Hearts

[GUNBOAT]

Gordon was the difference, and a dodgy referee didnt help

Tynecastle could be a good day out

Gordon was really good right enough mate but only in the 2nd half,what bothered me most was how easy we made it for Hearts in the first half,i would suggest that's the easiest first half away from home they will play all season.

[spikeontheright]

The above is a really fair post and as i was sitting in Tannadice yesterday i was asking myself questions like why are we sitting off them from the first whistle?,do we see Hearts as a far better team than us?,is the plan to play for a draw?
I then thought back to The Rangers game and thought why did we think we were good enough to go for the jugular against the Scottish Champions?,did we think we were better than them?,do we really think its sensible to allow the winners of the Championship the freedom of Tannadice but not give the best team in the country a minutes peace?.
Its baffling to me troops and i agree with Spike that in the main i don't think Hearts are all that great and other teams will beat them on their travels.

Exactly this. It's so frustrating when we know what the players are capable of but turn in a performance like yesterday.

As long as they show a good level of commitment and an intent to go and win the game, the supporters will get behind them. The fans were very quiet yesterday and it came from the realisation early on that we were witnessing an Ayr/Aberdeen style performance, rather than a St Johnstone/Rangers one.

[JUSTaway]

Exactly this. It's so frustrating when we know what the players are capable of but turn in a performance like yesterday.

As long as they show a good level of commitment and an intent to go and win the game, the supporters will get behind them. The fans were very quiet yesterday and it came from the realisation early on that we were witnessing an Ayr/Aberdeen style performance, rather than a St Johnstone/Rangers one.

i'd put slightly different slant on that argument, by saying its knowing exactly what players are 'In-capable of' which was part to reason atmosphere became subdued, after about 15 mins yesterday became apparent our players weren't going to be good enough to pass our way through hearts and moves would end up going direct, and we know we know we don't have pace in final third or physical attributes to compete with them, so your are left with encouraging small strikers with no real physical assets to chase down lost causes, which you don't even think they have a chance of winning, its a bit deflating.


Read quite a lot of hype in media about Hearts performance yesterday, despite being the better team for 65-70 mins, they created very little, and then relied on Gordon producing 3 very good saves (definitely not worldies, Edwards header was great reaction but right height, Harkes routine save, and Mulgrew free kick was good save but in areas keeper is set up to cover and right height for him) . A lot easier when you have the resources to go out and buy Gordon, GMS and Boyce.

Not letting us of the hook though, we were poor for 65-70 mins. Disciplined and committed, but mirror image of much of the past 2-3 years in terms of zero pace and lacking creativity.

The forwards work their socks off, but they are definitely part of the problem, if they could win a physical battle or had the pace to get in behind the opponents, that would help bring the whole team up the park, and its easier to score playing football in the opposition half, than being asked to basically pass your way from the back through your entire opponents. Our attempts at that yesterday ended up mostly with us being forced back the way and then hitting it long, Souttar and his fellow defenders must have been rubbing their hands at how easy it was, being asked the same question physically against guys they were dominating.

Harkes/Butcher at least competed, and Watson added a bit of pace. Players injured, Finnish guy to come in, and Rome wasn't built in day, but frustrating and hard to get excited for much of that match yesterday.

[LSArab]

I actually thought we were ok today.

Ref gave them free kicks very cheaply

Gordon had some decent saves

Maybe Louise Appere coming back can be the answer to giving us another dimension in attack

[TerryTheTerror]

We were far better with Harkes & Butcher on. Watson also gave a great account of himself when he came on. We have no one in our team who will actually drive at defenders. He did more of that in 5mins after coming on than we got from anyone else all day.

Yeah, Watson was excellent when he came on. He's got real pace the lad.

[Dreamsof83]

Change in shape second half made a big difference. Took control of the midfield with our 3 in there. Thought Watson was a real positive too. So passive in first half, regardless of shape.

Such a strange game. Overall we were not good enough. Hearts seemed largely in control. They only had 3 shots on target, 2 for the first goal and one fir the second. Gordon makes 4 top saves.

Overall really strange game. We were poor but on another day could have nicked 3 points. A point wouldn't have flattered us. This season we will likely play worse and win and play better and lose.

[tHeArAb]

We only looked better in certain stages of the 2nd half because Hearts were 1-0 up and they dropped off a bit because they were winning, was always going to happen. Them dropping deeper gave us a chance to put pressure on them and that's what happened, just a pity we couldn't as the home team put them under pressure from KO. Sadly we just don't have the personnel to do that just now.

Did Hearts drop off because they were winning or did our personnel & formation change change the game. I'll go with the latter. The second half started exactly as the first finished. If it wasn't for the experience of Butcher replacing Levitt and the extra man in midfield due to the change of shape, I don't think we'd have seen any difference whatsoever.

[Arabknight]

For me the initial team selection midfield wise was the issue. Mochrie is a midfielder (not a wide player) and at the moment shld be used from the bench. Levitt is needing time to adjust to the Scottish game and looks of the pace. For those reasons I wld’t have started either of them today.

The subs made the difference and improved us. I don’t think our improvement was down to hearts dropping off but more down to the fact that we were more competitive in the middle of the park and winning balls. Also Watson direct running gave them a problem out wide that they seemed to struggle with. On another day we cld easily have hit a draw out of that game.

I’m still hoping that we are going to bring in another striker but it is looking unlikely.

[stokearab]

Did Hearts drop off because they were winning or did our personnel & formation change change the game. I'll go with the latter. The second half started exactly as the first finished. If it wasn't for the experience of Butcher replacing Levitt and the extra man in midfield due to the change of shape, I don't think we'd have seen any difference whatsoever.

I never thought I'd say this but Butcher and Harkes improved us but that was because we were so poor before. They both had a shot at goal saved by Gordon.

But looking at the big picture, what did we create for our two strikers over 90 minutes ?
As far as I can recall nothing.

We are still short on midfield quality and missing a decent striker. Unless we sign one I just don't see where goals are going to come from.

However Hearts Hibs and Aberdeen have spent massively on player wages. We are playing catch up.

[tHeArAb]

I never thought I'd say this but Butcher and Harkes improved us but that was because we were so poor before. They both had a shot at goal saved by Gordon.

But looking at the big picture, what did we create for our two strikers over 90 minutes ?
As far as I can recall nothing.

We are still short on midfield quality and missing a decent striker. Unless we sign one I just don't see where goals are going to come from.

However Hearts Hibs and Aberdeen have spent massively on player wages. We are playing catch up.

Yip. We were so disappointing that first half. To let them dominate possession so much was criminal. Okay, they had very little in the way of chances but you can't let a team have over 70% possession and not expect them to break through at some point.

No signings expected according to Courts so looks like we're going with what we have which is disappointing.