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

[James1874f]

23 minutes ago, Rannoch said:

Fact - all four Scottish clubs will likely be out of Europe tonight and Celtic will continue the national embarrassment in the Champions league. Fact- Scotland has the highest attendances per population and more than any other European nation and yet the worst performance ever in the Champions league was by Rangers who get 50 000 fans every home game ! Fact -Hearts get 20 000 which by UK and European standards is decent yet cannot compete in Europe. It never used to be like this why ?Because the game is run by a bowling committee headed by dunderheids with no commercial savvy. 

Aberdeen and Rangers are still guranteed European football no matter the result

Edited August 31, 2023 by James1874f

[DesertDawg]

2 minutes ago, James1874f said:

Aberdeen and Rangers are still guranteed European football no matter the result

 

And Aberdeen now down 1-3 at home.

[James1874f]

2 minutes ago, DesertDawg said:

 

And Aberdeen now down 1-3 at home.

Hopefully the conference group games keep them distracted let us build up a lead over them in the league 

[il Duce McTarkin]

46 minutes ago, JudyJudyJudy said:

st johnstone away was a good day away. 

 

Been away at work since the start of the season, jamesey, so iptv has been my friend. 👍

[Jamhammer]

43 minutes ago, Tokyo Drifter said:

As usual, Hibs will nick in there first

As usual????

Lol

 

[gorgierulesapply88]

I left after the 2nd goal anyway police where a bit arsey about letting us away but largely nae bother at all walked a bit into taxis no bothered about some daft Greek 🤣 Back in the boozer time to get pished paid 670 for flight home(earlier on today) tomorrow has been cancelled due to technical issues? So had to cancel my nightshift and now back via Dublin Saturday for 380.

[OmiyaHearts]

I'm as critical as they come, but tonight is not a night to have a pop. We're not very good and that's obvious.

[Pasquale for King]

3 hours ago, GinRummy said:

It’s another tough call for Naismith. Shanks has to play and we’ve looked much better with Boyce playing but if they pin us back we could be doing with more pace up front.  Hard to fit them all in because we need bodies in midfield. 

I think we needed to stretch the game when we had the ball on that pitch, long high balls didn’t work last week or tonight. Their manager said at least twice that he knew how we would play and he obviously did. 

[Pasquale for King]

26 minutes ago, Gorgi1874 said:

Nice to see Cochrane, Cammy and Shanks come over to hand over shirts to the bairns, that said the whole team should have been over, loads of bairns asking for shirts, an opportunity for a bit of supporter bonding which to be fair every player should have been over to the stand to show a bit of love 

Definitely 

[GinRummy]

1 minute ago, Pasquale for King said:

I think we needed to stretch the game when we had the ball on that pitch, long high balls didn’t work last week or tonight. Their manager said at least twice that he knew how we would play and he obviously did. 

Have to agree. The only player who looked likely to hurt then was Vargas so good shout from you earlier. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

10 minutes ago, il Duce McTarkin said:

 

Been away at work since the start of the season, jamesey, so iptv has been my friend. 👍

👍 we had a good day at it . And happened to be a rare away win so that good . I’m sure you’ll get a few Games in when you come back 

[Pasquale for King]

1 minute ago, GinRummy said:

Have to agree. The only player who looked likely to hurt then was Vargas so good shout from you earlier. 

I hope moving forward we go to the Shankland and quicker forward ahead that served us well. Gutted tbh but we move on to Sunday. 

[Pasquale for King]

3 hours ago, Bongo 1874 said:

Agree.

 

I'm hoping they get one sent off early doors.

 

 

I think was our only hope tbh mate. 

[Chuck Berry]

1 hour ago, GinRummy said:

He has to sit on the bench for a while. I’m not interested in slating him anymore but it was a rotten decision to start him tonight. He struggled badly on Sunday and last Thursday. 

 

In a game like tonights you dont change the CH pairing you've played with all season, however I agree that it's maybe time to take him out of the firing line but for who, Sibbick?

[Chuck Berry]

1 hour ago, DG_HMFC said:

 

Because he's utter shite. A stronger CB prevents them scoring at least 2 goals.

 

No he's not, he was one of our better players last season and has a WC last 16 under his belt. He's not shite.

 

His form is suffering at the moment and maybe needs a rest.

[GinRummy]

1 minute ago, Chuck Berry said:

 

In a game like tonights you dont change the CH pairing you've played with all season, however I agree that it's maybe time to take him out of the firing line but for who, Sibbick?

I’d normally agree. I think there are always exceptions though. I really do think the writing was on the wall after last Thursday then Sunday. It’s done now though and I never thought we’d go through tonight anyway. We had our chance last week. 

[Newton51]

It looks like this evening will be the end of the road for both Hearts and Hibs.

If that is the case, Hearts will exit Europe with €950K while Hibs will leave with €1.05M as they played an additional round.

These sums of course do not include home gate receipts from the qualifiers, matchday income and the probably respectable TV money from the home legs (I'd assume each BBC televised game is comfortably under <€100k, but will defer to @SPFLWatch).

[DG_HMFC]

2 minutes ago, Chuck Berry said:

 

No he's not, he was one of our better players last season and has a WC last 16 under his belt. He's not shite.

 

His form is suffering at the moment and maybe needs a rest.

 

Why would he need a rest? We are a handful of games into the new season.

[Lovecraft]

Just now, GinRummy said:

I’d normally agree. I think there are always exceptions though. I really do think the writing was on the wall after last Thursday then Sunday. It’s done now though and I never thought we’d go through tonight anyway. We had our chance last week. 

Yeah, we needed to win last week and defend for our lives in this game.

 

Shame, but they are just better than us.  By quite a bit too.

 

 

[Chuck Berry]

Just now, DG_HMFC said:

 

Why would he need a rest? We are a handful of games into the new season.

 

OK wrong terminology, take him out the firing line for a few games.  He has Australian game against Mexico coming up over the break so leave him out against Motherwell and see how he is when everyone is back.

[DG_HMFC]

Just now, Chuck Berry said:

 

OK wrong terminology, take him out the firing line for a few games.  He has Australian game against Mexico coming up over the break so leave him out against Motherwell and see how he is when everyone is back.

 

That's fair enough, a time out of the team might do him the world of good.

[GinRummy]

1 minute ago, Lovecraft said:

Yeah, we needed to win last week and defend for our lives in this game.

 

Shame, but they are just better than us.  By quite a bit too.

 

 

Ach well. On to Sunday and hopefully a good performance and three points. 

[Dusty]

I’d be tempted to pull Kingsley into centre half (if fit) beside Kent on Sunday. Sibbick there if not.

 

                      Clark,

Atkinson, Kent, Kingsley, Cochrane

          Devlin, Grant, Halliday

                Vargas, Boyce

                    Shankland

I don’t really like the midfield but I think we’ve got to get someone who can tuck in to make it a 3 as often as possible and Halliday can do that.

[Der Kaiser]

McAvoy said we need to make Tynecastle a hard place to come to.

 

He's aware of our away form right?

 

RIGHT?????

 

[Der Kaiser]

442

 

Clark

Offiah Kent Sibbick Kingsley

Vargas Devlin Denholm Oda

Shankland Boyce.

 

I would like to see this given a run....with what we have.

[Jeff]

3 hours ago, indianajones said:

 

The first goal was blatantly offside but I get what you mean. 

 

May have been but the foul for the original free kick was embarrassingly poor

[Wee Mikey]

51 minutes ago, JudyJudyJudy said:

👍 we had a good day at it . And happened to be a rare away win so that good . I’m sure you’ll get a few Games in when you come back 

 

A good day other than travel angst. 😉

 

After Dundee, I'm almost scunnered as regards away fixtures, but, wanna know? Come 23rd Sept away to St Mirren, I'll have bounced back.

[chrystaf]

1 hour ago, James1874f said:

Aberdeen and Rangers are still guranteed European football no matter the result

I think it's a joke that Rangers (and others that are bumped out of the Champions League) are parachuted into the Europa as a reward for their failure.  

[Thunder and Lightning]

7 minutes ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

A good day other than travel angst. 😉

 

After Dundee, I'm almost scunnered as regards away fixtures, but, wanna know? Come 23rd Sept away to St Mirren, I'll have bounced back.

Try to enjoy the delights that Greece has to offer. You've spent your whole trip on kickback. 😂 

[Wee Mikey]

1 hour ago, tcjambo said:

I spoke to a policeman there throughout the game and he confirmed that they have a large body of scumbags in their support and the authorities are terrified a visiting fan gets killed.

 

To be fair, both Hearts and the Greek authorities were wanting this match to go without upset and it did.

 

The buses back were pretty well organised although getting held back for so long was perhaps a bit much.

 

As for the PAOK fan radges? Other than a wee bit of the usual posturing I witnessed no real threat. Having said that, all it would've taken is for someone to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that's what they were trying to avoid.

 

I walked the last ½ mile along with PAOK fans towards their end and guess what? Just normal supporters with their kids and they were absolutely fine.

 

Having split from the friendly PAOK fans I got shoved back and aggressively challenged by the Greek stormtrooper police whilst simply walking past them to our gate. There's no need for that.

 

Anyhoo, better safe than sorry, I suppose.

 

Back in the centre of town post-match and just the usual piss-up as far as I could see with heaps of locals enjoying their Thursday nicht oot.

[Wee Mikey]

16 minutes ago, Thunder and Lightning said:

Try to enjoy the delights that Greece has to offer. You've spent your whole trip on kickback. 😂 

 

Hahaha ... not strictly true, just a few moments here & there in between sight-seeing and the match. Plus, I have all day tomorrow for even more touristy things.

 

Great trip overall. Even the game had some good moments (mostly prior to KO, though). 🤣

[No Idle Talk]

I predicted 3-0. It was 4-0. Obviously I had too much faith in the team. 

 

Joking aside, I fail to see how anybody is surprised by either the result or the performance. It was obvious this was going to happen. We are too soft and we aren't even playing well at the moment. The managerial situation is a farce. It's all a bit of a mess if we're being honest. For us to beat a team like PAOK we would need to have all our best players available and to have a settled team who are in form. We have none of these things. So you get what we got.

 

I am really not liking the way things are going at the club just now. It is beginning to smell of a disappointing season even at this early stage.

[Wee Mikey]

25 minutes ago, Dimman said:

 

Sure they can! The police was there to keep you guys from fighting with each other. 

But they did not do a good job, ask your mates, they will tell you. 

 

BTW not sure our fans walked around in specific areas in your home town singing and drinking without police presence. 

 

Aye, but just take a look at the difference between your police and our police.

 

What were they expecting from a bunch of Hearts fans who have a good reputation when travelling abroad?

 

Seriously!

 

Methinks they were more concerned with the PAOK fans.

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

55 minutes ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

A good day other than travel angst. 😉

 

After Dundee, I'm almost scunnered as regards away fixtures, but, wanna know? Come 23rd Sept away to St Mirren, I'll have bounced back.

Oh you will be ! 

[Gorgi1874]

1 hour ago, Pasquale for King said:

Definitely 

👍👍👍

[Pasquale for King]

53 minutes ago, chrystaf said:

I think it's a joke that Rangers (and others that are bumped out of the Champions League) are parachuted into the Europa as a reward for their failure.  

Did you say that last season when we were parachuted into the conference league?

[Pasquale for King]

1 hour ago, Chuck Berry said:

 

In a game like tonights you dont change the CH pairing you've played with all season, however I agree that it's maybe time to take him out of the firing line but for who, Sibbick?

Offiah maybe?

[Jambo92]

Gotta feel for the majority of Paok fans who will be good loyal fans but are have a tarnished rep due to a small group of hooligans.  Clearly hitting a nerve with the one's on here, ironically all these gangsters are supporting the softest bunch of players think I've ever seen. A few broken nails tonight.

 

That was Paok's cup final tonight, could see how much it meant to them which is fair enough, we didn't have the fight or belief - followed exact same pattern of last seasons conference league games against Fiorentina & Istanbul.

[gregzy2k7]

I actually decided not to watch or listen to the game, good thing I didn't, I don't plan on watching any highlights (lowlights) either.

 

Just feeling completely apathetic at the moment.

 

This shouldn't be how you feel towards something you love.

[Wee Mikey]

13 minutes ago, gregzy2k7 said:

I actually decided not to watch or listen to the game, good thing I didn't, I don't plan on watching any highlights (lowlights) either.

 

Just feeling completely apathetic at the moment.

 

This shouldn't be how you feel towards something you love.

 

Having only watched the game live without the benefit of TV replays, I'm very much looking forward to seeing some highlights (although they'll undoubtedly miss out some crucial moments, as per usual).

 

Apart from anything else, I'd like to know which of the 4 goals was the 'worst' from our perspective and am wondering if there's any concensus as regards that.

 

Could be a thread topic in itself! 🙃

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

Having only watched the game live without the benefit of TV replays, I'm very much looking forward to seeing some highlights (although they'll undoubtedly miss out some crucial moments, as per usual).

 

Apart from anything else, I'd like to know which of the 4 goals was the 'worst' from our perspective and am wondering if there's any concensus as regards that.

 

Could be a thread topic in itself! 🙃

Every goal was terribly poor defending 😢 

[Diadora Van Basten]

 First goal was the worst in my opinion. Needless foul, poor defence and Zander goes to sleep.

[Scott Leitch]

3 minutes ago, Diadora Van Basten said:

 First goal was the worst in my opinion. Needless foul, poor defence and Zander goes to sleep.

First goal is offside. 

[Jamborose]

Any link to naisy interview post match can’t find it now.  Cheers 

[Rocky jamboa]

3 hours ago, Dusty said:

I’d be tempted to pull Kingsley into centre half (if fit) beside Kent on Sunday. Sibbick there if not.

 

                      Clark,

Atkinson, Kent, Kingsley, Cochrane

          Devlin, Grant, Halliday

                Vargas, Boyce

                    Shankland

I don’t really like the midfield but I think we’ve got to get someone who can tuck in to make it a 3 as often as possible and Halliday can do that.

Halliday is never the answer to any question!

[Newton51]

49 minutes ago, Jamborose said:

Any link to naisy interview post match can’t find it now.  Cheers 

https://x.com/jamtarts/status/1697357289819156924?s=46
 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

I actually think we lost due to @tartofmidlothian thinking we were at home...

[Wee Mikey]

1 hour ago, Rocky jamboa said:

Halliday is never the answer to any question!

 

Perhaps on University Challenge?

 

Q: Which Michael renowned for his theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics has a surname homophonic with that of a famous French singer whose given name is Johnny?

[manaliveits105]

7 hours ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

Aye, but just take a look at the difference between your police and our police.

 

What were they expecting from a bunch of Hearts fans who have a good reputation when travelling abroad?

 

Seriously!

 

Methinks they were more concerned with the PAOK fans.

 

Aw naw twins ! 

[Paolo]

3 hours ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

Perhaps on University Challenge?

 

Q: Which Michael renowned for his theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics has a surname homophonic with that of a famous French singer whose given name is Johnny?

 Now that is a UC question.  You forget the first part of it before it has been fully asked.  No wonder so many buzz in early.  

Edited September 1, 2023 by Paolo