Hearts v Motherwell 03/09/2023

[Happy Dosser]

2 hours ago, stv said:

Only missing the flying batteries, coins and cans and it could be the early eighties.

Hearts didn't even need an opposition to start trading punches, though, did they? Remember Hogg and Levein battering each other? What a team of grunts they had in those days.

[Happy Dosser]

And U-Booters like Robertson and Colquhoun too, of course.

Our relations in the 70s were better: I remember their centenary game against us at Tynie in 1974, where hostlities between the fans  were suspended temporarily while we all warmly  remembered great footballing ties between our respective teams in the 50s and 60s etc.

Tynecastle is still a great stadium, though, and well worthy of our sublime goal on Sunday 😍.

 

[stv]

1 hour ago, Happy Dosser said:

Hearts didn't even need an opposition to start trading punches, though, did they? Remember Hogg and Levein battering each other? What a team of grunts they had in those days.

And dear old Albert Kidd would kick his granny then headbutt her on the way down.

[AllyMax]

2 minutes ago, stv said:

And dear old Albert Kidd would kick his granny then headbutt her on the way down.

Walter, shirley ?

[stv]

3 minutes ago, AllyMax said:

Walter, shirley ?

Aye walter , red card for kidd. albert was the dundee guy who took the title away from them last day of season. Eighties are a bit hazzy now when it comes to football.

[smiddy]

5 hours ago, David said:

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.

although bair didnt do anything spetacular for the time he was on the pitch, he covered every blade of grass, annoyed the life out there back 3/4 harrassed everybody who had the ball and generally contributed with all the bad things in the game,   you try doing all they doggies for 75 mins cause thats basically what he done , NOW i am not for one minute saying heez a great player ( he may well turn into one ) but credit where credit is due   he was part of a great TEAM performance,      "    these are my own personal views and dont really care who agrees " 😁

[weeyin]

55 minutes ago, stv said:

albert was the dundee guy who took the title away from them last day of season.

And, of course, had a spell as our captain in the First Division. 

[grumpy]

Scott Crabbe..... Wayne Foster..... too many to chose from.

[David]

49 minutes ago, smiddy said:

although bair didnt do anything spetacular for the time he was on the pitch, he covered every blade of grass, annoyed the life out there back 3/4 harrassed everybody who had the ball and generally contributed with all the bad things in the game,   you try doing all they doggies for 75 mins cause thats basically what he done , NOW i am not for one minute saying heez a great player ( he may well turn into one ) but credit where credit is due   he was part of a great TEAM performance,      "    these are my own personal views and dont really care who agrees " 😁

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.

[weeyin]

He's also a striker SK thinks he can coach into a better player, and I'm quite happy to give him time to prove that. 

[David]

1 minute ago, weeyin said:

He's also a striker SK thinks he can coach into a better player, and I'm quite happy to give him time to prove that. 

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.

[dennyc]

33 minutes ago, David said:

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.

I agree regards his lack of career goals and like you I have concerns about his record elsewhere.

But at Tynecastle he worked his socks off, rattled every single Hearts defender, put in some thumping tackles, layed the ball off well, played countless one twos with colleagues. Still has areas to improve but a massive improvement from previous games and a performance that earned him a standing ovation when he was subbed. His team won the game and he contributed. 

Maybe he won't score a ton of goals or maybe he will. Time will tell. But as long as he contributes as he did on Sunday and helps the team to win, then nobody will care if the goals come from others. On Sunday's performance he deserves his chance.

[grizzlyg]

2 hours ago, AllyMax said:

Walter, shirley ?

Don't call me surely 😜😜

[joewarkfanclub]

29 minutes ago, dennyc said:

I agree regards his lack of career goals and like you I have concerns about his record elsewhere.

But at Tynecastle he worked his socks off, rattled every single Hearts defender, put in some thumping tackles, layed the ball off well, played countless one twos with colleagues. Still has areas to improve but a massive improvement from previous games and a performance that earned him a standing ovation when he was subbed. His team won the game and he contributed. 

Maybe he won't score a ton of goals or maybe he will. Time will tell. But as long as he contributes as he did on Sunday and helps the team to win, then nobody will care if the goals come from others. On Sunday's performance he deserves his chance.

Exactly this.

Bair may not be a natural goalscorer, but he plays the lone striker well.

If others benefit from his hard graft and we score goals.and win the game, then Im cool with that.

[smiddy]

2 hours ago, weeyin said:

He's also a striker SK thinks he can coach into a better player, and I'm quite happy to give him time to prove that. 

yip am with you    SK hasnt done to bad up untill now

[Yabba's Turd]

2 hours ago, David said:

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.

So he's a larger version of Dougie Arnott?

[smiddy]

1 hour ago, dennyc said:

I agree regards his lack of career goals and like you I have concerns about his record elsewhere.

But at Tynecastle he worked his socks off, rattled every single Hearts defender, put in some thumping tackles, layed the ball off well, played countless one twos with colleagues. Still has areas to improve but a massive improvement from previous games and a performance that earned him a standing ovation when he was subbed. His team won the game and he contributed. 

Maybe he won't score a ton of goals or maybe he will. Time will tell. But as long as he contributes as he did on Sunday and helps the team to win, then nobody will care if the goals come from others. On Sunday's performance he deserves his chance.

yip    and SK said at the start of the season he was looking for more goals shared around the team so instead of a KVV we now have a CS  and a BS and even a HP 😁

[David]

2 hours ago, dennyc said:

I agree regards his lack of career goals and like you I have concerns about his record elsewhere.

But at Tynecastle he worked his socks off, rattled every single Hearts defender, put in some thumping tackles, layed the ball off well, played countless one twos with colleagues. Still has areas to improve but a massive improvement from previous games and a performance that earned him a standing ovation when he was subbed. His team won the game and he contributed. 

Maybe he won't score a ton of goals or maybe he will. Time will tell. But as long as he contributes as he did on Sunday and helps the team to win, then nobody will care if the goals come from others. On Sunday's performance he deserves his chance.

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. 

 

[MelvinBragg]

5 hours ago, David said:

If the goals from midfield and defence dry up though, then we may find ourselves in a bit of bother. 

 

Is this where I point out that four games in three of our strikers have scored already? Six goals we've scored in the league, three from strikers and three from elsewhere.. As impressive as Van Veen's run was last season, you could could argue there was an over reliance on him for goals.. Do I have concerns about our options at striker? Yes but Kettlewell did mention in the summer the obvious fact that Motherwell don't sign 25 goal strikers and how we have to find other ways of getting enough goals for results. So far, so good...

[Stuwell2]

I’m hopeful that Bair can play the same type of role as Fletcher at half the cost. Fletcher isn’t a great contributor of goals but can noise up a defence and so far Bair seems to be warming to that role.
I’d still love to see him get a few goals but it’s early days so let’s see how he develops. 

[David]

3 hours ago, Stuwell2 said:

I’m hopeful that Bair can play the same type of role as Fletcher at half the cost. Fletcher isn’t a great contributor of goals but can noise up a defence and so far Bair seems to be warming to that role.
I’d still love to see him get a few goals but it’s early days so let’s see how he develops. 

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. 

6 hours ago, MelvinBragg said:

Is this where I point out that four games in three of our strikers have scored already? Six goals we've scored in the league, three from strikers and three from elsewhere.

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.

[MelvinBragg]

4 minutes ago, David said:

Thus far, the only ever-present is a guy who plays as a striker but doesn't score goals.

One goal in four league games so far. Will he maintain that average and score about 8 or 9 goals this season. Possibly not but if his dirty work allows Spittal, Slattery and Paton to chip in 5 to 6 each, that will help He should have had an assist on Sunday if Spittal had taken that chance early in the second half. Am I convinced by our attacking options? Nope but I don't think Bair has been too bad for a guy that missed preseason, came carrying a knock and must be lacking confidence...

[Stuwell2]

2 hours ago, David said:

….. It didn't take long for both to hit the treatment table, which isn't a surprise.….

Beireth’s injury was due to a horrendous tackle which would have sidelined many a player so I think anyone can put him in the made of glass basket yet. 

[David]

3 hours ago, MelvinBragg said:

One goal in four league games so far. Will he maintain that average and score about 8 or 9 goals this season. Possibly not but if his dirty work allows Spittal, Slattery and Paton to chip in 5 to 6 each, that will help He should have had an assist on Sunday if Spittal had taken that chance early in the second half. Am I convinced by our attacking options? Nope but I don't think Bair has been too bad for a guy that missed preseason, came carrying a knock and must be lacking confidence...

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.

1 hour ago, Stuwell2 said:

Beireth’s injury was due to a horrendous tackle which would have sidelined many a player so I think anyone can put him in the made of glass basket yet. 

Didn't he come here with a bit of a reputation for being injury-prone?

[Stuwell2]

He definitely had an injury last season while on loan but I’m not sure if he’s injury prone