***Official Rosenborg v Heart of Midlothian Match Thread***

[DS98]

2 minutes ago, Gimme an H... said:

Have to say - not seeing much of a change from the style we played under RN. Yet.

 

 

Two away games. We’ll see a difference on Sunday. 

[Daveandal]

With Lowry leap frogging Grant I wonder if that is the kick up the backside he needed? Played great when he came on. Boyce as well. Haaring was the difference however. Changed the game for us. Offered cover but also able to pick passes out and switch the play.

 

I think we can see the people who watched the game and those who didn't. Forest was one of our best players. Got forward, pressed, looked for the ball. Is he good enough for us? No, does he get pass marks for last night? Yes.

[DxB Hearts]

5 minutes ago, Daveandal said:

With Lowry leap frogging Grant I wonder if that is the kick up the backside he needed? Played great when he came on. Boyce as well. Haaring was the difference however. Changed the game for us. Offered cover but also able to pick passes out and switch the play.

 

I think we can see the people who watched the game and those who didn't. Forest was one of our best players. Got forward, pressed, looked for the ball. Is he good enough for us? No, does he get pass marks for last night? Yes.

 

I'm hoping we're still at the stage where players like Lowry/Forrest/Grant don't have their starting spots nailed on.

 

Lowry was not good last night and whilst he was great coming on against St Johnstone it be a shame if Grant was afforded the same opportunity to show what he can do from the start of a game.

 

Boyce looks like he's never been away, I've no idea how you get Boyce, Shankland and Tagawa (if he's as good as we hope!) on the pitch at the same time from kick off though.

[Bazzas right boot]

1 minute ago, Bindy Badgy said:

 

When we're 2-0 up at home to someone like Kilmarnock would be my choice for him getting back on the pitch. Starting an away European match seems daft.

 

Would make sense, but if we never go 2-0 up home regular enough then he won't get the minutes until months later.

[OmiyaHearts]

I just don't see a style of play for the side yet. We seem very unprepared in attack and seem to throw people forward without having a controlled approach, or knowing our best options to make chances.

 

We are struggling to create clear chances, especially for our striker, and the midfield has been very shaky in the first half of both matches

 

It's early in the season, but the head coach and technical director of the football department have their work cut out. We're not looking like we've started the season with a positive mindset, or a spring in our step. Our first half showings have been laboured.

 

Hopefully the new guys will add a freshness in the team. 9 of those players last night were part of the team that downed tools last season, so need more new faces in the starting lineup.

[DS98]

Now that the dust has settled I can see the reasoning behind playing Beni. They were concerned before the game about the running power of the Rosenborg midfield. They knew they were a young team and had legs. With Calem being ineligible it made it a straight choice between Haring and Beni. We saw last season in Europe that big Pete struggled with the pace of it. The fact they were sitting back a bit when he came in last night helped him get on the ball. Beni has been training well and must have been confident himself of playing. So it was a calculated risk but one that backfired. 

[GinRummy]

4 minutes ago, DS98 said:

Now that the dust has settled I can see the reasoning behind playing Beni. They were concerned before the game about the running power of the Rosenborg midfield. They knew they were a young team and had legs. With Calem being ineligible it made it a straight choice between Haring and Beni. We saw last season in Europe that big Pete struggled with the pace of it. The fact they were sitting back a bit when he came in last night helped him get on the ball. Beni has been training well and must have been confident himself of playing. So it was a calculated risk but one that backfired. 

I was amazed how bad Beni was. There was talk of him being available for the final game of last season. Obviously the coaching team and Beni himself thought he was ready but was a bad error. 

[PapaShango]

4 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

I was amazed how bad Beni was. There was talk of him being available for the final game of last season. Obviously the coaching team and Beni himself thought he was ready but was a bad error. 

He has been out a long time and the pace of the game first half was hectic in the midfield with their runners breaking on us a few times. I hope we aren't all going to be hammering him going forward, he will get back to his best he just needs time. Would be good management if we eased him back in though, starting away in Europe was probably a step too far for him so quickly last night. 

[DxB Hearts]

11 minutes ago, OmiyaHearts said:

I just don't see a style of play for the side yet. We seem very unprepared in attack and seem to throw people forward without having a controlled approach, or knowing our best options to make chances.

 

We are struggling to create clear chances, especially for our striker, and the midfield has been very shaky in the first half of both matches

 

It's early in the season, but the head coach and technical director of the football department have their work cut out. We're not looking like we've started the season with a positive mindset, or a spring in our step. Our first half showings have been laboured.

 

Hopefully the new guys will add a freshness in the team. 9 of those players last night were part of the team that downed tools last season, so need more new faces in the starting lineup.

 

I can see glimmers of what we're trying to do and think with the right players in the right positions it could work very well.

 

Problem we've had is no pace up top, nobody in CM who can move the ball quickly and accurately and the players in that 2nd striker role (Nieuwenhof and Lowry) haven't made an impact. 

 

Having Tagawa a head of Shankland and either Beni back being fully fit or Nieuwenhof in CM is needed before we can really make judgement on the style.

[Gimme an H...]

13 minutes ago, DS98 said:

Two away games. We’ll see a difference on Sunday. 

I hope so.

 

Would've thought there would be a noticeable difference in the style/shape even in the two away games tbh given it should have been a complete rework from the RN days.

[chrystaf]

8 hours ago, JimmyCant said:

Indeed. Our bench really helped us tonight, but the Beni ‘mistake’ should have been fixed by the 10 minute mark. He toiled from minute 1

Exactly.  Everyone could see that Beni was not up for it.  And that was the disappointing aspect of our managerial decisions, which cost us the two goals. 

[Pans Jambo]

9 hours ago, Chuck Berry said:

This is where we really miss a proper reserve league, where Beni, Boyce, Halkett, Gordon etc could ease themselves back into games.  They can't play for the B team, so they can only be eased back using the first team.

THIS 

 

Utter madness that we don't have a reserve league and for the life of me, I cant even remember why we stopped it in the first place!

[kingantti1874]

9 minutes ago, Gimme an H... said:

I hope so.

 

Would've thought there would be a noticeable difference in the style/shape even in the two away games tbh given it should have been a complete rework from the RN days.

there was a noticeable difference at the end of last season wasn’t there. And there was a noticeable difference in the second half in Perth.

 

the problem is we materially lack pace of up front.  When we have it we are different.  Shanks is great, so he cannot go in behind, so teams can push up and squeeze midfield slowing the whole thing down. 
 

This is why we were garbage last year when Ginelly didn’t feature.  this is why we have signed tagawa and Vargas to replace.  

[kingantti1874]

Just now, Pans Jambo said:

THIS 

 

Utter madness that we don't have a reserve league and for the life of me, I cant even remember why we stopped it in the first place!

teams couldn’t afford it 

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

You’ve got to laugh. 
 

I have been lambasted elsewhere and been told “it’s obvious who the actual manager is” and now after a shite performance (following let’s face it a similarly shite performance last week) people are questioning who is picking the team. And people talk about agendas.

 

We are still in the tie which is fantastic but the team isn’t functioning properly.

 

There is no point in playing a whole season in the league to get into Europe when the pre-season and timing of signings which follows means you are nowhere near ready to compete in Europe when the time comes the following season.

 

The signings that we do have look very promising but it does seem to me that without just 3 of them our team still looks very limited.

 

Even though I have increasing doubts about Naismith even I can see that we were playing better the last 6 games last season than we have so far this season.

 

There we’re obvious things Neilson got wrong.

 

There are obvious things that most fans know that Naismith got wrong last night.

Shankland sole striker - never in a hundred years.

 

Beni starting away from home in Europe for his first start in 17 months - WTF?

 

Neilsonball still at the back - sorry but he’s had 7 games and a full pre-season to train that out of him.

 

Everyone needs to get their act together pronto at the club as results are masking shite performances so far and that won’t last.

[JimmyCant]

1 minute ago, chrystaf said:

Exactly.  Everyone could see that Beni was not up for it.  And that was the disappointing aspect of our managerial decisions, which cost us the two goals. 

The injury he got might just be a coincidence and might have happened anyway so I’m not so annoyed about that. But he comes in and from the start he’s 40% short of where he needs to be and it’s obvious to everyone it’s a mistake. We have to assume the medics thought he was ready , the coaching team thought he was ready and Beni himself thought he was ready, but it was quickly apparent they were all mistaken and he should have been hooked, at the very latest as soon as that first goal went in. Massive mistake, error of judgement, bad risk, bad gamble. Whatever you want to call it. Fingers crossed it doesn’t prove to cost us because that team weren’t good and we gifted them 2 goals on the back of a poor selection decision.

[Pans Jambo]

1 minute ago, kingantti1874 said:

teams couldn’t afford it 

Really? Is that what it was?  Jeezo! They couldn't knock a team together to play on a Friday night? My local boys club can do it every Sunday. Its just a game of fitbaw. Surely the little ticket sales that there was paid for the officials and the floodlights etc? If I recall most of the games were played in non-professional league teams grounds like Bonnyrigg Rose etc. Cant be tens of thousands to hire out these places surely? Sounds more like apathy by the St. Johnstones and Hamiltons etc to me.

[ducatiboy]

I understand players and management putting a positive spin on last night’s performance, but to say “we played really well” is a stretch too far. Sorry boys you did not play well as a team nowhere near it, especially in the first half…

[The Real Maroonblood]

9 hours ago, Chuck Berry said:

This is where we really miss a proper reserve league, where Beni, Boyce, Halkett, Gordon etc could ease themselves back into games.  They can't play for the B team, so they can only be eased back using the first team.

That’s an excellent post.

[cazzyy]

1 minute ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

You’ve got to laugh. 
 

I have been lambasted elsewhere and been told “it’s obvious who the actual manager is” and now after a shite performance (following let’s face it a similarly shite performance last week) people are questioning who is picking the team. And people talk about agendas.

 

We are still in the tie which is fantastic but the team isn’t functioning properly.

 

There is no point in playing a whole season in the league to get into Europe when the pre-season and timing of signings which follows means you are nowhere near ready to compete in Europe when the time comes the following season.

 

The signings that we do have look very promising but it does seem to me that without just 3 of them our team still looks very limited.

 

Even though I have increasing doubts about Naismith even I can see that we were playing better the last 6 games last season than we have so far this season.

 

There we’re obvious things Neilson got wrong.

 

There are obvious things that most fans know that Naismith got wrong last night.

Shankland sole striker - never in a hundred years.

 

Beni starting away from home in Europe for his first start in 17 months - WTF?

 

Neilsonball still at the back - sorry but he’s had 7 games and a full pre-season to train that out of him.

 

Everyone needs to get their act together pronto at the club as results are masking shite performances so far and that won’t last.

 

Playing a whole season of games is not solely about getting into Europe, that's a bonus and we've achieved it 2 years in a row for the first time in 10 years. I'm pretty confident we'll make that 3 times in god knows how long.

 

Beni had a bad game last night but I've just checked back and from page 15 of this thread which is when the team was announced there were not many saying he shouldn't be playing, in fact it was the opposite. Fast forward and suddenly everyone is a Captain Hindsight. 

[JimmyCant]

5 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

You’ve got to laugh. 
 

I have been lambasted elsewhere and been told “it’s obvious who the actual manager is” and now after a shite performance (following let’s face it a similarly shite performance last week) people are questioning who is picking the team. And people talk about agendas.

 

We are still in the tie which is fantastic but the team isn’t functioning properly.

 

There is no point in playing a whole season in the league to get into Europe when the pre-season and timing of signings which follows means you are nowhere near ready to compete in Europe when the time comes the following season.

 

The signings that we do have look very promising but it does seem to me that without just 3 of them our team still looks very limited.

 

Even though I have increasing doubts about Naismith even I can see that we were playing better the last 6 games last season than we have so far this season.

 

There we’re obvious things Neilson got wrong.

 

There are obvious things that most fans know that Naismith got wrong last night.

Shankland sole striker - never in a hundred years.

 

Beni starting away from home in Europe for his first start in 17 months - WTF?

 

Neilsonball still at the back - sorry but he’s had 7 games and a full pre-season to train that out of him.

 

Everyone needs to get their act together pronto at the club as results are masking shite performances so far and that won’t last.

Neilsonball away from home in Europe against an experienced European campaigner I am fine with. it’s the way to play an away leg IMO

 

Starting Beni was a horrific error of judgement. That box is ticked. Everyone accepts it and it’s concerning the experienced coaching team we have would do that

 

Shankland on his own up front. Again everyone knows it’s not him but we were a bit hamstrung by the visa issue. We should have found someone with pace just to give them a problem. Oda or Lowry might have at least engaged them for a while. We were very easy to play against in that area for most of the game. 

 

 

[soonbe110]

44 minutes ago, DS98 said:

Now that the dust has settled I can see the reasoning behind playing Beni. They were concerned before the game about the running power of the Rosenborg midfield. They knew they were a young team and had legs. With Calem being ineligible it made it a straight choice between Haring and Beni. We saw last season in Europe that big Pete struggled with the pace of it. The fact they were sitting back a bit when he came in last night helped him get on the ball. Beni has been training well and must have been confident himself of playing. So it was a calculated risk but one that backfired. 

Yep, a significant error by the management team last night.  Fresh in the job so some mistakes to be expected, hopefully not many though. First start in almost 18 months, away from home in Europe, is more than a calculated risk imo. 

[JimmyCant]

7 minutes ago, cazzyy said:

 

Playing a whole season of games is not solely about getting into Europe, that's a bonus and we've achieved it 2 years in a row for the first time in 10 years. I'm pretty confident we'll make that 3 times in god knows how long.

 

Beni had a bad game last night but I've just checked back and from page 15 of this thread which is when the team was announced there were not many saying he shouldn't be playing, in fact it was the opposite. Fast forward and suddenly everyone is a Captain Hindsight. 

I think weve got the right to expect that if Beni is selected to start, he is actually fit and ready to start. hence why folk were pretty pleased about it. Turns out he wasn’t anywhere near ready to start.

[mellors1874]

I know having had a brief chat with him on Saturday that Naismith was not happy with how we played against St Johnstone.

Players seem very reluctant to come out their shell and always go for the safe pass far too often.

 

[Sherbet]

48 minutes ago, DS98 said:

Now that the dust has settled I can see the reasoning behind playing Beni. They were concerned before the game about the running power of the Rosenborg midfield. They knew they were a young team and had legs. With Calem being ineligible it made it a straight choice between Haring and Beni. We saw last season in Europe that big Pete struggled with the pace of it. The fact they were sitting back a bit when he came in last night helped him get on the ball. Beni has been training well and must have been confident himself of playing. So it was a calculated risk but one that backfired. 

Last season, apart from riga, the teams we played were far superior to rosenborg

[Mr Rabbit]

5 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

You’ve got to laugh. 
 

I have been lambasted elsewhere and been told “it’s obvious who the actual manager is” and now after a shite performance (following let’s face it a similarly shite performance last week) people are questioning who is picking the team. And people talk about agendas.

 

We are still in the tie which is fantastic but the team isn’t functioning properly.

 

There is no point in playing a whole season in the league to get into Europe when the pre-season and timing of signings which follows means you are nowhere near ready to compete in Europe when the time comes the following season.

 

The signings that we do have look very promising but it does seem to me that without just 3 of them our team still looks very limited.

 

Even though I have increasing doubts about Naismith even I can see that we were playing better the last 6 games last season than we have so far this season.

 

There we’re obvious things Neilson got wrong.

 

There are obvious things that most fans know that Naismith got wrong last night.

Shankland sole striker - never in a hundred years.

 

Beni starting away from home in Europe for his first start in 17 months - WTF?

 

Neilsonball still at the back - sorry but he’s had 7 games and a full pre-season to train that out of him.

 

Everyone needs to get their act together pronto at the club as results are masking shite performances so far and that won’t last.

It’s not all about you mate. Yesterday was a poor performance and mistakes were made, mainly with Beni, however it’s a bit bizarre that you’re using this as a soap box to stand on.

 

It’s a fans forum. You’ll get called out regardless of if you’re right or wrong. What are you hoping to achieve? 

[cazzyy]

3 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

I think weve got the right to expect that if Beni is selected to start, he is actually fit and ready to start. hence why folk were pretty pleased about it. Turns out he wasn’t anywhere near ready to start.

 

No he wasn't but without the benefit of hindsight how does anyone know that beforehand? He must have looked ready to the management team in training. Unfortunately they scored a second just before half time as I think he would have been replaced then anyway and at only 1-0 down folk would have been able to hang on to their shit instead of losing it all over the place.

[BRY]

5 minutes ago, mellors1874 said:

I know having had a brief chat with him on Saturday that Naismith was not happy with how we played against St Johnstone.

Players seem very reluctant to come out their shell and always go for the safe pass far too often.

 

 

Is he going to pass it up/down(?) the chain for Frankie MacEvoy to do something about it??

[gar jambo]

13 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

Neilsonball away from home in Europe against an experienced European campaigner I am fine with. it’s the way to play an away leg IMO

 

Starting Beni was a horrific error of judgement. That box is ticked. Everyone accepts it and it’s concerning the experienced coaching team we have would do that

 

Shankland on his own up front. Again everyone knows it’s not him but we were a bit hamstrung by the visa issue. We should have found someone with pace just to give them a problem. Oda or Lowry might have at least engaged them for a while. We were very easy to play against in that area for most of the game. 

 

 

It was our mistake s that cost us last night but once we got going we were fine ! No silly tackles by Cochran or devlin in the second leg and we should turn it Around 

[JimmyCant]

3 minutes ago, cazzyy said:

 

No he wasn't but without the benefit of hindsight how does anyone know that beforehand? He must have looked ready to the management team in training. Unfortunately they scored a second just before half time as I think he would have been replaced then anyway and at only 1-0 down folk would have been able to hang on to their shit instead of losing it all over the place.

Surely one of 3 coaches takes a look at Beni in the first 10 minutes and knows he’s not right. After the first goal we could have taken him off. Instead we let him struggle on and now he’s done a hammy. Hindsight is feck all to do with it. It was happening live in front of them

[Henroddy]

9 hours ago, August Landmesser said:

Ooft

Love this forum. He's gone from being a game changer/nailed on starter to not good enough in 1 game  🤣🤣

[JamboJoker98]

5 minutes ago, cazzyy said:

 

No he wasn't but without the benefit of hindsight how does anyone know that beforehand? He must have looked ready to the management team in training. Unfortunately they scored a second just before half time as I think he would have been replaced then anyway and at only 1-0 down folk would have been able to hang on to their shit instead of losing it all over the place.

 

It's the fitness coaches and managements job to know if he's ready before hand, and he clearly wasn't - this is why most are upset imo. I know that I was happy to see him start and with that you assume he's been deemed fit enough.

[cazzyy]

1 minute ago, JamboJoker98 said:

 

It's the fitness coaches and managements job to know if he's ready before hand, and he clearly wasn't - this is why most are upset imo. I know that I was happy to see him start and with that you assume he's been deemed fit enough.

 

Players have broken down or struggled when coming back from injury since forever, we didn't invent it last night, it's a judgement call and unfortunately we got it wrong. 

[chrystaf]

31 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

You’ve got to laugh. 
 

I have been lambasted elsewhere and been told “it’s obvious who the actual manager is” and now after a shite performance (following let’s face it a similarly shite performance last week) people are questioning who is picking the team. And people talk about agendas.

 

We are still in the tie which is fantastic but the team isn’t functioning properly.

 

There is no point in playing a whole season in the league to get into Europe when the pre-season and timing of signings which follows means you are nowhere near ready to compete in Europe when the time comes the following season.

 

The signings that we do have look very promising but it does seem to me that without just 3 of them our team still looks very limited.

 

Even though I have increasing doubts about Naismith even I can see that we were playing better the last 6 games last season than we have so far this season.

 

There we’re obvious things Neilson got wrong.

 

There are obvious things that most fans know that Naismith got wrong last night.

Shankland sole striker - never in a hundred years.

 

Beni starting away from home in Europe for his first start in 17 months - WTF?

 

Neilsonball still at the back - sorry but he’s had 7 games and a full pre-season to train that out of him.

 

Everyone needs to get their act together pronto at the club as results are masking shite performances so far and that won’t last.

Couldn't have put it better myself (though I have tried in previous posts).

What is the point of huffing and puffing throughout the season, searching high and wide for new recruits, all for the purpose of doing well in Europe, when we put out a team and a performance like last night. 

[cazzyy]

3 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

Surely one of 3 coaches takes a look at Beni in the first 10 minutes and knows he’s not right. After the first goal we could have taken him off. Instead we let him struggle on and now he’s done a hammy. Hindsight is feck all to do with it. It was happening live in front of them

 

I agree he should have been taken off earlier because we lost another goal just before half time, that's hindsight.

[feej]

17 minutes ago, mellors1874 said:

I know having had a brief chat with him on Saturday that Naismith was not happy with how we played against St Johnstone.

Players seem very reluctant to come out their shell and always go for the safe pass far too often.

 

Same again first half last night, no movement, sideways or backwards passing, so easy to defend against. Plus it's boring and shite to watch

[cazzyy]

Just now, chrystaf said:

Couldn't have put it better myself (though I have tried in previous posts).

What is the point of huffing and puffing throughout the season, searching high and wide for new recruits, all for the purpose of doing well in Europe, when we put out a team and a performance like last night. 

 

Said it already but the football season is not all for the purpose of doing well in Europe, where has this notion come from?

[chrystaf]

7 minutes ago, JimmyCant said:

Surely one of 3 coaches takes a look at Beni in the first 10 minutes and knows he’s not right. After the first goal we could have taken him off. Instead we let him struggle on and now he’s done a hammy. Hindsight is feck all to do with it. It was happening live in front of them

Spot on.

[Homme]

Now the dust has settled from last night i'm feeling a bit more upbeat about the tie. That second half was a very good away performance for a team of Hearts' calibre against an experienced European outfit. That goal from Shanks was absolutely crucial and on the second half display, deserved.

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing re Beni - but not one person voiced the concerns we are all saying now prior to the match starting. Everyone was delighted to see him included. Beni needs the support of the fans going forward. Haring and Cammy have to be in centre Mid next week unless Hoff can show us what he is made of v Killie and force one of them out - Hoff definitely doesn't walk into the XI automatically.

 

Tagawa looks like he might be our secret weapon next week. Vargas might be lucky to get a run out unless we somehow make it comfortable on the night.

 

 

[Lovecraft]

1 hour ago, DS98 said:

Now that the dust has settled I can see the reasoning behind playing Beni. They were concerned before the game about the running power of the Rosenborg midfield. They knew they were a young team and had legs. With Calem being ineligible it made it a straight choice between Haring and Beni. We saw last season in Europe that big Pete struggled with the pace of it. The fact they were sitting back a bit when he came in last night helped him get on the ball. Beni has been training well and must have been confident himself of playing. So it was a calculated risk but one that backfired. 

An adult and most probably correct view on it.

 

I think if that was him starting against St Johnstone, he may have been fine, but they are already half way through their season and all fully up to speed.

 

Again, it comes back to the benefits of a reserve league.   

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

14 minutes ago, Mr Rabbit said:

It’s not all about you mate. Yesterday was a poor performance and mistakes were made, mainly with Beni, however it’s a bit bizarre that you’re using this as a soap box to stand on.

 

It’s a fans forum. You’ll get called out regardless of if you’re right or wrong. What are you hoping to achieve? 

it’s not about me.

 

And I am calling out people who were adamant we all knew the score about the management situation now questioning what the management situation is.

 

I have a number of positives in that post and a number of realities as I see them.

 

Another issue that I can see is already hampering us is Naismith effectively having to stay handcuffed to the bench.

 

It can’t be any good for him and it certainly isn’t any good for the team. There is no way that HIS message can be conveyed to the players effectively through a middle man.

 

I don’t think what I have said is controversial.

[chrystaf]

1 minute ago, cazzyy said:

 

Said it already but the football season is not all for the purpose of doing well in Europe, where has this notion come from?

Eh?  So why were we so frustrated in not getting third and relieved that we retained fourth?

Our philosophy is to be the best outside the OF and get into - viz do well in - Europe.

Do say if I'm wrong on that.

[chrystaf]

4 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

it’s not about me.

 

And I am calling out people who were adamant we all knew the score about the management situation now questioning what the management situation is.

 

I have a number of positives in that post and a number of realities as I see them.

 

Another issue that I can see is already hampering us is Naismith effectively having to stay handcuffed to the bench.

 

It can’t be any good for him and it certainly isn’t any good for the team. There is no way that HIS message can be conveyed to the players effectively through a middle man.

 

I don’t think what I have said is controversial.

If last night was an example of that then I'm with you.

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

That Shankland goal gives us a real chance but my god, we’ll have to play better. 

[cazzyy]

1 minute ago, chrystaf said:

Eh?  So why were we so frustrated in not getting third and relieved that we retained fourth?

Our philosophy is to be the best outside the OF and get into - viz do well in - Europe.

Do say if I'm wrong on that.

 

St Mirren were doing cartwheels because they scraped into the top 6, nothing to do with Europe.

We did a lap of honour after winning the championship, nothing to do with Europe.

Thousands of us lined the streets after we won the cup, nothing to do with Europe.

Europe is a bonus, when did we last do well there? 1989?

It's important financially but to say that the whole football season is all for the purpose of doing well in Europe is nonsense.

[Mr Rabbit]

3 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

it’s not about me.

 

And I am calling out people who were adamant we all knew the score about the management situation now questioning what the management situation is.

 

I have a number of positives in that post and a number of realities as I see them.

 

Another issue that I can see is already hampering us is Naismith effectively having to stay handcuffed to the bench.

 

It can’t be any good for him and it certainly isn’t any good for the team. There is no way that HIS message can be conveyed to the players effectively through a middle man.

 

I don’t think what I have said is controversial.

It’s just the way it comes across as you’ve been fairy outspoken more recently.

 

I actually agree with some of the points you make however I get the sense you feel we would be better with Neilson than the current set up and I would rather just let it go. 
 

What last night has taught us is that we need pace to play the way we want. Shankland, despite scoring, is nowhere near as effective playing up top by himself. That seems to have been identified at least and we’ll see the difference on Sunday with Tagawa likely to come in.

 

I think the difference I’ve seen so far has been with the full backs. Atkinson, in particular, has really kicked on and even Cochrane at the end of last season and Kingsley last week have looked better. They’ve given us an outlet to bring the ball forward.

 

However the one thing that really showed last night was our lack of quality in the middle of the park. Beni, who was clearly not ready, and devlin were really poor in there. For me Haring is the starter and then I would maybe try Hof beside him on Sunday to see if that improves things.

[mellors1874]

15 minutes ago, feej said:

Same again first half last night, no movement, sideways or backwards passing, so easy to defend against. Plus it's boring and shite to watch

Yeah agree.

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

2 minutes ago, cazzyy said:

 

St Mirren were doing cartwheels because they scraped into the top 6, nothing to do with Europe.

We did a lap of honour after winning the championship, nothing to do with Europe.

Thousands of us lined the streets after we won the cup, nothing to do with Europe.

Europe is a bonus, when did we last do well there? 1989?

It's important financially but to say that the whole football season is all for the purpose of doing well in Europe is nonsense.

Europe is more than a bonus mate.

 

Neilson got sacked last year because he risked/screwed up getting 3rd and euro group football.

 

The only way for us to get decent money in and properly grow as a club is Europe.

[The Treasurer]

1 hour ago, GinRummy said:

I was amazed how bad Beni was. There was talk of him being available for the final game of last season. Obviously the coaching team and Beni himself thought he was ready but was a bad error. 

Beni's performance showed why we desperately need a proper reserve league so that players who have been working out injured can be brought back gradually to get them up to speed, rather than chucking them straight back into the team and expecting them to be match ready 

[bawheed]

1 hour ago, DS98 said:

Now that the dust has settled I can see the reasoning behind playing Beni. They were concerned before the game about the running power of the Rosenborg midfield. They knew they were a young team and had legs. With Calem being ineligible it made it a straight choice between Haring and Beni. We saw last season in Europe that big Pete struggled with the pace of it. The fact they were sitting back a bit when he came in last night helped him get on the ball. Beni has been training well and must have been confident himself of playing. So it was a calculated risk but one that backfired. 

But it was clear Beni was not up to the job so why wait until the Norwegians had scored a second goal.

Also Sibick could have played as holding midfielder.