Robbie!!! ( merged )

[GBJambo]

People judging us after a few games ffs it’s a season we are playing btw 😂

[Sertse]

Something which has been really bothering me:

Almost all hearts supporters I saw online were very optimistic at the game. Even if we didn't win, we'd give them a game at least and it would be close.

A lot of rangers supporters online were saying they expected us to beat them because they've been awful and we've been in good form.

Nobody expected such a one sided, high score game. 

The thing bothering me is when both sets of supporters are expecting us to get a result or at least put up a fight, why are the players failing miserably?

We have good quality players, the highest budget in years and all the rest so why is everything the exact same as before?

I'm getting concerned for this season now. Our recent results have been awful. In the last 15 games we've played we've won what, 4 of them? Off the top of my head?

Something's not right

[DG_HMFC]

11 minutes ago, mikey51 said:

So much talk of ceilings and Robbie has taken us as far as we can go. Well yes for now that's it, 3rd in the league, cup final appearances and European football. That's far as we can go. Unless the uglies have a really bad season. Or we continue to build season after season bringing in more revenue and better quality players, even then its a massive jump to compete with 2 teams that have the resources they do.. 

 

Teams with far less resources than us manage to look decent enough against us and put up more of a fight against the OF than we do. 

 

It's about mentality and application, something we're seriously lacking in just now.

 

We have good players but we look unfit as **** and that's evident with the lack of running we do, or don't do.

 

 

[DG_HMFC]

7 minutes ago, GBJambo said:

People judging us after a few games ffs it’s a season we are playing btw 😂

 

A few games?

 

The awful form goes way back to last season, post split.

[Australis]

Starting to look like Europe has been a bit of a burden to us. And our fitness routine is not up to scratch.

 

And it certainly was not the attraction Robbie thought it would be for signing players. 

[GBJambo]

2 minutes ago, DG_HMFC said:

 

A few games?

 

The awful form goes way back to last season, post split.

You mean post split when we had comfortably secured third and were coasting in as nothing to play for 

[Bing1874]

1 minute ago, Australis said:

Starting to look like Europe has been a bit of a burden to us. And our fitness routine is not up to scratch.

 

And it certainly was not the attraction Robbie thought it would be for signing players. 

All him and joe needed to do was sign players to finish 3rd in the league again which in turn gets us Europe again and more money more money better players to pull a gap from the rest and cement us as the 3rd best in Scotland 

[DG_HMFC]

1 minute ago, GBJambo said:

You mean post split when we had comfortably secured third and were coasting in as nothing to play for 

 

Nothing to play for? That's the mentality I'm talking about.

 

Players playing for the jersey, cup final places up for grabs, momentum and pride of performance.

 

Lots to ****in play for when pulling on a maroon jersey.

[The Grim Reaper]

2 minutes ago, GBJambo said:

You mean post split when we had comfortably secured third and were coasting in as nothing to play for 

Nothing to play for in the Scottish Cup final either, right?

[GBJambo]

8 minutes ago, Australis said:

Starting to look like Europe has been a bit of a burden to us. And our fitness routine is not up to scratch.

 

And it certainly was not the attraction Robbie thought it would be for signing players. 

Maybe if it’s that much a burden we should not bother aiming for third 😂

Just play for 5th or 6th then. Some people on here will be happy with that too 

Edited October 2, 2022 by GBJambo

[GBJambo]

1 minute ago, The Grim Reaper said:

Nothing to play for in the Scottish Cup final either, right?

We didn’t lose the final because we lost a few games post split. 
Had we won them instead of losing them. It would have had no bearing on our result in the final 

[Cruyff]

19 minutes ago, GBJambo said:

People judging us after a few games ffs it’s a season we are playing btw 😂

We've lost 7 of our last 10 games!

[Clerry Jambo]

23 minutes ago, GBJambo said:

Still on course for third despite crippling injuries and playing in Europe. 
 

Some fans haven’t got a ****ing clue 😂

Hahaha so are half the league ffs

[The Grim Reaper]

2 minutes ago, GBJambo said:

We didn’t lose the final because we lost a few games post split. 
Had we won them instead of losing them. It would have had no bearing on our result in the final 

 

 

So Robbie told the players not to worry about the post split games and I assume not to worry about the final also?

[pettigrewsstylist]

16 minutes ago, Sertse said:

Something which has been really bothering me:

Almost all hearts supporters I saw online were very optimistic at the game. Even if we didn't win, we'd give them a game at least and it would be close.

A lot of rangers supporters online were saying they expected us to beat them because they've been awful and we've been in good form.

Nobody expected such a one sided, high score game. 

The thing bothering me is when both sets of supporters are expecting us to get a result or at least put up a fight, why are the players failing miserably?

We have good quality players, the highest budget in years and all the rest so why is everything the exact same as before?

I'm getting concerned for this season now. Our recent results have been awful. In the last 15 games we've played we've won what, 4 of them? Off the top of my head?

Something's not right

A lot of chopping and changing has not helped. 

We seem to run out of central creativity on the opposition 18 yd line most of the time. 

We have no natural leader to drive and "answer to" once over the white line. This allows players to hide, sulk, panic.

Our defence moving from a 3 to a 4 then back to a 3 and now settling into a 4 has affected whole spine of team and our style of play this season. We are yet to bed in IMO.

[pettigrewsstylist]

13 minutes ago, Australis said:

Starting to look like Europe has been a bit of a burden to us. And our fitness routine is not up to scratch.

 

And it certainly was not the attraction Robbie thought it would be for signing players. 

Europe a burden? Its all we are playing for?  last year and again this year. Ill take that burden anyday.

What we maybe were not expecting is just how dross we are in relation to ECL standard.

[Bing1874]

2 minutes ago, Cruyff said:

We've lost 7 of our last 10 games!

I don’t see why people are accepting of this stats don’t lie..we have been honking for months now..iv said it god knows how many times..we were lucky to have a Aberdeen team and hibs team that couldn’t string together a run of results 

[GBJambo]

1 minute ago, The Grim Reaper said:

 

 

So Robbie told the players not to worry about the post split games and I assume not to worry about the final also?

I don’t know what Robbie would have said to the players post split .  
 

But mentally the players would have likely had the eye on the final.

 

We lost the final as Rangers were the much better team with better players. That’s football 
 

 

[Jingle Bells]

I can only speak for myself but how we play in games, win or lose matters too.

 

As one of the Forever the Bridesmaid brigade I would hate to see our younger fans waiting, in my case for 36 years, for years to see the Club win a trophy.

 

I see nothing in Neilson to suggest that that he will break the 10 year drought we are currently in.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GBJambo]

5 minutes ago, Clerry Jambo said:

Hahaha so are half the league ffs

Yep and we are still in the mix with injuries to our best defence and midfield players and playing in Europe too

 

 

[WageThief]

1 minute ago, Bing1874 said:

I don’t see why people are accepting of this stats don’t lie..we have been honking for months now..iv said it god knows how many times..we were lucky to have a Aberdeen team and hibs team that couldn’t string together a run of results 

 

Like thinking we we're incredible after going the first three league games unbeaten.

[Spellczech]

31 minutes ago, Sertse said:

Something which has been really bothering me:

Almost all hearts supporters I saw online were very optimistic at the game. Even if we didn't win, we'd give them a game at least and it would be close.

A lot of rangers supporters online were saying they expected us to beat them because they've been awful and we've been in good form.

Nobody expected such a one sided, high score game. 

The thing bothering me is when both sets of supporters are expecting us to get a result or at least put up a fight, why are the players failing miserably?

We have good quality players, the highest budget in years and all the rest so why is everything the exact same as before?

I'm getting concerned for this season now. Our recent results have been awful. In the last 15 games we've played we've won what, 4 of them? Off the top of my head?

Something's not right

The gulf in budget between us and the OF is huge. Simple fact is that the OF are up for Hearts games as they know we are the "best of the rest". They aren't up for some other games, and they don't quite have the same quality as they used to, to eke out a result even when playing badly and not up for it...it is actually more about them than us.

[Bazzas right boot]

2 hours ago, buzzbomb1958 said:

We will not finish third this season, last season every team below us were dugshit , this season every team looks to have improved apart from the usual suspects, think Robbie has hit the ceiling and has taken us as far as he can I’m afraid , This season should have been used to consolidate our place in the league, European football should have been used to gain experience as it was a free hit . I do hope we kick on once Europe is done and we have a full squad back , there should be no excuses, if we don’t then the extra cash we’ve made should be used to get a better manager in place as we won’t have a better chance to do so IMO

 

 

We will finish 3rd imo. 

 

 

[Bazzas right boot]

9 minutes ago, Jingle Bells said:

I can only speak for myself but how we play in games, win or lose matters too.

 

As one of the Forever the Bridesmaid brigade I would hate to see our younger fans waiting, in my case for 36 years, for years to see the Club win a trophy.

 

I see nothing in Neilson to suggest that that he will break the 10 year drought we are currently in.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apart from being a pk away from a win and in 2 sc  Finals. 

 

Aye, apart from being really close to winning the sc, nothing indicates we'll win a trophy. 

 

**** me. 

 

 

 

[Shanks]

Would anyone really be that bothered if he ran away to an MKdons again?

 

 

[The Grim Reaper]

15 minutes ago, GBJambo said:

I don’t know what Robbie would have said to the players post split .  
 

But mentally the players would have likely had the eye on the final.

 

We lost the final as Rangers were the much better team with better players. That’s football 
 

 

But surely you can agree we would have had a better chance going into the final with our pre-split form rather than post-split form?

[jamboman9]

5 minutes ago, Shanks said:

Would anyone really be that bothered if he ran away to an MKdons again?

 

 

Just the happy clappers.

[BackOfTheNet]

Players certainly have to take responsibility when they play badly, but anyone pretending that yesterday was anything other than an unequivocal tactical failure is deluding themselves. (And I’m only talking pre-sending off here)

[Nookie Bear]

12 minutes ago, Spellczech said:

The gulf in budget between us and the OF is huge. Simple fact is that the OF are up for Hearts games as they know we are the "best of the rest". They aren't up for some other games, and they don't quite have the same quality as they used to, to eke out a result even when playing badly and not up for it...it is actually more about them than us.

This. We are a big game for them and they always put a bit extra into them. 

[GBJambo]

10 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Apart from being a pk away from a win and in 2 sc  Finals. 

 

Aye, apart from being really close to winning the sc, nothing indicates we'll win a trophy. 

 

**** me. 

 

 

 

People just hate Robbie and he can do no right in their eyes 

[GinRummy]

Just now, BackOfTheNet said:

Players certainly have to take responsibility when they play badly, but anyone pretending that yesterday was anything other than an unequivocal tactical failure is deluding themselves. (And I’m only talking pre-sending off here)

There are always plenty deluded people on this forum.

[4marsbars]

1 hour ago, mellors1874 said:

Also never seems to notice how rangers full backs always overlap and leaves us 2 v 1 with us playing narrow.

Did it in the cup final and did it again yesterday.

 

We nearly pulled it off in the cup final. It's nearly a year since Rangers lost to any Scottish team except Celtic.

 

There's a massive gulf between the OF and the rest, as yesterday showed, yet again  People on this thread say Robbie's taken  us as far as he can. To go further means overtaking one of the gruesome twosome. I can't think of any manager capable of achieving that.

 

Robbie's taken us as far as any manager could, and that's no mean achievement. We should get behind him, as most of us do.

[Bazzas right boot]

2 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Players certainly have to take responsibility when they play badly, but anyone pretending that yesterday was anything other than an unequivocal tactical failure is deluding themselves. (And I’m only talking pre-sending off here)

 

What tactics failed? 

[GinRummy]

Just now, GBJambo said:

People just hate Robbie and he can do no right in their eyes 

There are just as many who are happy to pretend he is doing a good job when he’s not. Yesterday was awful, he’s the manager yet he can do no wrong in some peoples eyes 

[CMc]

12 hours ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Neilson isn’t going anywhere. This loss will not change our overall position as a club in Scotland or Europe, and that for many (including the board) is the main thing. Calling for the sack after getting beat by Rangers is an odd thing anyway.

 

But people have every right to be annoyed about how the side is tactically set up. I’ll never get people having personal stubborn views on players or managers that make them seethe. But where criticism is rightly due, it’s due.

 

Here’s some tactical gripes I recall from today’s game alone, and have been reminded of from watching the highlights (and I’m only including pre-sending off here):

 

▪️No one left up when defending a corner - McKay or Forrest will be doing nothing to help us defend a corner in our own box, at least one of them should be at the half way line in case (as happened) we clear, so that the ball doesn’t just come straight back at us for no reason

 

▪️Throw-ins - we always let the full/wing back take the throw in when a quicker throw would be more beneficial, all we do is let the other team organise themselves

 

▪️Pressing in big games - before anyone starts, I’m not saying we should be Man City or Liverpool here, but pressing and harrying defenders (against the OF in particular) is crucial. They need to be unsettled and have no time to think. All we did was sit off them.

 

▪️Sitting off - carrying on from the last point, this is clear as day a tactical choice, the players have been told to sit off and let Rangers come at us, most likely so we can counter quickly.
 

▪️1st goal - carrying on from the last two points, we have Gouldson taking all the time in the world to pick a pass and he just kicks it over the entire midfield taking our attack and midfield out of the game with one pass, they win the 2nd ball as they have crowded our defensive third and the ball gets played out to Kent (who Smith sits off) who has all the time in the world to pick out a cross for Colak’s header

 

▪️Ball watching - linked into the sitting off, too often in games this season and towards end of last we do not play to touch but zonally and are guilty of ball watching. Oddly, Sibbick is the only one people call out on this, when in fact Kingsley is probably the worst culprit. Combination of no pressure, sitting off and ball watching gave Rangers a goal they didn’t have to even earn. But not just the goal, watch all their chances, players running back watching the ball be played to one Rangers player after another without challenge and Rangers players making runs yards away from any of our defenders who should really be tracking where they are.

 

▪️Horses for courses - Barrie McKay is arguably our best player, but in big games he may as well not even have started. I genuinely think he needs to be on the bench for those games. Someone like Grant instead of him behind Shankland today, or even put Humphrys in behind and have Ginnelly out on the wing would have potentially given their defence more to worry about. (Saying that, wouldn’t matter who it is if they get told to stand off) McKay gets marked out of the big games too easily and as much as we may like his sexy, silky runs sometimes, he’s never up to the pace of a big game. Ever.

 

▪️2nd goal - played along the back in fairness with a tiny bit of jogging pressure this time on Goldson and Lundstram. Lundstram though then has time to - again - bypass our attack and midfield with one pass to Motondo who Cochrane sits off and he runs forward and plays a ball to Colak (who made a good run, but clearly we were not aware of his run due to - again- ball watching and zonal marking)

 

Add into all that individual mistakes (which you cannot blame on tactics) and we are a beating waiting to happen.

 

Today, we genuinely would have been better off not turning up and just forfeiting. We’d at least only have a 0-3 loss on record instead of a 0-4 and we wouldn’t have Devlin suspended now. This isn’t a long Neilson out post. Just a list of obvious to anyone with eyes observations of our tactics.

Good, balanced post. Good to see an attempt at objectivity and constructive criticism. 
 

Regarding pressing, the home Zurich game showed what we are capable of. That was a masterclass in keeping your opponent penned in their own third. So we have done it in a big game. We seem more reluctant to do it since we have been without Rowles and Halkett. I too would like to see more of it (and the whole approach from that half). I wonder if the enforced personnel changes are a part of it. Long balls break the press. I wonder if we are attempting to discourage these with a makeshift defence? I hope we see a return to pressing high. A settled side would help this as they all need to know and act on the triggers in unison.

 

With the sitting in against the OF, we are a bit damned if we do, damned if we don’t, IMO. When we have recently tried to play open against them, it has been a disaster. When we tried similar low block tactics in the cup final, we shut them out in the 90 minutes. I would suspect that was the hope. Far more difficult to execute this time with no Souttar or Halkett at the back and no Simms or Boyce as the out ball. It didn’t work on this occasion. 

We REALLY miss Halkett’s leadership when he is out. Craig is captain, but for his formative years with us he had Elvis yelling at him to instruct him when to leave his line and when to come for crosses. Most young keepers were still playing age groups or reserves at that age. He also seems like a fairly quiet guy. This all adds up to a keeper who is not going to ball out his centre halves like he’s Peter Schmiechal. Injuries now have us with a kid and a career fullback at centre back in the heart of defence. I think the lack of a defensive organiser and the enforced rotation has a part to play in the ball-watching. We need to get Halks back fit and we need to work on someone else being able to call the shots in his absence. I can accept we could not secure an experienced RCB who was better than we had last window. I hope we do in the winter window. 
 

I wonder if McKay should be 10 in big games if he plays? Perhaps more of an emphasis on turn and pass, rather than beating men? Put in someone who will support the fullback in defence a bit more?  I guess the Riga game is an example of a time he was struggling and played his way back into it very successfully - however this was a team that would have far less scouting data on him. The better domestic teams have been able to neutralise him a fair bit. If he was rested against Celtic, I would not be heartbroken. 
 

Regarding the throw-ins, I agree with the general point, my guess is against the OF, the approach may involve being more structured to increase our time in possession. The way we have done free-kicks (out of shooting range) and corners in Europe look like we are taking this approach. Like you, when we have our best team out, I’d like to see more risk-reward in attacking set plays. I can understand why trying to maximise our possession share makes sense when we are underdogs though - even if it i would like the players to improvise if the opportunity presents. 
 

There’s definitely plenty to work on. With nine new signings and a lengthy injury list it would be strange if there weren’t. FWIW, I think we will get better as the season progresses. The first half at home v Zurich and the second half v Riga should be the template. It will be interesting to see how we do after the World Cup. 

[ScottieMac17]

24 minutes ago, 4marsbars said:

We nearly pulled it off in the cup final. It's nearly a year since Rangers lost to any Scottish team except Celtic.

 

There's a massive gulf between the OF and the rest, as yesterday showed, yet again  People on this thread say Robbie's taken  us as far as he can. To go further means overtaking one of the gruesome twosome. I can't think of any manager capable of achieving that.

 

Robbie's taken us as far as any manager could, and that's no mean achievement. We should get behind him, as most of us do

Spot on! 👏

 

[BackOfTheNet]

25 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

What tactics failed? 

See the post CMc quotes me on just below your post with the reply to it here:

 

5 minutes ago, CMc said:

Good, balanced post. Good to see an attempt at objectivity and constructive criticism. 
 

Regarding pressing, the home Zurich game showed what we are capable of. That was a masterclass in keeping your opponent penned in their own third. So we have done it in a big game. We seem more reluctant to do it since we have been without Rowles and Halkett. I too would like to see more of it (and the whole approach from that half). I wonder if the enforced personnel changes are a part of it. Long balls break the press. I wonder if we are attempting to discourage these with a makeshift defence? I hope we see a return to pressing high. A settled side would help this as they all need to know and act on the triggers in unison.

 

With the sitting in against the OF, we are a bit damned if we do, damned if we don’t, IMO. When we have recently tried to play open against them, it has been a disaster. When we tried similar low block tactics in the cup final, we shut them out in the 90 minutes. I would suspect that was the hope. Far more difficult to execute this time with no Souttar or Halkett at the back and no Simms or Boyce as the out ball. It didn’t work on this occasion. 

We REALLY miss Halkett’s leadership when he is out. Craig is captain, but for his formative years with us he had Elvis yelling at him to instruct him when to leave his line and when to come for crosses. Most young keepers were still playing age groups or reserves at that age. He also seems like a fairly quiet guy. This all adds up to a keeper who is not going to ball out his centre halves like he’s Peter Schmiechal. Injuries now have us with a kid and a career fullback at centre back in the heart of defence. I think the lack of a defensive organiser and the enforced rotation has a part to play in the ball-watching. We need to get Halks back fit and we need to work on someone else being able to call the shots in his absence. I can accept we could not secure an experienced RCB who was better than we had last window. I hope we do in the winter window. 
 

I wonder if McKay should be 10 in big games if he plays? Perhaps more of an emphasis on turn and pass, rather than beating men? Put in someone who will support the fullback in defence a bit more?  I guess the Riga game is an example of a time he was struggling and played his way back into it very successfully - however this was a team that would have far less scouting data on him. The better domestic teams have been able to neutralise him a fair bit. If he was rested against Celtic, I would not be heartbroken. 
 

Regarding the throw-ins, I agree with the general point, my guess is against the OF, the approach may involve being more structured to increase our time in possession. The way we have done free-kicks (out of shooting range) and corners in Europe look like we are taking this approach. Like you, when we have our best team out, I’d like to see more risk-reward in attacking set plays. I can understand why trying to maximise our possession share makes sense when we are underdogs though - even if it i would like the players to improvise if the opportunity presents. 
 

There’s definitely plenty to work on. With nine new signings and a lengthy injury list it would be strange if there weren’t. FWIW, I think we will get better as the season progresses. The first half at home v Zurich and the second half v Riga should be the template. It will be interesting to see how we do after the World Cup. 

Correct about Zurich, we have shown we can do it, yet only once. It was one of the best halves of football I’ve seen from any Hearts side I’ve watched, so have no idea why this tactic has not been adopted again. (Imagine we adopted it against Rangers in the cup final when they had just flown back from midweek defeat?) Might be as you say personell, but I think it’s more seen as a risk that was worthwhile in a one off game. I think that Grant has a lot to do with it, he naturally plays further up and is a link between midfield and attack, I think he could have played where McKay was yesterday.

 

But most of our failings yesterday were not learning. Not learning from the balls over the top against us last season. Not learning from previous games against the OF where sitting off never works. As I’ve said before, won’t be calling for the sack unless there’s an obvious improvement in waiting, but Neilson has been a manager 8 years now and to me has not shown many signs that he’s willing to tactically evolve.

[buzzbomb1958]

46 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

 

We will finish 3rd imo. 

 

 

You are entitled to your option Baz but I think there are a lot of fans who are split about Robbie, you are supposed to gain more knowledge of tactical situations and be able to cope with tactical changes during a game but I’ve seen nothing from him to ease my fears that he has taken HMFC as far as he can , and I think with all the extra cash we will have in reserve it should be spent on finding a manager who can

[DG_HMFC]

22 minutes ago, CMc said:

Good, balanced post. Good to see an attempt at objectivity and constructive criticism. 
 

Regarding pressing, the home Zurich game showed what we are capable of. That was a masterclass in keeping your opponent penned in their own third. So we have done it in a big game. We seem more reluctant to do it since we have been without Rowles and Halkett. I too would like to see more of it (and the whole approach from that half). I wonder if the enforced personnel changes are a part of it. Long balls break the press. I wonder if we are attempting to discourage these with a makeshift defence? I hope we see a return to pressing high. A settled side would help this as they all need to know and act on the triggers in unison.

 

With the sitting in against the OF, we are a bit damned if we do, damned if we don’t, IMO. When we have recently tried to play open against them, it has been a disaster. When we tried similar low block tactics in the cup final, we shut them out in the 90 minutes. I would suspect that was the hope. Far more difficult to execute this time with no Souttar or Halkett at the back and no Simms or Boyce as the out ball. It didn’t work on this occasion. 

We REALLY miss Halkett’s leadership when he is out. Craig is captain, but for his formative years with us he had Elvis yelling at him to instruct him when to leave his line and when to come for crosses. Most young keepers were still playing age groups or reserves at that age. He also seems like a fairly quiet guy. This all adds up to a keeper who is not going to ball out his centre halves like he’s Peter Schmiechal. Injuries now have us with a kid and a career fullback at centre back in the heart of defence. I think the lack of a defensive organiser and the enforced rotation has a part to play in the ball-watching. We need to get Halks back fit and we need to work on someone else being able to call the shots in his absence. I can accept we could not secure an experienced RCB who was better than we had last window. I hope we do in the winter window. 
 

I wonder if McKay should be 10 in big games if he plays? Perhaps more of an emphasis on turn and pass, rather than beating men? Put in someone who will support the fullback in defence a bit more?  I guess the Riga game is an example of a time he was struggling and played his way back into it very successfully - however this was a team that would have far less scouting data on him. The better domestic teams have been able to neutralise him a fair bit. If he was rested against Celtic, I would not be heartbroken. 
 

Regarding the throw-ins, I agree with the general point, my guess is against the OF, the approach may involve being more structured to increase our time in possession. The way we have done free-kicks (out of shooting range) and corners in Europe look like we are taking this approach. Like you, when we have our best team out, I’d like to see more risk-reward in attacking set plays. I can understand why trying to maximise our possession share makes sense when we are underdogs though - even if it i would like the players to improvise if the opportunity presents. 
 

There’s definitely plenty to work on. With nine new signings and a lengthy injury list it would be strange if there weren’t. FWIW, I think we will get better as the season progresses. The first half at home v Zurich and the second half v Riga should be the template. It will be interesting to see how we do after the World Cup. 

 

McKay played as a 10 yesterday and was utter shite.

[cheetah]

But, but, but we have always been shite...

[Boyces beard]

4 minutes ago, DG_HMFC said:

 

McKay played as a 10 yesterday and was utter shite.

He did and he was.

[Bazzas right boot]

13 minutes ago, buzzbomb1958 said:

You are entitled to your option Baz but I think there are a lot of fans who are split about Robbie, you are supposed to gain more knowledge of tactical situations and be able to cope with tactical changes during a game but I’ve seen nothing from him to ease my fears that he has taken HMFC as far as he can , and I think with all the extra cash we will have in reserve it should be spent on finding a manager who can

 

No manager would have us finishing second at the current time. 

The OF would have to fail massively for another club to split them. 

 

3rd, cup finals and European group stage football is brilliant for us. 

 

You are chasing a phantom manager. 

 

[The Grim Reaper]

1 minute ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

No manager would have us finishing second at the current time. 

The OF would have to fail massively for another club to split them. 

 

3rd, cup finals and European group stage football is brilliant for us. 

 

You are chasing a phantom manager. 

 

Nobody is saying we should be finishing second or splitting the old firm. Made up happy clapper bullshit. 

[JimmyCant]

1 hour ago, Shanks said:

Would anyone really be that bothered if he ran away to an MKdons again?

 

 

That’s actually worth thinking about as to how highly rated he is. I get the feeling, and I certainly agree, that the majority wouldn’t give a rats ass if he left. There are any number of managers out there who could do an effective job with the squad we have. Hell, some of them might even do it better. McKay, Goodwin, McInnes. I really don’t think we’d be any worse off with one of those types. Neilson is distinctly average, and that’s being kind.

[Gordon Ramsay]

1 hour ago, Nookie Bear said:

This. We are a big game for them and they always put a bit extra into them. 

 

Not sure thats correct to be honest. The game I watched yesterday looked like Rangers barely left first gear, especially first half. Yet they were 2-0 up after about 25 mins or whatever it was. 

[Sherbet]

1 hour ago, GBJambo said:

You mean post split when we had comfortably secured third and were coasting in as nothing to play for 

Cup final places

[Bazzas right boot]

29 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

See the post CMc quotes me on just below your post with the reply to it here:

 

Correct about Zurich, we have shown we can do it, yet only once. It was one of the best halves of football I’ve seen from any Hearts side I’ve watched, so have no idea why this tactic has not been adopted again. (Imagine we adopted it against Rangers in the cup final when they had just flown back from midweek defeat?) Might be as you say personell, but I think it’s more seen as a risk that was worthwhile in a one off game. I think that Grant has a lot to do with it, he naturally plays further up and is a link between midfield and attack, I think he could have played where McKay was yesterday.

 

But most of our failings yesterday were not learning. Not learning from the balls over the top against us last season. Not learning from previous games against the OF where sitting off never works. As I’ve said before, won’t be calling for the sack unless there’s an obvious improvement in waiting, but Neilson has been a manager 8 years now and to me has not shown many signs that he’s willing to tactically evolve.

 

 

We never sat of rangers yesterday. 

 

This "press" and have a go thing needs to stoap. 

It's not an all conquering tactic that will have teams flapping and in awe v us. 

 

 

It's just nonsense and irrating. 

 

 

[frankblack]

26 minutes ago, buzzbomb1958 said:

You are entitled to your option Baz but I think there are a lot of fans who are split about Robbie, you are supposed to gain more knowledge of tactical situations and be able to cope with tactical changes during a game but I’ve seen nothing from him to ease my fears that he has taken HMFC as far as he can , and I think with all the extra cash we will have in reserve it should be spent on finding a manager who can

 

We could finish 3rd but not with the current lack of depth in the squad and having these distracting European games we clearly aren't ready for.  We need to push through until Christmas and hope we are still in the mix then strengthen properly like we should have done in the summer.

[karipidis]

7 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

That’s actually worth thinking about as to how highly rated he is. I get the feeling, and I certainly agree, that the majority wouldn’t give a rats ass if he left. There are any number of managers out there who could do an effective job with the squad we have. Hell, some of them might even do it better. McKay, Goodwin, McInnes. I really don’t think we’d be any worse off with one of those types. Neilson is distinctly average, and that’s being kind.

Majority is a complete fabrication. 

[karipidis]

1 minute ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

 

We never sat of rangers yesterday. 

 

This "press" and have a go thing needs to stoap. 

It's not an all conquering tactic that will have teams flapping and in awe v us. 

 

 

It's just nonsense and irrating. 

 

 

I honestly don’t know what game people are watching. In the first half we certainly did not sit off them. We probably should have in hindsight, but the same people would have been moaning if we got a point with a defensive performance.