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

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

4 minutes ago, Mr Rabbit said:

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.

I don’t give a shit about Neilson.

 

I just don’t have confidence in Naismith.

 

I remain confused about our management and don’t think there is evidence that the committee approach is working…yet.

 

Our pre-season was poorly planned and a bit of a shambles.

 

Had we played like the last two games at the end of last season I doubt any or many fans would have wanted Naismith as head coach.

 

Why has our “style” of play gone backwards after a full pre-season?

 

I do think the new signings will make a big difference and am impressed so far. But 1 or 2 injuries and it is clear we are completely one dimensional and Naismith doesn’t seem to have a solution to that.

Edited August 11, 2023 by Tom Hardy’s Dug

[Gundermann]

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. 

 

Fair point but he was patently toiling early in the game. He should've been replaced long before he gave away the second, and winning, goal. Poor, poor management has cost us. Rosenborg are no great shakes - they looked very vulnerable when we got our game together, pressed them and attacked. Crusaders did similar.

[Jack Torrance]

I suspect as mentioned before it was a straight choice between Beni and Haring. I imagine they'll have had reservations about putting him in from the start but might've had a discussion with Beni beforehand and he's likely said he felt fit enough.

 

Who knows, but hindsight is a great thing. Not sure if the hamstring was physical or mental. Time will tell. He clearly relies on confidence so we need to support him back to his best or everyone's a loser.

[Chuck Berry]

1 hour ago, 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!

 

Clubs more focused on "player pathways" and youth development, U18, U20 etc. and forgetting that none of that caters for senior players returning from injury or players not getting off the bench for the first team needing game time etc.

 

We now have players such as Cammy Smith and Lewis Neilson caught in no mans land, not quite there for the first team yet but can't play for the B team, so have to go out on loan.

 

[Gundermann]

2 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

I don’t give a shit about Neilson.

 

I just don’t have confidence in Naismith.

 

I remain confused about our management and don’t think there is evidence that the committee approach is working…yet.

 

Our pre-season was poorly planned and a bit of a shambles.

 

Had we played like the last two games at the end of last season I doubt any or many fans would have wanted Naismith as head coach.

 

Why has our “style” of play gone backwards after a full pre-season?

 

Some valid points here. I think we're all pleased with recent signings but it appears we've left it late in the day, again. In Europe again with the chance to make big bucks and we seem lethargic, disjointed and with various players inelegible or not match-fit.

[cazzyy]

8 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

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.

 

No, a bonus is exactly what it is. Not an insignificant one but that's what it is.

[john thomas]

45 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. 

 

 

Wasn't a 'Robbie oot' person but did accept he was often too pragmatic in his approach . First half last night we could have done with some of that pragmatism .

Beni selection turned out to be a mistake but , I'm pretty certain, management and player were confident he was ready 

[dsk1210]

The thing that cheesed me off the most last night was the lack of movement when we had the ball in their half.

Edited August 11, 2023 by dsk1210

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

2 minutes ago, cazzyy said:

 

No, a bonus is exactly what it is. Not an insignificant one but that's what it is.

So in a season where we win **** all not getting into Europe wouldn’t be a problem?

 

Getting into Europe isn’t a KPI for the football side of the business?

 

Neislon got sacked because we didn’t win a cup?

[jtkb]

Felt sorry for beni the last 10 mins he was running like a guy in fancy dress finishing the London marathon after 4 hours . Was a risk playing him obviously just do not think it was a risk worth taking but management team have kinda admitted they got it wrong.  If we had started haring and boyce reckon best they would have got was a draw. Only real worry was letting a 16 year old rip us apart first half. Him and the Canadian were all they had but both put in a great performance just felt we let them. 

Reckon we will get the job done on Thursday we just need the first goal then game on. Last thing the first 45 mins was a master class in counter attacking football and not the hoof ball counter teams like livy motherwell play but real technical smart play that we rarely see in Scotland. There coach knows his stuff for sure. Wonder if he fancy joining franky and the gang 🤣

[dsk1210]

Their young lad (16 years old) Syverre Nypan is a cracking player for his age. Great technique and vision.

Edited August 11, 2023 by dsk1210

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

It’s pretty obvious that this coaching arrangement will proved to be flawed and stupid but I do think the recruitment has been good. On paper I like the players we’ve signed.

[GinRummy]

6 minutes ago, john thomas said:

Wasn't a 'Robbie oot' person but did accept he was often too pragmatic in his approach . First half last night we could have done with some of that pragmatism .

Beni selection turned out to be a mistake but , I'm pretty certain, management and player were confident he was ready 

Not sure what you mean by the first paragraph.  We played everything in front of our opponents last night and made it easy for them to defend.  We had a lot of possession and done nothing with it. It’s maybe expected because there’s a lot of the same players but it was very like how we played under Robbie. 

[cazzyy]

Just now, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

So in a season where we win **** all not getting into Europe wouldn’t be a problem?

 

Getting into Europe isn’t a KPI for the football side of the business?

 

Neislon got sacked because we didn’t win a cup?

 

What are you rambling about? 

 

We got into Europe this season, Nielson didn't get sacked because he wasn't getting us into Europe, he would have got us there.

 

Our target at the start of last season was to finish 4th, we don't set cup targets for obvious reasons like drawing the old firm early. Europe is the bonus if we achieve our league target.

[cazzyy]

2 minutes ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

It’s pretty obvious that this coaching arrangement will proved to be flawed and stupid but I do think the recruitment has been good. On paper I like the players we’ve signed.

 

It's not obvious at all ffs. 😄

[john thomas]

Just now, GinRummy said:

Not sure what you mean by the first paragraph.  We played everything in front of our opponents last night and made it easy for them to defend.  We had a lot of possession and done nothing with it. It’s maybe expected because there’s a lot of the same players but it was very like how we played under Robbie. 

Think selection and tactics would have been more defensive overall .

Rosenberg were walking through us in the first half 

 

[GinRummy]

Just now, john thomas said:

Think selection and tactics would have been more defensive overall .

Rosenberg were walking through us in the first half 

 

Think that was as much to do with Beni, as well as Cochrane lacking sharpness, as anything else but fair enough. 

[jtkb]

30 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.

Mate I agree with a lot you say very valid points . But you feeling the need to call people out is not a good look for you. Football is about opions some right some wrong. We all just want the best for Hearts and have different ideas about how best to do that. The pretend management set up is not ideal but should not effect the team on the park as it is about coaches these days not old style managers who do the lot. Coaches got it wrong last night but second half corrected it and in the end 2 1 away first leg is not that bad. Not many teams win away in Europe these days.

[Ray Gin]

Starting Beni is up there with starting Jamie Mole vs AEK Athens in the list of absolutely bonkers managerial decisions we've endured.

 

[Ex member of the SaS]

Not read whole thread but I see what the management were trying to do. Bore the opposition to sleep and walk in a goal! No seriously the management system seem completely disjoined and flawed. As I understood it Naismith would be manager ( in hiding ) but he did very little in encouraging from the side lines and the style of play harped back to the dark days of Neilson. I thought we had a manager that was attacking and free flowing NOT the stupid turgid play we are getting, so who is calling the shots? They showed how fast attacking play gets results and tippy tappy gets you two goals down. Thankfully Shanks stepped up and made the next leg possible. We need a complete rethink of how we are going to approach the next leg.

Still can't understand how they can hold a majour comp and not allow players to travel.

[Lovecraft]

24 minutes ago, Jack Torrance said:

I suspect as mentioned before it was a straight choice between Beni and Haring. I imagine they'll have had reservations about putting him in from the start but might've had a discussion with Beni beforehand and he's likely said he felt fit enough.

 

Who knows, but hindsight is a great thing. Not sure if the hamstring was physical or mental. Time will tell. He clearly relies on confidence so we need to support him back to his best or everyone's a loser.

He was also fairly hesitant to get stuck in at tackles.   There was one point where the option was there for a 60/40 on his side and he let the ball run.

 

He has been out for a very long time and needs to have a few 50/50s just to know himself where his body is at.    Last night was too early.  Bad decision to play him.  It happens.

 

We move on and hope he will be back up to speed soon, but that doesn't happen without actually playing.

 

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Lovecraft

[Mr Rabbit]

19 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

I don’t give a shit about Neilson.

 

I just don’t have confidence in Naismith.

 

I remain confused about our management and don’t think there is evidence that the committee approach is working…yet.

 

Our pre-season was poorly planned and a bit of a shambles.

 

Had we played like the last two games at the end of last season I doubt any or many fans would have wanted Naismith as head coach.

 

Why has our “style” of play gone backwards after a full pre-season?

 

I do think the new signings will make a big difference and am impressed so far. But 1 or 2 injuries and it is clear we are completely one dimensional and Naismith doesn’t seem to have a solution to that.

See this is where we disagree. We’re two games into the season. Do you think it’s a fair amount of time to judge a manager?

 

I get that Naismith wouldn’t have been everyone’s choice however I don’t think anyone can say how we’ll do under him yet.

 

Call me old fashioned but I’d rather just get behind whoever is in charge. Criticism is fair but writing someone off before they’ve begun is wrong IMO. Even if I didn’t believe he was the right choice I would hope that I’m wrong and that the team prospers, you seem to be the opposite.

[chrystaf]

26 minutes ago, Mr Rabbit said:

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.

Atkinson is still not a defender, especially against speedy wingers like their no 11.

 

To be fair to Cammy, yet again - this time with Beni being a liability - he was left to sweet up all on his own.  The commentary team said as such.  

[leginten]

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. 

A worrying error. It’s to be hoped that a lot of discussion is going on behind the scenes about precisely why anyone thought it remotely appropriate to start Beni in this game and, having started him, why they didn’t hook him before the damage was done. It was all too reminiscent of Halkett being rushed back in Zurich last year after limping off a few days earlier in a league game at Tynecastle. 
 

I think we got out of jail big time last night. I’m still not quite sure whether Rosenborg were so astonished by our ineptitude that they just sat back in the second half and assumed more goals would come if and when they needed them, or whether Haring’s introduction alone changed the course of the game. At half-time I would have bitten your hand off for 0-2. All to play for.

[Mr Rabbit]

Just now, chrystaf said:

Atkinson is still not a defender, especially against speedy wingers like their no 11.

 

To be fair to Cammy, yet again - this time with Beni being a liability - he was left to sweet up all on his own.  The commentary team said as such.  

I’m not Atkinson’s biggest fan, you can see from my post history, and I would still be bringing in a stronger defensive right back. However he’s been our best player in the games so far which is a great improvement.

 

Devlin can perform much better but he’s been off the boil for a number of months IMO and doesn’t deserve to be starting right now.

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

6 minutes ago, jtkb said:

Mate I agree with a lot you say very valid points . But you feeling the need to call people out is not a good look for you. Football is about opions some right some wrong. We all just want the best for Hearts and have different ideas about how best to do that. The pretend management set up is not ideal but should not effect the team on the park as it is about coaches these days not old style managers who do the lot. Coaches got it wrong last night but second half corrected it and in the end 2 1 away first leg is not that bad. Not many teams win away in Europe these days.

People get called out on their opinions all the time. I am not aiming any personal abuse at individuals.

 

Are you as clear as you were 2 weeks ago that Naismith is the dominant and de facto head coach at the club?

I am even more certain he isn’t.

 

We have regressed in style of play since the last 6 games of last season and he has had a full pre season to change the attitude and safety first approach of the team.

 

As I said, play like the last 2 games in those 6 games last season and Naismith wouldn’t be here.

 

Something isn’t right IMO.

[chrystaf]

HeartsLive - McAvoy admits he (they) got it wrong.

[Jack Torrance]

4 minutes ago, Lovecraft said:

He was also fairly hesitant to get stuck in at tackles.   There was one point where the option was there for a 60/40 on his side and he let the ball run.

 

He has been out for a very long time and needs to have a few 50/50s just to know himself where his body is at.    Last night was too early.  Bad decision to play him.  It happens.

 

We move on and hope he will be back up to speed soon, but that doesn't happen with actually playing.

 

 

Spot on. 15/20 mins when you're 3-0 up at home in the league would be ideal. Or a couple of cameos elsewhere. 

 

Also, still amazed some of our supporters are bamboozled by our kid-on management set up. We must be pretty convincing in covering our backs for Europe. 😄

[whyskey]

The problem in Scotland is that in the early stages of European games, it is that we are unprepared, Rosenborg are up to speed we were not. Should we start the league cup earlier and include our European clubs, this would give us four league cup games and one league game thus given our clubs a better change.

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

3 minutes ago, Mr Rabbit said:

See this is where we disagree. We’re two games into the season. Do you think it’s a fair amount of time to judge a manager?

 

I get that Naismith wouldn’t have been everyone’s choice however I don’t think anyone can say how we’ll do under him yet.

 

Call me old fashioned but I’d rather just get behind whoever is in charge. Criticism is fair but writing someone off before they’ve begun is wrong IMO. Even if I didn’t believe he was the right choice I would hope that I’m wrong and that the team prospers, you seem to be the opposite.

It’s not just 2 games. It’s 9.

 

As a matter of expectation our style of play should have improved due to a pre season.

 

It hasn’t.

 

I think the new signings will make a significant difference. It’s a concern though that without 3 players (1 who hasn’t even played yet) the team were as lacklustre as they were (twice in 2 games so far).

[chrystaf]

2 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

People get called out on their opinions all the time. I am not aiming any personal abuse at individuals.

 

Are you as clear as you were 2 weeks ago that Naismith is the dominant and de facto head coach at the club?

I am even more certain he isn’t.

 

We have regressed in style of play since the last 6 games of last season and he has had a full pre season to change the attitude and safety first approach of the team.

 

As I said, play like the last 2 games in those 6 games last season and Naismith wouldn’t be here.

 

Something isn’t right IMO.

It's McAvoy I'm not convinced about, not Naisy.  As Jimmy Cant alluded, the need to shackle Naisy isn't doing us any good.

[GinRummy]

2 minutes ago, leginten said:

A worrying error. It’s to be hoped that a lot of discussion is going on behind the scenes about precisely why anyone thought it remotely appropriate to start Beni in this game and, having started him, why they didn’t hook him before the damage was done. It was all too reminiscent of Halkett being rushed back in Zurich last year after limping off a few days earlier in a league game at Tynecastle. 
 

I think we got out of jail big time last night. I’m still not quite sure whether Rosenborg were so astonished by our ineptitude that they just sat back in the second half and assumed more goals would come if and when they needed them, or whether Haring’s introduction alone changed the course of the game. At half-time I would have bitten your hand off for 0-2. All to play for.

Benis inclusion was a big issue but there were others. We still look rusty overall, which you’d maybe expect. Cochrane wasn’t at the races. Devlin gets a pass from me because Beni was so poor but Cammy needs to improve quickly. The other thing is, we are a completely different side with a bit of pace in front of Shankland, hope Tagawa sorts this out. 
 

I thought they settled in to defend the 2-0 but the subs helped us as well. Kingsley looked good as well as Haring and Denholm and Grant both looked decent. 

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

2 minutes ago, chrystaf said:

It's McAvoy I'm not convinced about, not Naisy.  As Jimmy Cant alluded, the need to shackle Naisy isn't doing us any good.

I said that too about Naismith but fair enough.

 

Surely the point is that if the reality is what I am told it is then McAvoy is just an assistant coach - he shouldn’t be dragging us down.

 

In theory he should have as much impact as McCulloch.

Edited August 11, 2023 by Tom Hardy’s Dug

[jtkb]

3 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

People get called out on their opinions all the time. I am not aiming any personal abuse at individuals.

 

Are you as clear as you were 2 weeks ago that Naismith is the dominant and de facto head coach at the club?

I am even more certain he isn’t.

 

We have regressed in style of play since the last 6 games of last season and he has had a full pre season to change the attitude and safety first approach of the team.

 

As I said, play like the last 2 games in those 6 games last season and Naismith wouldn’t be here.

 

Something isn’t right IMO.

Lol after last night I hope naisy is not the defacto manager as a couple of big mistakes in that line up with the squad we had out there. But to early to judge if the risk with pretend head coach and rookie manager will bring us success. After Europe the charade we are having to put on with set up will change. 

[chrystaf]

1 minute ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

I said that too about Naismith but fair enough.

 

Surely the point is that if the reality is what I am told it is then McAvoy is just an assistant coach - he shouldn’t be dragging us down.

Okay Tom, point tanken...apologies.

[henryheart]

1 hour ago, 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!

 

There is a reserve league; it's just that we don't play in it. Hibs, Killie and Dundee play in it alongside a number of lower league teams but we have opted not to. Obviously the club doesn't fancy it and while teams play typically only once a month, it does give first team squad players competitive football and allows those who are usually on the bench and others coming back from injury the chance to gain match fitness; something that the Lowland League does not allow. I saw a few SPFL Reserve League games last season where a mixture of well known faces and youngsters played and I quite enjoyed them. Given that at the moment teams only play each other once I don't understand why we don't take part. it is hardly a big commitment.   

[Nelly Terraces]

11 hours ago, MarkDevriesScores4 said:

Saw the reaction videos with Frankie and Shanks. No mention of the mistakes made with team selection. Also, both seemed to think we played well which is concerning. 

 

3 hours ago, King prawn said:

Disappointed in McAvoy’s take on the game - we were awful in the first half. Truly awful. We didn’t “play through the lines” once and if that’s the players “being brave” then we might as well get Nielson back. 

This is really disappointing to hear. There's not a single person who watched that game last night who thought we were anything but piss poor. They should be embarrassed to come out & try to pretend otherwise.

 

It's early days but TBH having been in Perth & watched last night I've seen very little to say that we have changed much in any way since Neilson has left. The same (multitude) of issues we faced then are still unaddressed.

 

 

[leginten]

Just now, GinRummy said:

Benis inclusion was a big issue but there were others. We still look rusty overall, which you’d maybe expect. Cochrane wasn’t at the races. Devlin gets a pass from me because Beni was so poor but Cammy needs to improve quickly. The other thing is, we are a completely different side with a bit of pace in front of Shankland, hope Tagawa sorts this out. 
 

I thought they settled in to defend the 2-0 but the subs helped us as well. Kingsley looked good as well as Haring and Denholm and Grant both looked decent. 

Agree on the four players you mention at the end. All were very decent. Devlin remains a major disappointment as far as I’m concerned. A ridiculous challenge for his yellow and another foul after that for which the ref could easily have produced a second yellow. Doesn’t learn. He had a lot to do, but didn’t do much of it well. When you think about his performance this time last year at home to Zurich, he seems to have regressed considerably.

[washniklaw]

41 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

I don’t give a shit about Neilson.

 

I just don’t have confidence in Naismith.

 

I remain confused about our management and don’t think there is evidence that the committee approach is working…yet.

 

Our pre-season was poorly planned and a bit of a shambles.

 

Had we played like the last two games at the end of last season I doubt any or many fans would have wanted Naismith as head coach.

 

Why has our “style” of play gone backwards after a full pre-season?

 

I do think the new signings will make a big difference and am impressed so far. But 1 or 2 injuries and it is clear we are completely one dimensional and Naismith doesn’t seem to have a solution to that.

I’m also a bit concerned by a few things.

 

I think we’ve ‘created’ 1 genuine chance this season, Tagawa in Perth.
The other goals have been breaks of the ball/recycling the ball/St J massively over commuting players forward.  The lack of creativity, including preseason, is a massive concern.

[DS98]

1 hour ago, Sherbet said:

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

Zurich weren’t. 

[pettigrewsstylist]

44 minutes ago, Gundermann said:

 

Some valid points here. I think we're all pleased with recent signings but it appears we've left it late in the day, again. In Europe again with the chance to make big bucks and we seem lethargic, disjointed and with various players inelegible or not match-fit.

Sounds like Q1 in any boardroom. Difficult without knowing overarching strategy but previous soundbytes from boardroom and Frank suggest last night was below expectations.

It may be that getting thro 2 rounds was deemed unlikely and therefore waiting on signings was preffered plan.

[leginten]

1 minute ago, DS98 said:

Zurich weren’t. 

Quite hard to call, but I would say last year’s Zurich were slightly better than Rosenborg looked last night. We played as well as we did all season for the first 60 minutes against them at Tynecastle and didn’t manage to score.

[pettigrewsstylist]

6 minutes ago, washniklaw said:

I’m also a bit concerned by a few things.

 

I think we’ve ‘created’ 1 genuine chance this season, Tagawa in Perth.
The other goals have been breaks of the ball/recycling the ball/St J massively over commuting players forward.  The lack of creativity, including preseason, is a massive concern.

 

11 minutes ago, Nelly Terraces said:

 

This is really disappointing to hear. There's not a single person who watched that game last night who thought we were anything but piss poor. They should be embarrassed to come out & try to pretend otherwise.

 

It's early days but TBH having been in Perth & watched last night I've seen very little to say that we have changed much in any way since Neilson has left. The same (multitude) of issues we faced then are still unaddressed.

 

 

Yip, hugely dissapointed by FM post match comments.

Clinging to hope it was for players ears/heads more than ours.

[feej]

42 minutes ago, dsk1210 said:

The thing that cheesed me off the most last night was the lack of movement when we had the ball in their half.

Frankie saying he asked the players to be brave and take risks, so why didn't they? 

 

To play that way we need forward thinking midfielders, ours are mainly defensive plus we were static up front.

Natty to his credit tried to get forward.

I'm just hoping it was the personnel available last night and when we have KT and Vargas available then we'll be more of a threat.

I'm hoping Vargas will be Vardy esq.

[DS98]

53 minutes ago, bawheed said:

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.

It wasn’t clear before the 2nd goal so I wish folk would stop pretending to be Pep after the fact. Beni wasn’t great but during that first half he was no worse than Cammy, Shankland or Lowry. The management team clearly thought he just needed time to get to grips with the pace of the game and get a 2nd wind. Happens all the time. Obviously a mistake but that only became evident after 2nd goal.

 

If anyone can show me any posts asking for Beni to be whipped off after 20 mins then hats off. 

[Pasquale for King]

8 hours ago, gorgierulesapply88 said:

Cochrane ball watching for the 1st goal, Kingsley gave us experience and solidity!(if that's even a word!)

 

Cochrane shouldn't have started, Beni shouldn't have started neither should Forrest. But here we are! Mcavoy's made a mistake.

 

Life goes on, sell out next week or we're an absolute shan fan base it's really that simple.

You are correct about Cochrane, was even worse at left wing. The problem is Kingsley would have struggled to play another 90 minutes last night and then again on Sunday. 

[highlandjambo3]

30 minutes ago, chrystaf said:

HeartsLive - McAvoy admits he (they) got it wrong.

In what way?  Can you summarise.

[ducatiboy]

Serious question, given we have a team of highly qualified and well paid physios and medical officials and all the data that goes with it, surely from the physical aspect, players coming back from injury should be close to match fitness (obviously not 100%)  so makes me wonder why did Beni look so far of it? Did he tweak something early on and try to play on? Is the lad’s confidence shattered? I love him as a player and I sincerely hope he’s given the time to recover on all fronts. 

[DS98]

9 minutes ago, leginten said:

Quite hard to call, but I would say last year’s Zurich were slightly better than Rosenborg looked last night. We played as well as we did all season for the first 60 minutes against them at Tynecastle and didn’t manage to score.

Zurich we’re a shambles last year. They were bottom of league and couldn’t buy a win. They finished 8th in a 10 team league.

 

Haring was particularly poor in St Gallen and was just too slow for that particular game. So that might have been in the managers thoughts re Beni last night. 

[cazzyy]

4 minutes ago, DS98 said:

It wasn’t clear before the 2nd goal so I wish folk would stop pretending to be Pep after the fact. Beni wasn’t great but during that first half he was no worse than Cammy, Shankland or Lowry. The management team clearly thought he just needed time to get to grips with the pace of the game and get a 2nd wind. Happens all the time. Obviously a mistake but that only became evident after 2nd goal.

 

If anyone can show me any posts asking for Beni to be whipped off after 20 mins then hats off. 

 

There are none, just as there were no posts before the game saying that he wasn't ready and shouldn't be playing.