buster.

Hearts line-up out first Lafferty and Nasmith start

Just for the record, Hearts have a poor Away record this season. They have only won 4 out of 17 games and 3 of those were before the clocks went back in October 2017. Their wins came at Kilmarnock (under Lee McCulloch), twice at Hamilton and once up at Ross County. Our Home record in the League has also been poor, with only one more win (8) than defeats (7), only two draws (one of those was a 0-0 draw against Hearts back in August). Both sides tend to get better results elsewhere, ie. us away from home and Hearts, at home. Hearts don't really have anything tangible to play for except for perhaps a win bonus whilst we are contesting second place. However, I think it's actually more about how much this group of players want a win for themselves and if they have the mentality to take the situation on. I don't really think Murty will have much to do with it, I think he's now 'window dressing'.

At times Hibs battered a side that looked flat and not particularly interested but you can count on them being up for the game next week. It's frustrating that we didn't make a decent managerial appointment post MW and get some consistency of result going this season because had we done so, we'd have been challenging a Celtic side that have been generally mediocre this season. Unlikely but I wouldn't dismiss Motherwell in the Cup Final against a Celtic side that do have weaknesses. -------------- Positive about the Aberdeen win is that it is now very unlikely we'll drop down as far as 5th.....but we really need to win ourselves tomorrow or 4th becomes a very real possibility.

Spanish Cup Final tonight, Sevilla v Barcelona Live on Spanish council TV !! Having a cursory look at the league table and if 3 results in coming week or so go a certain way, Barcelona could clinch the league when Real Madrid visit Catalonia.....at least by my calculations. It would need Atletico Madrid to win their next two league games (by far from a gimme as they have a Europa League semi-final to think about)...and Barcelona to avoid defeat in their one league game prior to 'El Classico'.

Would be good to go there and beat them on such a day.

I think I saw Derek McInnes in the betting at 80/1.

Extremely doubtful given he seems to have retired from football other than pick up his wage. He'll have 18 months left on his contract when his loan finishes and we'll probably be looking at trying to find another loan deal but picking up most of the wage this time.

I think (hope) his loan deal extends up until the end of the year.

I'd agree with a fair bit of that but add that appointing a decent manager and signing the right quality players are something that has been beyond us for quite sometime. In other words, to take a step-up is no given, it's only a possibility and IMO the probability is that any real 'step-up' will come in increments. But that is guesswork and a lot depends on finances, which just as the First Team, need a lot of work. The summer could be "exciting", in that I'd think there will probably be a lot of change at various levels. What that actually brings won't be exciting in a 1986 sense but it's more what it may lead to that might give us reason for optimism.

Someone should tell David Ornstein, the BBC reporter who is big on Arsenal. In his analysis, he speaks of 7 possibilities, Rodgers doesn't even get mentioned. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43841645 Dermott Desmond was talking his manager up in the press yesterday, safe in the knowledge that Arsenal (or any other big club) would take one look at what Rodgers can't do in Europe (with Liverpool and Celtic) and ignore him. Rodgers is in a comfort zone up in Scotland where his ego constantly gets massaged and the media are so in awe that they don't take him to task for repeated European debacles where he isn't able to learn or adapt from experience. If he goes back down South, it'd be a matter of time and the David Brent comparisons would be getting dusted down from a few years ago.

Aye but Danny was one of those Benjamin Button types of footballers. He started off an excellent player and got steadily worse

To be fair, Alves would be better with Carlos Cueller or Boogie beside him.

Beware the high heid yins sending subtle messages

I think it's up to the players themselves to get up for the Hearts game. To show some professional pride, if nothing else.

He's laughing to be polite, in the next pic (unpublished) he is seen asking Alfredo Morelos 'What the F*** was that about Alfie ?' to which the young Columbian replied ' "f***ed if I know, guv...guy is aff his heid'. Source: ITK poster who is pals with Mr.Vass and has recently done a lip-reading course.

There are various versions doing the rounds, to the extent that genuine ITK posters on FF disagree on things like whether Murty was in the dressing room when Miller was 'doing his thing'. Regardless, no-one comes out of this well and above that noise (we'll soon enough forget about it). What we need in respect of European qualificatiuon is get three points on Sunday. Then find the right managerial answer asap and sort out the finances to allow scope for a new man to work.

It's no surprise that the Herald would take the opportunity to bring attention to the new 'independent' shareholders group. Anything that pushes acrimonious division is good for the interests of the likes of Haggerty or Phil4names, who pushed the group ahead of time, more directly and most probably via sources (eg. Toxic Jack) that have previously been in bed with one side of such acrimonious division.

A Richard Gough quote from the The Sun article that Iain posted above............. “They need a performance on Sunday against Hearts. I’d be looking to Tavernier to get the group together, maybe even without the manager, and get them focused on the challenge ahead with the help of other senior pros such as Wes Foderingham, Bruno Alves, Russell Martin, Graham Dorrans and Jamie Murphy." ----------- I reckon Gough is spot-on wrt motivation for Sundays game, ie. that it will come down to the players themselves to get enough of the group focused.

Martin will surely go when his loan period ends but Alves and Cardoso have relatively lucrative contracts to what may be available elsewhere. Much will depend on the new manager.

It was time, probably about two seasons ago......... --------------------------- Arsene Wenger is to leave Arsenal at the end of the season, ending a near 22-year reign at the club. The Frenchman departs a year before his latest contract was due to expire. The Gunners are sixth in the league and set to miss out on a top-four spot for the second straight season, with their hopes of reaching the Champions League resting on winning the Europa League. Wenger, 68, won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, including the Double in 1998 and 2002..................... https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43834283

the gunslinger said: There members stalk about other forums issuing threats of violence to anyone who disagrees with them. Thats my experience of them. Its not ideal pr ------------------ bill said If that’s true it’s utterly unacceptable. I’d like to see some evidence of it however, since I don’t go on any other forums to experience it. I’ve never seen it on here but there again I’m a relatively recent arrival. I have seen a few stalkers here though but mainly the prissy variety ------------------ Bill, if you are looking for 'evidence' of that kind of intrinsic thought process, even if done in an indirect and subtle manner then you could a look at your own post from yesterday when you told those "taking cheap shots" ....." If you feel so strongly why not take your views directly to VB".

Excellent summing up of the situation, Pete ! If we don't get a win on Sunday, it's difficult to see where we'll get one at all post-split. Post the very different circumstances of the victorious semi-final in 2016, we played 5 games and didn't win any. I see that month as the moment when something important changed and we entered what has become a long omnishambolic period wrt the first team affairs. One that I thought had perhaps ended at the beginning of this year, but I was wrong. 'Flashing Blade' /....those were the days

I think most of us disagree. The thing is, the logic that AJ uses to justify keeping to the plan of reviewing matters at the end of the season might be overtaken by events this weekend. In that case, you'd have another layer of ridicule for the media to jump on. Wrt the football, if we don't pick up three points on Sunday and Kilmarnock beat Aberdeen at Rugby Park, you have the outside chance but real possibility of A 5th place finish and no European qualification. Three points is very important this weekend.

We don't know the dynamic in the dressing room but Nicholls arrival coincided with a sharp upturn in consistency of result and we were flying for 2-3 months, bar the Hibs defeat at Ibrox. The defeat to Celtic at Ibrox knocked the place for six, has since shown up our fragility and the need for change.