joewarkfanclub

I think the SOD sub was more to do with Vargas coming on that side. He would have torn Devine a new one. For all SOD has his detractors he did marshall him reasonably well and better than Devine would have.

Thats a tough call. Mugabi is in for headers as Kelly wont come off his line. But that didnt work out for us today. Butcher looks broken, so I think reluctantly I would go McGinn Casey Blaney or SOD McGinn Casey

Agreed. Casey was back to last seasons level instead of the mistake ridden version of this season. Much better player when he keeps it simple and just defends. Was actually very unlucky with his speculative shot in the first half. Keeper did well as it was swerving all over the place! Id have Mugabi as a back up but we cant keep him, Butcher, SOD and McGinn as they cant all play and we need some upgrades. Personally Id let him and Butcher go and keep SOD & McGinn as they can play more than one position.

Jack Vale for me. Put in a great shift and looks a handfull with the ball at his feet. Knows the importance of holding the ball up and keeping possession. Needed some team mates to get closer and help him out at times. Not sure he is the perfect replacement for Mika, but he will soften the pain until the end of the season if he stays fit.

We are such a frustrating team to watch. We do so many good things in a game and then feck it up by doing some really stupid shit. We defended well as a team today for tge most part. Hearts have some gifted players and we kept our discipline well and made them play round about us. The only save Kelly had to make in the first half was McGinns header which he was trying to deflect over the bar. Second half we started really smartly on the front foot and put them under a fair bit of pressure. There were a fair few chances to get the ball in the net but we couldnt take any of them. Ultimately we paid for that. Hearts made some positive changes. Vargas being the pick of the bunch. He looks a dangerous player. That said the first goal is typical of our season. Straightforward free kick and we let the best striker in the league get a free header at it. I like Mugabi, but his one job in the team is to win headers and he let Shankland get the better if him. The second goal is a sucker punch in injury time. We were throwing everyone (even Mugabi) forward. Thought SODs was pushed in the back in the run up. Maybe he should be stronger, but Decine got given a foul against seconds earlier for literally nothing. There is no consistency with these things and it makes a mockery of VAR. Overall, decent performance at a difficult venue. Spittal would have made a difference. Hope whatever his issue is it isnt serious and we see him next week. We will need him. Not sure what more SK can do about our defending. Team were clearly well drilled today on their gameplan but individual errors keep costing us. Just need to tough it out until the summer until we can change personnel.

We will win! 😉

Scotland Forever! 😉

😆😆😆 Bloody hope not!

That would make more sense. Given how carefully we guard personal information re our players (rightly so) that makes more sense. Never thought about that. Cheers!

You have visited a Scottish football ground before yes? Language is language. If its racist, sectatian, sexist, abusive, fair enough. What he used was just an adjective/adverb.

Not doubting the veracity. But its still mental! Carrying a knock fair enough, give him more time to recover before next week. But rested? We have a week until our next game. Resting him midweek would make more sense.

Not having a go at you here Wellgirl, but I'd be stunned if we are "resting" our mvp. That would be utterly mental in our current situation.

There are many things to disagree with MJC on. But Im pretty sure language isnt one of them. We are all football fans after all........

No. One of them is managed by Jim Goodwin!

I like both players. Both tidy footballers. My perception is that Davor gives the ball away less under pressure. But that might just be my perception. You have piqued my interest though. Im gonna make a point of paying particular attention to both today. What I would say is that they are both decent enough midfielders for our level and if we had a defence that didnt leak stupid goals (like the end of last season) we wouldnt be having this discussion as we would be focussing on the positives of what each brings to the table.

His corners were (shiter than normal) in the Alloa game though!

Me too. Alas, shoulda known better.

Personally, Ive had it with VAR. The clubs are paying a lot of money for it and we aint getting any better decision making. Its a farce and needs binned.

Very similar player to Furlong. Like them both. Be nice to keep him. Doubt we could afford it even if Blackburn did want to let him leave. No harm asking though.

No mate. On field decision was offside. So with no VAR it would remain offiside. Our goal was given on field. With no VAR goal stands.

Already been covered mate. But thanks. Had forgotten he was on loan.

Davor shouldnt have been hooked. He is defensively more solid than Paton and makes fewer errors. I do think Paton is quite a tidy footballer at times, but he does give the ball away quite a lot trying to play simple passes under pressure. I guess the same accusation could be made of Spittal at times, but on the whole his passes are always higher tariff and trying to break the lines, so I cut him more slack.

We certainly need to find some formula at the back that reduces the amount of really poor goals we lose. Problem is, any changes we make might upset the parts of the team that are currently doing well. Going to a back 4 wouldnt be the worst thing re the centre half issues, but we have some really attacking wing backs that are playing well going forward and not suited defensively to a 4. You would also lose some of the width they offer by doing so. Id definitely like an extra midfielder in there to try and control the play a bit better but if we go that way and stick with 3 at the back instead of a flat 4 it means only one up top and I really liked the look of Bair and Vale together last night in the first half. Whatever we do to strengthen by changing formation will have a knock on effect. It might be just getting the personnel mix right, or tailoring our set up based on the opposition shape. Not sure there are any easy answers.

Ah! No probs! Aye, wouldnt imagine Butcher suffers fools gladly. He wont be enjoying playing in front of a keeper so low in confidence, and I would imagine cant hide it even if he wanted to!

I did notice the ball at the corner thing last night and wondered about that. However, I think its like the ball over the goal line. You need to see the ball from directly above. The ball can be over the corner arc from above without actually touching the line on the grass.