D*ck waving to despair - Whose fans' hopes will crash and burn?

[Darren]

3 hours ago, Dons_1988 said:

Yeah, I don’t agree with @Merkland Red tbh. I thought our squad was average at the time and in hindsight very poor. 

The jambos could’ve just made that argument though and not cried about the mere mention of over achieving. 

Don't think anyone's crying, just pointing out that your Dandy pal is talking absolute mince.

[Tony Wonder]

4 hours ago, Don exotic said:

Aberdeen had a decent first team, but as soon as the wider squad was tested we quickly saw the problems.

Hertz are going to experience the same problem this year. They are a Craig Gordon injury from a worse season than ours last year.

Aye because Hearts had no injuries last year to test our squad. 

[AngusTheBull]

3 hours ago, lennyzer0 said:

Let's see who we buy before the end of the transfer window. But if we don't get at least 3-4 more decent players in, there's no doubt we'll struggle to finish third.

I don't think any non-OF* Scottish team in the group stages of Europe is ever likely enough to have a good enough or big enough squad to comfortably finish third. 

There is also the fact it looks like some of the other 8 teams in the league don't look like they're going to be absolutely terrible this year. Hearts are not going to have ten-plus point cushion from January onwards where they can lose three games in a row and not come under some pressure from the teams around them.

That said, Hearts still have a decent enough squad and competent manager to be comfortably top six and will likely finish fourth or fifth (I suspect fourth). Not sure who will finish third but expect it to be one of us or United (assuming United don't make the European group stages) with County in the other top-six spot.

 

A lot may come down to the European draw and domestic fixture list (I've not checked it). If Hearts are playing away in Europe to *insert far-flung obscure team in Israel/Azerbaijan etc* on a Thursday night then play some of the better non-OF* teams on the Sunday then they'll likely drop more points than if it's a home game Thursday then easier Sunday tie versus, e.g. St Johnstone. 

[Tony Wonder]

22 minutes ago, AngusTheBull said:

I don't think any non-OF* Scottish team in the group stages of Europe is ever likely enough to have a good enough or big enough squad to comfortably finish third. 

There is also the fact it looks like some of the other 8 teams in the league don't look like they're going to be absolutely terrible this year. Hearts are not going to have ten-plus point cushion from January onwards where they can lose three games in a row and not come under some pressure from the teams around them.

That said, Hearts still have a decent enough squad and competent manager to be comfortably top six and will likely finish fourth or fifth (I suspect fourth). Not sure who will finish third but expect it to be one of us or United (assuming United don't make the European group stages) with County in the other top-six spot.

 

A lot may come down to the European draw and domestic fixture list (I've not checked it). If Hearts are playing away in Europe to *insert far-flung obscure team in Israel/Azerbaijan etc* on a Thursday night then play some of the better non-OF* teams on the Sunday then they'll likely drop more points than if it's a home game Thursday then easier Sunday tie versus, e.g. St Johnstone. 

We don't need a 10 point cushion in January though. We just need to be within touching distance of 3rd come the November break in order to challenge again. After that we'll more than likely be out of Europe and only have the league and Cup to focus on.

Our squad needs a few bodies, but we have decent cover in the vast majority of positions. 

Caveat is, if Gordon gets injured Ross Stewart is nowhere near good enough to allow us to be competitive. 

[VincentGuerin]

57 minutes ago, AngusTheBull said:

A lot may come down to the European draw and domestic fixture list (I've not checked it). If Hearts are playing away in Europe to *insert far-flung obscure team in Israel/Azerbaijan etc* on a Thursday night then play some of the better non-OF* teams on the Sunday then they'll likely drop more points than if it's a home game Thursday then easier Sunday tie versus, e.g. St Johnstone. 

As mentioned above, Hearts' October is very tough indeed. Rangers and Celtic at home, Killie, Aberdeen, Ross County away, and three European games.

We need to get off to a good start and get points in the bank before then.

It's also true that being in touch with third at the World Cup break is good enough. 6 points behind would be fine, I think.

Edited August 5, 2022 by VincentGuerin

[Darren]

4 hours ago, VincentGuerin said:

As mentioned above, Hearts' October is very tough indeed. Rangers and Celtic at home, Killie, Aberdeen, Ross County away, and three European games.

We'll be fucking flying when we win the lot.

[DC92]

20 hours ago, coprolite said:

Apart from the three we sold for money. 

I don't think we had a very good squad btw. It had some decent players but was hugely unbalanced. Also, it's hard to argue that a squad with Jack Gurr in it is decent. 

I can think of 4 players off the top of my head that we sold for money in summer 2020. Funnily enough, there were Hearts fans that thought that squad was "good on paper". It's in hindsight, with an actually decent squad, that people realise it really, really wasn't. People were having to convince themselves that Sean Clare and Andy Irving were players just to give themselves some hope. Desperate stuff.

As for the overperformance last season: we had the best goalkeeper in the league, a solid back three that could play a bit, good combative midfielders, the most creative player outside the OF by miles in McKay, and latterly Simms who was physical, stretched the game and scored goals. We weren't amazing, but I honestly can't think of more than 2 or 3 Aberdeen players I'd have had in our starting XI. The same goes for most other teams in the league 

This year Aberdeen pretty much have an entirely new team and our starting XI is currently a bit weaker as things stand, so things could easily be very different. 

[DC92]

Nobody seems to be asking how Dundee United will cope with group stage football.

[kingjoey]

8 minutes ago, DC92 said:

Nobody seems to be asking how Dundee United will cope with group stage football.

I wonder why?

[Leith Green]

This thread has some fucking brilliant takes, the backtracking in a few months is going to be delicious...........

[The Other Foot]

9 minutes ago, Leith Green said:

This thread has some fucking brilliant takes, the backtracking in a few months is going to be delicious...........

It was always going to reel in the Hearts and Aberdeen supporters. Surprised we’ve not had more Celtic, Rangers and St Johnstone fans though 

[HibsFan]

22 hours ago, kingjoey said:

Multiple times?

Yes, the aforementioned debacle of 1999-2000 and also the 1916-1917 season.

Looks like "lest we forget" means more to some than others.

[kingjoey]

1 hour ago, HibsFan said:

Yes, the aforementioned debacle of 1999-2000 and also the 1916-1917 season.

Looks like "lest we forget" means more to some than others.

Not sure that twice merits the slur "multiple times"? But if you're desperate to stick the boot in, fine. By the way, if twice is "multiple times" how would you describe the number of Hibs relegations?

[SlipperyP]

Never read the thread. 

The answer is Rangers, always Rangers.  I mean them to literally to crash and burn.

[craigkillie]

It's always worth remembering that in addition to finishing bottom on multiple occasions without being relegated, Aberdeen are the only Premiership club who didn't actually earn their place in the top flight. Celtic were founder members, the rest of us got promoted into the division at some point or other, and the Dons got there through some dodgy backroom deals after finishing in the bottom half of the second tier.

[vikingTON]

6 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

 the Dons got there through some dodgy backroom deals after finishing in the bottom half of the second tier.

Scottish football quite rightly took a look at the nick of its top flight and elevated several, correct clubs into it. 

Hopefully they'll do the same after the next world war and punt Queens' Park, Livingston, Cove and FC Edinburgh (for a start) to the bottom rung of the entire pyramid. 

[ATLIS]

6 hours ago, virginton said:

Scottish football quite rightly took a look at the nick of its top flight and elevated several, correct clubs into it. 

Hopefully they'll do the same after the next world war and punt Queens' Park, Livingston, Cove and FC Edinburgh (for a start) to the bottom rung of the entire pyramid. 

Morton fan  

[The Other Foot]

19 hours ago, kingjoey said:

Not sure that twice merits the slur "multiple times"? But if you're desperate to stick the boot in, fine. By the way, if twice is "multiple times" how would you describe the number of Hibs relegations?

‘Assistance with simple dictionary definitions thread’ for this pish 

[Dons_1988]

8 hours ago, craigkillie said:

It's always worth remembering that in addition to finishing bottom on multiple occasions without being relegated, Aberdeen are the only Premiership club who didn't actually earn their place in the top flight. Celtic were founder members, the rest of us got promoted into the division at some point or other, and the Dons got there through some dodgy backroom deals after finishing in the bottom half of the second tier.

I’ve seen you post this about 40 times, which makes it very amusing. 

[Connor1874]

Said it a lot last season, and still worried now, that we might slip to 4th this season. Personally, if we finish 3rd then I think it'll be a bigger achievement this time round. That said it really depends on other teams too. The one thing that was clear last season was that there was a lack of competition to push us harder to 3rd place. As plenty have mentioned, others have strengthened but still a bit unknown as to how they'll do.

Hibs have a lot of unknown qualities, and I genuinely do think they'll hit a sticky patch which will just surround them in negativity again. Aberdeen and Dundee United will be stronger but consistency is the key. I even think the likes of Livi, County and Killie will throw massive spanners in the works. Motherwell of course too, but I guess that'll really depend on who comes in to replace Alexander.