Raith vs Hearts

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

1 minute ago, roverthemoon said:

As an aside, Partick Thistle showed how it was done last night. Teams and fans celebrating a return to where they thought they should be. No petted lip, no embarrassing trophy lift, no crybabies on social media. Just understanding that winning the league was actually the biggest GIRUY to the SPFL. 

I never saw social distancing nor a mask between them, that's a no from me.

[DC92]

47 televised away games on the BBC this season and we finally put in a decent performance in the last one.

Unsurprisingly, the defence looks far more solid since Berra and Popescu were punted and Souttar and Logan came in. No goals conceded since the last international break. An absolute shiter that we've finally found some form and a reasonable system after already exiting the cup to fucking Brora.

That Raith try to play football is admirable and I've enjoyed the games against them this season (even the one we lost, sort of) but they might have benefitted from a more pragmatic approach this time given that 1) we destroyed them last time when they tried to play out from the back and 2) we are absolutely clueless at breaking teams down when they park the bus and let us have the ball, especially away from home.  I also can't think of a player less suited to that style of football than Christophe Berra.

[CALDERON]

Can't agree with the assessment of the manager that we did okay in the first half, and a tad concerning that the plan was to keep things tight and compact.

That said, interesting to hear that he described some of our play in the 2nd half as "ridiculous" and "unprofessional", when referring to the goals we lost 

Its just incredibly frustrating. Hearts played exactly how they did last time, and we played into their hands.  

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by CALDERON

[Ding Dang Doo]

Can't agree with the assessment of the manager that we did okay in the first half, and a tad concerning that the plan was to keep things tight and compact.
That said, interesting to hear that he described some of our play in the 2nd half as "ridiculous" and "unprofessional", when referring to the goals we lost 
Its just incredibly frustrating. Hearts played exactly how they did last time, and we played into their hands.  
 

Think you're pretty much spot on.

[Gorgie greatness]

7 hours ago, roverthemoon said:

As an aside, Partick Thistle showed how it was done last night. Teams and fans celebrating a return to where they thought they should be. No petted lip, no embarrassing trophy lift, no crybabies on social media. Just understanding that winning the league was actually the biggest GIRUY to the SPFL. 

Sour grapes lad

[John Lambies Doos]

Starkies is no more (RIP). A crying shame that the nearest boozer to the ground has been turned into flats. I loved that place. My first local when I moved across here in 1988.

Yup.. if I remember correctly big TV above the corner front door.. in after the match and listen to the results....
Great times..... used to always go to the Christmas game (home game nearest)with my dad, even if thistle weren't playing ...got dinner in the Parkway Hotel???

[topcat(The most tip top)]

The red card was a poor decision even if he had caught Henderson as he clearly went for the ball.  I did think it was a pen on first viewing tbf to the ref.
Probably our two best performances of the season have been at Raith unfortunately for them.
 

Given that it’s generally accepted that he didn’t even get the man, or if he did then only just

There’s no way the ref is going to think he was going in with a genuine chance of getting the ball

If it’s a penalty then it’s a red, but it probably wasn’t either

[Tony Wonder]

Has anyone offered an explanation as to why Halkett took our penalty? Mental.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Tony Wonder

[DC92]

3 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said:

Has anyone offered an explanation as to why Halkett took our penalty? Mental.

There are some rumours that it was his last game.

Did he not also take penalties for Livi? Definitely scored one against us in the 5-0.

[Girth]

15 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said:

Has anyone offered an explanation as to why Halkett took our penalty? Mental.

The least hungover?

[Michael W]

8 hours ago, CALDERON said:

Can't agree with the assessment of the manager that we did okay in the first half, and a tad concerning that the plan was to keep things tight and compact.

That said, interesting to hear that he described some of our play in the 2nd half as "ridiculous" and "unprofessional", when referring to the goals we lost 

Its just incredibly frustrating. Hearts played exactly how they did last time, and we played into their hands.  

 

Yeah I can't abide by that at all. In terms of going forward, fair enough we did have a couple of chances, but every time the ball came at us we were a shambles. 

We were a joke in the second half and probably worse in fairness, but removing Mendy was 100% the right move. 

The bottom line is McGlynn set us up wrongly and we just weren't good enough to recover the position. The red card was always going to kill us, but even then it seems goals were thrown away. I can't comment as I switched off shortly after the penalty. 

[Scary Bear]

1 hour ago, John Lambies Doos said:

Yup.. if I remember correctly big TV above the corner front door.. in after the match and listen to the results....
Great times..... used to always go to the Christmas game (home game nearest)with my dad, even if thistle weren't playing ...got dinner in the Parkway Hotel???

Aye, the Parkway Hotel is still standing. It was the Beveridge Park Hotel. It was a good place to go for food, but it shut a couple of years ago. 

I think you’re right about the TV above the door. Pool table up the back. Starkies shut, then re-opened with Shaun Dennis back around 2005. Didn’t last long. It was mental when it re-opened. Fitted out on the cheap with normal sofas that looked like they had been whipped out his house and shoved in the pub.

 

[Ro Sham Bo]

1 hour ago, Michael W said:

Yeah I can't abide by that at all. In terms of going forward, fair enough we did have a couple of chances, but every time the ball came at us we were a shambles. 

We were a joke in the second half and probably worse in fairness, but removing Mendy was 100% the right move. 

The bottom line is McGlynn set us up wrongly and we just weren't good enough to recover the position. The red card was always going to kill us, but even then it seems goals were thrown away. I can't comment as I switched off shortly after the penalty. 

We looked decent the first 5 minutes and the last 5 or 10 minutes of the first half. That must have clouded his judgement.  That said, if he thought we were doing okay he presumably only changed shape because we had to go for goals in the second half. 

To me, keeping it tight doesn't involve giving the ball away constantly in the defensive third.

He's right about the second half though. Some of our play after going 2-0 down was as bad as anything I've seen from us for a long time. Up there with some of the home thumpings we suffered under Murray or anything from Locke and Hughes.

 

 

[Always Hearts]

Raith are a good team - you guys just had a bad night. It happens to us all. Good luck in the playoffs! 

[Tony Wonder]

2 hours ago, DC92 said:

There are some rumours that it was his last game.

Did he not also take penalties for Livi? Definitely scored one against us in the 5-0.

Can't see it being his last game. Has played every week under Neilson, is one of the vice captains and has a year left on his deal.

He did take penalties for Livingston, but Boyce was on the pitch and has a great record from the spot for us.

[DC92]

13 minutes ago, Tony Wonder said:

Can't see it being his last game. Has played every week under Neilson, is one of the vice captains and has a year left on his deal.

He did take penalties for Livingston, but Boyce was on the pitch and has a great record from the spot for us.

I'd also expect him to be here next season, but him taking a penalty out of the blue seems odd otherwise. Unless he just fancied it because it's a meaningless game and he hasn't scored all season.

Neilson has shown he's quite happy to bin established first team regulars in the past, though, and he's been a disappointing signing. We're surely going to sign another centre-back or two, and Smith, Haring and Kingsley can all cover the position adequately. I wouldn't be massively surprised if he's been told he won't get a game next season and we're happy for him to find something else.

[topcat(The most tip top)]

I'd also expect him to be here next season, but him taking a penalty out of the blue seems odd otherwise. Unless he just fancied it because it's a meaningless game and he hasn't scored all season.

First season in 6 years that he’s not scored

[paranoid android]

Neilson talked recently about having set Boyce a target for goal-scoring - just seems weird the Halkett took the pen when Boyce was on the pitch looking for goals. 

[topcat(The most tip top)]

I'd also expect him to be here next season, but him taking a penalty out of the blue seems odd otherwise. Unless he just fancied it because it's a meaningless game and he hasn't scored all season.
Neilson has shown he's quite happy to bin established first team regulars in the past, though, and he's been a disappointing signing.

Given quite how high the bar for “Dissapointing signing” has been set at Hearts for the last few years I think you’re being a little harsh in Halkett

[DC92]

32 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

 

Given quite how high the bar for “Dissapointing signing” has been set at Hearts for the last few years I think you’re being a little harsh in Halkett

 

What we signed was an up-and-coming young defender who was supposed to fill Christophe Berra's shoes and help us to get back to the top 3/4. He'd been linked with a Scotland call-up and a move to Rangers, so most thought it was a bit of a coup.

What we actually got was an error-prone near-ever-present in a terrible defence which conceded 52 goals in 30 games and got us relegated*. All he's proven this season is that he's reasonable enough for the Championship and isn't as bad as Popescu or Berra.

Given expectation vs. reality, he is one of the best examples I can think of when it comes to disappointing signings in recent years. I had no expectation of Elliott Frear or Ross Stewart being good so they haven't been as disappointing.