Hearts v Celtic Official Thread

I think the only way to get Naka into midfield would be to use MO'N's old 3-5-2 formation. Play Naka in behind the strikers Lubo style, but the problem with that is I don't think the rest of the squad is set up for that tactic.

 

I think you are right. I think in a 3-5-2 you have to be careful that your two wide men are as good at defending as going forward. I don't think that we have that type of player - although Naylor could maybe hack it.

Nakamura is such a talent. He has incredible touch, world class passing and can score too. I wonder if we are using a truly gifted player to the best of his ability. We all rued getting Lubo at the end of his career and even then MON used him sparingly - well we've got one now and he in his prime.

 

He is a joy to watch, maybe if we sign a good right sided wing back it could work, but I think WGS is very much a 442 man.

 

The view from the couch:

Exciting cup tie like match a bit like last Old Firm game. Great enertainment. Even but frantic first half, we dominated second half. Odd line up with no pace on flanks other than full backs and that showed. Was disappointed to see JJ wide left (or on at all) but obviously WGS had tactical knowhow beyond the obvious. Disappointed to see him and Magic on and no Deeks, McGeady, Miller or Beattie (i.e no pace at all in the side).

Anyway some comments on players :
Artur-solid
Telfer-not bad.
Naylor-excellant-our only threat in 1st half
O'Dea-very good, top prospect, only problem is he is a McManus clone in style
Elvis-very good old heid peformance
Sno-struggled first half due to lack of space but was great in second including coming forward. Errors here and there but a great prospect.
Grav-good no frills battling performance although not much goal threat
Naka-great as usual. The best player we have by a mile. Am expecting an 8 million pound bid from some EPL or continental team soon
JJ-'hes a proper crank'. He played not too bad by his very modest standards but far too slow for wide slot. An enigma. Basically a fairly skillfull player whose staggering lack of pace and movement is his fatal flaw when played anywhere, even at this level. Was wondering why he was still on then he scored. What do you so with a player like JJ-I think all his clubs have had this dillema.
Magic-Poor. Its over.
JVOH-good but a lot more to come
Beattie-Showed some of what he is capable of-could be the answer. Start him with JVOH next game.

 

Is Wilson not that man? If not go for Whittaker, he is immense.

 

Beattie was unreal. I've always rated him.

 

Possibly yes. I am not saying I believe we should suddenly go 3-5-2 but Naka is absolutely gifted - and I too fear a real strong bid because he'd be worth £8m to a Premiership team - I want to see more of his brilliance.

 

i went to hame today cannot believe anyone is praising absolutley terrible caused the first goal and nearly another three

 

I was crying out for Jarosik and Sno to be subbed. Sno was so bad, i know he's young but lacks quality.

Naka never got enough credit today. He was outstanding. His touches are perfect, and can be deadly when he drifts inside. I'd like to see Naka playing behind the strikers, with 3 grafters behind him.

 

Sno had a dodgy first half but improved in the 2nd and picked out some nice passes. He's still young and will be a great player. He's still learning.

 

I think Sno was better second half and although he's young and can improve I think he wants too much time on the ball - he hasn't adjusted to the pace of Scottish football.

Naka is a rare talent I'd like to see more from him because he can be devastating with a 8 yard pass. Who would you play behind him ?

 

Ha ha! I was doing a gig today and missed the match. Someone told me Hearts won 1-0 and I told this Jambo I know. I got home and rang a pal back home and learned the truth. At least my Jambo pal will have been happy for just a few hours.
Hail hail! Y'all.

 

What in the world are you on about?? We won today, and we played quite superbly in the 2nd half and you say we cannae manage? I'm a Lenny fan and I want to see him play next week but to say that we can't manage without him when he've just one at possibly the hardest ground in the SPL for us is just absurd. You're giving Sno a far harder time than he deserves, he was one of the best in the 2nd half and without a doubt redeemed himself after his mistakes in the 1st part. From te way you talk you'd think we just got hammered

 

What game were you watching. Wouldnt say we 'stuffed' them. They should have been 2-0 up at half time.

We miss Lennon reading the game, but games that are played at the pace like today Lennon sometimes gets showed up.

McManus will have a hard time getting back into the team? You kidding me on? O'Dea is a good prospect, but lacks in experience. As much as I admire Pressleys leadership qualities, his defending wasnt up to much today. Neither was his distribution.

 

mcmanus will walk right back into the team ,the defending was shocking in the first half and i can not believe pressley got man of the match ,he was the player i remembered him being when he playedfor the mini huns getting caught out and manhandling players

 

First half defending was poor. We seemed incapable of clearing the danger at times. Second half obviously played a bit more of the game in their half and had less pressure on the defence but I felt that if we didnae have Elvis we could have crumbled at times. He reminds me a bit of Colin Hendry, he can be cumbersome and a bit of a liabilty at times but he does bring other things which we needed especially with Lennon out. I thought he fought like * today and rallied the troops but I accept that he has limitations.

 

martin i have pretty high expectations for the hoops and pressley was never good enough to wear the mighty hoops in the first place but hes here now and hopefully he will just be cover for injuries/suspensions etc

 

Thot we were pedestrian in mdfld today. Hearts mdfld had much more desire, pace, sharpness and its only because they ran out of legs that we got into the game. TG was lucky not to get sent off for kick in 1st half.Thot the boy driver gave us a torride time on left in 1st half coz he pushed up onto Telfer when Fyssas kept pushing up onto Naka. Hartley ran Sno ragged and well done to WGS, coz i thot Beattie made the difference when he came on. Zurawski is a passenger and JJ was hanging about on the edges of the game but came up with a cracker. I would rather McGeady or Riordan palyed instead of JJ.

 

OOps 'torrid'

 

I totally agree. The phrase I used at the time was "needs be". I see him only as a short term solution - if he would have signed a 6 month deal I'd have been happier. But the deal made sense and he is here so I'm going to get behind him. He does give everything though and with the amount of injuries we have he's a good character to have in there. But I'm with you let's get somebody better.