]

56 minutes ago, stirlo said:

 

This is the best post I've read on this thread and the bit in bold sums it up in a nutshell. As the game progressed I was hoping that around the 70-75 minute mark we would get 'the chance' and take it. But it just never happened. The reality is that we are short in quality both in terms of the fullbacks and attacking midfielders. McKay is a very creative player but he's never going to be a prolific goalscorer. We've done well this season, but the truth is, when you take Kingsley's free kicks out the equation, there's not a great deal of goals in that team.  

Yeah if you look at this season objectively, finishing 3rd, cup final and European group stage football  is a brilliant season and potentially a game changer for the level we can compete with.

However you can look at how poor the league this season and particularly our main rivals in Hibs and Aberdeen.

Without Kingsley's free kicks and in particular Gordon's shot stopping it would have been closer for 3rd.

We're only at season 1 of competing at this level and with our extra finances, we can cement that next season and be more competitive with the OF.

There's a lot of running before we can walk expectation on here.

[Fozzyonthefence]

10 minutes ago, CMc said:

It’s a weird one. It was very effective against Hibs in the semi first half, and I felt we didn’t do enough of it second half after Sibbick invited them to press us. 
 

It completely stopped working second half against the huns. (Did Goldson  go man to man on him or did they just adjust the height of the line - got even worse after Boyce’s injury sub). 
 

I THINK the plan was there to mitigate for their strength on the wings - go direct down the middle and play the wingbacks very conservative so they didn’t get overloaded/countered. 
 

Worked first half. They figured it out. Arguably worked defensively second half, but 5-4-1 gave us no attacking threat and invited a tonne of pressure. 
 

Might have looked a good plan if we had taken our best chances. 
 

For clarity, given we didn’t take those chances, it needed changed by 75 minutes. Didn’t have much on the bench to work with though. 

Chances?  I can only remember the one that Simms hit the post.  We never laid a glove on them after that.  
 

As much as I like Simms, it is a bit concerning we seem to be going back to a long ball team with him up front.  The easy and lazy way out for those behind him. 

[Fozzyonthefence]

2 minutes ago, Costanza said:

Yeah if you look at this season objectively, finishing 3rd, cup final and European group stage football  is a brilliant season and potentially a game changer for the level we can compete with.

However you can look at how poor the league this season and particularly our main rivals in Hibs and Aberdeen.

Without Kingsley's free kicks and in particular Gordon's shot stopping it would have been closer for 3rd.

We're only at season 1 of competing at this level and with our extra finances, we can cement that next season and be more competitive with the OF.

There's a lot of running before we can walk expectation on here.

Spot on.  We can hope but not expect Hibs and Aberdeen will be as poor next season.  We’re miles away from competing with the OF, back to back 3rd would be a good starting point, been a long time since we achieved that (Levein’s first spell).  Will be hard to finish 3rd next season with the European games in addition. 

[4marsbars]

10 hours ago, Midloth_Iain said:

 

Seriously ?

 

If that was good enough for a Hearts supporter, then our standards have slipped big time !

Seriously. Very seriously. I'm challenging a very lunatic, extremely fringe element, which I thought had withered: people who actually think that yesterday's result, and last season's performance, should end Neilson's career.

[rory78]

11 hours ago, Jamboelite said:

Maybe then its down to the players ??

Bit of both but you think collectively it would dawn on them that sitting in and waiting on an inevitable goal is generally a rubbish idea 

[Fozzyonthefence]

2 hours ago, John Findlay said:

So ****ing what.

Watch their two finals again and tell me you weren't bored shitless with the football being played.

Or are you claiming St Johnstone last season played the most eye catching attacking football in Scotland?

Who the **** cares how well you play when you win two cup finals?  Seriously?  Nobody is claiming they are Brazil ffs!  Watch our final against Rangers in 98 again and you’ll be bored shitless because it was a shite game.  But guess what? None of us care and neither will the Saints fans.

[The Real Maroonblood]

2 minutes ago, Fozzyonthefence said:

Who the **** cares how well you play when you win two cup finals?  Seriously?  Nobody is claiming they are Brazil ffs!  Watch our final against Rangers in 98 again and you’ll be bored shitless because it was a shite game.  But guess what? None of us care and neither will the Saints fans.

This.

[chrystaf]

17 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

The only finger you can really point at Neilson was we sat too deep from 60 minutes onwards. That was either an instruction from him or something that happened that he had to work out how to change. In mitigation though he’s playing with a team full of niggles and unhealed injuries with key players out of form for weeks (Boyce and McKay) and a weak squad behind the first 11 so his scope for changing it wasn’t huge. You can’t play that long against Rangers with no out ball and I reckon we had all our eggs in the ‘hold on and play for penalties’ basket for too long in the game.

Exactly. I think that covers everything.  Had this been a league game we would have been happy with a draw at 90 minutes, but containment doesn't win cups.  We stood off them (as we have done in many games this season) and allowed them to play,  giving them the freedom of the park.

What is most disappointing is that we should have been the team raising our game in extra time in the hope they would wilt, but the opposite was clearly the case.  We needed every player to be in top form and that never happened.

Whether injury niggles and the game coming too soon for some of those afflicted, or Robbie's cautionary tactics influenced the result, we will never know.

Certainly this was the poorest performance of our three loosing finals, but arguably against the best team.

[spacerjoe]

29 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

The only finger you can really point at Neilson was we sat too deep from 60 minutes onwards. That was either an instruction from him or something that happened that he had to work out how to change. In mitigation though he’s playing with a team full of niggles and unhealed injuries with key players out of form for weeks (Boyce and McKay) and a weak squad behind the first 11 so his scope for changing it wasn’t huge. You can’t play that long against Rangers with no out ball and I reckon we had all our eggs in the ‘hold on and play for penalties’ basket for too long in the game.

I thought when Boyce went off we really fell apart more than an instruction. He'd had a great game, breaking up play and drawing the Rangers midfield toward him. It provided space for Atkinson and Simms that they didn't make the most of.

 

I can see the thinking behind getting Haliday in to replace him as Boyce was getting stuck in and Woodburn may have stood off too much, but Halliday was woeful.

 

Before the game I thought if we were level at an hour we'd probably go on to win, but our whole team looked gassed by the end and their bench was just so much stronger than ours unfortunately. 

 

 

[johnking123]

We don't have the squad yet to really compete with them. Few of our players had pain killing injections so they could play and really not fit enough to do a high press game. Just don't have the squad for it yet.  

[CMc]

23 minutes ago, Fozzyonthefence said:

Chances?  I can only remember the one that Simms hit the post.  We never laid a glove on them after that.  
 

As much as I like Simms, it is a bit concerning we seem to be going back to a long ball team with him up front.  The easy and lazy way out for those behind him. 

That was the closest one. There were a couple of breaks/Half breaks first half where Simms came close to getting in or had a shot blocked. 

[CMc]

6 minutes ago, johnking123 said:

We don't have the squad yet to really compete with them. Few of our players had pain killing injections so they could play and really not fit enough to do a high press game. Just don't have the squad for it yet.  

Sadly, this. 

[Bazzas right boot]

11 minutes ago, spacerjoe said:

I thought when Boyce went off we really fell apart more than an instruction. He'd had a great game, breaking up play and drawing the Rangers midfield toward him. It provided space for Atkinson and Simms that they didn't make the most of.

 

I can see the thinking behind getting Haliday in to replace him as Boyce was getting stuck in and Woodburn may have stood off too much, but Halliday was woeful.

 

Before the game I thought if we were level at an hour we'd probably go on to win, but our whole team looked gassed by the end and their bench was just so much stronger than ours unfortunately. 

 

 

 

 

After an hour, I thought we were gonna knick it. 

 

Had nothing going forward tho. 

😭😭

[Koolkeith]

16 hours ago, Walter Bishop said:

Was he playing for penalties? First manager ever in a cup final to play for a draw. 

No.

[JimmyCant]

20 minutes ago, 4marsbars said:

Seriously. Very seriously. I'm challenging a very lunatic, extremely fringe element, which I thought had withered: people who actually think that yesterday's result, and last season's performance, should end Neilson's career.

There is no doubt in my mind that we could attract a better head coach/manager than Robbie. The only position on the football side that we couldn’t get a better option is Craig Gordon IMO.

 

Do I think we should change manager ? No, not right now. I think the current one has done more than enough this season to carry on and see what happens. Having said that, he’s set a standard now which he must at least maintain. Any significant dip in where we’ve got to and he’s gone, and I don’t mean a couple of games, I mean where it’s got to the stage where it’s obvious we need to change. At this stage there is no need to change. We’d be gambling and we don’t need to gamble. We and he are hamstrung by this frustrating situation that we can’t match or compete with the OF. No amount of upgrade or change we could afford to make is going to change that. Let’s just be the best we can be, we’re not at the ceiling yet but we’ve improved quite a bit in a relatively short period. The guy deserves a break. certainly deserves another season.

[JimmyCant]

8 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

 

After an hour, I thought we were gonna knick it. 

 

Had nothing going forward tho. 

😭😭

As long as an hour ? At half time I thought we were in the game with every chance. Unfortunately we had nothing left in the tank when we came back out and we started to ‘hang on’ getting deeper and deeper and having less and less threat. By the hour mark we were there to get beat IMO but we defended manfully and got to extra time. We were begging for penalties from fairly early on. Not as a tactic as such but because we literally had nothing left to go and win it ourselves. 

[Bazzas right boot]

2 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

As long as an hour ? At half time I thought we were in the game with every chance. Unfortunately we had nothing left in the tank when we came back out and we started to ‘hang on’ getting deeper and deeper and having less and less threat. By the hour mark we were there to get beat IMO but we defended manfully and got to extra time. We were begging for penalties from fairly early on. Not as a tactic as such but because we literally had nothing left to go and win it ourselves. 

 

Yeah. 

 

 

[BackOfTheNet]

30 minutes ago, johnking123 said:

We don't have the squad yet to really compete with them. Few of our players had pain killing injections so they could play and really not fit enough to do a high press game. Just don't have the squad for it yet.  

See, this is a very valid point that many are making. But we didn’t have to start with players having injections. That was a tactical decision. Personally I feel Ginnelly starting instead of Boyce and having Boyce giving his all last 20-30 minutes would have been a better call. Could have had Sibbick in midfield instead of Devlin and had him come on when their legs tired too. It’s not just the tactics deployed with the team that was out there that should be scrutinised, it’s the tactical decision to start with so many players knowing they wouldn’t last. He could have spread them out between starters and subs coming on so that the overall performance wouldn’t drop so much.

Edited May 22, 2022 by BackOfTheNet

[BackOfTheNet]

Also, discussing tactical decisions, can we stop having players who will do bugger all defensively at corners staying back. Some have mentioned Ginnelly didn’t do enough with the Jack goal. Maybe that’s true. But he shouldn’t have been back there. He should have been at the half way line. That might have meant they kept another body back too. But I was quite incredulous yesterday that for so much of the game we were lumping the ball forward only for it to come straight back and we just sat off and sat in to allow that to happen. If you’re going to adopt such tactics, at the very least have an offensive speedy outlet up the park when defending a corner to potentially give a counter attack option if the corner is defended correctly. Even an option to get the ball up the park to, if not a counter attack, but to aim for is something better than just allowing any clearance to come back. And Jack’s goal came from us clearing multiple times just for it to come back without resistance.

[indianajones]

Again a lot of people need a massive dose of perspective. 

 

Look at the history of the Scottish Cup. If the OF get to a final, they pretty much always win it. Yesterday would've been a monumental shock.

 

The last team to beat a full strength OF team in a Scottish Cup final was Hearts in 1998. Can you really count the Hibs victory vs a Championship team?

 

 

[Boab Mugabe]

Next year watching Neilson’s side park the bus against all of our European opponents and not lay a glove on them will be very demoralising.

[johnking123]

9 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

See, this is a very valid point that many are making. But we didn’t have to start with players having injections. That was a tactical decision. Personally I feel Ginnelly starting instead of Boyce and having Boyce giving his all last 20-30 minutes would have been a better call. Could have had Sibbick in midfield instead of Devlin and had him come on when their legs tired too. It’s not just the tactics deployed with the team that was out there that should be scrutinised, it’s the tactical decision to start with so many players knowing they wouldn’t last. He could have spread them out between starters and subs coming on so that the overall performance wouldn’t drop so much.

Yes, they really don't have the quality or confidence to play a game like this. If we started with them, would have been same score or worse. 

[kila]

I think it's clear we lack players who can handle such big occasions.

 

Rangers have a team who are used to playing in front of 50,000 plus other big stadiums on their European adventures.

 

For us, Cochrane, Atkinson, McKay, Devlin, GMS (when he came on) all looked like deer in headlights at times.

 

That's the real difference for me - it isn't just quality of player because we know what ours are capable of at times, but it's the confidence and experience of handling big games.

 

Lack of fitness of key players didn't help either, but too many looked out of place for the occasion and were scared to have the ball.

 

[JimmyCant]

8 minutes ago, jonesy said:

We made our own players tired by having them chase Rangers around the park. There were very few extended passages of play where we intelligently kept possession in the midfield. 

 

Neilson knows how to get regular wins v the rest of the league, but struggles v the OF and seems to be of the mindset that playing 'our' own game will not win it v them. I doubt that'll change in the future. 

I mind not so long ago when we were a ‘possession’ team and folk thought it was shite. Actually it was shite because we didn’t have progressive possession with a point to it. And if we lost a goal we usually didn’t have the game to go and get it back. That’s been phased out and we’re a progressive team. We play through midfield quickly and we find the front men. It’s much more labour intensive but it got us 3rd. Playing the old way I’d suggest we wouldn’t have got 3rd.

 

The OF sadly are miles ahead of us. The system you play against them usually won’t matter because they’ve got players that can handle whatever we do. Better players. It’s really that simple. Now and again you’ll beat them in a one off, but almost always it’ll be because their level dropped. Doesn’t mean you should bow down to them and not try your damndest but the outcome is usually going to be the same. It’s been that way for 60 plus years.

[Neverforgetfiveone]

4 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

I mind not so long ago when we were a ‘possession’ team and folk thought it was shite. Actually it was shite because we didn’t have progressive possession with a point to it. And if we lost a goal we usually didn’t have the game to go and get it back. That’s been phased out and we’re a progressive team. We play through midfield quickly and we find the front men. It’s much more labour intensive but it got us 3rd. Playing the old way I’d suggest we wouldn’t have got 3rd.

 

The OF sadly are miles ahead of us. The system you play against them usually won’t matter because they’ve got players that can handle whatever we do. Better players. It’s really that simple. Now and again you’ll beat them in a one off, but almost always it’ll be because their level dropped. Doesn’t mean you should bow down to them and not try your damndest but the outcome is usually going to be the same. It’s been that way for 60 plus years.

This thread is utter b******t

 

I’ve watched Hearts 5 times this season against Rangers:

 

1. went to Ibrox and got steamrolled, nicked an equaliser at the death.

 

2. played them off the park at Tynecastle and lost 0-2.

 

3. Had a go at Ibrox, were in the game at 1 and 2 nil, decided to have a go and got picked off and embarrassed. 
 

4. Played a meaningless game and still got pumped off their laddies (and a few seasoned but over the hill pros).

 

So, all you tactical geniuses out there…. How does Neilson approach it..

 

Hmmm…. Let’s have a go at them…. Beat us twice doing that… we’ve only scored 2 goals against them all season…. But on a bigger pitch we will somehow go at them and stick 3 into them???

 

FWIW, I think he got his tactics spot on! SPOT ON!

 

We just never took the chance! 

 

🇱🇻

[avhudtheteeshirt]

4 minutes ago, kila said:

I think it's clear we lack players who can handle such big occasions.

 

Rangers have a team who are used to playing in front of 50,000 plus other big stadiums on their European adventures.

 

For us, Cochrane, Atkinson, McKay, Devlin, GMS (when he came on) all looked like deer in headlights at times.

 

That's the real difference for me - it isn't just quality of player because we know what ours are capable of at times, but it's the confidence and experience of handling big games.

 

Lack of fitness of key players didn't help either, but too many looked out of place for the occasion and were scared to have the ball.

 

Years of Rangers big money shows in their squad, we are now getting the chance of some of the same next season!

We had no game changers on our bench, their bench was full of the same!

Not sure what you mean about McKay, Devlin and Atkinson, I thought all played their part, they just don't have the physic of Rangers players.

To hold the strongest Rangers team for 90 mins was for me a great achievement, they may have tired if the ball hit the net instead of the post, but we'll never know that now!!!

[The Mercer Takeover]

24 minutes ago, Boab Mugabe said:

Next year watching Neilson’s side park the bus against all of our European opponents and not lay a glove on them will be very demoralising.

He has form on this here.

 

Remember the Maltese giants  Birkirkara.

 

 

[CMc]

30 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Also, discussing tactical decisions, can we stop having players who will do bugger all defensively at corners staying back. Some have mentioned Ginnelly didn’t do enough with the Jack goal. Maybe that’s true. But he shouldn’t have been back there. He should have been at the half way line. That might have meant they kept another body back too. But I was quite incredulous yesterday that for so much of the game we were lumping the ball forward only for it to come straight back and we just sat off and sat in to allow that to happen. If you’re going to adopt such tactics, at the very least have an offensive speedy outlet up the park when defending a corner to potentially give a counter attack option if the corner is defended correctly. Even an option to get the ball up the park to, if not a counter attack, but to aim for is something better than just allowing any clearance to come back. And Jack’s goal came from us clearing multiple times just for it to come back without resistance.

Definitely needed an alternative out all from second half onwards. 

[Captain Lithuania]

Well that’s me off back to the Shed only on kickback for a couple months. 

[briever]

43 minutes ago, indianajones said:

Again a lot of people need a massive dose of perspective. 

 

Look at the history of the Scottish Cup. If the OF get to a final, they pretty much always win it. Yesterday would've been a monumental shock.

 

The last team to beat a full strength OF team in a Scottish Cup final was Hearts in 1998. Can you really count the Hibs victory vs a Championship team?

 

 

 

This attitude drives me nuts.  The difference between us and the OF, apart from budget is they never accept defeat - on and off the field, not something you could ever say about us.

[briever]

41 minutes ago, Boab Mugabe said:

Next year watching Neilson’s side park the bus against all of our European opponents and not lay a glove on them will be very demoralising.

 

As we were walking into town after the game that is exactly the conversation I was having with mates - having been in Malta when he did that - I'd like to think he's moved on and evolved - but I dont fancy shelling out thousands to watch the team abroad and barely having anything to get excited about.

[Bazzas right boot]

Bobs tactics have gotten us-

 

1st

3rd

Left us in 2nd/3rd

1st 

3rd

 

He's got this Heart beating  again, emptied hibs out of two sc semi finals and has us in in European group stage football. 

 

 

 

**** the haters, the greeters, the "have a go" and "believe" loons, the banned folk from Tynecastle and the planer hiring phoodle, poster printing goons. 

 

We are back on the up and at the start of a great journey. 

 

If you don't want to join us, get off, your place will be taken up easily  and you won't be missed. 

 

 

 

[nick_3892]

Done great against most teams but doesn’t have a clue against the old firm. We came up short today performance wise which happens all too often against the old firm. Yes they have more money and quality but at least try and attack.

Edited May 22, 2022 by nick_3892

[frankblack]

1 hour ago, JimmyCant said:

There is no doubt in my mind that we could attract a better head coach/manager than Robbie. The only position on the football side that we couldn’t get a better option is Craig Gordon IMO.

 

Do I think we should change manager ? No, not right now. I think the current one has done more than enough this season to carry on and see what happens. Having said that, he’s set a standard now which he must at least maintain. Any significant dip in where we’ve got to and he’s gone, and I don’t mean a couple of games, I mean where it’s got to the stage where it’s obvious we need to change. At this stage there is no need to change. We’d be gambling and we don’t need to gamble. We and he are hamstrung by this frustrating situation that we can’t match or compete with the OF. No amount of upgrade or change we could afford to make is going to change that. Let’s just be the best we can be, we’re not at the ceiling yet but we’ve improved quite a bit in a relatively short period. The guy deserves a break. certainly deserves another season.

 

Hibs and Aberdeen thought the same with Jack and McInness.  It didn't work too well for us when he left last time, did it?

 

Too many people with short memories.

 

If you replace Neilson you will still not get us finishing better than third and getting to a cup final.  We are miles behind the top two - it isn't even close.

[BackOfTheNet]

57 minutes ago, johnking123 said:

Yes, they really don't have the quality or confidence to play a game like this. If we started with them, would have been same score or worse. 

We’ll never know, of course. Considering the central midfield was bypassed by both teams for the most part (us hoofing it, them utilising the wings more) I think Sibbick would have been just fine in the centre. And I feel Ginnelly would have offered some (not a lot) more protection for Atkinson than Boyce did and provided us with a wide outlet on a wider pitch. I feel Boyce and Devlin would have offered more coming on in the 2nd half than as starters who slowly burn out.

 

34 minutes ago, CMc said:

Definitely needed an alternative out all from second half onwards. 

 

We’re too easy to nullify and stifle. Plan B often not existent or is terrible (Halliday on the right?) Not sure if that’s lack of tactical nous or just lack of player options to keep opposition teams on their toes. Much easier to nullify when it’s only one or two players you need to worry about.

[jambopilms]

21 minutes ago, briever said:

 

This attitude drives me nuts.  The difference between us and the OF, apart from budget is they never accept defeat - on and off the field, not something you could ever say about us.

Apart from budget. The one thing that makes a difference 

[JimmyCant]

12 minutes ago, frankblack said:

 

Hibs and Aberdeen thought the same with Jack and McInness.  It didn't work too well for us when he left last time, did it?

 

Too many people with short memories.

 

If you replace Neilson you will still not get us finishing better than third and getting to a cup final.  We are miles behind the top two - it isn't even close.

Correct. We’ve got a safe pair of hands and we could yet improve further under him. There is no need to change until the safe pair of hands becomes a bit slippery, or someone else tempts him.

[4marsbars]

1 hour ago, Boab Mugabe said:

Next year watching Neilson’s side park the bus against all of our European opponents and not lay a glove on them will be very demoralising.

Yes, because parking the bus is all that Neilson has.

 

Utter nonsense.  We've seen some great football this season, commanding performances, pleasing on the eye, emergence of fine players most of us had neither heard nor dreamt of.

 

Open your eyes.

[JimmyCant]

45 minutes ago, briever said:

 

As we were walking into town after the game that is exactly the conversation I was having with mates - having been in Malta when he did that - I'd like to think he's moved on and evolved - but I dont fancy shelling out thousands to watch the team abroad and barely having anything to get excited about.

You know exactly what he is going to do away from home in Europe. He’s going to park the bus. It’s awful to watch as a spectacle but European trips are about so much more than how we perform. No danger are you going to see us play swashbuckling football on the road unless it’s a real minnow which we are unlikely to find ourselves up against.

 

Its at home in front of full houses that he needs to show a bit of adventure, no matter who we are playing. If we get done over by a good team then so be it. It would likely happen if we parked the bus anyway. We’re actually not very good at parking the bus historically speaking  anyway.

 

Its all about the quality we sign in The summer if we want to show well in Europe. I want to see a team that can counter attack with pace in Europe

Edited May 22, 2022 by JimmyCant

[johnking123]

Robbie will be judged more next season and so will the recruitment team. Have to show improvement again. Get to third and try clawing the point gap from old firm has to be aim.

[frankblack]

1 minute ago, JimmyCant said:

You know exactly what he is going to do away from home in Europe. He’s going to park the bus. It’s awful to watch as a spectacle but European trips are about so much more than how we perform. No danger are you going to see us play swashbuckling football on the road unless it’s a real minnow which we are unlikely to find ourselves up against.

 

Its at home in front of full houses that he needs to show a bit of adventure, no matter who we are playing. If we get done over by a good team then so be it. It would likely happen if we parked the bus anyway. We’re actually not very good at parking the bus historically speaking  anyway.

 

Its all about the quality we sign in The summer if we want to show well in Europe.

 

Even the big teams park the bus in the away legs in Europe - unless you are a Man City or Liverpool!