*** Hearts V Rangers Official Match Thread ( on ppv ) ***

[Drylaw Hearts]

Just now, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Passing was shite, horrendous actually. 

He didn’t take any responsibility.

 

 

[SomethingAboutObua]

Terrible day for us and they played very well, combined to make a piss poor scoreline. Pass marks for me were Gino, forrest and Kio. 

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by SomethingAboutObua

[151]

Just home. Drove to Edinburgh and back for work today in the van and then same again at night in the car. No words for that performance really.

[davieholt]

What a ghastly night. Rangers looked like they were playing a team two divisions below them. The gulf between 2nd and 3rd has never been so evident. Sorry Robbie but after a great run this was down to you.

 

reminds me of the Morcambe and Wise sketch. All the right players but in all the wrong positions 

[chrystaf]

13 minutes ago, Gordon_1874 said:

Absolutely. From the moment the whistle went we looked beat.

 

Our players totally lacked belief that we could take anything from tonight's game and that has to come from the management.

100% correct.  What a game to choose to adopt such a set up.  Good players made to look average.  Felt sorry for Hill and Kuol who appeared at a loss as to his role, but seemed to be cover for Hill....bizarre.

When you look at the subs, there is the team we should have been putting out.

[chrystaf]

3 minutes ago, SomethingAboutObua said:

Terrible day for us and they played very well, combined to make a piss poor scoreline. Pass marks for me were Gino, forrest and Kio. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I thought Shankland was man of the match.  

[JFK-1]

1 hour ago, spirt of 98 said:

Hearts level is 3rd. The top two are so far ahead of us it’s unreal. 
 

These games don’t even matter. 
 

SPL is a terrible league to be part of. 
 

 

 

Indeed, the OF are further ahead in terms of quality in depth than they have ever been, and probably heading to pull further ahead.

 

Not the manager nor the players are to blame for this, it's simply an insurmountable financial advantage.

[Laurie]

1 hour ago, Marvin said:

Laurie is too fair to opposing teams. 

 

I think this was in regards to the Goldson handball incident. When it first happened I thought there might be a shout, but I must confess after the replay I didn't feel it was a penalty. But I did try to explain I feel there has been a precedent set in certain games this season, whereby that sort of handball is penalised. Reading the handball rule, I can see why they wouldn't give a penalty for that - but the lack of consistency is the issue. That's just my view mind you, it's very much subjective and many will disagree I'm sure. 

[Dick Dastardly]

59 minutes ago, Drylaw Hearts said:

Listening to his interview and he’s not taking much responsibility at all.

 

Blaming the players for poor passing etc.

 

 

Their passing was awful 

[Skacelsid]

Hindsight eleven.

 

Clark

 

Atkinson, Hill, Rowles, Kingsley, Cochrane.

 

Sibbick, Grant, Snoddy.

 

Gino, Shanks.

 

Stay in the game and bring on pace. No idea what we were trying to do with either tactics or team selection, there is no excuse for not being organised. Our coaches are still trying perfect a tikataka style that is finished. Get your players fit and get the best out of them, that is my preferred system.

 

[Bazzas right boot]

8 minutes ago, Drylaw Hearts said:

He didn’t take any responsibility.

 

 

 

He's the manager,  it's implied.

He's a countable for everything.

When we beat Aberdeen 5-0  or hibs 3-0 - twice, he never publicly declared the victory for himself or talk himself up,  he praised the players. 

 

The passing was shite, we gave the ball away too easily and  far too often.

He was correct in his statement. 

 

[Beave1874]

Btw the effin drummer in their end.. FFS Ears still pounding. I'm all for atmosphere but totally killed anything we could have had by drowning everything out. Not an excuse for how pish we were, I may add, but I was so desperate for us to score to shut the effer up...

[N Lincs Jambo]

1 hour ago, colinmaroon said:

 

What midfield? 

 

 

Good question Colin

[geomac]

8 minutes ago, Laurie said:

 

I think this was in regards to the Goldson handball incident. When it first happened I thought there might be a shout, but I must confess after the replay I didn't feel it was a penalty. But I did try to explain I feel there has been a precedent set in certain games this season, whereby that sort of handball is penalised. Reading the handball rule, I can see why they wouldn't give a penalty for that - but the lack of consistency is the issue. That's just my view mind you, it's very much subjective and many will disagree I'm sure. 

 

It shouldn't have been a penalty, but we've seen many softer ones given, even for us. Hopefully they are now going for 'deliberate handball to gain advantage' rather than the ball randomly hitting someone's hand in. the box

[chrystaf]

32 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Agree with everything but the last point he ned hauled off at the start, he looked totally out his depth.

Purely because of what he was tasked to do.....midfield or as cover for Hill....ridiculous, he's a young forward FFS.

[151]

The amount of times we go back is astounding. It's definitely pre-planned, Kingsley played a blind pass backwards to nobody and nearly cost a goal. Every single throw in aswell. We had a throw in in the corner of Main/Gorgie and within 3 passes it was back at Clark getting launched long. What happened to the long throw from Hill that worked against Aberdeen?

 

All composure out the window against the OF.

[Bazzas right boot]

3 minutes ago, chrystaf said:

Purely because of what he was tasked to do.....midfield or as cover for Hill....ridiculous, he's a young forward FFS.

 

Maybe, but tracking back, taking a first touch and passing ten yards ti a tram mate is pretty standard.

[Jambos1983]

37 minutes ago, Radio Ga Ga said:

Just home, that was an absolutely horrific performance, the set up in the first half, WTAF. 
 

I’ll file it as a bad day in the office. 

Another one against them but agreed

[Forza Cuore]

Hate Rangers

[flecktimus]

With few changes since the last pumping at Tynie, i was looking for us to be a bit more competitive tonight. We are still miles away.

[maroonsgotop]

Rangers two biggest away wins this season have been at Tynecastle which is a sad indictment for us. The first half was one of the most one sided halves of football I've seen for a very long time which came as no surprise to most when we saw the team selection and set up. Felt sorry for Snodgrass in particular tonight. The only consolation was that we only got beat by 3

[colinmaroon]

58 minutes ago, Radio Ga Ga said:

Just home, that was an absolutely horrific performance, the set up in the first half, WTAF. 
 

I’ll file it as a bad day in the office. 

 

I think the three games Aberdeen, Hibs twice, have given both our manager and most of our players delusions of grandeur, and all this talk of catching up to the Rangers - forget about the other Ugly - is for the future and will be conditional on them not improving and us getting a LOT better. 

 

To get anything from the Uglies we have to be set up properly and trying 110%, and we have to strengthen, particularly in midfield. 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by colinmaroon

[1953]

Getting beat by The Rangers is not the end of the world but tonight we didn't lay a glove on them and that's what hurts more. The team selection and setup was shocking  but we struggled to do the basics. We could and should have lost by a lot more than three.

[N Lincs Jambo]

I personally hate the huns with a passion (the green cheek too) but we got schooled tonight. I don’t know why but tonight they played against us like we did against them under Stendel. A really effective high-pressing game.
 

Only problem is that unlike us under Stendel they’re not getting skelped off the “diddy” teams. Totally infuriating.

[No Idle Talk]

1 hour ago, Skacelsid said:

Hindsight eleven.

 

Clark

 

Atkinson, Hill, Rowles, Kingsley, Cochrane.

 

Sibbick, Grant, Snoddy.

 

Gino, Shanks.

 

Stay in the game and bring on pace. No idea what we were trying to do with either tactics or team selection, there is no excuse for not being organised. Our coaches are still trying perfect a tikataka style that is finished. Get your players fit and get the best out of them, that is my preferred system.

 

 

I think it's reasonable to surmise that Natty Atkinson's days at Hearts are numbered. The manager obviously doesn't trust him anymore. He started the match with a centre back at right wing back rather than play Atkinson there. Then when he switched the formation around he played a different centre back at right back rather than play Atkinson there.

 

Atkinson hasn't got a future at Hearts as far as I can see.

[weegie jambo]

Just back home and I'm still raging at that inept performance. I've always been in Robbie's camp and thought after Brora and the eye-bleeding championship title we'd turned a corner and settled into a good routine with a good squad. Tonight's result and performance was just baffling and is totally down to Neilson completely changing a successful formation which has seen us unbeaten in 10 games and playing with no midfield. Kuel, Hill, McKay all out of position and not sure of their roles. We've played with a two or even three man midfield all season, why oh why play with only Snoddy in midfield and expect Kuel, a young lad, an out and out forward to cover, Mckay who is a luxury player who goes missing in big games all too often to fill a midfield roles which are not their games. Thereby hanging out Hill ( who I like) in an unfamiliar RWB role. What's wrong with the tried and tested 3-4-2-1 which has served us well all season? Things look a lot more balanced second half with the 2nd man (Kio) in midfield but by that time the damage was done and moving to a back four was all he could do having dropped Hill in it. It's just so depressing. Hopefully Robbie will revert to our usual formation come Saturday because that formation was baffling and unacceptable.

[Skacelsid]

It's a myth that we have been been playing well since the WC break. No doubt results have been good. With both Aberdeen and Hibs recently we gave up control of midfield, invited them on, setting the trap as it were. Not good for the nerves. We looked far from good for large parts of these games but our coaches had discovered a winning plan. Wrong. We did indeed invite the press but against better players it fell apart, no surprise there. We were a shambles from the kickoff and  0-3 was a steal. It would have been a lot more embarrassing but for big Zander. It is normal that the old firm have better players than us but as in the past it is possible to compete and contest every ball and a chance or two would come our way. Our coaches threw us under a bus both with team selection and tactics. Sort it out if you can.

[Drylaw Hearts]

7 hours ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

He's the manager,  it's implied.

He's a countable for everything.

When we beat Aberdeen 5-0  or hibs 3-0 - twice, he never publicly declared the victory for himself or talk himself up,  he praised the players. 

 

The passing was shite, we gave the ball away too easily and  far too often.

He was correct in his statement. 

 

He should have held his hands up and said he got the selection and formation all wrong.

 

Your constant defence of the indefensible is nauseating.

[John Findlay]

8 hours ago, Mister T said:

Very poor show tonight. How is it we gave celtic a game but every time that bunch turn up we're hopeless. Frustrating beyond belief.

Agreed. Our two worst performances at home this season, have been against them. The easy thing is to always blame the manager, but for me none of the players were at it tonight.

Said to my laddie. Imo, no-one in a Hearts strip deserved a motm award tonight. I was livid tonight with that performance. If they had put seven passed us, we would have had no complaints.

[Bazzas right boot]

24 minutes ago, Drylaw Hearts said:

He should have held his hands up and said he got the selection and formation all wrong.

 

Your constant defence of the indefensible is nauseating.

 

I've said several times the formation and set up  imo was wrong.

 

The passing, movement and general play from most of the player was still shite tho. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Drylaw Hearts]

2 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

I've said several times the formation and set up  imo was wrong.

 

The passing, movement and general play from most of the player was still shite tho. 

 

 

 

 

 

You also said he would take responsibility for that last night.

 

 

[Spellczech]

6 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

I've said several times the formation and set up  imo was wrong.

 

The passing, movement and general play from most of the player was still shite tho. 

 

 

 

 

 

We made it easy for Rangers. Players not showing for passes meaning if the player had an option it was pretty much an only option. This made pressing easy for Rangers. 

 

When a Hearts player did get the ball to a teammate it was so poor that he always needed to take a touch and once again Rangers players were on him by the time he's controlled the ball.

 

Every header we won was aimless and most went straight to Rangers players who had better positional sense for picking up second balls.

 

Clark was great without the ball but he is more frightening than Gordon when he had to distribute it and that is Gordon's sole weakness...

 

Barry Mackay's first half shot looked like he didn't want to score against Rangers...

Edited February 2, 2023 by Spellczech

[Bazzas right boot]

1 minute ago, Drylaw Hearts said:

You also said he would take responsibility for that last night.

 

 

 

Imo he has, he's the manager. Its ultimately his fault. It doesn't have to literally be said.

Does he have to say it was my fault?

 

When we win as well , will he also have to say I take credit?

That would be bad mgt imo. 

 

Imo it was his fault and the players fault,  you obviously think different. 

 

 

 

[Haken]

4 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Imo he has, he's the manager. Its ultimately his fault. It doesn't have to literally be said.

Does he have to say it was my fault?

 

When we win as well , will he also have to say I take credit?

That would be bad mgt imo. 

 

Imo it was his fault and the players fault,  you obviously think different. 

 

 

 

I think it was more Neilson's fault than the players.  It's the manager who decided to shoehorn players into positions they don't normally play, ahead of fit players who do normally play in those positions.  It not only backfired; it cold be a confidence damaging decision for a few players.

 

I'm a bit of  luddite when it comes to formation, but if even I'm moaning in the stands for Neilson to change the shape while we were still only a goal down, then something is wrong.

[Drylaw Hearts]

Just now, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Imo he has, he's the manager. Its ultimately his fault. It doesn't have to literally be said.

Does he have to say it was my fault?

 

When we win as well , will he also have to say I take credit?

That would be bad mgt imo. 

 

Imo it was his fault and the players fault,  you obviously think different. 

 

 

 

You think it’s good management to blame the players, especially when we all know the catalyst for that horrendous showing was the player selection and formation.

 

Kuol at RCM is one of the most ridiculous picks since Neilson himself was selected to play RM at Easter Road by Malofeev.

 

 

[1971fozzy]

One of the worst aspects from last nights game (apart from the nonsensical lineup) was that just about every time we headed or tried anything with the ball we gave it away. It was torture to watch. Bad enough against them without giving up possession nearly every time.

I’m really a Robbie fan but even in the cold light of the morning what he set up last night was nothing short of a disgrace. Shoehorning players in unfamiliar positions whilst leaving 3 midfielders and a right back on the bench is incomprehensible in a game of such importance. Incompetence is being kind.  Folk where I sit were rightly baffled and a blind man could see that rangers would run all over us.

he threw his players under a bus make no mistake, especially the young lad from Newcastle. What the hell he must be thinking is anyone’s guess.

 

 

[mellors1874]

Said it before the game last night how to give Rangers a game and once again Neilson gets it all wrong.

Rangers are predictable in how they play it's the same as it was under Gerrard as it was Beale who was coaching them.

The full backs are the biggest reason they score goals and once again we let them run riot.

We pump high balls into the box to defenders who are crap at dealing with crosses at waist height but never lose a header once again we don't do it.

We let them have the midfield once again Neilson gets it wrong.

Wonder if he actually knows any style of play or tactics as it's apparent they had no clue what they were meant to do last night.

[Bazzas right boot]

1 minute ago, Drylaw Hearts said:

You think it’s good management to blame the players, especially when we all know the catalyst for that horrendous showing was the player selection and formation.

 

Kuol at RCM is one of the most ridiculous picks since Neilson himself was selected to play RM at Easter Road by Malofeev.

 

 

 

I think calling out the players for poor passing and saying they were below par was spot on- they were.

 

He could have mentioned the formation,  and maybe will at some point but the players were shite, basic first touch and passing left them.

 

He praises the players and team regularly on winning runs and games so saying their pish when they are pish is perfectly acceptable .

I'm sure the players know this as well.

All his interviews concentrate on the team and that works both ways.

 

Kuol playing at all was ridiculous imo, but many posters had him in that position pre match, there is no way he can play up top on his own either, using him as a inside right forward type  makes sense imo.

Kuol also made several basic mistakes and was over whelmed by the game imo, I think he'll be used more as an impact sub for a bit.

But unless you play these new guys, how do you know?

 

Maybe email Hearts and say you demand an apology/ written response from from our manager for last night, it might make you feel better.

[stuart500]

We've dropped 3 points, which most (if not all) of our rivals will also do against that shower. It shouldn't affect the race for 3rd place if we keep the heid against our real rivals. 

 

We need to learn from that performance though. They are better than us but we made it laughably easy for them. We are not going to sweep them off the park playing fast flowing football. We need to battle it out and play the right players for the job.

 

Kuol is clearly a far more talented footballer than Kio but Kio was the more effective in what the midfield role required. 

 

If we get them in the cup we are going to have to break this terrible run of results. Players like Devlin, Kio, Grant and Halliday (Beni if fit) in front of our generally decent defence would give us a solid base. We need to nullify them first before trying to win the game. 

 

It a difficult balance but the balance was hopelessly wrong last night. All we can take from the performance is that next time we do everything completely differently. No excuses for Neilson if we don't.

[LochcarronJambo]

We backed off from the start & immediately gave Rangers the initiative, no press & allowed Rangers to pass without challenge…..once again they got early goal

Its clear they have better players, however, we made it too easy for them & appeared we had no belief straight away we would get anything from the game.

Set up & tactics were plain wrong.

In the end it could easily have been a much heavier defeat….I thought they would win but was expecting us to give them a game & we didn’t.

 

[Tynecastle Valhalla]

What the actual f@@k was that last night ? A shambles from start to finish.

 

baffling !

 

celtic fans claiming we lie down to them - what a seriously strange bunch 

[davieholt]

I still find it baffling that, for a team with 5 centre backs, we lose the first goal to a free header at the far post. How does that work?

[Scott980612]

Last night was a mess  

Everything about it. 
 
Robbie has done really well but it’s 100% fair to say he never learns vs the old firm 

 

Not to even compete is the most disappointing thing - when we’ve clearly a got very able players who far more capable of what was served up last night, but with that line up/formation it was an opportunity missed from the start. 
 
It’s gone - it done , frustrating as it was , on to Saturday  

 
Must bounce back with a performance and 3 points 
 
 

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

2 minutes ago, davieholt said:

I still find it baffling that, for a team with 5 centre backs, we lose the first goal to a free header at the far post. How does that work?

We give free headers away in every game but luckily most teams have some big huddy on the end of them to miss the chance. We are much better now at blocking shots and quicker at getting closer to players running at us but last night even that aspect took large step backwards. Even given the higher standard of opposition that was a shambles...

[Rudy T]

On 30/01/2023 at 12:30, Rudy T said:

This game will go a long way to seeing where both clubs are at the moment. Rangers under Beale seem to just be doing enough to get a result and we are aiming to close the gap on them. 

 

My hope is we go in with a strong midfield for this one. We get bullied by them in that area in most games and never quite get into the game enough. Hopefully Devlin is fit! 
 

I know it’s a shift in formation but I’d go:

3-5-2 

 

Clark

 

Sibbick Rowles Kingsley

 

Smith Snodgrass Devlin Grant Cochrane

 

Humphrys Shankland 

 

Stay tight and keep the speed merchants on the bench for the second half. A tiring defence versus Koul and Gino might be the difference.

Said it earlier in the week go with a weak midfield and we’ll get bullied, what I didn’t expect was us to go in with no midfield. That was an absolute shocker from Robbie last night. I’ll bet Kent and co couldn’t believe their luck we gave them the freedom of Tynecastle.
 

That starting line up made no sense whatever way you look at it. First time I’ve been angry after a game for a long time, we gave them the game. Neilsons got plenty credit in the bank and hopefully that’s the last time he has a brain fart like that again.

[One five]

45 minutes ago, davieholt said:

I still find it baffling that, for a team with 5 centre backs, we lose the first goal to a free header at the far post. How does that work?

Not paying attention 

[Ex member of the SaS]

So we lost a game everyone expected ( honestly ) knew we would, especially with that ref!

However we must have the most stupid team in the league, from the manger down to the players.

Everyone knows how to play against us. I feel Robbie did right with playing an attacking team, but the players let themselves down by continually trying to play out from the back, thus not giving the forward players any service.

This slow ponderous play is killing us every game, and when we do move the ball quickly we score/ win. 

Passing around the defense when they are under pressure means mistakes are made and we give away possession.

Players need to be able to take that pressure and we don't have that quality. We have a good team with good players but to be able to play out from the back when being pressed takes a whole different type of player.

Another big fault is everyone back in defense, leave Gino and Kuol up top so we have an out ball. These two quick players would give any defense the jitters but we refuse to use their skills properly.

[colinmaroon]

11 hours ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Agree with everything but the last point he ned hauled off at the start, he looked totally out his depth.

 

He needed to play up front from the start.  Having him drop back into defensive midfield was a tactical blunder, as was the starting setup as a whole. 

 

 

[Jamhammer]

2 hours ago, mellors1874 said:

Said it before the game last night how to give Rangers a game and once again Neilson gets it all wrong.

Rangers are predictable in how they play it's the same as it was under Gerrard as it was Beale who was coaching them.

The full backs are the biggest reason they score goals and once again we let them run riot.

We pump high balls into the box to defenders who are crap at dealing with crosses at waist height but never lose a header once again we don't do it.

We let them have the midfield once again Neilson gets it wrong.

Wonder if he actually knows any style of play or tactics as it's apparent they had no clue what they were meant to do last night.

Great post

[Nookie Bear]

9 hours ago, No Idle Talk said:

 

I think it's reasonable to surmise that Natty Atkinson's days at Hearts are numbered. The manager obviously doesn't trust him anymore. He started the match with a centre back at right wing back rather than play Atkinson there. Then when he switched the formation around he played a different centre back at right back rather than play Atkinson there.

 

Atkinson hasn't got a future at Hearts as far as I can see.

 

We see this mistake time and time again. I refuse to accept that Atkinson - an international defender - is a worse option at right wing back than a centre back.

 

It's a specialised position. We wouldn't play Devlin up front so why play a centre back at rwb?