Mr November Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Hank Scorpio said: He brought on McBride for Millen but it was as part of a change of shape to 3 at the back whilst we were 1-0 down. Evidently it paid off as we equalised within 2 minutes and then scored the winner after another 7 minutes - with McBride actually getting the winner. Soon after we went 2-1 up we changed the shape again with another sub and went back to a back 4. Murray has calmed right down from the early part of the season where we regularly saw centre halves being pulled off for strikers whilst chasing the game which without fail ended up in us completely losing our shape and any momentum in favour of launching the ball up the park. Think we’ve seen an evolution of Murray’s tactics since then and whilst he is still definitely not scared to make subs when needing a goal, it’s in a far more measured manner and obviously today, it really worked. That makes more sense. Prime Murrayball with six strikers on and no shape, just vibes is undoubtedly the most entertaining football I’ve ever watched on the couple (well, one main one) of occasions it really worked but very frustrating when it doesn’t. Any time I’ve looked at this thread fans have seemed pretty split on Murray, near enough from the start. He had similar with us, despite steady progress each year it took until last season for the majority to fully buy in to what he was doing. His teams tended to be stronger in the second half of the season, particularly his last couple where we went from 6th after 14 games to 2nd, 2 points off top, in the shortened 22 game season and then a ridiculous 20 game unbeaten run to finish last season. Ultimately it didn’t count for anything with the play-off defeats but if he can repeat something similar with Raith then they’ll have a great shout at grabbing that final play-off spot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardy Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Since we won up at Arbroath the last time we’ve only lost 3 games in 18 (in all competitions) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roverthemoon Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Definitely feels like the team is slowly improving, but wary of getting carried away as there are a lot of draws in the unbeaten run and more importantly draws where it felt like we chucked away the three points - Morton, Cove, Inverness. Incredible to think if we’d held on in those three games we’d currently be joint second. It still feels like there’s a bit of a soft centre in our defence when we are under real pressure. Yesterday was great, but thought Arbroath were pretty poor and, wind aside, not much of a threat. Still, it’s good to be still in the cups and looking up rather than down. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pub car king Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Having a bench with more than 2 players and a young goalie has really helped in recent weeks. Hopefully Ross will be back soon as well to add to this. Losing both forwards today is a blow though. Vaughan will be treated quite rightly with kid gloves to make sure he's fully recovered. Gullan seems to do this frequently every 5 or 6 games he gets a strain or a knock and is out for a few weeks and then off we go again. Stanton is the obvious replacement for Vaughan but we are losing Brown for the Scottish cup so it might be a bit makeshift up front. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.R.FC Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 42 minutes ago, roverthemoon said: Definitely feels like the team is slowly improving, but wary of getting carried away as there are a lot of draws in the unbeaten run and more importantly draws where it felt like we chucked away the three points - Morton, Cove, Inverness. Incredible to think if we’d held on in those three games we’d currently be joint second. It still feels like there’s a bit of a soft centre in our defence when we are under real pressure. Yesterday was great, but thought Arbroath were pretty poor and, wind aside, not much of a threat. Still, it’s good to be still in the cups and looking up rather than down. Agree with most of this but although we were 2-0 up vs Morton and to throw away that lead is frustrating, I wouldn’t put it in the same category as the Cove and Inverness games. I thought we were piss poor in that game until the last 15 minutes and we were very fortunate to be 2 up having only been in Morton’s half 3 times at that point. Definitely didn’t have the same level of control we had in the other 2 games mentioned. I take the unbeaten run in two parts. Before and after the Hamilton win. We weren’t playing well before that even though we were 4 unbeaten after the Hamilton game. The Morton cup game was a dull dud and I thought that Morton league game and second half performance the following week against Arbroath were our worst 2 home performances of the season and I had real concerns about us at that point. There been a huge improvement since then though. Like you say, it’s crazy to think where we’d be without dropping those silly points against Inverness and Cove but the key thing for me is the performances and we are playing well just now, and have kicked on since that win at Hamilton. We obviously still have our weaknesses though, if you take out the games against the QP reserve side and 6th tier Talbot and Linlithgow we have kept 1 clean sheet in 12. I would also agree about us having a softness recently but coming from behind in tough conditions to win at Gayfield is hopefully a step in the right direction on that front. Losing Gullan and Vaughan for any length of time when we have just got close to a full squad is also a blow. Really down to the bare bones in the Motherwell game with no Akio, McGill, Vaughan, Gullan, Brown, Matthews and probably Ross. And who knows if we’ll pick up any further issues in midweek. I also think, on paper we won’t be favourites for our next 5 games so things can turn around very quickly so we shouldn’t get carried away as it could be all doom and gloom again in a few weeks but yesterday was a very important win. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buchan30 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 10 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said: He brought on McBride for Millen but it was as part of a change of shape to 3 at the back whilst we were 1-0 down. Evidently it paid off as we equalised within 2 minutes and then scored the winner after another 7 minutes - with McBride actually getting the winner. Soon after we went 2-1 up we changed the shape again with another sub and went back to a back 4. Murray has calmed right down from the early part of the season where we regularly saw centre halves being pulled off for strikers whilst chasing the game which without fail ended up in us completely losing our shape and any momentum in favour of launching the ball up the park. Think we’ve seen an evolution of Murray’s tactics since then and whilst he is still definitely not scared to make subs when needing a goal, it’s in a far more measured manner and obviously today, it really worked. Has to be done 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derry Alli Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Any news on Vaughan? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Derry Alli said: Any news on Vaughan? Sounds like a hamstring strain. Nothing too serious and he seemed in good enough spirits at the end of the match yesterday. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Scorpio Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 (edited) There was some chat about St Johnstone having about 7 strikers and whether or not we could get one of them on loan. Theo Bair was a name that was mentioned, as was Chris Kane. Bair’s just come on v Celtic. Kane not in the squad… Edited February 5 by Hank Scorpio 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derry Alli Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 42 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said: Kane not in the squad… He's not fit, I don't think. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Scorpio Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 Just now, Derry Alli said: He's not fit, I don't think. Sounds like a striker in need of a loan spell. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derry Alli Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 1 minute ago, Hank Scorpio said: Sounds like a striker You obviously haven't seen Chris Kane. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 (edited) 6 hours ago, pub car king said: Stanton is the obvious replacement for Vaughan but we are losing Brown for the Scottish cup so it might be a bit makeshift up front. Spot on with Stanton, the Brown replacement depends on IM’s mindset. If he wants to keep his formation, it would seem you could put Millen into Browns role with Masson at RB, or Dick in for Brown with Ngwenya at LB. Perhaps more likely is Nolan/Lang/Dick as CB, Millen and Ngwenya wide, slightly flattening the middle of the defence in Brown’s absence. You compensate with Spencer at the base of the midfield diamond, Stanton at the point, Easton left and Connolly right. Then we’re looking at McBride up top. Edited February 5 by TxRover 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 If Vaughan and Gullan are going to be out for more than a week or two we'll surely enter the loan market again. If Ross was likely to be fit and available then we could perhaps muddle through but that is looking unlikely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilted John Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Murray mentioned at the end of his post match interview that we may need to recall Mitchell from his loan. That suggests we won’t be bringing anyone else in. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 40 minutes ago, Ro Sham Bo said: If Vaughan and Gullan are going to be out for more than a week or two we'll surely enter the loan market again. If Ross was likely to be fit and available then we could perhaps muddle through but that is looking unlikely. Ross is likely fit, but not match fit. He’s still got some discomfort from a shot, but that’s likely to be cleared up by Wednesday, let alone Saturday. Givens IM’s like of a thin squad… 9 minutes ago, Jilted John said: Murray mentioned at the end of his post match interview that we may need to recall Mitchell from his loan. That suggests we won’t be bringing anyone else in. …I don’t think we’ll bring in another striker because we brought in Akio. Yes, he’s cup tied, but that’s not IM’s primary concern here and he won’t get a player for a match or two that may not even occur as we can’t likely get a striker in for those matches. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rover the Moon Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 53 minutes ago, TxRover said: Spot on with Stanton, the Brown replacement depends on IM’s mindset. If he wants to keep his formation, it would seem you could put Millen into Browns role with Masson at RB, or Dick in for Brown with Ngwenya at LB. Perhaps more likely is Nolan/Lang/Dick as CB, Millen and Ngwenya wide, slightly flattening the middle of the defence in Brown’s absence. You compensate with Spencer at the base of the midfield diamond, Stanton at the point, Easton left and Connolly right. Then we’re looking at McBride up top. Millen and Dick have been good this season. But there is no way that they can anchor a midfield. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountryBumpkin Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 I can see us going with a back 3 or 5 with Spencer and Stanton in midfield and a front three of Connolly, Easton and whoever is fit up front. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
true_rover Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Are we certain that McGill is unavailable for the Motherwell game? He's definitely not played for Hearts in the cup so he isn't cup tied, and I suspect he was possibly signed too late to be registered for the Linlithgow game. The only way he wouldn't be is if Hearts have said no to cup games, which hasn't been said publicly (as far as I've seen) and wouldn't really be of benefit to Hearts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer (Raconteur) Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 4 minutes ago, true_rover said: Are we certain that McGill is unavailable for the Motherwell game? He's definitely not played for Hearts in the cup so he isn't cup tied, and I suspect he was possibly signed too late to be registered for the Linlithgow game. The only way he wouldn't be is if Hearts have said no to cup games, which hasn't been said publicly (as far as I've seen) and wouldn't really be of benefit to Hearts. McGill did play in the cup, the Kelty variety. Scott McGill | Football Stats | Hearts | Age 21 | Soccer Base 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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