David

I can only speak on a personal level, but I always had confidence in Van Veen eventually hitting some sort of form. He had a track record of scoring goals and was never really one for being known as injury-prone. Of our current lot, I only really have the same confidence in Wilkinson, as he's someone who's shown what he can do in the past and isn't really considered an injury-prone type of player, is he? Obika and Bair are both write-offs, in my opinion. Obika because he's seemingly injury-prone, and Bair for reasons I've gone into previously.

A good selection of candidates. I'll need to sit down this evening and get a proper look at it.

Good to see him get some goals and not fall flat this season.

Fairly decent. I'm thinking he's impressing people because the bar was set so low for him to begin with. I guess we'll see how he does, as we look like we have no other options at the moment. Shaw looked a much bigger threat when he came on, which is what I think we want from a striker. Someone who looks like they could score a goal. Hopefully he gets up to speed and can start soon.

Paton for me. Really has come onto a game this season.

He hasn't really had a chance though, has he? And let's be honest, if we have strikers on our books who have less potential than Theo Bair? They shouldn't be at a club in the Scottish Premiership.

Yeah, no disagreement there. I'd just rather we gave someone like Ferrie that chance in the team rather than someone like Bair. Still, we'll see how it goes I guess.

Is he, though? It was widely acknowledged, even by fans of the teams he played for, that he definitely isn't lacking in effort, and he does run around a lot and puts in a shift. Which is fine. But he's not going to score goals at this level. He's not good enough. And a striker needs to score goals. It doesn't need to be a lot, but it needs to be at least some. As we saw today, we can't rely on Spittal and Slattery to score regularly for us. They will chip in, but unless we're scoring goals, we're not going to win games. We need Shaw to step up or one of our injured guys to get on a run of staying fit and scoring. Because Bair isn't the answer.

You've been warned plenty. Your comments will be approved until you've shown you can behave yourself.

Pipe down, you. He runs about a lot and tries hard. That's what really matters 😂

100%. Not everyone is going to agree with others, no matter who they are. I'm glad you haven't seen any of the replies as abuse, because I don't think we really have members here who overstep the line all that often.

Calm down. I'd wager that if you go onto any football forum up and down the land and proceed to throw compliments at a team many fans see as a rival, you'll be met with a certain level of disagreement. To term it "abuse" is stretching it a bit. If anyone had overstepped the mark it would have been addressed. They haven't though, so MJC will just need to accept that a fair portion of the members on this forum aren't keen on Hearts, their fans or their songs.

That could mean that we need one of our strikers to do the business. Well, one that isn't injured.

There's a few of our players that could be said about. Minus the pace as well.

I would, actually 😂

I was wondering when you'd jump in to defend Hearts supporters. You even managed to pull our own support into the discussion as well, so bonus points for that. Thus far, Hearts have a great stadium, a club song that makes your balls tingle when you hear it, and fans who aren't as bad as some of our fans have experienced. Some club, those Jam Tarts.

The big thing that made them successful that year was the usual big teams around them all being sub-par. That was the season Rodgers got sacked and Klopp came in around October, and Mourinho got canned and replaced by Hiddink etc. It was the perfect storm really.

If only MJC was as positive and gushing about Motherwell! 😂

As I said, if our midfielders and defence continue to chip in with goals as they have been, then happy days. But I'm not expecting them to take up the slack for our strikers. Goals from midfield are always welcome, but I think basing our hopes on the goals to come from them regularly would be wrong. At some point, Bair, like our other strikers, will need to score goals. All the dirty work, running, and hustling is great, but he's a striker. He needs to hit the net regularly. If he maintains an average that sees him providing 9 or 10 goals this season, then great, that's what I'd be expecting. And hopefully he does exactly that. Didn't he come here with a bit of a reputation for being injury-prone?

Fletcher scored ten goals in the league for a relegated team last season? He has played seven seasons in Scottish football and has failed to hit double figures in goals only twice, and those were his first two seasons as a youngster at Hibs. I'm not sure in what world that constitutes someone who isn't a great contributor of goals. Yeah, but those strikers need to actually be on the pitch to score those goals. We've signed Obika, who is made of glass, and the lad from Arsenal, who has had his injury issues. It didn't take long for both to hit the treatment table, which isn't a surprise. Thus far, the only ever-present is a guy who plays as a striker but doesn't score goals. Like I said, I sincerely hope it continues to click. We've started well, and long may it continue. But I stand by my comment that for us to be successful this season, we will need goals to come from elsewhere consistently because we've not got a forward line that looks like it will contribute even a fraction of what Van Veen netted last season. Be it through a lack of ability to score goals or through well-known injury problems. What I'm hoping is that Oli Shaw finds some form, and we get Wilkinson back and keep him fit because the others aren't reliable for varying reasons.

Yeah, and I'm more than happy to see that too. As long as we win. But there will come a time when we don't win, and his shabby goal record will come into play because he's a striker. Or supposed to be. Along with the other strikers in the squad. If we can get through the season doing as we are, with our goals mainly coming from our defenders and midfielders, then fair play. I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say that my worries about us signing sub-par strikers were unfounded because we don't need actual strikers. If Paton, Slattery, Casey, and Spittal can all grab 40-odd goals between them, despite only managing to get around twelve collectively last season, then we'll be fine. If the goals from midfield and defence dry up though, then we may find ourselves in a bit of bother.

Well, we have no option but to give him time to prove it 😂 The lad is here now, for two years no less, so we have to hope Kettlewell can succeed where all before him have seemingly failed.

I'm fairly sure that's what St Johnstone fans said about him as well. He'll work hard, cover the ground, and is the kind of guy everyone wants to succeed. But he's a striker who doesn't score goals, which is a problem. I'd rather he was like Van Veen, and had the fans calling him a lazy c*$t but he pops up twice in a game to put the ball in the net.

An amazing result, and so far, the season is shaping up nicely. This could be one of those seasons where one or more of Hearts, Hibs, and Aberdeen underperform, opening the door to the top six or even the top four for ourselves or St Mirren. The manager has continued to do a great job, even if the new signings have yet to make any kind of real impact. The players who are making the difference for us are the same guys who were coming onto a game last season, which is perfectly fine with me. I remain unconvinced about the players we've signed this summer for the most part, especially the likes of Bair, but we can overlook that if the team as a whole is performing.

I must have missed the part where you have to reply to me? Just scroll on by mate. If you don't want to discuss the points I'm making, feel free to move on. It's not hard.