Hearts v Motherwell 23/08/2025

[numpty]

8 hours ago, fizoxy said:

Commenting on players tweets is loser behavior. 

It is, but I always wonder why any player would tweet after a less than perfect performance a) at all, or b) without at least limiting who can reply.

[wellgirl]

1 hour ago, Kmcalpin said:

Hopefully we'll see 2 new central defenders and a defensive midfielder (a No 6 to some) arrive in the next week or so to make us more solid. Hearts had 19 shots to our 9 yesterday (9 against 3 on target). Those figures should make us sit up and take notice. In fairness then Ward will have, justifiably, expected better protection from those in front of him.  He should start next next week to give him a chance to redeem himself. The goals we lost were down to a combination of errors, not just down to Ward.   In truth though , both he and Oxborough would appear to be run of the mill keepers. Hearts gave our defence a thorough test yesterday and it was found wanting. 

We could say the same for Hearts - we put three past them. 

[thewelllfan]

We looked good yesterday can't help but feel if Ox was in goals last 3 games were on 7 points.

[wellgirl]

11 minutes ago, thewelllfan said:

We looked good yesterday can't help but feel if Ox was in goals last 3 games were on 7 points.

Both have their own different styles of playing. I rate Oxborough - but it's impossible to say where we would be if he was in goals. Obviously Jens thinks Ward is suited to this style of play 

[Spiderpig]

13 minutes ago, thewelllfan said:

We looked good yesterday can't help but feel if Ox was in goals last 3 games were on 7 points.

I agree, Oxborough should be our 1st choice keeper, Ward gives me the fear.

[Orinoco]

Ox was good until he made an arse of a cross and cost us a goal. His confidence took a hit and never hit the same heights again. The longer he has not played the better he seems to be in people's minds.

Ward has made some very good saves to keep us in it on occasions. He was part of the reason we lost two goals yesterday. He knows and has owned these errors. Every player makes mistakes. Goalkeepers have less margins for failure.

Collectively yesterday we got it wrong in the last 25 mins.

 

 

[joewarkfanclub]

17 hours ago, mio said:

Not game related but well done to the guys that created the banner for Dougie Imrie, you are a credit to the club.
He’s a guy we’ve not had much time for and who’s not had much time for us over the years but what happened goes way beyond silly football rivalry. Well done guys 👏 

As Ive said elsewhere, Dougie Imrie is just our pantomime villain and doesnt everyone really love the pantomime villain? Without one the show just isnt nearly as entertaining!

Ive always felt that even though both parties like to give it to each other tight, there is still a sort of weird kinda respect there.

The banner yesterday was great to see, as was the applause that went right around the stadium.

Football at its best......

[El Grew]

14 hours ago, grizzlyg said:

We have been crying out for a new style for years and we now have a guy who i think is doing great so far and we are still unbeaten.

There are going to be bumps along the way but we are being entertained and enjoying going to games which wasn't the case under a certain manager who returns next week. 300 new season ticket holders says it all 

JB still assessing the squad so I fully expect more faces in soon.

Yes losing a 3-0 lead is so frustrating but we move on and with our next run of fixtures looking decent on paper then hopefully we can start getting wins and keeping up the feelgood factor.

COYW

Spot on Grizzly.👍

[joewarkfanclub]

I think the manager will definitely have learned a lot from yesterday, as will the players.

I think if we had got our subs on earlier and freshened some legs, then we maybe dont lose the first goal and give Hearts a lift when they really needed done.

As I said previously, a mixture of tiredness, naievity and bad decision making cost us the 3 points and the manager and the team as a whole are jointly culpable.

I wouldnt be dropping Ward right away. Ox has also made mistakes in the past and has been stood by. Ward did make 2 yesterday, but as others have said, he wasnt the only one. I think his distribution is part of the reason he is preferred right now as Im not sure Ox is as good with the ball at his feet. Im sure he will be determined to make up for yesterday. If he continues to make bloopers then a decision will have to be made, but he needs support right now.

Hopefully we can get a defender and a DMF in this week. If we do we are gonna give someone an absolute scudding at some point.

[thewelllfan]

1 hour ago, wellgirl said:

Both have their own different styles of playing. I rate Oxborough - but it's impossible to say where we would be if he was in goals. Obviously Jens thinks Ward is suited to this style of play 

purley on the goals we have conceded he saves the header in the Rangers game and the last 2 yesterday. Last season the only mistake I remember him making that lead to a goal was the cross he misjudged against Hibs.

[grizzlyg]

1 hour ago, El Grew said:

Spot on Grizzly.👍

Cheers bud

[Kmcalpin]

Post from a Hearts supporting friend. "Well that was a point stolen. Motherwell were excellent today, and the best team I've seen this season. So fair play to them." This chap has played football at a reasonable level, so he's qualified to comment.   

[fizoxy]

On Oxborough, I like him, but...

Remember last season where he just dropped a cross in front of him for the Hearts player to tap in for the only goal of the game?

He got very shaky after that, and if anyone is remembering him being commanding in the air, it's a distorted memory. 

I think he's a better shot stopper than Ward, and an all round better keeper, but not to the degree that we keepna clean sheet yesterday if he plays. Maybe he messes up a couple of passes that Ward wouldn't, who knows?

[weeyin]

2 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said:

I think the manager will definitely have learned a lot from yesterday, as will the players.

I think if we had got our subs on earlier and freshened some legs, then we maybe dont lose the first goal and give Hearts a lift when they really needed done.

As I said previously, a mixture of tiredness, naievity and bad decision making cost us the 3 points and the manager and the team as a whole are jointly culpable.

We're only 3 games into the league season with our new approach. It's going to take a few more months (at least) for the team and manager to figure out how to handle different game situations and different styles of team.

While it was a disappointing way to lose a lead, there were still plenty of positives to take from the game.

We're also still operating with a bit of a makeshift defence, so hopfeully a new signing or two will help address that problem.

On the plus side, we won our League Cup group, won a tough cup tie in Perth, and navigated a tough open set of league fixtures undefeated. 

We all knew there , would be some bumps in the road while the new methods and tactics were implemented, but the improvement is clear to see.

JBA seems like the kind of manager who take this on board and make sure that both himself and the team learns from it,

Yesterday was one of those situations where if, before the game, you were offered some good football and a 3 - 3 draw, you would have taken it - but the manner of the draw feels like a heavy loss.

[MelvinBragg]

If a point in Tynecastle can be described as a bump in the road, we really are raising standards...

[texanwellfan]

14 hours ago, dinnae-punt-it said:

Balmer started the problem for the first goal by getting his pass intercepted. Just could have reacted quicker to close down Milne. McGinn could have done better at the second by stepping up earlier, and could have got back in quicker, and yes, the goalie could do better for all goals. Any goal conceded is usually down to more than one player not being as effective as they could have been. Losing a 3 goal lead is sore, but we are still early days and work in progress. For what it’s worth, I don’t think either goalie is as good as I’d like. 

Right! McGinn or any player for that matter has to be aware of the his defensive line and where the forward are and then step up before the player passes the ball. We haven’t quite mastered that yet. In fact the defensive line should be stepping up in unison like the old Arsenal team of the 70’s I think it was. I’ve also noticed on several occasions where we have followed runners keeping them onside instead of closing in on the man with the ball and letting the runner drift offside. 

[stv]

1 hour ago, texanwellfan said:

Right! McGinn or any player for that matter has to be aware of the his defensive line and where the forward are and then step up before the player passes the ball. We haven’t quite mastered that yet. In fact the defensive line should be stepping up in unison like the old Arsenal team of the 70’s I think it was. I’ve also noticed on several occasions where we have followed runners keeping them onside instead of closing in on the man with the ball and letting the runner drift offside. 

Thank you soo much ,Sir Alex.

[superwell]

I've rarely missed a home game in the last 47 years and I've never seen us play like this. It's really such a joy watching my team play with such control and with confidence in each other.  We're only just on the beginning of this journey but I can't wait to see what this season brings. My only fear is how long can we hold on to this manager. CMYW!!!!! 

 

 

[wellgirl]

21 minutes ago, superwell said:

I've rarely missed a home game in the last 47 years and I've never seen us play like this. It's really such a joy watching my team play with such control and with confidence in each other.  We're only just on the beginning of this journey but I can't wait to see what this season brings. My only fear is how long can we hold on to this manager. CMYW!!!!! 

 

 

I would hope he would want to see the season out hopefully to see us get top 6 or some silverware or hopefully both 

[numpty]

2 minutes ago, wellgirl said:

I would hope he would want to see the season out hopefully to see us get top 6 or some silverware or hopefully both 

Would be nice to win a league game first, mind you.

[FirParkCornerExile]

42 minutes ago, superwell said:

I've rarely missed a home game in the last 47 years and I've never seen us play like this. It's really such a joy watching my team play with such control and with confidence in each other.  We're only just on the beginning of this journey but I can't wait to see what this season brings. My only fear is how long can we hold on to this manager. CMYW!!!!! 

 

 

I absolutely detest hoofball so this style is a sheer joy for me to watch. I hated watching us under Graham Alexander , even qualifying for Europe didnt make what we watched palatable, well for me anyway. Least said about the utter shite under Kettlewell the better. Hamell's tenure isn't even worth discussing. Right now the period between games is too long for me, that's how much I enjoy this style. Sure it was disappointing to lose 3 goals yesterday but I still left Tynecastle well entertained. I just hope we can get a win against Kilmarnock because it can be every easy for fickle fans (which we can all be at times) to turn and Id hate vocal pressure to start building to the detriment of what we are doing. Easily the best football I've watched us play since the Tommy Coyne / Davie Cooper era.  . 

[Kmcalpin]

38 minutes ago, numpty said:

Would be nice to win a league game first, mind you.

Absolutely. We need to keep our feet firmly on the ground.

[texanwellfan]

1 hour ago, numpty said:

Would be nice to win a league game first, mind you.

I’d love to see us qualify for Europe and play there wit the same team that qualified. Unfortunately we are in a position where we have to almost rebuild the team each year, particularly if they played well then our good players are off. 

[MJC]

1 hour ago, numpty said:

Would be nice to win a league game first, mind you.

Exactly. 
 

Talk of top six finishes and silverware when we’re yet to register a league game victory is absolutely wild.

It actually reminds me to an extent of the early days of the Jim Gannon era when you had people talking about Gannon being a ‘Visionary messiah’ and us splitting the Old Firm and Ross Forbes and Paul Slane (yes Ross Forbes and Paul Slane!!!) being future Scotland mainstays because we scudded an Albanian ‘pub team’ 8-1 in the EL Qualifiers…..And we all know how that turned out…on all of those fronts. 
 

There are grounds for optimism so far but that’s all it is and until we start showing that we can win football matches in this league then it won’t go much further than that. 

[FirParkCornerExile]

13 minutes ago, MJC said:

Exactly. 
 

Talk of top six finishes and silverware when we’re yet to register a league game victory is absolutely wild.

It actually reminds me to an extent of the early days of the Jim Gannon era when you had people talking about Gannon being a ‘Visionary messiah’ and us splitting the Old Firm and Ross Forbes and Paul Slane (yes Ross Forbes and Paul Slane!!!) being future Scotland mainstays because we scudded an Albanian ‘pub team’ 8-1 in the EL Qualifiers…..And we all know how that turned out…on all of those fronts. 
 

There are grounds for optimism so far but that’s all it is and until we start showing that we can win football matches in this league then it won’t go much further than that. 

That is football fans .. when its good its exaggerated, when its bad its exaggerated. Being fickle is part of being a football fan. I don't think personally I'm getting carried away I'm just looking forward going to games and its been years since I felt like that.