This is how it feels (Hearts 31102020)

[Jonnyboy]

Absolutely gutted. That’s the only way I can describe my feelings tonight. The record books will show that Hearts beat us and that is technically correct, but in my view I felt we beat ourselves by failing to take good opportunities to score or making the wrong choice when in a good position to threaten their goal. Of course, Craig Gordon made a couple of crucial saves, but the truth is we didn’t give him nearly enough to do.

In the starting line up, Doig replaced the injured Lewis Stevenson whilst Kyle Magennis was preferred to Stevie Mallan in midfield. Our set up was designed to move from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 when out of possession and to a great extent that worked but for me we didn’t inject enough pace into our play, especially later in the game when the Hearts players looked as though they were tiring a bit. A double substitution helped Hearts enormously with the experienced Steven Naismith and Peter Haring bringing a fresh look to their midfield. For our part, we replaced the ineffective Magennis with Jamie Murphy who took over the left midfield berth but for me it was in the centre that we began to lose control.

Hearts came out of the blocks and for the first couple of minutes they had the best of possession with the best opportunity falling to Michael Smith, but his effort was easily saved by Marciano. At the other end, interplay between Doidge and Nisbet saw the ball reach Magennis around sixteen yards from goal but in acres of space. The Hibs man rushed his shot, and it was charged down by Michael Smith when Kyle had the whole goal to aim at.

For their part, a poorly cleared corner allowed Olly Lee to strike a left footed effort from outside the box, but the ball flew well wide of the Hibs goal. On the half hour a super move saw Boyle free on the right and his perfect cross was right on the forehead of Kevin Nisbet, but the striker’s powerful header was somehow saved by Craig Gordon. It was a brilliant save but perhaps Kevin might have headed the ball downwards as if he had I’m pretty he’d have scored. Fairly soon after that another cross to the back post was attacked by Christian Doidge but under pressure from a marker the ball struck his shoulder and went behind for a goal kick.

A poor effort from Roberts at the other end was easily gathered by Marciano and with the half time whistle approaching, Willie Collum finally found his yellow card after Popescu committed his umpteenth foul. During the break I reflected on the fact that we had been the better team for large parts but had failed to capitalise on any of the chances created.

Hibs started the second half better than they had the first and were soon pressing forward at every opportunity. Boyle was fed inside the box, but his angled right footed effort was blocked at the expense of a corner. When that corner came into the box, Magennis got something on it but his effort was blocked.

Those missed opportunities came back to haunt Hibs when a cross from the right by Lee was met at the back post by the head of the unmarked Wighton who powered his header home. It was a sickening blow and prompted the introduction of Jamie Murphy who replaced the ineffective Kyle Magennis on the left.

Pushing to get back into the game, Boyle raced free through the middle but when he tried to pick out the fantastic run of Kevin Nisbet, he under hit the pass and Kingsley cleared for a throw in. Pretty much from that throw in, Hibs equalised when Joe Newell curled in an inviting cross which Doidge deflected brilliantly into the bottom corner with Craig Gordon stranded. A few minutes later, Wighton fluffed his lines and sent a glorious effort wide of Marciano’s right hand post. Then Boyce broke free but with Marciano rushing to close him down the Hearts man struck a feeble effort past the post.

It was pretty much end to end by this time and I honestly felt we’d go on to win because the Hearts players were showing real signs of fatigue by this time. Unfortunately, we were not in my view, playing with enough pace and intensity and so Gordon’s goal was rarely threatened. As a result, the game kind of petered out and so extra time came into play.

Five minutes in and Alex Gogic hit a wonderful volley as the ball dropped to him around twenty yards out and Craig Gordon was extremely lucky as the ball hit his chest, struck the post and was cleared. With the break approaching, Newell hit a fine effort that Craig Gordon dived to his left to save.

At the start of the second half of extra time, Hibs pushed forward, and Joe Newell went down in the box under the challenge of Popescu and I immediately shouted for a penalty and Willie Collum agreed, pointing to the spot. Up stepped Kevin Nisbet who tried to blast the ball high into the net only to look on in horror as the ball smashed off the crossbar. In all honesty, having watched the replay several times I couldn’t really detect enough contact to cause the fall. What does surprise me is that both Willie Collum and fifth official Bobby Madden had an unimpeded view of the incident.

Just a few minutes later, substitute Aiden White went down in the box under challenge from Paul McGinn. Once again there was little evidence of contact and I couldn’t help but think Willie Collum was just evening things up. Sadly, for Hibs, the outcome from the penalty was not the same as Nisbet’s as Boyce crashed the ball past Marciano.

The writing was on the wall now as Hibs’ efforts to get back into the game were thwarted and as a result of that failure it would be Hearts that qualified for the final.

As I said at the outset, I am gutted with the outcome of this game but, though it may be a cliché, if you don’t take your chances, you’ll end up paying the price. What’s important to me now is that the players get over this quickly because we have another huge game coming up on Friday when we travel to face Aberdeen.

The players

Marciano – Strangely, Rocky didn’t really have a lot to do, certainly when compared to his opposite number. On one occasion however he dallied on the ball and was very nearly closed down. Stop it Rocky, it’s bad for my heart.

McGinn – I’m a big fan of Paul but I do wonder where on earth he was when Wighton popped up at the back post to score.

Porteous – I thought Ryan was immense – a lad playing way beyond his years and he totally deserves my man of the match award.

Hanlon – Paul wasn’t far behind Ryan in terms of performance.

Doig – Josh had a good first half but struggled a wee bit when Hearts made a double substitution and changed their shape.

Boyle – Martin was starved of supply for the first twenty minutes or so but his cross for Nisbet’s header was top notch. His poor attempted pass when we broke in the second and a couple of mis-control’s let him down.

Gogic – Patrolled the midfield to good effect and was lucky to go as long without a yellow card. His volley, sweetly struck, deserved better than a lucky save by Craig Gordon.

Newell – Once again most of the penetrative play came via Joe but I wonder if he did indeed feel any contact at the penalty.

Magennis – Kyle should have burst the net with his first half effort. Other than that, I feel he was pretty ineffective for the most part.

Nisbet – I feel heart sorry for the laddie. I’m guessing that he knew he’d have to hit the penalty with power to beat Craig Gordon and his stomach will have dropped to his feet when he witnessed his effort smash off the bar.

Doidge – The big fella worked his socks off for the cause and his finish for the goal was exceptional.

Murphy – Jamie did quite well and was unlucky a couple of times that attempts at goal were charged down.

Mackie – Gave his all for the time he was on the pitch.

Mallan – Only got a few minutes and unfortunately, we didn’t get any free kicks in the range that he likes.

Jack Ross – Clearly hurting but good on him for not doing a Lenny and blasting his players.

Willie Collum – I thought he took too long to produce a card; Gogic should have had one much earlier for example and I wonder if the fact that Popescu was already on a yellow entered his mind when he failed to book the Hearts man for the foul that brought the penalty.

I was interested to read that Neil McCann thought the Hibs penalty was a stonewaller whilst he felt White went over too easily for the Hearts one! Also, I’m fairly sure Craig Thomson was critical of some of Collum’s decisions – who would’ve thought it?

[Since452]

Thought Porteous's awareness was pretty poor today. Putting it out for a corner when he could have just cleared it was baffling.

[Magpie]

Absolutely gutted. That’s the only way I can describe my feelings tonight. The record books will show that Hearts beat us and that is technically correct, but in my view I felt we beat ourselves by failing to take good opportunities to score or making the wrong choice when in a good position to threaten their goal. Of course, Craig Gordon made a couple of crucial saves, but the truth is we didn’t give him nearly enough to do.

In the starting line up, Doig replaced the injured Lewis Stevenson whilst Kyle Magennis was preferred to Stevie Mallan in midfield. Our set up was designed to move from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 when out of possession and to a great extent that worked but for me we didn’t inject enough pace into our play, especially later in the game when the Hearts players looked as though they were tiring a bit. A double substitution helped Hearts enormously with the experienced Steven Naismith and Peter Haring bringing a fresh look to their midfield. For our part, we replaced the ineffective Magennis with Jamie Murphy who took over the left midfield berth but for me it was in the centre that we began to lose control.

Hearts came out of the blocks and for the first couple of minutes they had the best of possession with the best opportunity falling to Michael Smith, but his effort was easily saved by Marciano. At the other end, interplay between Doidge and Nisbet saw the ball reach Magennis around sixteen yards from goal but in acres of space. The Hibs man rushed his shot, and it was charged down by Michael Smith when Kyle had the whole goal to aim at.

For their part, a poorly cleared corner allowed Olly Lee to strike a left footed effort from outside the box, but the ball flew well wide of the Hibs goal. On the half hour a super move saw Boyle free on the right and his perfect cross was right on the forehead of Kevin Nisbet, but the striker’s powerful header was somehow saved by Craig Gordon. It was a brilliant save but perhaps Kevin might have headed the ball downwards as if he had I’m pretty he’d have scored. Fairly soon after that another cross to the back post was attacked by Christian Doidge but under pressure from a marker the ball struck his shoulder and went behind for a goal kick.

A poor effort from Roberts at the other end was easily gathered by Marciano and with the half time whistle approaching, Willie Collum finally found his yellow card after Popescu committed his umpteenth foul. During the break I reflected on the fact that we had been the better team for large parts but had failed to capitalise on any of the chances created.

Hibs started the second half better than they had the first and were soon pressing forward at every opportunity. Boyle was fed inside the box, but his angled right footed effort was blocked at the expense of a corner. When that corner came into the box, Magennis got something on it but his effort was blocked.

Those missed opportunities came back to haunt Hibs when a cross from the right by Lee was met at the back post by the head of the unmarked Wighton who powered his header home. It was a sickening blow and prompted the introduction of Jamie Murphy who replaced the ineffective Kyle Magennis on the left.

Pushing to get back into the game, Boyle raced free through the middle but when he tried to pick out the fantastic run of Kevin Nisbet, he under hit the pass and Kingsley cleared for a throw in. Pretty much from that throw in, Hibs equalised when Joe Newell curled in an inviting cross which Doidge deflected brilliantly into the bottom corner with Craig Gordon stranded. A few minutes later, Wighton fluffed his lines and sent a glorious effort wide of Marciano’s right hand post. Then Boyce broke free but with Marciano rushing to close him down the Hearts man struck a feeble effort past the post.

It was pretty much end to end by this time and I honestly felt we’d go on to win because the Hearts players were showing real signs of fatigue by this time. Unfortunately, we were not in my view, playing with enough pace and intensity and so Gordon’s goal was rarely threatened. As a result, the game kind of petered out and so extra time came into play.

Five minutes in and Alex Gogic hit a wonderful volley as the ball dropped to him around twenty yards out and Craig Gordon was extremely lucky as the ball hit his chest, struck the post and was cleared. With the break approaching, Newell hit a fine effort that Craig Gordon dived to his left to save.

At the start of the second half of extra time, Hibs pushed forward, and Joe Newell went down in the box under the challenge of Popescu and I immediately shouted for a penalty and Willie Collum agreed, pointing to the spot. Up stepped Kevin Nisbet who tried to blast the ball high into the net only to look on in horror as the ball smashed off the crossbar. In all honesty, having watched the replay several times I couldn’t really detect enough contact to cause the fall. What does surprise me is that both Willie Collum and fifth official Bobby Madden had an unimpeded view of the incident.

Just a few minutes later, substitute Aiden White went down in the box under challenge from Paul McGinn. Once again there was little evidence of contact and I couldn’t help but think Willie Collum was just evening things up. Sadly, for Hibs, the outcome from the penalty was not the same as Nisbet’s as Boyce crashed the ball past Marciano.

The writing was on the wall now as Hibs’ efforts to get back into the game were thwarted and as a result of that failure it would be Hearts that qualified for the final.

As I said at the outset, I am gutted with the outcome of this game but, though it may be a cliché, if you don’t take your chances, you’ll end up paying the price. What’s important to me now is that the players get over this quickly because we have another huge game coming up on Friday when we travel to face Aberdeen.

The players

Marciano – Strangely, Rocky didn’t really have a lot to do, certainly when compared to his opposite number. On one occasion however he dallied on the ball and was very nearly closed down. Stop it Rocky, it’s bad for my heart.

McGinn – I’m a big fan of Paul but I do wonder where on earth he was when Wighton popped up at the back post to score.

Porteous – I thought Ryan was immense – a lad playing way beyond his years and he totally deserves my man of the match award.

Hanlon – Paul wasn’t far behind Ryan in terms of performance.

Doig – Josh had a good first half but struggled a wee bit when Hearts made a double substitution and changed their shape.

Boyle – Martin was starved of supply for the first twenty minutes or so but his cross for Nisbet’s header was top notch. His poor attempted pass when we broke in the second and a couple of mis-control’s let him down.

Gogic – Patrolled the midfield to good effect and was lucky to go as long without a yellow card. His volley, sweetly struck, deserved better than a lucky save by Craig Gordon.

Newell – Once again most of the penetrative play came via Joe but I wonder if he did indeed feel any contact at the penalty.

Magennis – Kyle should have burst the net with his first half effort. Other than that, I feel he was pretty ineffective for the most part.

Nisbet – I feel heart sorry for the laddie. I’m guessing that he knew he’d have to hit the penalty with power to beat Craig Gordon and his stomach will have dropped to his feet when he witnessed his effort smash off the bar.

Doidge – The big fella worked his socks off for the cause and his finish for the goal was exceptional.

Murphy – Jamie did quite well and was unlucky a couple of times that attempts at goal were charged down.

Mackie – Gave his all for the time he was on the pitch.

Mallan – Only got a few minutes and unfortunately, we didn’t get any free kicks in the range that he likes.

Jack Ross – Clearly hurting but good on him for not doing a Lenny and blasting his players.

Willie Collum – I thought he took too long to produce a card; Gogic should have had one much earlier for example and I wonder if the fact that Popescu was already on a yellow entered his mind when he failed to book the Hearts man for the foul that brought the penalty.

I was interested to read that Neil McCann thought the Hibs penalty was a stonewaller whilst he felt White went over too easily for the Hearts one! Also, I’m fairly sure Craig Thomson was critical of some of Collum’s decisions – who would’ve thought it?

If he isn’t publicly criticising the players then I hope he’s doing something behind closed doors to let them know that performance was just as woeful as the last one against them.

[Hiber-nation]

Opinions opinions....I thought Porteous gave away too many stupid fouls again and conceded 2 stupid corners, absolutely no need whatsoever. Bailed out by Hanlon again.

[DaveF]

Can't agree with Porteous as motm. I thought he looked nervous and had quite a few unforced errors.

[Magpie]

Can't agree with Porteous as motm. I thought he looked nervous and had quite a few unforced errors.

I agree. Hanlon looked the better of the two.

[Blaster]

Thought Porteous was at fault for the first goal and Paul Mcginn was excellent

Opinions eh

[Sir David Gray]

Can't agree with Porteous as motm. I thought he looked nervous and had quite a few unforced errors.

Me neither thought he was poor.

[BILLYHIBS]

Brilliant Jonnyboy as usual

One criticism you missed out our double penalty claim at the end of regulation time that was also missed by the Scottish equivalent of VAR Willie Collum and Bobby Madden :greengrin

[Zambernardi1875]

Hanlon was far more composed than Porto, Boyle was as per poor, expected more from mgennis . Mentality snd tesm talk from jack Ross with willy being the ref and playing against hearts was well off. Not seen enough football and control of games from any betfred games

[BT58]

Sorry JB. But dont agree that PH and RP had good games. Were missing PASSION from our team and i never saw that today. I like PH, he and JR needs to kick a few erses this week
B

[CMac1988]

Yup. I vented in the match thread after the game in a post where a singled out a few players for either not being good enough or not trying enough. I was perhaps somewhat critical but Porteous managed to avoid my criticisms. He played well in spells but also made a number of needless fouls, and poor clearances. Like many of his team mates he was found wanting when it comes to decision making.

[Jonnyboy]

Opinions opinions....I thought Porteous gave away too many stupid fouls again and conceded 2 stupid corners, absolutely no need whatsoever. Bailed out by Hanlon again.

Indeed :agree:

[skyhibs]

Gutted the same as everyone... Porteous was absolute murder the day....the rest of the players were just not good enough,,, bottle merchants... we should be pumping these teams... I know were are in a good position in the league but a good few of our performances were just not good enough.... we need another striker and Mackie is just not good enough

End of ranting, for today anyway

[JCHibby]

If he isn’t publicly criticising the players then I hope he’s doing something behind closed doors to let them know that performance was just as woeful as the last one against them.

Porto caught ball watching for the first, so completely disagree. Nisbet, Gordon cannot get down on the floor, **** me, hit any **** on the deck he will not make it. We were the better team but analysis of how to hurt them must be better

[Col L]

Tough one to write I’m sure John, as sick as we all are. I wouldn’t have given anyone MOTM, and thought Porteous made a few errors, but Doidge gave his all and scored a good goal and was denied by Gordon from a well executed overhead kick.
For me, we should defo have had a penalty in injury time, more of a pen than the dubious one we got in extra time.
Collum was abysmal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[The Harp Awakes]

Can't agree with Porteous as motm. I thought he looked nervous and had quite a few unforced errors.

Yes, not one of Ryan's best games. He's been immense this season but looked jittery tonight. Boyle seems to have lost his mojo.

[Bristolhibby]

Also, while we are nit picking. Can Rocky not put his foot through balls and leather them?

J

[Scotty Leither]

Nah sorry, disagree John -thought Porteous was poor today, and gave a lot of needless fouls away. Best man for me was Newell - his reverse pass to Boyle turned the whole Hearts' backline and was let down by a horrendous touch by Boyle, who needs dropped in my opinion, but we have such limited options off the bench that he's a shoe-in every week.

Oh and I'd like Ross to show a wee bit more passion than he does on the touchline.

[bigwheel]

JB, I actually thought Porto had a poor game today ..struggled badly , looked off form ..time and time again made bad decisions ..fought hard, don’t get me wrong , can’t fault him for effort ..but almost nothing he seemed to try came off for him ...I might be wrong , but wasn’t it him to lost Wighton for their goal ? Apologies to Ryan if I got that wrong .

[DaveF]

Yes, not one of Ryan's best games. He's been immense this season but looked jittery tonight. Boyle seems to have lost his mojo.

He has been a huge disappointment this season. Seems unwilling to take on a man which makes him largely ineffective. Though he did stick in a couple of good crosses from which we should have scored.

[Greenbeard]

Not Porto's best match but he wasn't too bad, miscued back pass apart.
Hopefully Nisbet not affected by his penalty miss. Will be a test for his mental fortitude. He was quiet at times but still showed his class.
Popescu's booking for pulling him back when he was breaking free was not sufficient punishment. Not by any means suggesting it should have been red, but Nisbet was away and if the cover came across to challenge him it would have freed up Doidge I think for a free run and pop at goal. Football needs a rugby style sin bin for blatant cynical fouls like that - an orange card if you like. Hearts down to 10 men for 10 minutes would have been a more appropriate punishment than just a yellow.

[kaimendhibs]

Sorry but imo that was Portos worst ever game for Hibs. By a mile

[BILLYHIBS]

Not Porto's best match but he wasn't too bad, miscued back pass apart.
Hopefully Nisbet not affected by his penalty miss. Will be a test for his mental fortitude. He was quiet at times but still showed his class.
Popescu's booking for pulling him back when he was breaking free was not sufficient punishment. Not by any means suggesting it should have been red, but Nisbet was away and if the cover came across to challenge him it would have freed up Doidge I think for a free run and pop at goal. Football needs a rugby style sin bin for blatant cynical fouls like that - an orange card if you like. Hearts down to 10 men for 10 minutes would have been a more appropriate punishment than just a yellow.

Popescu then gave away a penalty surely another yellow card?

[Dan Sarf]

Nah sorry, disagree John -thought Porteous was poor today, and gave a lot of needless fouls away. Best man for me was Newell - his reverse pass to Boyle turned the whole Hearts' backline and was let down by a horrendous touch by Boyle, who needs dropped in my opinion, but we have such limited options off the bench that he's a shoe-in every week.

Oh and I'd like Ross to show a wee bit more passion than he does on the touchline.

Newell for MOM for me too.

[hibIBZ]

Porteous was totally at fault for their goal. McGinn had moved to the centre to cover Naismith o think it was and porteous totally lost wighton and got caught underneath the cross totally ball watching. Positioning and awareness was poor. Although I thought he did well generally, but he got caught out there

[Hermit Crab]

Opinions opinions....I thought Porteous gave away too many stupid fouls again and conceded 2 stupid corners, absolutely no need whatsoever. Bailed out by Hanlon again.


He should have picked up Wighton, he ghosted in behind Porteous who was totally unaware as he was ball watching.

[Roxyhibee]

Thanks for the this, I usually agree with most of your excellent match reports. However, I thought Porteous looked stressed by the whole occasion and made some poor decisions in the second half onwards. I was dreading the ball going near him as the game became more frantic. We are back to square one with Boyle too I’m afraid. Back to battering crosses into defenders legs, poor touch and even poorer simple passes. Lost the composure he seemed to have been developing which made him such a threat. Last years Boyle would have won that for us today. And Gogic - how does a guy go into so many ‘full bloodied’ tackles and hardly ever come away with the ball.?

[Eyrie]

Brilliant Jonnyboy as usual

One criticism you missed out our double penalty claim at the end of regulation time that was also missed by the Scottish equivalent of VAR Willie Collum and Bobby Madden :greengrin

That was the only penalty that should have been given. Madden is usually one of our better refs too.

The two awarded in extra time were bad decisions by Collum.

[Unseen work]

Some of Porteous’ distribution today was absolutely shocking and to be honest amateur. If he wants to progress to a higher level he can’t be conceding corners by slack passes as easily as he did today.

[Hermit Crab]

Some of Porteous’ distribution today was absolutely shocking and to be honest amateur. If he wants to progress to a higher level he can’t be conceding corners by slack passes as easily as he did today.


He won't play at a much higher level. The laddie has no pace. Defenders with pace are worth their weight in gold.

[Greenbeard]

He should have picked up Wighton, he ghosted in behind Porteous who was totally unaware as he was ball watching.
Wighton was only able to "ghost" in behind Porto cos Hanlon gave up on tracking him back. Picks him up from the centre circle and has him covered up to the 18 yard line and then just totally gives up, allowing Wighton to get in behind Porto. You don't see it on the BBC highlights but you do on Hibs TV goal highlights. It's a shocker from Hanlon really.

[roo62]

That was the only penalty that should have been given. Madden is usually one of our better refs too.

The two awarded in extra time were bad decisions by Collum.

Agreed. He had three penalty calls and got them all wrong.

[HFC 0-7]

Although a lot of good play comes through Newell, having in the team is like playing with a man down when we don’t have the ball. Zero urgency to close players down, couple of occasions other team mates ran past him to close down opposition when he was closer.

[Not In The Know]

Brilliant Jonnyboy as usual

One criticism you missed out our double penalty claim at the end of regulation time that was also missed by the Scottish equivalent of VAR Willie Collum and Bobby Madden :greengrin

it was probably 3 claims

[PeeJay]

Good, interesting report as ever. Think all our players were inconsistent yesterday, we had several good moments, but too many bad ones and far too many top performers making the wrong decision when it matters. You are right about pace - we are far too ponderous at switching from the back going forward - think we stood off them far too often, we should have pressed and harried them more. Still don't think we are cohesive enough as a team, too many plyers still seem unaware of where their team mates are at any given time? Think we lack strong characters in the team, never saw much fight as the clock ticked down - having said that, the conditions yesterday were atrocious ... I wouldn't give anybody in a Hibs team a MoM award if they lose to Hearts! :greengrin

[Lago]

Disappointed as is everyone else, some poor performances today from Hibs players, I do have sympathy for Porteous & Nesbit, young players that maybe let the occasion get to them. I'm more concerned about the likes of Boyle who appears to have regress to the player he use to be, poor touch & a failure to take on and beat opponents, is he frightened of getting injured in a tackle, who knows. Finally have to say, Nelson out thought Ross on this occasion with his tactics and substitutions also seems to have motivated his players better than our man did.

[Since452]

Marciano needs a rocket up his arse too. Think he thought it was a training game. Took an absolute age to do something with the ball whe he had it and almost got caught a couple of times at passbacks. Slowed the tempo down every time which was like Christmas to Hearts.

[Borderhibbie76]

Your normally spot on mate but I really cannot agree on Porto at all, I thought he was really really poor today dreadful distribution and gave away far too fouls

[Sudds_1]

Gutted like everyone else. We had a golden chance to get to another final and at the same time put ourselves firmly in place as the no. 1 edinburgh team. Instead we gave them the bragging rights alongside a healthy pot of scottish cup cash.

I'm so angry i feel like boycotting ER till the new year! ......oh wait 😁

[The 90+2]

We should have played Daz in a back five.

[The 90+2]

Marciano needs a rocket up his arse too. Think he thought it was a training game. Took an absolute age to do something with the ball whe he had it and almost got caught a couple of times at passbacks. Slowed the tempo down every time which was like Christmas to Hearts.

He 100% has modelled his kicking game on Zambernardi.

[judas]

Thanks Jonnyboy, naturally I share your disappointment, but it’s good to read a rational piece of high quality reporting.

Couple of points:

I agree with many that Porto was poor. I think he makes some rash decisions at times but I think he will rise to better standards over time. To be fair I thought hibs midfield played rather a lot of passes back into defence yesterday which is never a good sign.

I note you did not mention the penalty incidents at the end of the second half. Might be my green tinted specs but I thought we had three penalty shouts in a chaotic 2 second spell.

[erin go bragh]

Thanks Jonnyboy, naturally I share your disappointment, but it’s good to read a rational piece of high quality reporting.

Couple of points:

I agree with many that Porto was poor. I think he makes some rash decisions at times but I think he will rise to better standards over time. To be fair I thought hibs midfield played rather a lot of passes back into defence yesterday which is never a good sign.

I note you did not mention the penalty incidents at the end of the second half. Might be my green tinted specs but I thought we had three penalty shouts in a chaotic 2 second spell.
I’m with you Judas. How JB can fail to mention not one but our two pen claims at the end of 90 mins is without doubt, his worst match report ever .
Porto MOTM just confirms it . JB ,, you have had a mare 😁

[The 90+2]

I’m with you Judas. How JB can fail to mention not one but our two pen claims at the end of 90 mins is without doubt, his worst match report ever .
Porto MOTM just confirms it . JB ,, you have had a mare 😁

Far too disrespectful tbh.

[Jonnyboy]

Thanks Jonnyboy, naturally I share your disappointment, but it’s good to read a rational piece of high quality reporting.

Couple of points:

I agree with many that Porto was poor. I think he makes some rash decisions at times but I think he will rise to better standards over time. To be fair I thought hibs midfield played rather a lot of passes back into defence yesterday which is never a good sign.

I note you did not mention the penalty incidents at the end of the second half. Might be my green tinted specs but I thought we had three penalty shouts in a chaotic 2 second spell.

I've had a chance to rethink after watching some highlights and accept that I got the man of the match award wrong. Having said that I feel there's been a few overly harsh comments about his performance. Ryan will just have to pass the imaginary trophy to Paul :greengrin

As to the penalty incidents I can only guess that in my befuddled state following a bruising defeat that I just wanted to finish writing and log off. :aok:


I’m with you Judas. How JB can fail to mention not one but our two pen claims at the end of 90 mins is without doubt, his worst match report ever .
Porto MOTM just confirms it . JB ,, you have had a mare 😁

Harsh but true - must try harder :wink:

[scoopyboy]

You done well even to put a report up, I would have chucked it to be honest.

[Greenbeard]

I've had a chance to rethink after watching some highlights and accept that I got the man of the match award wrong. Having said that I feel there's been a few overly harsh comments about his performance. Ryan will just have to pass the imaginary trophy to Paul :greengrin

As to the penalty incidents I can only guess that in my befuddled state following a bruising defeat that I just wanted to finish writing and log off. :aok:



Harsh but true - must try harder :wink:
Do you not mean Paula the laundry lady? Cannae be Hanlon Shirley given he was the biggest culprit for their real goal.
That'll be you one report away from a crisis JB! :wink:

[Logie Green]

Marciano needs a rocket up his arse too. Think he thought it was a training game. Took an absolute age to do something with the ball whe he had it and almost got caught a couple of times at passbacks. Slowed the tempo down every time which was like Christmas to Hearts.

Marciano does that nearly every week. Another thing which doesn’t help is when the defenders pass the ball about at the back they often don’t pass it in front of the player they’re passing to which slows any momentum and can put us in bother. Hanson’s booking on Saturday was as a result of arsing around at the back.

The passing issue has been evident since the first season in the Championship. It beats me how managers and coaches don’t seem to address it. It’s surely not hard to drill it into the players?

To be fair though they’re maybe still working on teaching how to take a throw in so don’t have the time......

[BILLYHIBS]

You done well even to put a report up, I would have chucked it to be honest.
:agree:

[basehibby]

Great report as ever - but on the aspect of the penalty decisions I'm very much with Neil McCann. There was definite knee to thigh contact on Newell - enough to send someone down when travelling at pace or certainly make them stumble. The Hearts penalty on the other hand looked like a 50-50 with no foul earned by either player.

[HFC 0-7]

Marciano does that nearly every week. Another thing which doesn’t help is when the defenders pass the ball about at the back they often don’t pass it in front of the player they’re passing to which slows any momentum and can put us in bother. Hanson’s booking on Saturday was as a result of arsing around at the back.

The passing issue has been evident since the first season in the Championship. It beats me how managers and coaches don’t seem to address it. It’s surely not hard to drill it into the players?

To be fair though they’re maybe still working on teaching how to take a throw in so don’t have the time......

Not just the defenders, often our wingers have to check their run and wait for the ball instead of running on to it. Those few seconds allow opposition defenders to get back in to position. Think this is a contributor as to why Boyle hasn’t been as effective of late.