David

I noticed that there's a few of these club shop threads floating around, with some of them having questions about merch and so forth. Thought having one thread would make it easier for those who have anything to ask and also for Alan to keep on top of questions & comments.

Moved to club chat. A Phil O'Donnell thread has no place in compost corner.

I'm not sure there are many clubs in our league outwith the old firm who have the depth of squad that Hearts do. I can see Hearts being able to cope with suspensions & injuries better than the likes of us & St Johnstone can.

You still waiting on the answer to that one Eddie? I'll have a look if I'm in over the next week or so.

Less than a month later and we've been easily beaten by Hearts and are now two points clear of the team in fourth place and only five points clear of Hearts. We may have two games in hand, but those two games are at home against Hibs (who looked like taking all three points from us before the game was cancelled) and Dunfermline. We're guaranteed nothing from both of those games in my opinion, and could take as little as one point from both if our home form is anything to go by. Our next league game is also away to Rangers, so it's odds-on that we'll be picking up no points until our game on January 14th at the earliest. Now do you see why I consider three points at home against St Mirren pretty important? If we continue to drop points against sides like St Mirren at home we'll be lucky to finish fourth.

Personally I'm not all that concerned by St Johnstone. They'll likely fall away later in the season. Hearts will be the threat for third spot this season. I just hope we haven't dropped too many points at home against lesser teams that it comes back to bite us in the arse later.

For me it's not the actual losing to the old firm, it's the way we go about it and the way our management accept it afterwards. If we were to lose by a goal or two but at least put up some sort of fight and get stuck in I wouldn't be so disappointed. It's never good to see an interview with our manager afterwards either, especially when you're raging about referee decisions, offside goals, players going missing and all sorts, only for him to be all smiles and seemingly not giving a toss.

That's obviously different, and is acceptable.

I don't think that's how it works, Wellfan, as much as I wish it was. He'll miss the game at Ibrox I think.

Well, since our game against Dunfermline tonight has been called off I figured we may as well look forward to our gubbing by Rangers on the 2nd. We're either going to be facing a Rangers side fresh off a big win over Celtic, which means they'll be brimming with confidence, or one that lost to Celtic and will be looking to fire back right away. Either way I don't see us getting anything from this game. Anything less than a 3 goal defeat will do.

Shit, I didn't even think about that

This is Scotland, mate. Most of our games are played in crap conditions. Like I said, if anyone had the money set aside to go and see their club play and instead choose to sit in the pub and watch the Old Firm game because of the weather they ought to sort themselves out. If you're financially able and have the time you go and support your team regardless of who else is playing on the telly at the same time.

Honestly, if there's anyone out there who was seriously considering going to our game today that decides to change their mind and sit in the pub and watch the Old Firm game because it's a bit wet & windy outside then they really need to sort themselves out.

The truth is, anyone who was considering going to our game who then chooses to sit at home or in the pub and watch the Old Firm game probably has no place at Fir Park anyway.

Whilst the battle to see who is the least shite out of those two will surely make for engrossing viewing, our game against Dunfermline is easily more important. It sounds pretty windy out there again today. I was hoping we'd get a continuation of yesterdays weather

I don't think anyone is really complaining, more looking at ways we can improve. Home form is a definate area we can do that.

McCall has done a great job thus far, that much can't be denied. He's got us sitting in 3rd place at the moment which is fantastic. I'm sure that even he would admit that there's room for improvement though, and that our home form needs some attention. Once he gets that sorted we'll be just fine. Lets hope this happens sooner rather than later though.

I agree 100%. Our tactics work well away from home. We have that part of our game down perfectly pretty much, but we need to be a bit more attacking at home, especially against teams from lower down the table who will be coming with the intention of taking a point. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, dropped points against the likes of Kilmarnock & St Mirren (and maybe Dunfermline after tomorrow) will end up costing us 3rd spot in the league.

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From what I can see he's not exactly an out & out striker, but could come in and do a job alongside Higdon maybe? Another option up front, which is what I was hoping we'd get in January so I'm happy enough with the signing.

Recent discussion about Murphy and where (or if) we should play him reminded me of this thread. Personally, I'm torn about actually dropping him to the bench for a good few games, using him as an impact player of sorts and giving someone like McHugh a chance to prove himself up front. Another part of me wants to see what Ya Bezzer suggested in the Dunfermline thread, with Murphy playing and Law dropped. It's a bit of a toughie to be honest.

What's to say that Murphy won't do the same?

You're probably right. I just want to see McHugh given a run of games to show what he's capable of. I had hoped that his goal against Aberdeen would have resulted in him getting a starting slot, but it didn't pan out that way. I wasn't keen on the signing of Hughes to begin with, feeling that midfield was an area that we didn't need any new faces. I'd rather see him move on next month and any money we have used to bring in some sort of forward. Even a loan deal until the end of the season or something, as we're really light up front just now. As far as the result goes this Wednesday, I can see us winning it by a few, which will hopefully kick start our home form this season. We need to win these games at home if we wish to keep distance between ourselves and Hearts.

As has been mentioned by a few in the Hearts thread, a change of formation and a bit more of an attacking game is in order for the game against Dunfermline on Wednesday. Although it's doubtful that McCall makes the change, I'd like to see McHugh given a few games to show what he's capable of. Murphy hasn't been at the races for a while now, and a break would do him some good. I said it when the St Mirren game was approaching, and I'll say it again here. We need the three points from this game, especially for morale. We need a home win having not managed to get three points at home for three months.