An alternative take......unexpected +++ feelings for Robbie

[Unknown user]

Just now, Francis Albert said:

I am going with what I saw. As I remember we had more than one shot on target.

Well obviously you know better than the actual manager on the day

[Luckies1874]

12 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

I am going with what I saw. As I remember we had more than one shot on target.

 

We were setup to contain and break when we had the ball. JJ changed tact against them for the Cup Final (see article below) as we had been given several hidings by them in league matches. Where things differ from Saturday is fairly obvious: we had a number of class players and a lot of very good players, in fact in my opinion only Craig Gordon (and I won't hear a bad word about Rousset!) would get in the 1998 side. So comparing the 2 performances is laughable in any case but the fact remains both Hearts sides used similar tactics, one just was way way better than the other and had been preparing and improving toward that moment for a couple of seasons. A season ago Neilson's Hearts had just been promoted from a garbage Championship! It's utterly ridiculous to suggest with the side he has at his disposal we should have gone to Hampden against a far superior Rangers and played a game of basketball with them.  

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51679823

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Luckies1874

[Francis Albert]

35 minutes ago, Luckies1874 said:

 

We were setup to contain and break when we had the ball. JJ changed tact against them for the Cup Final (see article below) as we had been given several hidings by them in league matches. Where things differ from Saturday is fairly obvious: we had a number of class players and a lot of very good players, in fact in my opinion only Craig Gordon (and I won't hear a bad word about Rousset!) would get in the 1998 side. So comparing the 2 performances is laughable in any case but the fact remains both Hearts sides used similar tactics, one just was way way better than the other and had been preparing and improving toward that moment for a couple of seasons. A season ago Neilson's Hearts had just been promoted from a garbage Championship! It's utterly ridiculous to suggest with the side he has at his disposal we should have gone to Hampden against a far superior Rangers and played a game of basketball with them.  

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51679823

 

 

A game of basketball?

How many shots on target has even the worst baseball team ever had? 

JJ's comments in your link do not justify a performance without a single shot on target in over 120 minutes. And his team against a very strong Rangers team did a lot better than that.

 

[Francis Albert]

51 minutes ago, Smithee said:

Well obviously you know better than the actual manager on the day

I think JJ like the rest of us saw more than one shot on target

[Luckies1874]

3 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

A game of basketball?

How many shots on target has even the worst baseball team ever had? 

JJ's comments in your link do not justify a performance without a single shot on target in over 120 minutes. And his team against a very strong Rangers team did a lot better than that.

 

 

Yeah a game of basketball is exactly what some seem to be advocating, end to end, gung ho, trying to beat a far better team with little game plan, organisation or discipline. We would have got slaughtered, instead we gave ourselves a chance of a massive upset by keeping things tight for long periods and going someone could produce a wee piece of magic or they would make a mistake. It didn't happen but there was nothing wrong with the game plan. 

 

JJ's team did a lot better because they were a lot better! A far superior Hearts team individually and collectively than what we have now. As I say only Gordon would even get in the 98 side. The 98 team had been building towards success for a couple of seasons and had far more talent and much better balance in terms of experience and know how. Comparing the 2 is ridiculous but they were both setup to let Rangers come on to them, contain and try to take the opportunities when they arose. 

[Shaggy2]

3 hours ago, Luckies1874 said:

 

Yeah a game of basketball is exactly what some seem to be advocating, end to end, gung ho, trying to beat a far better team with little game plan, organisation or discipline. We would have got slaughtered, instead we gave ourselves a chance of a massive upset by keeping things tight for long periods and going someone could produce a wee piece of magic or they would make a mistake. It didn't happen but there was nothing wrong with the game plan. 

 

JJ's team did a lot better because they were a lot better! A far superior Hearts team individually and collectively than what we have now. As I say only Gordon would even get in the 98 side. The 98 team had been building towards success for a couple of seasons and had far more talent and much better balance in terms of experience and know how. Comparing the 2 is ridiculous but they were both setup to let Rangers come on to them, contain and try to take the opportunities when they arose. 

How many The Rangers players of 2022 would get in the Rangers team of 1998? I’d say none but think it’s a fair question and if you think differently I’ll respect that. I’ll concede we had more quality to hurt a side back then so although there probably was slightly more of a gulf, on balance I’m not sure Saturday’s sides were, compared to 16-05-98, as far apart as you’re suggesting. Scottish football has regressed so far under Mitchell, Doncaster et al since 1998. 

[Sooks]

2 hours ago, Shaggy2 said:

How many The Rangers players of 2022 would get in the Rangers team of 1998? I’d say none but think it’s a fair question and if you think differently I’ll respect that. I’ll concede we had more quality to hurt a side back then so although there probably was slightly more of a gulf, on balance I’m not sure Saturday’s sides were, compared to 16-05-98, as far apart as you’re suggesting. Scottish football has regressed so far under Mitchell, Doncaster et al since 1998. 

I watched 1998 again the night before the game on Saturday and I think both teams in the 1998 final were superior to the teams at the wee end …………… what really stuck out for me though was that both teams in 1998 let each other play a bit and this made it a far more entertaining match to watch unlike now a days where it is all about the constant press and closing the opposition down to force mistakes

[Luckies1874]

3 hours ago, Shaggy2 said:

How many The Rangers players of 2022 would get in the Rangers team of 1998? I’d say none but think it’s a fair question and if you think differently I’ll respect that. I’ll concede we had more quality to hurt a side back then so although there probably was slightly more of a gulf, on balance I’m not sure Saturday’s sides were, compared to 16-05-98, as far apart as you’re suggesting. Scottish football has regressed so far under Mitchell, Doncaster et al since 1998. 

 

A reasonable question, I would think that both Bassey and Kent would get in for Stensaas and Ferguson but no doubt that both teams in 98 were superior in their own rights than those on show on Saturday. 

 

In respect to "slightly more of a gulf", I would have to point out that in 1997-98 we finished just 5 points behind Rangers (see table below) where as this season we finished TWENTY EIGHT points behind Rangers. The gulf on Saturday between the teams was almighty in comparison to 1997-98, there is no way that can be argued. The bookies had us with far more of a chance also and they certainly know what they are talking about. And yet JJ still sent us out with a game plan to contain and attack at the right moments and give ourselves the best chance of success. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997–98_Scottish_Premier_Division

 

I would agree that overall standards have certainly fallen since that period and Celtic are also a poorer team than O'Neil's side of the early 2000's but we did just lose to a Rangers side who made a European Final 12 days ago! I think perspective has been lost since the weekend. 

[Shaggy2]

29 minutes ago, Luckies1874 said:

 

A reasonable question, I would think that both Bassey and Kent would get in for Stensaas and Ferguson but no doubt that both teams in 98 were superior in their own rights than those on show on Saturday. 

 

In respect to "slightly more of a gulf", I would have to point out that in 1997-98 we finished just 5 points behind Rangers (see table below) where as this season we finished TWENTY EIGHT points behind Rangers. The gulf on Saturday between the teams was almighty in comparison to 1997-98, there is no way that can be argued. The bookies had us with far more of a chance also and they certainly know what they are talking about. And yet JJ still sent us out with a game plan to contain and attack at the right moments and give ourselves the best chance of success. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997–98_Scottish_Premier_Division

 

I would agree that overall standards have certainly fallen since that period and Celtic are also a poorer team than O'Neil's side of the early 2000's but we did just lose to a Rangers side who made a European Final 12 days ago! I think perspective has been lost since the weekend. 

Fair 👍

[gowestjambo]

11 hours ago, Luckies1874 said:

 

"Not only that it let 25,000 Fans down who hade made their way to Hampden", were your words. They didn't let me down and it's pretty clear even from this thread plenty felt likewise. 

 

We did get in their faces throughout the first half. The tactics most definitely worked during that period of the game in fact it could be argued we came closer to scoring than they did in the first 45 minutes. 

 

As I said in my original post I have had my doubts about Neilson and indeed still do but the reaction from some, such as yourself, to the defeat on Saturday shows an unrealistic expectation as to our chances of victory. 

 

Firstly we did not press throughout the first half. Perhaps a Quarter, but in no way was it any longer than that.

 

Secondly, my expectations before the game was that we were likely to lose. To expect your team not to have a single shot on target during 120 minutes is hardly an unrealistic expectation.

[Nookie Bear]

12 hours ago, Luckies1874 said:

 

"Not only that it let 25,000 Fans down who hade made their way to Hampden", were your words. They didn't let me down and it's pretty clear even from this thread plenty felt likewise. 

 

We did get in their faces throughout the first half. The tactics most definitely worked during that period of the game in fact it could be argued we came closer to scoring than they did in the first 45 minutes. 

 

As I said in my original post I have had my doubts about Neilson and indeed still do but the reaction from some, such as yourself, to the defeat on Saturday shows an unrealistic expectation as to our chances of victory. 

 

I don't think many felt 'let down', more frustrated and a bit dispirited that the gulf between the clubs we made painfully clear on such a massive occasion.

 

It also exposed the deficiencies of our squad (for me, the lack of any creativity in the middle of the park and the massive gap between attack and midfield) and i would hope that is resolved during the summer.

[gordiegords]

We need upgrades on Mceneff, gms and ginelly.

[luckydug]

28 minutes ago, gowestjambo said:

 

Firstly we did not press throughout the first half. Perhaps a Quarter, but in no way was it any longer than that.

 

Secondly, my expectations before the game was that we were likely to lose. To expect your team not to have a single shot on target during 120 minutes is hardly an unrealistic expectation.

Can't agree with you (as usual) 😏 

When playing a vastly superior team it's entirely reasonable to set your team up to stay in the game as long as possible and hope for a break. 

The expectation was that Rangers would tire because of their midweek exertion. The trouble with that was a good number of our team were carrying injuries and it was a case of needs must some of them even playing. 

Wasting my time here though. 😕 

 

[tartofmidlothian]

9 minutes ago, gordiegords said:

We need upgrades on Mceneff, gms and ginelly.

 

Agreed about GMS and McEneff, although there's something about Aaron I like and wouldn't be gutted if he stays. Ginnelly's in the same bracket as Halliday for me, not a first team starter but good for the squad. Dundee United or Hibs would build a team around these guys.

[Shaggy2]

11 minutes ago, luckydug said:

Can't agree with you (as usual) 😏 

When playing a vastly superior team it's entirely reasonable to set your team up to stay in the game as long as possible and hope for a break. 

The expectation was that Rangers would tire because of their midweek exertion. The trouble with that was a good number of our team were carrying injuries and it was a case of needs must some of them even playing. 

Wasting my time here though. 😕 

 

Whereas I accept that Rangers are far better than Hearts and we had niggling injuries and folk returning whilst nowhere near ready it was still disappointing. The injuries is a partial excuse but we know from previous experience even a fully fit Hearts team has that type of performance in them. Celtic (a) in the LC (although that again is against a far superior opposition), Aberdeen (a). Motherwell (a) St Johnstone (a). We didn't have many shockers this season but it's a real shame the latest lacklustre performance was in a cup final. Having said all that, I'm still convinced if Simms scores, we win.

[August Landmesser]

one thought that's been bumping around my head since Saturday is that if Simms had scored that chance after ten minutes, then Jack and Wright would have come on a lot earlier, and we'd probably have ended up losing 2-1 in 90 mins. Although balance that with the possibility of us hitting them on the counter...

 

I think Rangers were very keen to avoid penalties, so ramped it up when it was still 0-0 with 10 mins to go. 17 mins later they've won.

 

they had a vastly better (and more match-fit) squad then we did, and we did very well to match them as long as we did.

 

 

 

 

[gowestjambo]

1 hour ago, luckydug said:

Can't agree with you (as usual) 😏 

When playing a vastly superior team it's entirely reasonable to set your team up to stay in the game as long as possible and hope for a break. 

The expectation was that Rangers would tire because of their midweek exertion. The trouble with that was a good number of our team were carrying injuries and it was a case of needs must some of them even playing. 

Wasting my time here though. 😕 

 

 

How often has that method been successful playing rangers and celtic in Glasgow? You do not hope for breaks in Cup Finals, you look to create them.

[boag1874]

On 22/05/2022 at 23:30, FarmerTweedy said:

One other thing I should have said is re your last sentence.  From the early sixties to the mid nineties, we made only two Scottish Cup finals, losing to rangers and an Aberdeen that had been the dominant team over the previous few years. Only making two finals in 30 or so years was worrying!  Then, in 96, we started getting to finals again, losing two (one of them the league cup!) in a year before we went on to win one in 98. Since winning in 2012, we've lost a league cup final to St Mirren while in complete turmoil and heading for administration, and had a few years of no finals (rarely getting close) before making three of the last four Scottish Cup finals. We've been a little unlucky IMO to find ourselves facing an arsecheek in each of those, but at least we've started getting there regularly again, and if we keep doing that, wins will come eventually.  As I said, it's when we're not making finals that's worrying, as we obviously can't win one if we're never reaching them.  Realistically, whether we like it or not, when the arsecheeks have budgets several times the size of ours, they're going to beat us the majority of times we play them. Of course it's disappointing each time it happens, but grounds for worrying would have been if we'd followed up last season's Brora debacle with another early exit. Instead, we made the final again and while it was a disappointing performance and result, for most of our players I think it would have been their first experience of a cup final in front of a 50k crowd, and hopefully that experience will help the ones that are still with us for next season's final (might as well be positive and think we'll get there again)!

Well put

[August Landmesser]

45 minutes ago, gowestjambo said:

 

How often has that method been successful playing rangers and celtic in Glasgow? You do not hope for breaks in Cup Finals, you look to create them.

We've taken the OF to ET in two consecutive cup finals, and in one of those we were two PKs away from winning the thing.

 

you need to take off the 'Robbie Oot' specs

[tartofmidlothian]

On 22/05/2022 at 23:30, FarmerTweedy said:

One other thing I should have said is re your last sentence.  From the early sixties to the mid nineties, we made only two Scottish Cup finals, losing to rangers and an Aberdeen that had been the dominant team over the previous few years. Only making two finals in 30 or so years was worrying!  Then, in 96, we started getting to finals again, losing two (one of them the league cup!) in a year before we went on to win one in 98. Since winning in 2012, we've lost a league cup final to St Mirren while in complete turmoil and heading for administration, and had a few years of no finals (rarely getting close) before making three of the last four Scottish Cup finals. We've been a little unlucky IMO to find ourselves facing an arsecheek in each of those, but at least we've started getting there regularly again, and if we keep doing that, wins will come eventually.  As I said, it's when we're not making finals that's worrying, as we obviously can't win one if we're never reaching them.  Realistically, whether we like it or not, when the arsecheeks have budgets several times the size of ours, they're going to beat us the majority of times we play them. Of course it's disappointing each time it happens, but grounds for worrying would have been if we'd followed up last season's Brora debacle with another early exit. Instead, we made the final again and while it was a disappointing performance and result, for most of our players I think it would have been their first experience of a cup final in front of a 50k crowd, and hopefully that experience will help the ones that are still with us for next season's final (might as well be positive and think we'll get there again)!

 

That is a good post, I missed it first time round. We've exited six out of our last eight cup campaigns to the OF, six out of six if we wipe the Championship season's debacles from our minds. If we keep up what we've done this season then we're Scotland's third force again, just like under JJ, Levein the first time, Vlad and Neilson the first time. A cup will only be a matter of time, luck and not letting our standards slip.

[gowestjambo]

29 minutes ago, August Landmesser said:

We've taken the OF to ET in two consecutive cup finals, and in one of those we were two PKs away from winning the thing.

 

you need to take off the 'Robbie Oot' specs

 

I dont wear Robbie Oot specs. Perhaps if I wore what you have I would be deluded into thinking not having a single attempt at goal in a Cup Final was a good thing.

[GBJambo]

People still not realise we were a patched up side and half our team were playing injured or coming back from injury 🤦🏻

[Vlad Magic]

4 minutes ago, GBJambo said:

People still not realise we were a patched up side and half our team were playing injured or coming back from injury 🤦🏻

Doesn’t suit their agenda.

 

Also Hibs fans don’t care as this is an opportunity to stick the boot in. Understandable after the shit we have given them recently.

[Haken]

16 minutes ago, Vlad Magic said:

Doesn’t suit their agenda.

 

Also Hibs fans don’t care as this is an opportunity to stick the boot in. Understandable after the shit we have given them recently.

The difference is, when we stick the boot in, it's a Hearts boot; the Hibs boot is pretty much always a vicarious one

[DETTY29]

50 minutes ago, GBJambo said:

People still not realise we were a patched up side and half our team were playing injured or coming back from injury 🤦🏻

Tactically I'd say there are still some doubts.

 

Not playing 3 in midfield or even a 5, or only being able to safely play a back 4 when Smith is available casts some doubts on our strategy when playing against teams that are significantly better than us, which we will be up against more times next season.

 

There however has also been a lot of revisionism on what really happened in 98, the luck we rode and the gap between the clubs then and now, even if for just that one season or thereabouts.

Edited May 24, 2022 by DETTY29

[luckydug]

5 hours ago, gowestjambo said:

 

I dont wear Robbie Oot specs. 

Pants on fire👖🔥

[Watt-Zeefuik]

Grateful to find this thread and the OP after avoiding JKB for a few days.

 

We were on top of them for the first 30-40 minutes, trying to get the advantage early while they were still a little emotionally hungover. We nearly managed it and were more likely to score early on.

 

The second half our not fully fit players couldn't keep up. If Simms' sliding tap-in had gone in, it would have been a very different game.

 

As it is, we still managed to take them to ET after running out of gas.

 

Moaners gonna moan.

[gowestjambo]

41 minutes ago, luckydug said:

Pants on fire👖🔥

 

Grow up ffs......obviously run out of facts to support your silly claims.

[briever]

11 minutes ago, Led Tasso said:

Grateful to find this thread and the OP after avoiding JKB for a few days.

 

We were on top of them for the first 30-40 minutes, trying to get the advantage early while they were still a little emotionally hungover. We nearly managed it and were more likely to score early on.

 

The second half our not fully fit players couldn't keep up. If Simms' sliding tap-in had gone in, it would have been a very different game.

 

As it is, we still managed to take them to ET after running out of gas.

 

Moaners gonna moan.

 

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Watt-Zeefuik]

14 minutes ago, briever said:

 

🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

Look mate moan all you want, you got drunk and forgot the first half. Not my fault.

 

Here's the Guardian's MBM report from the match, in which they spend the first 30 minutes before Aribo's chance being surprised that Hearts were playing as well as we were. I pick the Guardian because they generally sneer at Scottish football and only ever cover non-OF clubs if they're forced to.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2022/may/21/rangers-v-hearts-scottish-cup-final-2022-live?page=with:block-628903f78f08a8124b15086c&filterKeyEvents=false

[briever]

26 minutes ago, Led Tasso said:

 

Look mate moan all you want, you got drunk and forgot the first half. Not my fault.

 

Here's the Guardian's MBM report from the match, in which they spend the first 30 minutes before Aribo's chance being surprised that Hearts were playing as well as we were. I pick the Guardian because they generally sneer at Scottish football and only ever cover non-OF clubs if they're forced to.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2022/may/21/rangers-v-hearts-scottish-cup-final-2022-live?page=with:block-628903f78f08a8124b15086c&filterKeyEvents=false

 

The Guardian 😂😂

[TurboT]

On 22/05/2022 at 05:19, Kirky Jambo said:

Afraid I can’t get on board with the OP.

 

It was a pathetic performance. We were just waiting for Rangers to score. 
 

Yes they are a good side and better than us, but bear in mind a very poor Hibs thumped them at Hampden. Make no mistake, it was a great opportunity for us and we didn’t come anywhere close to grasping it.

 

In my opinion it is important we don’t accept that (Hibs-ish attitude) and instead we should criticize players and management for letting us down badly on the big stage. I really think our horrendous end of season form was a contributing factor.

 

Good season on the whole, but let’s not pretend yesterday was anywhere near acceptable.

 

Stating Hibs thumped Rangers is a bit over the top. 

 

Hibs only had three shots in that game and scored from all of them, they were clinical and produced a great win, however, on another day they would have lost like they did in all the other games they played against Rangers this season.

[TurboT]

On 23/05/2022 at 19:52, PaddysBar said:

I get we played with a few injuries but sorry we’ve been shit for the last 5 games regardless of personnel. 
 

We look tired, zero game plan and Robbie coming out with gems like ‘not bothered’ after losing games. 
 

That would have been fine if we genuinely were saving ourselves to have a right go in  the final but we obviously weren’t as we were awful and had no energy nor any ideas. 
 

As soon as Boyce went off, Simms was isolated and we were ****ed. 
 

We hugely mismanaged the last 4/5 weeks of the season IMO and Robbie is to blame for that. 

I'm not sure if this is a serious post?

 

We've been missing our two main central midfielders and our three first choice centre halves and you wonder why we've not played well since the split?  

 

If you take 5 of the best players out of any team in this league and they will struggle.

[TurboT]

21 hours ago, Francis Albert said:

Nonsense. We were competitive  in the game until Rangers goal and certainly were backs to the wall then but only for the last ten minutes. But before that we were never solely defensive and if Flogel had scored with his chance we would have won more comfortably.

We were competitive in the game on Saturday up until 75 mins when Boyce went off.  Once he went off we offered nothing going forward which I put down to a tiring midfield / full backs and Ginnelly / GMS not being good enough.   

 

If Simms had scored early on, it would have been a different game.

[i wish jj was my dad]

Turbo really shouldn't have to point this stuff out out. It should be obvious to everyone.  

[Rudy T]

Our 1998 cup winning starting 11 was:

 

Rousset

 

Weir

Mcpherson

Naismith

Ritchie

Fulton

Cameron

Salvatore

McCann

Flogel

 

Adam

 

That team would take 6 off the current Rangers team. There’s nearly 250 collective international caps in that team. All of them played at a higher level than Hearts and took JJ a few years to put together. To compare todays team to 98’ is bonkers, Robbo was on the bench ffs. You’d be lucky if Rangers could afford that Hearts team in todays market never mind us. In 98 things also went our way, Albertz was suspended and for some reason Amoruso thought he could take free kicks, Laudrup had signed for Chelsea and was trying his best not to get involved. McCoist was at the end and unbelievably we got a pen and they didn’t.

 

Saturday was an eye opener, and showed the gulf in class but at least we’ve got good people helping us close that gap. In 98 if the pie man had spent the cash on the team we may have been league winners never mind just cup winners.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hectormasson]

10 hours ago, August Landmesser said:

one thought that's been bumping around my head since Saturday is that if Simms had scored that chance after ten minutes, then Jack and Wright would have come on a lot earlier, and we'd probably have ended up losing 2-1 in 90 mins. Although balance that with the possibility of us hitting them on the counter...

 

I think Rangers were very keen to avoid penalties, so ramped it up when it was still 0-0 with 10 mins to go. 17 mins later they've won.

 

they had a vastly better (and more match-fit) squad then we did, and we did very well to match them as long as we did.

 

 

 

 

That's where I see it, was totally pissed off at the time at hampden, when we conceded, but once it struck home,about everything ie. Injuries strength on their subs bench,and the fact they were a lot fitter than I thought they would be, I didn't feel as bad,just the intake of a few too many bevvies pre match, I'd realise later that it wasn't our teams fault in total, we did well to get to 90mins 0-0, our bench didn't have the necessary power to get us the goal sadly......onwards &upwards,

' we had the beer and we had the cheer" we couldn't win it" but wel be back next year,  🇶🇦🇶🇦🇶🇦🇶🇦🇶🇦🏆🏆🏆

 

[Hectormasson]

1 hour ago, TurboT said:

 

Stating Hibs thumped Rangers is a bit over the top. 

 

Hibs only had three shots in that game and scored from all of them, they were clinical and produced a great win, however, on another day they would have lost like they did in all the other games they played against Rangers this season.

But they still got pumped by the jungle Jim's in the final, thank f....k....

[Watt-Zeefuik]

3 hours ago, briever said:

 

The Guardian 😂😂

 

Sound argument, that's me convinced!

[tartofmidlothian]

5 hours ago, TurboT said:

We were competitive in the game on Saturday up until 75 mins when Boyce went off.  Once he went off we offered nothing going forward which I put down to a tiring midfield / full backs and Ginnelly / GMS not being good enough.   

 

If Simms had scored early on, it would have been a different game.

 

Good summary of the game.

[PapaShango]

We were done after about 75 minutes and my feeling is that the injuries and lack of game time for many of them caught up with us. We had Souttar, Halkett and Devlin just back, along with Boyce and Simms who have been carrying knocks. It was always a tall order to beat them in those circumstances. Had we scored our one chance after 10 minutes would it have been different? Possibly, we would have had something to hold onto but there is no way to know as the game would have panned out differently. 

 

We also missed Beni and Smith. The latter has been poor since coming back, however he was a key player earlier in the season. I'm confident Robbie will improve us next season, he has certainly went up in my estimation as the season has progressed. 

[Francis Albert]

19 hours ago, TurboT said:

We were competitive in the game on Saturday up until 75 mins when Boyce went off.  Once he went off we offered nothing going forward which I put down to a tiring midfield / full backs and Ginnelly / GMS not being good enough.   

 

If Simms had scored early on, it would have been a different game.

You can't be competitive without having a single shot on target in normal and extra time. Unless you are competing for a no score draw. The idea that there is some sort of equivalence between the performance on  Saturday and 1998 is simply ludicrous. We posed more threat before the official kick off time in 1998 than we did in 120 odd minutes on Saturday.

Yes of course we had much better team in 1998. But that team played to its potential and above. On Saturday we did not despite all the hiberniesque excuses

 

 

[Vlad Magic]

1 hour ago, Francis Albert said:

You can't be competitive without having a single shot on target in normal and extra time. Unless you are competing for a no score draw. The idea that there is some sort of equivalence between the performance on  Saturday and 1998 is simply ludicrous. We posed more threat before the official kick off time in 1998 than we did in 120 odd minutes on Saturday.

Yes of course we had much better team in 1998. But that team played to its potential and above. On Saturday we did not despite all the hiberniesque excuses

 

 

 

How does one compete for a no score draw?

 

Deliberately miss a penalty?

 

Go down under no pressure when clear through on goal?

 

I saw the bit in bold on .net soon after we lost. It’s appeared here now regularly.

[Vlad Magic]

Right boys.

 

This match we are competing for a draw. Under no circumstances do I want you to win. No shots on target is a must. If you get a chance stick it in the stands. If you get hammered in the box get up as if nothings happened. If they score an own goal make sure to gift them a goal before the match ends.

 

Do not under any circumstances win the game. We are playing for a draw.

 

On you go lads and make the fans proud.

[Francis Albert]

7 minutes ago, Vlad Magic said:

 

How does one compete for a no score draw?

 

Deliberately miss a penalty?

 

Go down under no pressure when clear through on goal?

 

I saw the bit in bold on .net soon after we lost. It’s appeared here now regularly.

Simple. Focus on preventing the other team from scoring. While not getting a shot on target yourselves.

[Vlad Magic]

Just now, Francis Albert said:

Simple. Focus on preventing the other team from scoring. While not getting a shot on target yourselves.

You have lost it.

[Francis Albert]

7 minutes ago, Vlad Magic said:

Right boys.

 

This match we are competing for a draw. Under no circumstances do I want you to win. No shots on target is a must. If you get a chance stick it in the stands. If you get hammered in the box get up as if nothings happened. If they score an own goal make sure to gift them a goal before the match ends.

 

Do not under any circumstances win the game. We are playing for a draw.

 

On you go lads and make the fans proud.

How many of your examples happened on Saturday?

[Francis Albert]

1 minute ago, Vlad Magic said:

You have lost it.

No. We did.

[i wish jj was my dad]

35 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

No. We did.

And it made your day. Something else to wheenge about. 

[Francis Albert]

1 hour ago, i wish jj was my dad said:

And it made your day. Something else to wheenge about. 

I wanted us to lose so I could whinge about it? I have supported Hearts for over 60years. And I have not complained about our losing on Saturday which I expected. I have complained  about people defending a performance where we never managed one shot on target in over 120 minutes. Has this ever happened before? Even against some bigger clubs than the current Rangers? Even with some weaker teams than Saturday's.

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by Francis Albert