*****Official St Johnstone v Hearts match thread - match on ppv *****

[EH11 2NL]

10 hours ago, Absolute Scenes said:

I doubt he’d not be prepared for that

 

Thank you Jambo mark, thought that was pretty obvious I was backing neilson

Apologies mate. Read it totally wrong 

[Holyrood_Hearts]

7 hours ago, 151 said:

Great result at a tough place. Thought we were brilliant until going 2 up then it was like Killie all over again. McKay give him his due gave us that little injection of creativity we needed at a vital time.

 

Thought Snodgrass was poor tonight plenty moaning but silly pen to give away he let the boy get infront of him then put both hands on him - silly. Shankland at their 2nd aswell was too soft in holding it up.

 

Fantastic to be sitting 3rd after all the injuries and a European campaign though.

I’ve only seen the highlights of the game & going by the comments. By all accounts Snodgrass played well. 
 

It’s never, ever a penalty. Had to blame him for merely touching the boys shoulder. Going by your description you’d think he pushed him to the floor 😂😂

[i8hibsh]

2 hours ago, i wish jj was my dad said:

It shouldn't be beyond anybody who knows anything about football to make the connection between missing the most of your backline and losing goals. 

And if your role (as a fan) is to observe, cheer and comment I'd suggest you try to do a bit more observing because you are failing big time with the cheering and commenting. 

 

 

 

The whole 'we lost our back line' although highly pertinent no longer washes with me. We still put out decent enough backup who should be doing better and also our issues never started when we lost players to injury. We have barely kept a clean sheet this entire calendar year. Souttar, Halkett, Rowles, Kingsley etc have all played a fair few games at some stage this year.

 

He clearly needs to sort the DMs too as they could do better, much better. Our midfield is not helping our defence out enough. Whatever the management team are doing is very clearly not good enough. 

[bobskeldon]

9 hours ago, 151 said:

Great result at a tough place. Thought we were brilliant until going 2 up then it was like Killie all over again. McKay give him his due gave us that little injection of creativity we needed at a vital time.

 

Thought Snodgrass was poor tonight plenty moaning but silly pen to give away he let the boy get infront of him then put both hands on him - silly. Shankland at their 2nd aswell was too soft in holding it up.

 

Fantastic to be sitting 3rd after all the injuries and a European campaign though.

Snodgrass was the best player on the park by a country mile…was your seat facing the pitch?

[i wish jj was my dad]

25 minutes ago, i8hibsh said:

 

 

The whole 'we lost our back line' although highly pertinent no longer washes with me. We still put out decent enough backup who should be doing better and also our issues never started when we lost players to injury. We have barely kept a clean sheet this entire calendar year. Souttar, Halkett, Rowles, Kingsley etc have all played a fair few games at some stage this year.

 

He clearly needs to sort the DMs too as they could do better, much better. Our midfield is not helping our defence out enough. Whatever the management team are doing is very clearly not good enough. 

If you've ever played football ( a huge leap I know) you will understand how important it is to have a settled back line. 

Yes, we need to do better defensively and yes we have decent back up but chopping and changing often with less accomplished central defenders would affect any team.  You'd be equally as scathing if we were scraping one nil wins and holding out for no score draws. We're not. We're playing entertaining football and despite everything clear in third. That is good management. 

Just enjoy the win rather than forensically looking for reasons to criticise. 

[JimmyCant]

30 minutes ago, bobskeldon said:

Snodgrass was the best player on the park by a country mile…was your seat facing the pitch?

He wasn’t better than Shankland who ran all night and popped up everywhere on a heavy pitch. I thought he gave a superb captains display and wouldn’t be averse to him getting the job full time based on that. One mistake where he didn’t release quick enough in midfield and we’ve lost a goal from it, although Snodgrass played a part in that goal too, then got the wrong side of May for the penalty and invited him to fall over

 

Snodgrass was as guilty as anyone for giving the ball away but he’s someone you’d always want in a battle. Big plus with him is he’s got himself back into condition and can play 90 minutes.

 

Sibbick and Mackay the other standouts with Shankland for me.

Edited December 29, 2022 by JimmyCant

[JimmyCant]

19 minutes ago, i wish jj was my dad said:

If you've ever played football ( a huge leap I know) you will understand how important it is to have a settled back line. 

Yes, we need to do better defensively and yes we have decent back up but chopping and changing often with less accomplished central defenders would affect any team.  You'd be equally as scathing if we were scraping one nil wins and holding out for no score draws. We're not. We're playing entertaining football and despite everything clear in third. That is good management. 

Just enjoy the win rather than forensically looking for reasons to criticise. 

The fact that we are 3 points clear in 3rd is remarkable, considering the schedule we’ve had on top of all the key injuries.

 

I do think we could be better organised defensively. Nothing much wrong with the personnel but we’re toiling for consistency and getting to really know what we’re doing back there and do it almost robotically. IMO we need a dominant big guy who wins it in the air on top of what we’ve got.

 

We’re a terrific side to watch and very hard to stop, once we get it popping up front though

Edited December 29, 2022 by JimmyCant

[Lord Montpelier]

Good win. Enjoyed last night decent travelling support. Like Rowles but needs a ball winning centre half to play alongside, expect Hibs to be shelling high balls in at him in the derby. 

[OmiyaHearts]

Why am i reading people complaining about a 3-2 win away in Perth in awful conditions? A place where weve struggled for years. This is without our captain / 1st choice keeper as well as Halkett & Kingsley

 

Despite our Euro & Injury problems, we're now 3rd going into New Year with a home derby to look forward to.

 

Try and enjoy football after a win. It's really easy.

Edited December 29, 2022 by OmiyaHearts

[JimmyCant]

5 minutes ago, OmiyaHearts said:

Why am i reading people complaining about a 3-2 win away in Perth in awful conditions? A place where weve struggled for years. This is without our captain / 1st choice keeper as well as Halkett & Kingsley

 

Despite our Euro & Injury problems, we're now 3rd going into New Year with a home derby to look forward to.

 

Try and enjoy football after a win. It's really easy.

Not sure it’s ‘complaining’ as such. After any game you can analyse what went well and what wasn’t so good. That’s what coaches do. No reason fans wouldn’t do it either. We had some of both last night and ended up in a closer game than it probably should have been, just a missed penalty away from drawing in fact.

[graygo]

7 hours ago, JimmyCant said:

Look you’ve made your point. You’ve lied and I’ve pulled you up for it. We’re done here so I’ll politely ask you to back off because you’re bordering on bullying here now you’ve been found out.

 

[hearts00]

Funny that a few people saying Sibbick a stand out. 
 

Thought he had his usual game. A lot of good things with four really dodgy clearances and two major incidents in the game where he failed to win the ball in the air and let it bounce that led to St J’s second pen and the header off the cross bar at the end. 

[jamboozy]

Has there been highlights released yet?

[JimmyCant]

13 minutes ago, hearts00 said:

Funny that a few people saying Sibbick a stand out. 
 

Thought he had his usual game. A lot of good things with four really dodgy clearances and two major incidents in the game where he failed to win the ball in the air and let it bounce that led to St J’s second pen and the header off the cross bar at the end. 

The penalty they scored ? It was a poor header out by Rowles, nothing to do with Sibbick. Rowles also not great for their second goal either. Rowles actually needs to settle and re-focus a bit after the World Cup IMO.

Edited December 29, 2022 by JimmyCant

[Maroonjam]

8 hours ago, JimmyCant said:

Thought Sibbick was superb tonight. Hence why the captain made a bee line for him at the final whistle. Rowles had another uncomfortable game against a veteran striker though.

 

The only thing that really got us into trouble was our distribution out of defence. Grass looked overly long, cut up badly and full of divots and sodden though. Ball never ran true all night

Sibbick was great and I loved shankland running up to him at final whistle as I think he also made a really important header with last kick of the ball. Think that's why shankland named captain. 

[pettigrewsstylist]

24 minutes ago, hearts00 said:

Funny that a few people saying Sibbick a stand out. 
 

Thought he had his usual game. A lot of good things with four really dodgy clearances and two major incidents in the game where he failed to win the ball in the air and let it bounce that led to St J’s second pen and the header off the cross bar at the end. 

Hes is definitley getting better. The allowing ball to bounce annoyed me also, it was clear and present danger and seemed available to attack and nullify.

Still, had a decent game and contributed to win with some timley interceptions and tackles.

[Ex member of the SaS]

A win is a win and we played some silky stuff, but man we do make life hard for ourselves. Sibbick was great in defense, BUT at least four times he launched it straight to a Saints player, then as mentioned previously the ball was passed to Shanks, with three around him. Cut out the slack passing and stupid passing out from the back when being pressed, and we would have walked that. Main thing is we got the three points required and need to stay third now. Use the game in hand to make a gap and keep it.

[MattyK82]

20 minutes ago, jamboozy said:

Has there been highlights released yet?

 

[Absolute Scenes]

3 hours ago, EH11 2NL said:

Apologies mate. Read it totally wrong 

No problem at all! 

[upgotheheads]

5 minutes ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

A win is a win and we played some silky stuff, but man we do make life hard for ourselves. Sibbick was great in defense, BUT at least four times he launched it straight to a Saints player, then as mentioned previously the ball was passed to Shanks, with three around him. Cut out the slack passing and stupid passing out from the back when being pressed, and we would have walked that. Main thing is we got the three points required and need to stay third now. Use the game in hand to make a gap and keep it.

 

This.

[BM1874]

Did anyone catch the attendance last night?

 

I know there was 3,500 Hearts fans but haven’t seen the total attendance listed anywhere? 

[5jambo1]

Excellent win. First half an hour was complete dominance with some very good football. Snodgrass makes such a difference to us, he just links everything and is helping us keep controlled possession which gets us up the park. A few comments about sideways and backwards passes….he takes the ball with men around him, by him taking the ball and passing it ‘sideways’ or ‘backwards’ often opens up space for others and is something we have missed since Beni. 

With Beni, Humphreys, Halkett and Kingsley all to come back we are in excellent shape. Also a signing or two that improves our first 11, third is ours to lose. 

[pettigrewsstylist]

Clark, good start with decent reactions. Good to get one under the belt before derby.

Cochrane, usual reliable self

Rowles, lots to learn but plenty important defensive headers won.

Sibbick, keeps improving, seems to now be at a point where he can do a job without giving me the fear every time.

Snodgrass, ran the show and dictated most of our play well

Forrest, took his opportunity of a start well i thought.

Mckay, upped his game last night after being "rested" great 2nd half even without the classy goal.

Devlin, workhorse and diid well not to pick up card in conditions.

Halliday, some boy, never hides, showing others how you exploit space in front of you last night. Should have got his effort on target but maybe saving it for derby 😁

Grant, meh

Smith, brought fresh legs at important time in heavy conditions.

Shankland, all round producer in all aspects of game. Great performance. Think Rowles gave him suicide ball for their 2nd.

Gino, effort 100% , decision making, not so much so, but i would not want to play against him when he is buzzing around like that. You never get a moments rest. 

Kio, workmanlike.

 

Great tempo and style first half hour, really struggled to maintain composure when SJ came hunting with intent. 

We can never have it all our own way but need to instill some composure, central defence issue doesnt help that. Nobody hid though and all got into the battle.

The subs at 1-3 showed our intent to close shop up. We just got over the line due to missed header tbh.

Having to score 3 to win each week cannot continue.

But, tricky venue anytime and historically for us, so fantastic win with lots of positives. Real team spirit clear to see, RN is clearly a good man manager. Bring on the gluesniffers and the transfer window!!

 

[GinRummy]

1 minute ago, 5jambo1 said:

Excellent win. First half an hour was complete dominance with some very good football. Snodgrass makes such a difference to us, he just links everything and is helping us keep controlled possession which gets us up the park. A few comments about sideways and backwards passes….he takes the ball with men around him, by him taking the ball and passing it ‘sideways’ or ‘backwards’ often opens up space for others and is something we have missed since Beni. 

With Beni, Humphreys, Halkett and Kingsley all to come back we are in excellent shape. Also a signing or two that improves our first 11, third is ours to lose. 

Good post. Snodgrass movement off the ball is really intelligent play. Too often, in the past, we’ve been too static. As soon as he’s passed the ball he’s looking to make himself available for the next pass. 

[wavydavy]

Great three points last night in terrible conditions. 

 

Absolutely amazing support on such a horrible night.

 

Well done Jambos.

[151]

16 minutes ago, BM1874 said:

Did anyone catch the attendance last night?

 

I know there was 3,500 Hearts fans but haven’t seen the total attendance listed anywhere? 

 

7 thousand and something i'm sure i heard over the tanoy.

[wavydavy]

2 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

Good post. Snodgrass movement off the ball is really intelligent play. Too often, in the past, we’ve been too static. As soon as he’s passed the ball he’s looking to make himself available for the next pass. 

 

We need our other midfielders to be learning from Snoddy's example with his passing and movement.

[GinRummy]

1 minute ago, wavydavy said:

 

We need our other midfielders to be learning from Snoddy's example with his passing and movement.

Indeed

[Jambo314]

2 hours ago, bobskeldon said:

Snodgrass was the best player on the park by a country mile…was your seat facing the pitch?

Agree. Especially more so in the first half Bob.

[151]

3 hours ago, Holyrood_Hearts said:

I’ve only seen the highlights of the game & going by the comments. By all accounts Snodgrass played well. 
 

It’s never, ever a penalty. Had to blame him for merely touching the boys shoulder. Going by your description you’d think he pushed him to the floor 😂😂

 

Going by my description? My description was he let the boy get the wrong side and then put both hands on him naively which invites the player to go down.

 

From my seat, without seeing highlights that is exactly what happened. 

 

Where in that description have I said anything about him pushing anyone?

 

See this place at times if you have any sort of differing opinion you get pelters man. We won at a place we haven't won in 12 years. Everyone left happy. 

 

Some have said Sibbick was poor at times, some have said Rowles had a poor night, I said what I thought. I can bet the folk saying who they thought had a "poor" night mean they weren't at their usual best - that is literally all.

 

[karipidis]

2 minutes ago, 151 said:

 

Going by my description? My description was he let the boy get the wrong side and then put both hands on him naively which invites the player to go down.

 

From my seat, without seeing highlights that is exactly what happened. 

 

Where in that description have I said anything about him pushing anyone?

 

See this place at times if you have any sort of differing opinion you get pelters man. We won at a place we haven't won in 12 years. Everyone left happy. 

 

Some have said Sibbick was poor at times, some have said Rowles had a poor night, I said what I thought. I can bet the folk saying who they thought had a "poor" night mean they weren't at their usual best - that is literally all.

 

Just have no idea how you can watch that game and come to the conclusion that Snodgrass was poor. 

[151]

Just now, karipidis said:

Just have no idea how you can watch that game and come to the conclusion that Snodgrass was poor. 

 

It was literally in my first post. And yet again, I will repeat for the last time - I have since said it was the wrong choice of words. He usually gets forward and creates with little through balls and flicks round the corner, last night alot of it was sideways and backwards and he was sloppy a couple of times which lead to chances for them. Which isn't him at his best as he has been class since joining.

 

That is all I meant. 

 

I'm sorry it has genuinely seemed to offend a few folk  madness. It's football - you do realise there are actually some folk out there who despite now adding a World Cup to the abnormally long list of honours don't agree that Messi is the best in the World right now? It's a matter of opinions man. 

[Drumjambo]

11 hours ago, 151 said:

 

Grow up. Seriously. My opinion differs from yours on a football forum. 

 

Is everyone who thinks a different way than you clueless? 

 

If Sibbick had gave away that pen he would be getting pelters.

 

To be fair its never a pen I thought that was the point of VAR

 

Again officials failing to get to the correct decision, even with VAR

 

We all know they are hapless clowns the lot 

 

You know its bad when I thought at the game last night Ah Willie Collum Good ??????

[ShedBoy]

15 minutes ago, pettigrewsstylist said:

Clark, good start with decent reactions. Good to get one under the belt before derby.

Cochrane, usual reliable self

Rowles, lots to learn but plenty important defensive headers won.

Sibbick, keeps improving, seems to now be at a point where he can do a job without giving me the fear every time.

Snodgrass, ran the show and dictated most of our play well

Forrest, took his opportunity of a start well i thought.

Mckay, upped his game last night after being "rested" great 2nd half even without the classy goal.

Devlin, workhorse and diid well not to pick up card in conditions.

Halliday, some boy, never hides, showing others how you exploit space in front of you last night. Should have got his effort on target but maybe saving it for derby 😁

Grant, meh

Smith, brought fresh legs at important time in heavy conditions.

Shankland, all round producer in all aspects of game. Great performance. Think Rowles gave him suicide ball for their 2nd.

Gino, effort 100% , decision making, not so much so, but i would not want to play against him when he is buzzing around like that. You never get a moments rest. 

Kio, workmanlike.

 

Great tempo and style first half hour, really struggled to maintain composure when SJ came hunting with intent. 

We can never have it all our own way but need to instill some composure, central defence issue doesnt help that. Nobody hid though and all got into the battle.

The subs at 1-3 showed our intent to close shop up. We just got over the line due to missed header tbh.

Having to score 3 to win each week cannot continue.

But, tricky venue anytime and historically for us, so fantastic win with lots of positives. Real team spirit clear to see, RN is clearly a good man manager. Bring on the gluesniffers and the transfer window!!

 

Disagree, Grant played some good stuff, linked play well, doesn’t panic and always wants the ball. Yes he should’ve scored. He was integral to the second bold part. He’s coming good imo. 👍🏻
 

 

 

[pettigrewsstylist]

2 minutes ago, ShedBoy said:

Disagree, Grant played some good stuff, linked play well, doesn’t panic and always wants the ball. Yes he should’ve scored. He was integral to the second bold part. He’s coming good imo. 👍🏻
 

 

 

Any idea what we actually ended up paying for him?

[ShedBoy]

1 minute ago, pettigrewsstylist said:

Any idea what we actually ended up paying for him?

Was it not in the region of £300k?

 

By the way, did anyone notice, and I don’t want to be paranoid on behalf of the lad, but the team seemed loathed to give the ball to Kio? There was a few times I thought he was on for a pass, but for some reason, he never got it? 🤷🏻‍♂️
 

 

 

[jamboozy]

1 hour ago, jonesy said:

On YouTube. They don’t show the missed penalty. They do, however, show May’s ridiculous dive for the second penalty. 

Thanks Jonsesy👍

[jamboozy]

47 minutes ago, MattyK82 said:

 

Thanks Matty

[GinRummy]

21 minutes ago, ShedBoy said:

Disagree, Grant played some good stuff, linked play well, doesn’t panic and always wants the ball. Yes he should’ve scored. He was integral to the second bold part. He’s coming good imo. 👍🏻
 

 

 

Thought he was good as well. 

[5jambo1]

39 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

Good post. Snodgrass movement off the ball is really intelligent play. Too often, in the past, we’ve been too static. As soon as he’s passed the ball he’s looking to make himself available for the next pass. 

Exactly this, so composed on the ball and is always willing to take it to help a teammate out. This helps us keep the ball, play from the back and just in general play better football. It’s been a massive factor in us not just passing the ball along the back line, waiting for options. I like how we are always wanting to play from the back rather than kicking it long. I think before Snoddy we were guilty at just passing it from one side to another, but this was because we didn’t have someone with his ability and composure. I also think Gino going long and making runs in behind and Shankland coming short is also helping us get better possession up the park as we have different options

 

Snodgrass and Beni will be some duo in the middle of the park when they get a chance to play together. Really looking forward to the rest of the season 

 

 

[Rudolf]

9 hours ago, DesertDawg said:

 

If you thought the grass was bad there, have a look at the Easter Road highlights......doesn't look like there is any. 

Hibs fans or grass?

[151]

8 minutes ago, 5jambo1 said:

Exactly this, so composed on the ball and is always willing to take it to help a teammate out. This helps us keep the ball, play from the back and just in general play better football. It’s been a massive factor in us not just passing the ball along the back line, waiting for options. I like how we are always wanting to play from the back rather than kicking it long. I think before Snoddy we were guilty at just passing it from one side to another, but this was because we didn’t have someone with his ability and composure. I also think Gino going long and making runs in behind and Shankland coming short is also helping us get better possession up the park as we have different options

 

Snodgrass and Beni will be some duo in the middle of the park when they get a chance to play together. Really looking forward to the rest of the season 

 

 

 

Beni aswell. Such a dynamic midfield with plenty movement once all 3 can play together.

Edited December 29, 2022 by 151
Just seen you mentioned Beni. Devlin Beni and Snodgrass is of course who I mean.

[5jambo1]

4 minutes ago, 151 said:

 

Beni aswell. Such a dynamic midfield with plenty movement once all 3 can play together.

100%! We really do have the foundations of a brilliant team

[chrystaf]

9 hours ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

And?

 

You new to football,  we aren't a defensive team.

 

 

But we do have a habit of standing off when on top and letting the other team come onto us.  This happened again last night and could have cost us the game.  These are the words of the Hearts commentary team, not mine.

[colinmaroon]

10 hours ago, ShortmanRossco said:

She's probably got a better grasp of a post quote than you and all.

It's a technical fault!

[Jamboref51]

Dunno if it's been mentioned but what was it the "Fair city unity" were wearing. Look like some kinda school uniform or boys brigade outfit 

[hearts00]

1 hour ago, chrystaf said:

But we do have a habit of standing off when on top and letting the other team come onto us.  This happened again last night and could have cost us the game.  These are the words of the Hearts commentary team, not mine.

Standing off and yet being gaps and spaces everywhere.  After a sensational 30 mins in first half last night it was a really odd end to the half. 

[davemclaren]

12 minutes ago, hearts00 said:

Standing off and yet being gaps and spaces everywhere.  After a sensational 30 mins in first half last night it was a really odd end to the half. 

It's almost as if there were two teams on the park. 😉

[PapaShango]

29 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

It's almost as if there were two teams on the park. 😉

Yeah Saints came back into it but I thought we created our own problems by being sloppy with our passing out from the back. At times it just invited them onto us and we couldn’t retain the ball at all. The one player that is so good with the ball in any space on the pitch is Snodgrass. Give him the ball and he rarely loses it. 

[DesertDawg]

4 hours ago, Rudolf said:

Hibs fans or grass?

By the end?  BOTH.