Heart of Midlothian v St Johnstone - 29th September 2018

[PauloPerth]

1 hour ago, Radford said:

The sitters issue doesn't bother me at the moment, it's what is happening up the other end. Over the past three games, the opposition (albeit arguably the three best teams in the league) have had 64 shots at goal against us. The players should be embarrassed by that.

Agree Radford, that's a dreadful stat. But I think taking chances at crucial times gives everyone a lift and deflates some of the opposition's momentum.  It's felt for fairly long periods in each of the past 3 games when there's just been constant pressure on our defence and that goals against us were coming one way or another.

We are by no means awful, but I think we need to be better in just about every aspect of the team: defensively, retaining possession and taking chances probably being the key ones.  Kind of like saying we need to be better at playing football, I know!

You're right to highlight the fact that we've played 3 tough opponents, and it's a hellish run of games, but a lot of our struggles yesterday came from our own poor play.  You could go through everything we do:

 

how many times did Foster (or anyone else) give the ball away carelessly?

How often did defensive clearances go straight to Hearts players?

How often did Callaghan/Alston attempt to control the ball only for it to be taken straight off them?

How often did we foul Hearts players before they got into dangerous situations to break up an attacking threat like they did to us?

How many times did Kennedy get a decent ball into the box?

How many clear chances did we fail to hit the target on? 

How many uncontested headers in centre midfield did Hearts win?

Did we provide any attacking threat at all from set pieces?

Etc etc

I realise it will come across as quite negative, but I think we are capable of much better than the likes of that performance.

Hearts are a good efficient side, but they are far from untouchable, and we are easily capable of getting at least a draw away to them.  We just need everyone to do their job to a much better standard.

 

 

 

 

[Radford]

16 minutes ago, PauloPerth said:

I realise it will come across as quite negative, but I think we are capable of much better than the likes of that performance.

Hearts are a good efficient side, but they are far from untouchable, and we are easily capable of getting at least a draw away to them.  We just need everyone to do their job to a much better standard.

The manager has said as much on the second point and I can sense the same frustration in your posts I have. I think that's the overriding emotion ahead of negativity.

You highlighted issues and we'll all have spotted our own ones but generally, you learn a lot about a team when they have a run of fixtures like this.

As I said yesterday, it'll be interesting to take stock at the end of October, when I think we'll have a real gauge on the new players and what sort of season lies ahead of us.

[PauloPerth]

3 minutes ago, Radford said:

The manager has said as much on the second point and I can sense the same frustration in your posts I have. I think that's the overriding emotion ahead of negativity.

You highlighted issues and we'll all have spotted our own ones but generally, you learn a lot about a team when they have a run of fixtures like this.

As I said yesterday, it'll be interesting to take stock at the end of October, when I think we'll have a real gauge on the new players and what sort of season lies ahead of us.

Where is TW's reaction to the game available, be interested to hear what he says?

[Radford]

6 minutes ago, PauloPerth said:

Where is TW's reaction to the game available, be interested to hear what he says?

The official social media accounts have an immediate post-game interview but the gist of what he said to the written press is:

“It’s not difficult to start well here if your mind’s right and you’re ready for it. They should have been.

“Maybe it’s a mental tiredness from the other night. Hearts worked harder than us.

“And that made it a difficult afternoon for us.

“I’m looking for better from my team.

“We’ve had a chat about that, I’ve told them they can’t accept mediocrity.

“You’d pull your hair out looking at the unnecessary errors we made in the first half.

“I don’t set my standard at running Hearts close. Ultimately we lost the game so that’s not my benchmark.

“I have a good enough squad who – when they perform – can beat Hearts.

“I don’t know what it was. We just lacked something in the first half. At 2-0 down, the chains come off and you can have a go. But it was too late.”

[PauloPerth]

2 minutes ago, Radford said:

The official social media accounts have an immediate post-game interview but the gist of what he said to the written press is:

“It’s not difficult to start well here if your mind’s right and you’re ready for it. They should have been.

“Maybe it’s a mental tiredness from the other night. Hearts worked harder than us.

“And that made it a difficult afternoon for us.

“I’m looking for better from my team.

“We’ve had a chat about that, I’ve told them they can’t accept mediocrity.

“You’d pull your hair out looking at the unnecessary errors we made in the first half.

“I don’t set my standard at running Hearts close. Ultimately we lost the game so that’s not my benchmark.

“I have a good enough squad who – when they perform – can beat Hearts.

“I don’t know what it was. We just lacked something in the first half. At 2-0 down, the chains come off and you can have a go. But it was too late.”

Cheers. Can't argue with any of that.

[Mr Heliums]

I know the last three games have been against arguably the three top teams in the league, but there seems to be a passivity about our play against them – sitting back expecting an onslaught and hoping more than anything else that something might happen if we frustrate them for long enough.  It's only when they stopped pressing – usually when they've won the game – that we've threatened. Real contrast with Livingston's combative approach today.