Closing the gap

[Drylaw Hearts]

48 minutes ago, Dazo said:

Correct. Many have decided challenging the OF is the next step when in reality and is several steps and years away. If you are going to have unrealistic demands and expectations then I’d prefer for a lot of disappointment in life. 

We need to concentrate on increasing the gap from the teams below.

 

We drop too many points to teams with a fraction of our budget. We cannot complain about not being able to close the gap to Rangers whilst ignoring the current positions of St Mirren and Livingston.

 

What those teams area achieving with their resources highlights we just aren’t all that. St Mirren, Livingston, Hibs and Aberdeen have only 2 more wins in the league than us.

 

We’ve been laughing at the state of Hibs and Aberdeen but all it takes is for them to get their shit together even a little bit and they are breathing down our neck.

 

St M and Livi each have a game in hand over the bottom 2 teams, win those and they are too close for comfort.

 

We are not making the most of the huge amounts of money being gifted to the club by the fans and benefactors each season.

[DG_HMFC]

10 minutes ago, loveofthegame said:

 

Fair point.

 

What frustrates me is that worse teams than us compete with the OF (in particular Rangers) far far better than we do. That can't be based on players ability given we tend to have the better players than the rest, so is it a mentality thing or set-up by the manager or do Rangers raise their game against us. My view would be that it is a combination of all three...

 

I mean, an Aberdeen side that would go on to lose 5-0 to Hearts, 1-0 to Darvel and 6-0 to Hibs ran Rangers incredibly close twice in the last month or so. Yet we roll over and get our bellies tickled.

 

It may never change but I keep holding out hope... I'm not convinced the incumbent manager has a clue how to set up to get results against the OF (not that previous incumbents have been much better, might I add...).

 

Games against better teams is what shows Robbie and his limitations up big time.

 

Our European campaign was a bit of a disaster against much better players, fair enough they are excellent teams, but we all said the players, and more importantly the manager would learn from it etc etc, but Robbie doesn't learn a thing and is tactically not hot a clue how to approach games against a higher calibre of opposition.

 

I mean, how he thought last nights selection was going to work tells me he's never going to have the ability to properly attempt to take on Rangers or Celtic.

[Drylaw Hearts]

1 minute ago, DG_HMFC said:

 

Games against better teams is what shows Robbie and his limitations up big time.

 

Our European campaign was a bit of a disaster against much better players, fair enough they are excellent teams, but we all said the players, and more importantly the manager would learn from it etc etc, but Robbie doesn't learn a thing and is tactically not hot a clue how to approach games against a higher calibre of opposition.

 

I mean, how he thought last nights selection was going to work tells me he's never going to have the ability to properly attempt to take on Rangers or Celtic.

Taking 2 points from 9 from Livingston is as big a worry for me.

 

 

[DG_HMFC]

2 minutes ago, Drylaw Hearts said:

Taking 2 points from 9 from Livingston is as big a worry for me.

 

 

 

Big time.

[JFK-1]

25 minutes ago, Shooter McGavin said:

Rangers’ squad is worth 7.5 times more than ours, Celtics squad value is worth 6 times more than our. Both will have wage budgets that mirror, or could even be higher than those figures.

Financially, the both of them are on another planet compared to us and the rest of the league.

 

Don’t really understand how some people can’t grasp that already.

 

This video using statistics details the financial discrepancy in transfer funds and wages pretty well. It's discussing the 19/20 season but the same thing still applies and I would argue even in that time the financial gap has widened further.

 

Why no team except Rangers and Celtic will ever win the league

 

 

 

[Rods]

We are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

We know Neilson will get us third but wont take us to the next level. Do we sacrifice the work gone previously and take a punt on doing better than third(this could backfire) or we could remain consistently third for a couple of more years and build up some cash and decent players and get a manager in who can kick us on. I am with the latter lets build and work from that point. 

[Dazo]

37 minutes ago, Drylaw Hearts said:

We need to concentrate on increasing the gap from the teams below.

 

We drop too many points to teams with a fraction of our budget. We cannot complain about not being able to close the gap to Rangers whilst ignoring the current positions of St Mirren and Livingston.

 

What those teams area achieving with their resources highlights we just aren’t all that. St Mirren, Livingston, Hibs and Aberdeen have only 2 more wins in the league than us.

 

We’ve been laughing at the state of Hibs and Aberdeen but all it takes is for them to get their shit together even a little bit and they are breathing down our neck.

 

St M and Livi each have a game in hand over the bottom 2 teams, win those and they are too close for comfort.

 

We are not making the most of the huge amounts of money being gifted to the club by the fans and benefactors each season.

I don’t really disagree but I think it just highlights the difference in quality and the gap widening further up the wage scale you go. 
 

The difference in budget between us and St Mirren/Livingston is significant but the player quality isn’t the same difference. Let’s be honest they are also punching. Aberdeen and Hibs are currently our level in terms of budgets and for now that is our yardstick. We need to get to a stage where our budget outgrows theirs, I think we are heading in that direction. 

[JFK-1]

1 hour ago, Rods said:

We are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

We know Neilson will get us third but wont take us to the next level. Do we sacrifice the work gone previously and take a punt on doing better than third(this could backfire) or we could remain consistently third for a couple of more years and build up some cash and decent players and get a manager in who can kick us on. I am with the latter lets build and work from that point. 

 

There can be no punt on trying to better 3rd, to compete with the OF would require a spend of tens of millions in successive seasons, that's a gamble nobody could rationally take. But let's say somehow the money was produced and got a better than 3rd place finish. What would change?

 

Well I suppose if you actually were competing with them you too might be minimum EL standard, and there's some good money to be made there. But it would take years of Euro income to pay off that initial spend, and the OF would still have a significant advantage with far larger fan bases and sponsorship potential. It would be even harder to compete with them season after season than just one season.

 

But speaking of Europe continued runs there is one obvious avenue of widening the gap on the crop below, both in terms of immediate multi million income and potentially attracting quality young players going on a free or a training fee, like Rangers do.

 

I feel a side looking at some level of guaranteed Euro football could be attractive to many a talented young foreigner looking to put himself in the EPL window. There must be many a player past and present in OF squads with that in mind.

 

If any gamble at all is taken, it should be on a young talent like that being payed a record wage with the prospect of a multi million future transfer, it's the OF model. Rangers paid a training fee for Bassey and punted him for 20 million plus.

 

A single transfer fee like that still wouldn't close the gap to the OF, but it would go a long way to making the gap to those below far more comfortable.  

[Korky]

Time to shut up about this fantasy!

[RustyRightPeg]

Organic growth / shrewd transfers are the only way. 
 

We’re doing both in the short term. It’s a long term project. 

[Carter]

Just now, RustyRightPeg said:

Organic growth / shrewd transfers are the only way. 
 

We’re doing both in the short term. It’s a long term project. 

We're guilty as a fanbase of massively overstating the quality of certain players though. The truth is we've struggled this season any time we've come up against any quality, either Rangers or Celtic or in Europe.  We're pretty much were we probably should be but we're well short of closing the gap when we play better opposition, even in a one off scenario. 

 

We've got some decent players but you'd be forgiven for believing we've got a wonderful squad based on some of the stuff that gets spouted on this forum. We certainly haven't.

 

Sometimes the loan market can upset the equilibrium. We've got two players from EPL sides arriving mid season and the expectation will be for them to play. That's going to start impacting on game time for guys on permanent deals. 

 

I can see a busy summer ahead with some exits that might raise a few eyebrows. 

[Luckies1874]

21 minutes ago, Carter said:

We're guilty as a fanbase of massively overstating the quality of certain players though. The truth is we've struggled this season any time we've come up against any quality, either Rangers or Celtic or in Europe.  We're pretty much were we probably should be but we're well short of closing the gap when we play better opposition, even in a one off scenario. 

 

We've got some decent players but you'd be forgiven for believing we've got a wonderful squad based on some of the stuff that gets spouted on this forum. We certainly haven't.

 

Sometimes the loan market can upset the equilibrium. We've got two players from EPL sides arriving mid season and the expectation will be for them to play. That's going to start impacting on game time for guys on permanent deals. 

 

I can see a busy summer ahead with some exits that might raise a few eyebrows. 

 

Good post. Beating Aberdeen 5 zip and Hibs comfortably twice has been extremely enjoyable and has confirmed what most of us believed, that we have put ourselves in a position whereby we should be securing 3rd again this season. Additionally the financial benefits and advantage that goes with that over them for seasons to come. However it has also had a knock on effect of deluding some as to the quality of our players and exactly where we are in the pecking order, which is still miles away from being a top side. We can't even get close to competing with teams better than us! The stats are there in black and white and it's not a small sample size. We've lost 18 straight matches against teams better than us domestically and in Europe. Eighteen. To compete with teams like the Old Firm even in a one off scenario, to win a cup, we need far more quality. I read some crazies on here comparing the 98 and 06 teams to the current side, do me a favour  both would shit all over them!

 

I was sat centrally last night and watched Joe Savage as much as I watched the horror show for a spell in the first half and my positive from last night was how pissed off he looked. If I'm any good at gauging body language I think your last sentence is spot on and we will continue to see the squad evolve. What we have currently is easily sufficient to keep rolling in 3rd which is not to be sniffed at but if there is any ambitions beyond that quite a few areas need addressed. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Luckies1874

[Jambo 4 Ever]

20 minutes ago, Carter said:

We're guilty as a fanbase of massively overstating the quality of certain players though. The truth is we've struggled this season any time we've come up against any quality, either Rangers or Celtic or in Europe.  We're pretty much were we probably should be but we're well short of closing the gap when we play better opposition, even in a one off scenario. 

 

We've got some decent players but you'd be forgiven for believing we've got a wonderful squad based on some of the stuff that gets spouted on this forum. We certainly haven't.

 

Sometimes the loan market can upset the equilibrium. We've got two players from EPL sides arriving mid season and the expectation will be for them to play. That's going to start impacting on game time for guys on permanent deals. 

 

I can see a busy summer ahead with some exits that might raise a few eyebrows. 

Agree 

 

some on here get overly excited about some of our players because we beat a poor Aberdeen team 

 

and think Oda is going to be amazing 

he’s hardly ever scored 

[Shooter McGavin]

2 hours ago, Rods said:

We are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

We know Neilson will get us third but wont take us to the next level. Do we sacrifice the work gone previously and take a punt on doing better than third(this could backfire) or we could remain consistently third for a couple of more years and build up some cash and decent players and get a manager in who can kick us on. I am with the latter lets build and work from that point. 

It’s not a new manager that’ll take us to the next level, it’s a serious cash injection.

 

We’re talking £30/40 million+ chucked our way in one lump some to even think about competing with either a*** cheek.

 

Absolute fantasy stuff.

[RustyRightPeg]

21 minutes ago, Carter said:

We're guilty as a fanbase of massively overstating the quality of certain players though. The truth is we've struggled this season any time we've come up against any quality, either Rangers or Celtic or in Europe.  We're pretty much were we probably should be but we're well short of closing the gap when we play better opposition, even in a one off scenario. 

 

We've got some decent players but you'd be forgiven for believing we've got a wonderful squad based on some of the stuff that gets spouted on this forum. We certainly haven't.

 

Sometimes the loan market can upset the equilibrium. We've got two players from EPL sides arriving mid season and the expectation will be for them to play. That's going to start impacting on game time for guys on permanent deals. 

 

I can see a busy summer ahead with some exits that might raise a few eyebrows. 

Outgoings are only natural with success though. Look at Brighton. 

If we are sufficiently reimbursed (which I believe we will be with Savage in charge) then we will just need to wish them well. 
 

With that comes finance, with finance used well comes a better calibre of player (🤞🏽) , it may assist in purchasing a training ground. Plenty to be excited about even if bodies go out the way. 

[kingantti1874]

1 minute ago, Jambo 4 Ever said:

Agree 

 

some on here get overly excited about some of our players because we beat a poor Aberdeen team 

 

and think Oda is going to be amazing 

he’s hardly ever scored 

More likely because we rattled the shite senseless twice. 

[Ked]

4 minutes ago, Jambo 4 Ever said:

Agree 

 

some on here get overly excited about some of our players because we beat a poor Aberdeen team 

 

and think Oda is going to be amazing 

he’s hardly ever scored 

Football supporters getting excited and being biased about their players.

 

So what .

Better than bad mouthing every single thing the club does.

 

[RustyRightPeg]

34 minutes ago, RustyRightPeg said:

Organic growth / shrewd transfers are the only way. 
 

We’re doing both in the short term. It’s a long term project. 

Unless of course we jump into bed with Newcastle owners and they give us 1% or their net worth to help us on our way. 

[RustyRightPeg]

Just now, Ked said:

Football supporters getting excited and being biased about their players.

 

So what .

Better than bad mouthing every single thing the club does.

 

May I remind you, he is a fan and he is entitled to his opinion !! (Just before he does)

[Ked]

On 29/01/2023 at 11:44, Ked said:

Rangers are 17 points in front.

Can we close that next season?

 

 

Been really impressed with the progress with Hearts.

Neilson has to get to grips with how we play the Glasgow pair though.

 

On last nights evidence we are a mile off.

 

[Ked]

2 minutes ago, RustyRightPeg said:

May I remind you, he is a fan and he is entitled to his opinion !! (Just before he does)

He is whether a fan or not.

But he's gave an opinion which is mocking a young player who he's watched once.

He somehow thinks it's odd for supporters to get excited about young prospects .

And this place is far from being uncritical about our players.

Reeks

 

[pettigrewsstylist]

On 29/01/2023 at 11:44, Ked said:

Rangers are 17 points in front.

Can we close that next season?

 

 

No chance. We will be sorely tested in summer transfer window i suspect.

[RustyRightPeg]

3 minutes ago, Ked said:

He is whether a fan or not.

But he's gave an opinion which is mocking a young player who he's watched once.

He somehow thinks it's odd for supporters to get excited about young prospects .

And this place is far from being uncritical about our players.

Reeks

 

Was tongue in cheek, that’s usually the comeback he gives to people

[Ked]

1 minute ago, RustyRightPeg said:

Was tongue in cheek, that’s usually the comeback he gives to people

I know mate just gave me an excuse to wade in a bit more.

[RustyRightPeg]

2 minutes ago, Ked said:

I know mate just gave me an excuse to wade in a bit more.

👏🏼 

[VALDOS']

In terms of what level players are at, that judgement to a large extent needs to be measured against der hun and the Irish FC.

Put it this way as an example, if a scouting job was done on Rowles last night, a far more realistic figure would be in the mind of said scout than the utter nonsense thats been banded around here.

[EH11 2NL]

We are never catching them, we have earned a shit load this year from the Europa, the financial gap will still have widened with them both playing Champs league and probably earning 4x what we did. It's impossible. It's all about best of the rest for us, and getting as many Euro trips and cups as we can to enjoy. The video posted further up the thread explains how impossible it really is. 

[Korky]

2 hours ago, Shooter McGavin said:

It’s not a new manager that’ll take us to the next level, it’s a serious cash injection.

 

We’re talking £30/40 million+ chucked our way in one lump some to even think about competing with either a*** cheek.

 

Absolute fantasy stuff.

It would have to be a gift as our fan ownership model means 90% of FOH members are needed to approve a Newcastle style takeover.

 

[Shooter McGavin]

5 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

 

This video using statistics details the financial discrepancy in transfer funds and wages pretty well. It's discussing the 19/20 season but the same thing still applies and I would argue even in that time the financial gap has widened further.

 

Why no team except Rangers and Celtic will ever win the league

 

 

 

That video perfectly demonstrates why it’s total fantasy stuff to think ourselves, or any other team in the league, will topple the Old Firm.

 

And people say “Slowly build, improve each year” etc, well… Celtic & Rangers will be improving too.

As we get financially stronger, they will too.

 

Our focus needs to be clearing a gap behind us in 3rd. That gap was 13 points last season, let’s try and match that again this season, and then increase that gap the following season etc. Make 3rd our own, and keep generating European money.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Shooter McGavin

[escobri]

https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/23340744.fan-owned-hearts-closing-gap-celtic-rangers/

Good article here.

[Jambo-Fox]

20 minutes ago, escobri said:

https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/23340744.fan-owned-hearts-closing-gap-celtic-rangers/

Good article here.

It is! Very good article! Thanks

[i8hibsh]

The harsh reality is that we are closer to 12th than 1st under the current management team.

 

I am in absolutely no doubt that Neilson will NEVER and I mean NEVER take us to the 'next level'.

 

 

[JamboAl]

On 02/02/2023 at 11:47, Shooter McGavin said:

It’s not a new manager that’ll take us to the next level, it’s a serious cash injection.

 

We’re talking £30/40 million+ chucked our way in one lump some to even think about competing with either a*** cheek.

 

Absolute fantasy stuff.

I'm not sure about your first paragraph.  With the player investment we have made in the last 18 months should we not be strolling third place?  A couple of more defeats and we could see Livi and the Vermin overtake us.

It is a fantasy to believe £30m/£40m would have us compete with the arse cheeks.  It may make a short term improvement but the players we sign would have to be much better and would command higher wages leading to a 2 tier dressing room which in turn would breed disharmony.

[Pasquale for King]

Why not, even a few more away wins would do it. We should be better off than 12-6-8 at this point. 

[Byyy The Light]

8 minutes ago, i8hibsh said:

The harsh reality is that we are closer to 12th than 1st under the current management team.

 

I am in absolutely no doubt that Neilson will NEVER and I mean NEVER take us to the 'next level'.

 

 

There isn’t a manager in the whole of world football who would take Hearts to the next level. 

[Jim Panzee]

6 minutes ago, i8hibsh said:

The harsh reality is that we are closer to 12th than 1st under the current management team.

 

 

has happened a few times for the team finishing 3rd in the SPFL in the last 10 years or so I think.

 

3 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

I'm not sure about your first paragraph.  With the player investment we have made in the last 18 months should we not be strolling third place?  A couple of more defeats and we could see Livi and the Vermin overtake us.

It is a fantasy to believe £30m/£40m would have us compete with the arse cheeks.  It may make a short term improvement but the players we sign would have to be much better and would command higher wages leading to a 2 tier dressing room which in turn would breed disharmony.

I'd say lets see where we finish end of season or the split. We had european football and injuries to contend with earlier this season.

 

we don't need a one off £30 / £40m injection to compete with the arse cheeks. More like £20m.......per season.....for a decade at least.

[jambodan1998]

Our away form has been shocking for years not just under the current management.  I think its an average of 4.5 away wins in the last 20 seasons maybe more. If we can get 4 more away wins we will finish 3rd easily every season.

[TexasAndy]

The reality is we are never going to match the OF financially so we need to concentrate in creating a gap between us and the rest.  We then build consistency against the other teams avoiding results like last week at Motherwell.  Only by regularly beating the rest will we ever be in a position to challenge for the top two positions.  If we get to that point then the games against OF would take care of themselves.

[Fozzyonthefence]

18 minutes ago, Byyy The Light said:

There isn’t a manager in the whole of world football who would take Hearts to the next level. 

Depends what the “next level” is.  Most of us are realistic enough to know we can’t win the league but would like to win a cup or cut the gap on the OF and not get absolutely pumped pretty much every time we play them and similar in Europe.  We’re going to finish 40 - 50 points behind Celtic this season.  I’m sure there’s plenty managers who could get us a lot closer than that.  

[The White Cockade]

To be honest i'd be more than happy if we finished third for the next 10 years and keep qualifying for Europe

Throw in a Cup win or two and i'd be delighted

Our best chance of top two is if we have a great season and one of the Uglies has a poor season

To be honest Rangers have been pretty poor this season a lot of the time and we are still nowhere near them

In the short term I just want us to find some form and sort out third this season

[i8hibsh]

28 minutes ago, Byyy The Light said:

There isn’t a manager in the whole of world football who would take Hearts to the next level. 

 

 

So that is that then, this is as good as it gets?

 

We are likely to be around 50 points behind 1st place at season end.

 

I expect to perform better than we are -  many mangers in the past have and many in the future can.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by i8hibsh

[whytebeard]

We have finished 3rd twice in 10 years, equalling that of the same number of regelations.

 

Before closing the gap we need to prove a sustained period of being the best of the rest. Something like finishing 3rd 3 times out of 5 seasons. Minimum 5th the other 2 seasons. Keeping our recent hampden appearances but winning something.

 

do the above and there may be some weight behind closing the gap

[Bull's-eye]

10 minutes ago, TexasAndy said:

The reality is we are never going to match the OF financially so we need to concentrate in creating a gap between us and the rest.  We then build consistency against the other teams avoiding results like last week at Motherwell.  Only by regularly beating the rest will we ever be in a position to challenge for the top two positions.  If we get to that point then the games against OF would take care of themselves.

 

I actually disagree with that. We can close the gap considerably. At least get to a point where we can comptete.

A few good signings a few decent fees, carry on as we're going and keep Tynecastle a place where players want to come and who knows.

 

This was never going to happen overnight as some seem to think, changing managers like i8s pant collection will not work.

 

The article tells you how the club is run and what can be achieved if we all stick together.

 

There should be a great positivity surrounding the club currently, the media are on board. We're getting good press and admiration from outside.

 

Just keep plugging away, lose the negative Shit and see where it takes us.

[Bazzas right boot]

9 minutes ago, i8hibsh said:

 

 

So that is that then, this is as good as it gets?

 

We are likely to be around 50 points behind 1st place at season end.

 

I expect to perform better than we are -  many mangers in the past have and many in the future can.

 

 

 

If we finish 3rd twice in a row, then literally only 1 manger has done better than that in 30 years.

Guess who that was?

 

You're reality of doing better is just made up, you don't know.

Your expectations are coming from a place of little or no context,  balance or logic.

It's made up in your head.

 

If Bob ends up with 3 x3rd place finishes out of 3 seasons with us then he'll be  the best performing Hearts manager probably since we last won the league. 

 

3rd in the league may  very well be the best it gets, ever.

That's a shit reality of Scottish football.

 

Hopefully a cup win will come alone tho- we've been close already.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Bazzas right boot

[Bazzas right boot]

3 minutes ago, whytebeard said:

We have finished 3rd twice in 10 years, equalling that of the same number of regelations.

 

Before closing the gap we need to prove a sustained period of being the best of the rest. Something like finishing 3rd 3 times out of 5 seasons. Minimum 5th the other 2 seasons. Keeping our recent hampden appearances but winning something.

 

do the above and there may be some weight behind closing the gap

 

Yip, agreed.

[Drylaw Hearts]

Stop losing so many points to gash like Motherwell should help towards closing that gap.

 

Maybe even try a bit harder away from home too.

 

 

[Byyy The Light]

29 minutes ago, Fozzyonthefence said:

Depends what the “next level” is.  Most of us are realistic enough to know we can’t win the league but would like to win a cup or cut the gap on the OF and not get absolutely pumped pretty much every time we play them and similar in Europe.  We’re going to finish 40 - 50 points behind Celtic this season.  I’m sure there’s plenty managers who could get us a lot closer than that.  

 

24 minutes ago, i8hibsh said:

 

 

So that is that then, this is as good as it gets?

 

We are likely to be around 50 points behind 1st place at season end.

 

I expect to perform better than we are -  many mangers in the past have and many in the future can.

 

 

 

That's not next level.  It's having a slightly better season.  Next level is winning the league, qualifying for champions league and consistently winning the cups in Scotland.  Not as a one off but as genuine contenders every year.

 

I couldn't care if we are 3rd and finish 50 point behind or 30 or 10, we still get the same for it. Feck all.

 

3rd is 3rd and that's our level.  Robbie has proved he is the man to do that consistently for us.  More than any manager in the last 30 years.

 

In Scotland with things set up the way they are, no manager in world football will take us to the "next level".  

 

 

[Ex member of the SaS]

Said many times before challenging the bigots is totally unrealistic. Apart from the officials always helping them when someone gets close, they do have a much high budget than us. ( bigger stadiums and higher revenue )  It's been said further up this thread that we need to make the gap below us much much bigger, and that is where Robbie is failing. We should have the bigots mentality and expect to win and make third fairly easily when quality of players and finances are taken into account. It has also been stated earlier that Robbie doesn't learn and results sometimes flatter him and the coaches. The Aberdeen score when their players had virtually downed tools and Hibs inability to capitalise on their pressure and still people use these results as some sort of mantra that Robbie is doing well. Poorer quality teams will always get results against better teams by virtue of working harder, this is where the coaches and Robbie fail in getting the players better prepared. They also sit on their hands when things are not working and take too long to make changes.

[Bazzas right boot]

7 minutes ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

Said many times before challenging the bigots is totally unrealistic. Apart from the officials always helping them when someone gets close, they do have a much high budget than us. ( bigger stadiums and higher revenue )  It's been said further up this thread that we need to make the gap below us much much bigger, and that is where Robbie is failing. We should have the bigots mentality and expect to win and make third fairly easily when quality of players and finances are taken into account. It has also been stated earlier that Robbie doesn't learn and results sometimes flatter him and the coaches. The Aberdeen score when their players had virtually downed tools and Hibs inability to capitalise on their pressure and still people use these results as some sort of mantra that Robbie is doing well. Poorer quality teams will always get results against better teams by virtue of working harder, this is where the coaches and Robbie fail in getting the players better prepared. They also sit on their hands when things are not working and take too long to make changes.

 

 

Aye, the only manager to even get us 3rd in the last 10 os years is failing in regard to establishing us as the 3rd best team.

 

You think you've read it all then folk raise the bar for nonsense. 

 

 

[mr fox]

On 29/01/2023 at 11:44, Ked said:

Rangers are 17 points in front.

Can we close that next season?

 

 

I think we could close it by half if we had a manager in that played a consistent team. Arsenal are top of the league with playing the same formation players most weeks. Chelsea are a shambles as they rotate the team formation every week. 
Every good team plays the same formation every week we change it 3-4 times a game. 
Some people on here that cannot see this is beyond belief. 
 

We need to stick to a 4231 for example and stick to it we are an utter shambles under Neilson. He is only getting away with it as 3rd is the aim. 
 

We won’t close the gap with him in charge also our record v rangers under him is the worst I have seen