MJC

To be fair Sol has been poor of late getting caught out by Duk for Aberdeen’s winner the other week though Lamie was equally culpable for that one, and then Sunday’s handball for the penalty. Bevis is probably a bit more mobile but I’d say he’s even more likely to have an absolute brainstorm and I definitely don’t think this is the type of game for him. Time will tell though.

Cornelius in for Shields is definitely an upgrade so I’m pleased to see that switch. I don’t understand the Mugabi for Sol change though, unless Sol is carrying a knock? By the looks of their line up they are going with a front three of Jota, Kyogo and Abada so if they are on their game they will do some serious damage tonight.

Mugabi at the back against their rapid front line is a terrifying thought.

Team announced, SO’D in for McGinn as expected and Mugabi starts in place of Sol who’s benched. Shields drops to the bench too with Cornelius in. Moult remains on the bench.

Sadly true. Tonight can’t be over quick enough and then we can focus on Perth on Saturday, which in reality is a much bigger game for us than this one.

That’s the only way we would see a “get intae them” type performance from us nowadays in this fixture. Saying that we could do with a new attitude and ethos too. As it is our performances in this fixture can usually be summed up in six words. “Welcome to our great wee club”.

Exactly there is absolutely no point in saying “should have, could have” because all that matters is we didn’t get those points and we only have ourselves to blame for it. We need to cut out basic errors, defensive lapses and start taking chances when they come. We also need to start showing more character once we fall behind in games.

Well no arguments about your last sentence, that’s entirely fair. I think we also differ on definition of what the relegation zone is though. You obviously see it as just 12th spot whereas I consider the playoff spot, which we are only four clear of as the relegation zone too. But after tonight is out the way we do have a much more favourable run of fixtures either side of the WC break. St.Johnstone then two home games against St.Mirren and Kilmarnock are the type of games you would hope, expect perhaps, to pick up points in.

That game still annoys me to this day. A classic Motherwell bottle job. As has been said we are only four clear of the playoff spot and in poor form. In a league which is as tight as this you need to pick up points and we haven’t been doing enough of that over the past month. Ross County beating Hibs last night bringing them to within a point of us isn’t great for us either, especially given that we will get nothing tonight.

Livingston 2-0 up against Aberdeen early doors tonight. These are the sides that you would expect/hope us to be competing against in the league and if that stays the same then Livi are six points ahead of us. We need to start picking up points and although tomorrow night is almost certainly a write off you look to the St.Johnstone game at the weekend as a game where we really need to get something if we are to avoid getting cut off in the relegation zone.

Absolutely agree with this but this is something you see in football all over the world. The bigger or more ‘fashionable’ club get more exposure in the media so the manager, players or even supporters of that club use that to their advantage to keep the positive focus on their team. Hearts are obviously a bigger club than we are and so in the eyes of the media more fashionable so therefore command more media attention and support and Neilson knew exactly what he was doing with his comments. Had that been Hearts v Celtic yesterday with the exact same scoreline and the exact same incidents then Ange Postecoglou would have made damn sure that the entire focus was on Gordon’s non red card and whether the disallowed equaliser at 2-1 was justified or not(regardless of whether it was or not). And that would get the majority of the media focus and any grievance that Hearts and Neilson had would have barely warranted a mention.

Forgot that was a midweek game for some reason! Shaun Fagan got our first with a diving header.

Last one was in December 2018. 1-1 draw in a game we were never in until a late Danny Johnson leveller. That was the last time we avoided defeat in this fixture. The best midweek night under the lights v Celtic I can think of was almost ten years ago, February 2013. We won 2-1 with goals from Law and Higdon just after McFadden had returned first time around.

The sad thing is that’s probably the best case scenario we can hope for. Celtic are obviously a top side and when they’re on their game no side in Scotland can live with them, we’re not unique in that sense. My worry is that a serious hammering may well sap our already fragile confidence.

An absolute drubbing on the cards. 0-7

The transfers windows of January and summer ‘23 will be where we’ll see if the board are prepared to help SH out as they will definitely have to however they can. And yes I know that we aren’t blessed with a big budget but we will have to make some moves and they will have to be able to be players who can come in and make an impact straight away, so it’s a big job for Hammell too.

It’s just so infuriatingly predictable I’m afraid. It might be boring to read but the pattern is there for all to see. We lose the first goal = we lose the game. That has been the case in every single match we have played this season where we have conceded first. We make sloppy passes, we miss chances, we give away cheap goals, we look less hungry than the opposition. All of that has been evident from us this season. I said during the game when it was 2-1 and we were in the middle of our best spell of the game that I thought Hearts would run up the park and make it 3-1 and kill it off. I was wrong about that, but there was still the predictability over them winning it 3-2 once we’d managed to get it back to 2-2. Once the team starts looking as though they are learning from their mistakes and shows that they are capable of not losing a game where we lose the first goal then I’ll stop boring you and everyone else on this forum and the admins/mods can quote me on that.

I agree and far too many of our regular starters just aren’t good enough for this level, with Shields and Spittal being the main culprits. When you add in an inexperienced manager in his first appointment then it’s a recipe for disaster.

We’ve been like that for a while but it’s a growing trend this season. As I said earlier on we have not even managed to draw a game this season where we have conceded the opening goal. We have scored five equalisers this season and only went on to win once, that was against Aberdeen in August when we went 2-1 down and got it back to 2-2. There is clearly a mentality issue as well as a coaching issue in this team. All in all it’s just not good enough.

I knew we would still lose even when we got it back to 2-2, absolutely knew it.

No complaints about losing that. If you can’t defend, can’t even do the basics like keep possession or track runs against a side with ten men then you don’t deserve anything. We look a very poorly coached side, which is alarming.

I make it three, St.J at home in August, Aberdeen the other week and now today.

We do it all the time. Get ourselves back level from a losing position then we have no idea what to do next. We haven’t been good enough yet again today, don’t let coming from 2-0 down to level it kid you on.

Penalty Hearts.

Better spell for us but you just know that Hearts will get the next goal and kill it off soon. We just don’t have goals in us and that is a killer for us. I make that our 7th penalty this season which is incredible and thank god for that as we would be even worse off without them.