Hearts v Motherwell 11/04/2026

[mio]

Have we ever had a really good footballer who was a hammer thrower? We’d kill for someone like that now.

he only one who springs to mind was luc nijholt. Can’t think of anyone else.

[wellon]

1 hour ago, Kmcalpin said:

Yes, although we've scored a fair few goals this season, all too often we've been powderpuff in front of goals and yet again its cost us. We also have defensive frailties that Wellfan pointed out above. 

If officials are going to be pernickety they could have looked more closely at Hearts' opener. It seems to me that Findlay (No 19) was holding/pulling our defender when he headed the ball back across goal. 

As for the penalty, I'd say it was 55/45 not a penalty. A very close call which, once again, went against us. You could argue that the lad's heading of the ball of the ball was involuntary, but I'd say that according to the laws of the  game it shouldn't have ben awarded. 

Can't be 55/45 if laws say the hearts boy is committing the offence but they've given it and we need to suck it up again 

[wellon]

29 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

I understand your sentiment, but that would be a real shame.

I think Im of the opposite view. 

A kind of "f#ck you" you wont make me go away that easily.

The SPFL do really need to have a major review of refereeing and VAR at the end of the season though. Fans of all clubs feel the same way about the situation.

At a time when attendances seem to be on the up, it would be crazy to ignore the paying punter.

The authorities don't care about you. Another thing is we are all paying money to fund these incompetents and be paid lip service from Collum... wouldn't happen in any other entertainment 

[Kmcalpin]

44 minutes ago, mio said:

Have we ever had a really good footballer who was a hammer thrower? We’d kill for someone like that now.

he only one who springs to mind was luc nijholt. Can’t think of anyone else.

In very recent times, Gorrin. Plenty before that. Tam Forsyth, Willie Watson, Peter Millar, Gordon Soutar,  Steve McLelland, Graeme Forbes......

[joewarkfanclub]

24 minutes ago, wellon said:

The authorities don't care about you. Another thing is we are all paying money to fund these incompetents and be paid lip service from Collum... wouldn't happen in any other entertainment 

Im under no illusion of my importance, or lack of, to the SPFL.

But I would hope my club views it differently and makes representation to the authorities in conjuction with all the other clubs to try and sort this.

As you say, football is an entertainment industry. In a season where we have enjoyed the best football many of us can remember, and attendances are up, we should be taking this one up on behalf of all supporters to improve the experience.

It would be an act of utter self harm if fans are driven away from the game due to poor officiating....

[Kmcalpin]

31 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Im under no illusion of my importance, or lack of, to the SPFL.

But I would hope my club views it differently and makes representation to the authorities in conjuction with all the other clubs to try and sort this.

As you say, football is an entertainment industry. In a season where we have enjoyed the best football many of us can remember, and attendances are up, we should be taking this one up on behalf of all supporters to improve the experience.

It would be an act of utter self harm if fans are driven away from the game due to poor officiating....

Good post Joe. We should take this up with the Society. Also, during games we should make our feelings known about poor and/or inconsistent decsions in the time honoured fashion (note: no abuse).   

[Orinoco]

Did not bother watching yesterday and only checked score later on. 

Hearts much like Falkirk have carried alot of luck this season. Something that we seldom dont get. 

For Hearts to win the league giving their general poor standard and style of play is embarrassing. It sums up Scottish Football. Brutal is the word i would use. Imagine them in the champions league against PSG. Would be some laugh right enough.

We are never going to win the league. Finances will dictate that. But at least our team is trying to entertain. Sometimes we will come away frustrated, but at least we are trying to improve and move into the modern world of football.

Its a shame our club plays in backwards looking country where authorities make decisions to benefit two clubs.

 

[wellon]

1 hour ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Im under no illusion of my importance, or lack of, to the SPFL.

But I would hope my club views it differently and makes representation to the authorities in conjuction with all the other clubs to try and sort this.

As you say, football is an entertainment industry. In a season where we have enjoyed the best football many of us can remember, and attendances are up, we should be taking this one up on behalf of all supporters to improve the experience.

It would be an act of utter self harm if fans are driven away from the game due to poor officiating....

Wishful thinking, what can mfc do realistically...I think we all see the problems but sorting it is another thing.

[joewarkfanclub]

1 hour ago, wellon said:

Wishful thinking, what can mfc do realistically...I think we all see the problems but sorting it is another thing.

The Well Society ran a poll on VAR earlier in the season. Not sure if any other clubs have done similar, but there have certainly been similar from other fan organisations.

Just needs someone to pull it all together and take it forward. If the SPFL is indeed there to facilitate the clubs, then they would have to listen.

No point complaining about it if we dont try to effect change.

Im sure the Well Society are well aware of and share the view of most fans.

[Kmcalpin]

I picked up a very pertinent point from the Society socials about the penalty decision yesterday and its about timing. 

At the start of the sequence, the Hearts player heads the ball whilst lying on the ground. Thats a foul. Its only after that that Welsh kicks him. 

The "victim" was so badly injured that he had to roll about several times. 

[twistandshout1983]

Just watched the penalty again

Do not think Welsh could have done anything to avoid this at all 

[bobbybingo]

16 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

I picked up a very pertinent point from the Society socials about the penalty decision yesterday and its about timing. 

At the start of the sequence, the Hearts player heads the ball whilst lying on the ground. Thats a foul. Its only after that that Welsh kicks him. 

The "victim" was so badly injured that he had to roll about several times. 

Exactly this. The offence took place before Welsh made contact, and the fact Kabore got a boot to his noggin simply highlights it was dangerous play on his part, as defined by the laws of the game.

[weeyin]

21 hours ago, star sail said:

The subjective nature of decision making is killing the game in Scotland.

When you take try and take out the subjectivity, you end up with the current hand ball rules.

There are multiple issues that need to be dealt with, from refs not understanding the game to players being coached to cheat.

One of the biggest challenges is the small pool of available talent and how to address that.

[wellfan]

If that’s a penalty, we might as well start coaching our strikers to get down to ground level and start diving head-first into the path of defenders’ boots at every opportunity in the box. Oh wait, that’d be a foul for the defender.

[thewelllfan]

11 hours ago, mio said:

Have we ever had a really good footballer who was a hammer thrower? We’d kill for someone like that now.

he only one who springs to mind was luc nijholt. Can’t think of anyone else.

Alex Gorrin was in that mould. He was a dead cert for a yellow most games from smashing somebody but really tidy with the ball.

[Stuwell2]

6 hours ago, bobbybingo said:

Exactly this. The offence took place before Welsh made contact, and the fact Kabore got a boot to his noggin simply highlights it was dangerous play on his part, as defined by the laws of the game.

I suspect what we will be told if it’s even discussed, is that the player on the ground didn’t make much of an effort to head the ball and didn’t move his head much so Welsh was always going to hit him on the head and as such shouldn’t have attempted to hit the ball.  
Not saying I think that’s correct just what we will be told as I’ve no doubt that they’ve all spent the last day thinking up a solution to their ineptitude and fuck up. 

[bobbybingo]

5 hours ago, Stuwell2 said:

I suspect what we will be told if it’s even discussed, is that the player on the ground didn’t make much of an effort to head the ball and didn’t move his head much so Welsh was always going to hit him on the head and as such shouldn’t have attempted to hit the ball.  
Not saying I think that’s correct just what we will be told as I’ve no doubt that they’ve all spent the last day thinking up a solution to their ineptitude and fuck up. 

Yeah, there's no way that one's going down as an incorrect decision. I'm more interested in hearing Collum explain how both the referee and VAR managed to miss the Maswanhise penalty. My money's on a shrug.

[wunderwell]

9 hours ago, thewelllfan said:

Alex Gorrin was in that mould. He was a dead cert for a yellow most games from smashing somebody but really tidy with the ball.

Jennings? Valakari?

[SteelmaninOZ]

 

 

[GrahamH]

On 4/13/2026 at 7:12 AM, bobbybingo said:

Yeah, there's no way that one's going down as an incorrect decision. I'm more interested in hearing Collum explain how both the referee and VAR managed to miss the Maswanhise penalty. My money's on a shrug.

They’ll just say they didn’t have the angle that confirmed it the same as they did with the Fadinger one at Ibrox.

[texanwellfan]

With all the talk about the PK and our missed chances we never really gave JT some credit for his move that should have ended in a goal. That was a superb move that left the hearts defender helpless. I think JT could have had a better touch as he ran in on goal but then done well again to fake out the sliding hearts defender. Haven’t watched it back but not sure if a pass to Longello was on or not but JT should still have got it on target. Although he didn’t score that was His best game for a while, much more involved. Looking for more of that after the split along with a few goals. 

[Spiderpig]

2 hours ago, texanwellfan said:

With all the talk about the PK and our missed chances we never really gave JT some credit for his move that should have ended in a goal. That was a superb move that left the hearts defender helpless. I think JT could have had a better touch as he ran in on goal but then done well again to fake out the sliding hearts defender. Haven’t watched it back but not sure if a pass to Longello was on or not but JT should still have got it on target. Although he didn’t score that was His best game for a while, much more involved. Looking for more of that after the split along with a few goals. 

It was a great move that took two defenders completely out of the game, but not finishing it off by  scoring was very poor, that was the game and 3 points right there.

[bobbybingo]

5 hours ago, GrahamH said:

They’ll just say they didn’t have the angle that confirmed it the same as they did with the Fadinger one at Ibrox.

That's probably a given, but if VAR in Scotland can't conclusively prove there was contact on Maswanhise, there can be absolutely no doubt it's not fit for purpose.