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

[Sherbet]

1 hour ago, Fozzyonthefence said:

And you think he is being coached to do that?  Seriously?  If it suits your agenda I suppose it’s easy to make up shit about the coaching instead of poor player decision making. 

 

 

Each to their own opinion.  Who tells them to pass sideways and backwards in their own half

[ritchcook]

I've just watched the game back from last night to confirm the refereeing was as bad as I thought at the game. I get people can make mistakes and as a fan, you may have maroon-tinted glasses if it's shared out I could live with it but it's not. Three times we have played Rangers and on all three occasions, I have come away fecked off. It's the little things like pulling back play to stop a Hearts attack or a booking when the same punishment is not handed to a player in blue. I pay my money just like a Rangers fan so I and my team should be treated the same. That includes a TV deal that has my team shown live for a proportional amount of time to other teams. Rant over!

Edited December 7, 2023 by ritchcook
missed word

[Clerry Jambo]

Maybe mentioned already haven’t read whole thread but Forrest looked the most lively out of Vargas Oda and tagawa - Vargas and Oda especially need to step up to aid shanks 

[Pasquale for King]

2 hours ago, Fozzyonthefence said:

Mostly agree but the goal was Atkinson’s fault, completely lost his man.  Assisted by Beni and Kingsley both towing a caravan and Clark caught in no man’s land.  A real shitty goal to lose but on the flip side it was the one bit of good play from Rangers on the night - they scored from playing it out from a goal kick by playing it around our high press. 

Cochrane started the process by being slow to press, as he was all night and Kent was nowhere to be seen.

[5jambo1]

2 minutes ago, Clerry Jambo said:

Maybe mentioned already haven’t read whole thread but Forrest looked the most lively out of Vargas Oda and tagawa - Vargas and Oda especially need to step up to aid shanks 

been thinking about Vargas and Oda, and their ‘pace’.. when have we actually seen it. I would rather not mention them but look at hibs with Boyle and Youann, they constantly cause problems with their pace and it’s clear to the naked eye. You also see them use it to glide past players which causes other teams problems. When we play them I am

always nervous when they get the ball as you know they can potentially do something.
 

Yet to see this from Oda or Vargas. Is it a confidence thing? Have they actually got that blistering pace? are they just not using it? We need more goals and assists in our team and the attacking players need to step up 

[Pasquale for King]

1 hour ago, Fozzyonthefence said:

And you think he is being coached to do that?  Seriously?  If it suits your agenda I suppose it’s easy to make up shit about the coaching instead of poor player decision making. 

 

 

The guys who play wide constantly go inside to link up with Boyce and Shankland, the wingbacks are the only players who go to the line, that’s definitely the tactics. 

[Pasquale for King]

4 minutes ago, 5jambo1 said:

been thinking about Vargas and Oda, and their ‘pace’.. when have we actually seen it. I would rather not mention them but look at hibs with Boyle and Youann, they constantly cause problems with their pace and it’s clear to the naked eye. You also see them use it to glide past players which causes other teams problems. When we play them I am

always nervous when they get the ball as you know they can potentially do something.
 

Yet to see this from Oda or Vargas. Is it a confidence thing? Have they actually got that blistering pace? are they just not using it? We need more goals and assists in our team and the attacking players need to step up 

We dont use our players pace the way they do with those two, we keep possession far too slowly and need to actually look forward and play the ball quickly over the top. 

[gar jambo]

58 minutes ago, Stewart MacD said:

It's happened before: they're being coached out of the qualities that made them attractive signings. take a leaf out of Postecoglou's book and adapt.

It’s the midfield it’s defensive players in there ! They are a yard off it to with no drive and forwards have no service it’s easily spotted 

[5jambo1]

4 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

We dont use our players pace the way they do with those two, we keep possession far too slowly and need to actually look forward and play the ball quickly over the top. 

good point and I do agree. Just to counter this though, do they actually make the runs and do they actually want to get on the ball? I’ve said it on another thread but I feel like we are always too static with us happy to ‘wait’ for someone else to do something. We need all our forward players buzzing around, coming short, going long, going inside, anything to get on the ball and make something happen. Personally think it’s a bit of both but we do need to the ball to them quicker 

[bobskeldon]

5 minutes ago, Clerry Jambo said:

Maybe mentioned already haven’t read whole thread but Forrest looked the most lively out of Vargas Oda and tagawa - Vargas and Oda especially need to step up to aid shanks 

Although I don’t think Forrest is anywhere near the quality we need, he is the nearest thing we had last night to Cantwell and Mcausland. He at least injected some energy into our play. I don’t ever recall, in my long history of watching Hearts, having as laborious and one paced midfield as we have now. Not one midfield player on our books ready to play in the first team who can regularly break the lines, get up and join in around the box or get in front of our forward players. This of course isn’t helped by Shankland playing in the areas where a good ACM player should be and why Grant is never played as a 10. Somebody needs their arse kicked for signing so many players without pace for our midfield e.g. Devlin, Beni, Hoff, Haring, Halliday, Denholm, Grant and travelling half-way across the world to sign Yoda, Tagawa and Vargas and not one of them are good enough. Fed up hearing that they are “young and in a new country” none of them are better than e.g. Armstrong at Killie who was only 60 miles away!!!!

There is something seriously wrong at our club in terms of recruitment and it needs addressed before the Jan window. 
 

3 year contract for Aiden Denholm…deary me!

[Pasquale for King]

2 minutes ago, 5jambo1 said:

good point and I do agree. Just to counter this though, do they actually make the runs and do they actually want to get on the ball? I’ve said it on another thread but I feel like we are always too static with us happy to ‘wait’ for someone else to do something. We need all our forward players buzzing around, coming short, going long, going inside, anything to get on the ball and make something happen. Personally think it’s a bit of both but we do need to the ball to them quicker 

At Hampden we could see Vargas constantly make the move for a ball over the top, Tagawa is always on the shoulder of the deepest CH but the players at the back and midfield are getting their passing stats up by playing with each other. This tactic does nothing to open teams up as when they press we just punt it aimlessly. 

[busbyfth]

16 minutes ago, 5jambo1 said:

been thinking about Vargas and Oda, and their ‘pace’.. when have we actually seen it. I would rather not mention them but look at hibs with Boyle and Youann, they constantly cause problems with their pace and it’s clear to the naked eye. You also see them use it to glide past players which causes other teams problems. When we play them I am

always nervous when they get the ball as you know they can potentially do something.
 

Yet to see this from Oda or Vargas. Is it a confidence thing? Have they actually got that blistering pace? are they just not using it? We need more goals and assists in our team and the attacking players need to step up 

players need 6-8 consecutive starts to gain confidence and get into sync so to show their true form - but as we have numerous players to play the same positions widish midfield they never get a chance - they get bit games here and there as the chopping and changing continues to get everybody a run out and keep them kind of happy/ish. When Oda got a handful of consecutive games he started to show how good he could be but thats a while ago before injury. Theres a player in there !

[busbyfth]

11 minutes ago, gar jambo said:

It’s the midfield it’s defensive players in there ! They are a yard off it to with no drive and forwards have no service it’s easily spotted 

Beni and New Hoff get nose bleeds when they go forward of the centre circle, and thats not often - very similar - too similar for the same team ? 

[busbyfth]

1 hour ago, Nelly Terraces said:

Replacing him with a statue would have more impact. Another dreadful signing, reminds me of some of the guys we had playing for us in the late 70s. You don't have to go all the way to Australia to find such poor footballers, Scotland's full of them.

How the hell is he starting before devlin ? Baffling 

[Dazo]

1 minute ago, busbyfth said:

How the hell is he starting before devlin ? Baffling 

Only baffling if you normally watch netball or similar. Both Hoff and Beni covered a lot of ground and broke things up especially in the second half when we were trying to get back in it. 

[Nerja Jambo]

Hibs get ridiculed on here for their tactics of long diagonal balls to Boyle to use his pace, yet that is exactly what we should be doing to utilise the pace of Oda, Vargas and Tagawa, but we don't. we don't even try to. Why sign players with pace to burn and then never try and use that pace. We would just as well sign Boyce 2,3 and 4. I've seen many Hearts teams over the decades and whilst this is far from the worst, it is equally as boring to watch. Not one player gets you on the edge of your seat, not one player shows any bravery. Hibs have got the tactics right for the players they have, we have not.

[KyleLafferty]

People slagging Hoff have never played football and it shows.

[Balders]

The conditioning of our players, in particular in midfield, looks poor. Too easily brushed off the ball. I get that Rangers players will be technically better with the ball at their feet but there is no reason why we shouldn't be physically as strong as them. There was one particular moment in the second half where Cantwell just swatted Niewenhoff aside and it set up a dangerous counter, that shouldn't happen.

Shankland looked like the only player in our side who could hold them off and match them physically.

[DG_HMFC]

38 minutes ago, 5jambo1 said:

good point and I do agree. Just to counter this though, do they actually make the runs and do they actually want to get on the ball? I’ve said it on another thread but I feel like we are always too static with us happy to ‘wait’ for someone else to do something. We need all our forward players buzzing around, coming short, going long, going inside, anything to get on the ball and make something happen. Personally think it’s a bit of both but we do need to the ball to them quicker 

 

The don't make the runs. 

 

They drop deep and hug the touchline before receding the ball and then trying to take a man on from a standing start. Even the best players in the world would struggle doing that constantly.

 

What we need is a captain in the middle.of the park barking orders at these players to make the runs in behind so good quality passers in the middle of the park can find them.

 

We need quality, forward thinking players in the midfield for the wide men to start looking good. 

 

Same with Tagawa, his game is to run in behind, the sort of run he made in the first league game against St Johnstone. Unfortunately we are just too slow and don't have the players to make those passes consistently.

[EH11 2NL]

1 hour ago, ritchcook said:

I've just watched the game back from last night to confirm the refereeing was as bad as I thought at the game. I get people can make mistakes and as a fan, you may have maroon-tinted glasses if it's shared out I could live with it but it's not. Three times we have played Rangers and on all three occasions, I have come away fecked off. It's the little things like pulling back play to stop a Hearts attack or a booking when the same punishment is not handed to a player in blue. I pay my money just like a Rangers fan so I and my team should be treated the same. That includes a TV deal that has my team shown live for a proportional amount of time to other teams. Rant over!

The tone was set early on when Tavernier got away with hacking Tagawa down from behind. Booking all day long. 

[Hansel]

6 minutes ago, DG_HMFC said:

 

The don't make the runs. 

 

They drop deep and hug the touchline before receding the ball and then trying to take a man on from a standing start. Even the best players in the world would struggle doing that constantly.

 

What we need is a captain in the middle.of the park barking orders at these players to make the runs in behind so good quality passers in the middle of the park can find them.

 

We need quality, forward thinking players in the midfield for the wide men to start looking good. 

 

Same with Tagawa, his game is to run in behind, the sort of run he made in the first league game against St Johnstone. Unfortunately we are just too slow and don't have the players to make those passes consistently.

Agreed. 

 

Watching that Sevco goal last night highlighted to me what we are missing just now. The movement and diagonal run and the pass all totally caught out our defence. It looked to simple.

 

I was thinking why can't hearts do that. Are we coached to be so disciplined positionally, that players are scared to make those kind of dynamic runs? Or are the players just not seeing these things?

 

 

[Dazo]

28 minutes ago, KyleLafferty said:

People slagging Hoff have never played football and it shows.

 

Played football ? I doubt they’ve got their fat arses off the sofa to do anything never mind play football. 
 

Last 10 mins him and Beni were still tracking back breaking things up to get back or retain possession despite a tough shift against quality players  on double their pay. 

[Clerry Jambo]

1 hour ago, bobskeldon said:

Although I don’t think Forrest is anywhere near the quality we need, he is the nearest thing we had last night to Cantwell and Mcausland. He at least injected some energy into our play. I don’t ever recall, in my long history of watching Hearts, having as laborious and one paced midfield as we have now. Not one midfield player on our books ready to play in the first team who can regularly break the lines, get up and join in around the box or get in front of our forward players. This of course isn’t helped by Shankland playing in the areas where a good ACM player should be and why Grant is never played as a 10. Somebody needs their arse kicked for signing so many players without pace for our midfield e.g. Devlin, Beni, Hoff, Haring, Halliday, Denholm, Grant and travelling half-way across the world to sign Yoda, Tagawa and Vargas and not one of them are good enough. Fed up hearing that they are “young and in a new country” none of them are better than e.g. Armstrong at Killie who was only 60 miles away!!!!

There is something seriously wrong at our club in terms of recruitment and it needs addressed before the Jan window. 
 

3 year contract for Aiden Denholm…deary me!

Totally with you Bob, our midfield recruitment has been woeful for years 

[HopeDiouf]

46 minutes ago, Balders said:

The conditioning of our players, in particular in midfield, looks poor. Too easily brushed off the ball. I get that Rangers players will be technically better with the ball at their feet but there is no reason why we shouldn't be physically as strong as them. There was one particular moment in the second half where Cantwell just swatted Niewenhoff aside and it set up a dangerous counter, that shouldn't happen.

Shankland looked like the only player in our side who could hold them off and match them physically.

Agreed.  Not a recent problem tbf.  Shankland the only one who holds his own physically against them.

[Debut 4]

4 hours ago, Nookie Bear said:

Replacing Hoff with a ball carrying midfielder like Cantwell would transform this team.
 

We can’t rely on tricky wingers to conjure up something every time, we need runners breaking the lines and playing passes to our strikers in the final third and not on the half way line. 

Agree. Been saying it for a few seasons now but we seem to have this blueprint of an industrious midfield with the wide men our sole hope of creativity.  
 

It kind of played its part in the downfall of Neilson who many times played just two natural mids but both strengths lay in defending.   We did play Grant last night , and while I advocated him getting a chance for long enough, he’s not really did enough to convince he’s the link we need.  
 

However, when we took him off at HT last night, it had shades of the previous season. No control from midfield and being snuffed out in wide area's as we became stretched.

[upgotheheads]

1 hour ago, Clerry Jambo said:

Maybe mentioned already haven’t read whole thread but Forrest looked the most lively out of Vargas Oda and tagawa - Vargas and Oda especially need to step up to aid shanks 

 

We lack a dedicated creative/attacking midfielder to bring the likes of Vargas, Oda, and Tagawa into the game. The nearest we have to that is Shanks, but he has to do a lot of the donkey work behind the other striker(s), and Boyce, but neither has the pace to spring the opposition press and break from deep. Maybe the coaches should be looking at Hof and trying to coach that into him, and was that not why he was brought here in the first place?

 

 

I thought Tagawa looked good last night, especially first half.

[Kyle Lafferty HoMSC]

1 hour ago, KyleLafferty said:

People slagging Hoff have never played football and it shows.

Had been really impressed with him the last few weeks and thought he was coming onto a game but last night was disappointing imo. 

There is definitely a player in there but it feels like we are saying that about 75% of the squad at the minute. 

[Ex member of the SaS]

Ok SN has done well over the last few games but I still think a proper manager with a different back room staff could get better out of what we have. The line between RN and SN is so fine it's hard to tell who is in charge. The training, tactics and subs are far too similar. We need to break away from the Levein idea of promotion from within and the failed five year plan. Show some ambition and put cash into the first team from manager to players on the bench.

[Ex member of the SaS]

44 minutes ago, Kyle Lafferty HoMSC said:

Had been really impressed with him the last few weeks and thought he was coming onto a game but last night was disappointing imo. 

There is definitely a player in there but it feels like we are saying that about 75% of the squad at the minute. 

The problem with a lot of our players, is lack of movement from those around ball. Passing backwards because there is no movement up front makes every player look poor. Shanks should stay up front along with the number 10 to create a target.

[We_are_the_Hearts]

2 minutes ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

Ok SN has done well over the last few games but I still think a proper manager with a different back room staff could get better out of what we have. The line between RN and SN is so fine it's hard to tell who is in charge. The training, tactics and subs are far too similar. We need to break away from the Levein idea of promotion from within and the failed five year plan. Show some ambition and put cash into the first team from manager to players on the bench.

Disagree, its just going to take Naismith a couple of windows to weed out the players who have let us down time after time. Unfortunately when t comes to the crunch some of them  just dont have the baws for it, arent brave enough to show and keep showing, to get on the ball or go that extra yard. Naismith certainly did as a player and I am sure he can see that. Just wont be going public with it

[Ex member of the SaS]

Just now, We_are_the_Hearts said:

Disagree, its just going to take Naismith a couple of windows to weed out the players who have let us down time after time. Unfortunately when t comes to the crunch some of them  just dont have the baws for it, arent brave enough to show and keep showing, to get on the ball or go that extra yard. Naismith certainly did as a player and I am sure he can see that. Just wont be going public with it

Well we will have to agreed to disagree because SN has had long enough now and spouted often enough he wants fast attacking football. IF he hasn't worked out who is not doing his bidding by now he never will. 

[We_are_the_Hearts]

1 minute ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

Well we will have to agreed to disagree because SN has had long enough now and spouted often enough he wants fast attacking football. IF he hasn't worked out who is not doing his bidding by now he never will. 

 

1 minute ago, Ex member of the SaS said:

Well we will have to agreed to disagree because SN has had long enough now and spouted often enough he wants fast attacking football. IF he hasn't worked out who is not doing his bidding by now he never will. 

He has had 1 transfer window, you can only piss with the cock you have

[HopeDiouf]

1 hour ago, upgotheheads said:

 

We lack a dedicated creative/attacking midfielder to bring the likes of Vargas, Oda, and Tagawa into the game. The nearest we have to that is Shanks, but he has to do a lot of the donkey work behind the other striker(s), and Boyce, but neither has the pace to spring the opposition press and break from deep. Maybe the coaches should be looking at Hof and trying to coach that into him, and was that not why he was brought here in the first place?

 

 

I thought Tagawa looked good last night, especially first half.

What made you think that?  For me, he contributed not very much.  Had a decent enough touch a couple of times.  laid it off a couple of times.  looked sharp enough, but didn't really offer much threat.  Got one chance and missed the ball.

[Ronald Villiers]

5 hours ago, Byyy The Light said:

 

Exactly this. Hof and Beni in particular need to be braver and play the tight pass quicker. So many times last night Beni got the ball and looked terrified to play the quick pass out wide.  Hesitate for a couple of seconds and the opportunity is gone.  His default is to turn back on himself rather than drive forward and exploit the space. Must be a confidence thing as he did it no problem before he was injured.  Rowles is the only one who plays passes forward firm enough.

 

 

Defo mate.  The change in Beni since his injury is crazy.  I hope he gets up to speed soon.  Hof puts in a lot of effort but in but isn't the quality we're after.  Rowles does play it forward.  I'd like to see him step forward with the ball more often though.  Not sure if Neilson is at Partick for the season or until January but I'd like to see him alongside Kent.

[Fozzyonthefence]

6 hours ago, Dazo said:

Only baffling if you normally watch netball or similar. Both Hoff and Beni covered a lot of ground and broke things up especially in the second half when we were trying to get back in it. 

If you think Beni and Hoff have been better than Devlin this season then you must be the one who normally watches netball!  Devlin was a huge miss last night, we badly needed his drive and energy in that pedestrian midfield of ours.  Beni is nowhere near as effective without Devlin, he’s painfully slow and his lack of pace got shown up badly in the Rangers goal. 
 

As for the two of them covering ground, Devlin would likely have covered that combined total on his own!

Edited December 7, 2023 by Fozzyonthefence

[busbyfth]

6 hours ago, Dazo said:

Only baffling if you normally watch netball or similar. Both Hoff and Beni covered a lot of ground and broke things up especially in the second half when we were trying to get back in it. 

Hoff was a headless chicken 

[VALDOS']

Rather than allowing a poor ref to cloud my judgement, I saw the same poor performance I witnessed against Killie, containing teams is fine, although could be pressing quicker.

However in possession everything happens at walking pace and with little invention, this I suspect is why Devlin can't get a game.... however, Hof, Beni and Grant look to have zero energy.

[Dazo]

33 minutes ago, Fozzyonthefence said:

If you think Beni and Hoff have been better than Devlin this season then you must be the one who normally watches netball!  Devlin was a huge miss last night, we badly needed his drive and energy in that pedestrian midfield of ours.  Beni is nowhere near as effective without Devlin, he’s painfully slow and his lack of pace got shown up badly in the Rangers goal. 
 

As for the two of them covering ground, Devlin would likely have covered that combined total on his own!

And then kicked the ball out the park. 😂

 

These guys are about retaining possession, it’s okay if you don’t get it. 👍

[ArcticJambo]

10 hours ago, Pasquale for King said:

The guys who play wide constantly go inside to link up with Boyce and Shankland, the wingbacks are the only players who go to the line, that’s definitely the tactics. 

 

Hence why our lateral playing mids have no option for playing the ball down the inside channels; the wide forwards are instructed to stay wide then cut back inside. Hitting the byline on transitions just means that Shanks, who has probably contributed to winning the ball back in the middle can't make th epen spot from the cutbacks. It's a combo of poor recruitment and poor coaching.

[151]

10 hours ago, KyleLafferty said:

People slagging Hoff have never played football and it shows.

 

You have to have played football to have an opinion on someone? 

 

Looked pretty obvious to me last night he was hiding behind Cantwell when we were trying to pass out from the back. Rather than try and lose him in a pocket of space he literally followed him and was standing directly behind him the whole time. 

 

He did little bits of good here and there, broke play up a couple of times but then the final pass wasn't there. But that could be said about pretty much our whole night from everyone. 

 

I just think the argument of if you have a go at a performance you have to have played at some level. It's nonsense.

[Morgan]

4 minutes ago, 151 said:

 

You have to have played football to have an opinion on someone? 

 

Looked pretty obvious to me last night he was hiding behind Cantwell when we were trying to pass out from the back. Rather than try and lose him in a pocket of space he literally followed him and was standing directly behind him the whole time. 

 

He did little bits of good here and there, broke play up a couple of times but then the final pass wasn't there. But that could be said about pretty much our whole night from everyone. 

 

I just think the argument of if you have a go at a performance you have to have played at some level. It's nonsense.

Correct.  👍

 

Sir Alex wasn’t exactly a World Cup winner, was he?  

 

 

[tiger Rudi]

11 hours ago, ritchcook said:

I've just watched the game back from last night to confirm the refereeing was as bad as I thought at the game. I get people can make mistakes and as a fan, you may have maroon-tinted glasses if it's shared out I could live with it but it's not. Three times we have played Rangers and on all three occasions, I have come away fecked off. It's the little things like pulling back play to stop a Hearts attack or a booking when the same punishment is not handed to a player in blue. I pay my money just like a Rangers fan so I and my team should be treated the same. That includes a TV deal that has my team shown live for a proportional amount of time to other teams. Rant over!

I was fuming with the "advantage" played, giving us a corner instead of taking it back to where the foul was committed. Right in front of goal on the edge of the box!! Also the imaginary foul committed by Hoff when we were in the ascendancy and at the edge of their box. The yellow card for Vargas when it barely looked a foul, shoulder to shoulder. The substitution when he held up play even though the sub wasn't ready. I could go on......... He let Hoff off with a booking when he almost ripped a shirt of a players back......... but it was almost as if he knew he had to give us something for incorrectly giving the corner instead of a free kick in a dangerous area. He was so biased for them when we were being a threat. We only get close calls on the touchline, or areas where it means feck all. Embarrassing and blatant, I wish more teams and pundits would call it out instead of ignoring it. 

[Pasquale for King]

1 hour ago, ArcticJambo said:

 

Hence why our lateral playing mids have no option for playing the ball down the inside channels; the wide forwards are instructed to stay wide then cut back inside. Hitting the byline on transitions just means that Shanks, who has probably contributed to winning the ball back in the middle can't make th epen spot from the cutbacks. It's a combo of poor recruitment and poor coaching.

They don’t even lift their head an look forward, there are times when players would make rhe run but they know the pass isn’t coming. Definitely poor coaching though as you say. 

[Pasquale for King]

1 hour ago, 151 said:

 

You have to have played football to have an opinion on someone? 

 

Looked pretty obvious to me last night he was hiding behind Cantwell when we were trying to pass out from the back. Rather than try and lose him in a pocket of space he literally followed him and was standing directly behind him the whole time. 

 

He did little bits of good here and there, broke play up a couple of times but then the final pass wasn't there. But that could be said about pretty much our whole night from everyone. 

 

I just think the argument of if you have a go at a performance you have to have played at some level. It's nonsense.

Exactly, who hasn’t played football at some level. These guys aren’t ex pros. Too many folk in football think they’re special, but it’s not rocket science, look at the dummies who play and manage. 

[chrystaf]

5 hours ago, Fozzyonthefence said:

If you think Beni and Hoff have been better than Devlin this season then you must be the one who normally watches netball!  Devlin was a huge miss last night, we badly needed his drive and energy in that pedestrian midfield of ours.  Beni is nowhere near as effective without Devlin, he’s painfully slow and his lack of pace got shown up badly in the Rangers goal. 
 

As for the two of them covering ground, Devlin would likely have covered that combined total on his own!

Spot on.

[Arthur Morgan]

6 hours ago, Fozzyonthefence said:

If you think Beni and Hoff have been better than Devlin this season then you must be the one who normally watches netball!  Devlin was a huge miss last night, we badly needed his drive and energy in that pedestrian midfield of ours.  Beni is nowhere near as effective without Devlin, he’s painfully slow and his lack of pace got shown up badly in the Rangers goal. 
 

As for the two of them covering ground, Devlin would likely have covered that combined total on his own!

 

Beni for me used to be able to cover a similar distance. Unfortunately I think the injury has ****ed his mobility. He now moves like a player in his late 30's.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

16 hours ago, Bickfest said:

2 takeaways for me. First, Beni is not (yet) the player he was, perhaps he never will be. He laboured last night. He has never been pacy, but he now seems to lack confidence as well. Maybe he needs more time, but I don't think he and the Hoff make a great pairing anyway. More than once last night they got in each other's way and lost possession. Nieuwenhof, who i think will improve considerably over time and is the better prospect, would be better suited to playing alongside Devlin in the "engine room" imo, someone more mobile and energetic than Beni. 

 

Second, as a few have said, Kingsley looked distinctly uncomfortable at RCB, as he also did against St J. I think that, despite his occasional brain farts, Sibbick would have given us a better balance at the back along with considerably more pace. It was Kingsley's lack of pace which was partly responsible for the goal. If that had been Sibbick instead, Sima would have had to work much harder for the opportunity.

 

In addition, it was good to see Natty and McKay back. Along with Lowry they will make us a much greater threat going forward, provide more scoring opportunities and will serve up much more entertaining football.

 

Quite a bit to look forward to.

 

 

For me Beni and Hoff is a bit too much like Beni and Haring, and I mean Haring from a couple seasons ago when he didn't turn like a battleship the way he does now. Both are tidy, calm-the-game-down types, looking to find a player to start a move, not to start one themselves.

 

Devlin isn't the greatest passer and his foibles in the box have been well documented but his chaotic energy is a far better pair with either Beni or Hoff than those two together. Swap him in last night for Beni and I think we don't look dead in the water for 50 minutes like we did in the middle of the game.

 

Grant did well last night but I still think we're missing a creative player high in the midfield. Maybe that's McKay or Lowry going forward, or maybe we need to go shopping in January. An attacking mid who can find the net occasionally would be a huge plus for us.

[Des Lynam]

6 hours ago, Arthur Morgan said:

 

Beni for me used to be able to cover a similar distance. Unfortunately I think the injury has ****ed his mobility. He now moves like a player in his late 30's.

I was at the game on Wednesday and watching Beni it’s obvious that he hasn’t got over the injury psychologically. You can see his doubt at going in for a challenge. Hopefully more games builds his confidence. 

[The Old Tolbooth]

On 06/12/2023 at 21:58, Morgan said:

I thought we started really well, John.

 

Like, first 20 minutes or so, we had them rattled.

I would agree with that tbh mate, in fact we were bang in it until the start of the second half, his tactics were brutal at half time. 

[Lonewolflins]

On 06/12/2023 at 20:51, Led Tasso said:

Which game are you watching>?

What ****ing game were you watching , murder