Danny Rohl comes across as a really lovely fellow.
Away to the huns in the cup quarter final, bhoys.
Celtic drawn away to sevco in the SCQF. A tough run of fixtures coming
Stuttgart away
Sevco away
Aberdeen away
Sevco away
Motherwell home
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I think Walsh is okay but fucking Dallas on VAR.
All blood & thunder in a rainswept Tynecastle Park. Hibs probably had slightly the better of it but neither side had many attempts on goal. Scoreless at half time.
This is a right good game.
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BIG GOAL in the title race.
Fuck. Hearts scored with their first real chance very late on.
Ah lovely. Come on the Jambos.
That was some camera shot of David Gray turning away in the digust after Hibs messed up their last chance putting the ball out of play, with the fists of the Heart Of Midlothian supporters pumping into the air all along the stand in the background.
An ICONIC image which I’ll probably never see again.
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I thought Hearts were looking leggy (despite being out of the cup & not having European football) AND showing strong signs of choking. They seemed to be feeling the pressure but it’s the kind of win that gives them another huge boost & surge of confidence. Maybe clutching at straws but might not be the worst thing for their bubble not to be burst before they play the huns on Sunday. Still think I’d prefer Hearts to win that one, more so than a draw even. All the pressure onto the other three sides in the top four now for tomorrow’s slate of fixtures.
After Leicester lost with a last minute goal against Arsenal on February 14th, 2016, a result everybody expected would derail them, they played relegation-bound Norwich at home in their next game a couple of weeks later. It looked all set to be a 0-0 and more crucial points dropped, and then Leicester scored the winner in injury time. That was probably the biggest goal of the entire title race and Leicester took something like 22 points from the next 24 and that was that.
Heart Of Midlothian’s goal could prove to be a wee bit like that Leicester goal.
Huns will beat hearts 2-0
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Goals from the penalty spot and a dodgy offside decision, with a Hearts sending off thrown in for good measure
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Putting my conspiracy theorist hat on, Motherwell-Huns is a big game tonight. But looking beyond that I think Huns-Hearts will be instructive over which way the masonic refereeing fraternity want the title race to tilt.
They’re gaming VAR these days by awarding 40/60, 50/50 penalties to the Huns. The…that’s a very, very soft penalty but probably not something you could definitively overturn…penalty. The huns have been awarded 5 penalties in their last 6 games. That’s flicked the other way for Celtic &/or whoever the huns are playing on a given day. The penalty Motherwell were denied at Ibrox in the last minute of their 1-0 defeat in December was as much of a penalty as any of the Huns’ 5.
For Hearts, they’re physical, direct, score most of their goals from set pieces & revel in ugly, stop start games. So what have referees been doing? Letting Hearts kick the shit out of the opposition with impunity while awarding them a load of free kicks for incidental bits & pieces. It stops the opposition from getting into any flow & allows Hearts to pump balls into the box, with second balls, defensive clearances etc usually leading to further corners, attacking long throws etc & an accumulation of set piece pressure.
Something will have to give at Ibrox on Sunday! Hearts might go from being awarded a shed load of free kicks to barely any at all. Maybe the Huns will be denied a penalty in a touch & go decision. We’ll just have to tune in & find out.
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The HFA have two horses in a three horse race. It might help them at times but when it comes to the crunch at the weekend they will always favour their first born. I note Steven Mclean is on flute duty tonight, brother of ex hun youngster Brian of course. Tav pen better have his penalty boots on
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That was a very disappointing turn of events last night for the Teddy Bear family. A 4 point injury time swing. They’re under real pressure now ahead of the visit of Heart of Midlothian to Ibrox on Sunday. Lose to the Jambos there and their title charge has effectively collapsed in just 4 games.
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That’s two assists now for late winners in two games for Tounekti.
Unseen hero.
Granted, he’s shit.
Any further thoughts on the title race in Europe’s most exciting league?
Celtic could have been around 4-0 up & should have been at least 2-0 ahead after 10 minutes. Set piece defending is still a big issue, most deliveries are causing consternation at best & chaos on occasion. Schmeichel made a sharp save at 0-0 from a shot off a long throw & the penalty concession came from the second phase of a corner not fully dealt with.
Celtic could have had another couple of goals before half time after the breakthrough but it’s funny how the dynamic changes when there’s an equalising goal after being dominant. Celtic repeatedly collapsed in these scenarios under his name who shall not be mentioned, but at least they went to the bitter end again under MON.
You’d wonder how sustainable it is…but for now it’s just about staying in the fight & trying to ensure others blink first. I mentioned the 4-point swing on the match thread last night & how the nights when Celtic & the huns are playing at the same time (give or take the 15-minute difference in kick-off) are often full of drama.
It’s a pity in a way it’s so rare but (for @Arthur ’s benefit) it’s essentially because one or the other of them is usually shown live on TV at the weekend outside the usual 3pm Saturday slate, so it’s these midweek rounds when it can occur. Imagine being a hun in the away end last night hearing that Celtic had scored an injury time winner only for a Celtic loanee to score for Motherwell seconds later.
The huns are very pragmatic under Rohl & the Motherwell manager called them out for their cynicism. I’d noticed Rohl had started to get a little ahead of himself in his media stuff - “it would be amazing if we win these next two games & find ourselves top” type comments. It’ll be interesting to see how they respond on Sunday - I’d practically ruled them out of the title race when they lost at Hearts before Christmas but they went on a run since then. I think my results order of preference is now: 1) Draw, 2) Hearts win, 3) Huns win.
As for Celtic, the way the Ox simultaneously controlled the pass, opened up his body & got the shot off was WORLD CLASS. He seems like a lovely chap too. The way these games have been going I don’t think anything is a formality, & that certainly goes for the plastic pitch at Killie on Sunday. The pressure across all sides in only going to increase as the games left reduce towards & into single digits.
A few other nagging concerns other than the general ones mentioned above:
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Not sure Cvancara or Adamu (despite contributions by both so far) move the dial as much as I hoped. That said, they’re both better than Kenny & Yamada obviously.
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Engels injury is far from ideal in an area of weakness already. Hatate’s cameo was deplorable. The Ox might need to take on a bigger role immediately rather than being phased in.
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Mvuka didn’t even make the bench last night after an underwhelming 45-minute debut at the weekend. Tounekti starting from the right for the first time possibly.