St.Johnstone V Hearts - Wednesday 7th February

[SaintJet]

Hearts visit us on Wednesday and their form has been irresistable recently. Shankland will need special attention so I'm interested in how Craig Levein will approach this challenge.

Hopefully Matt Smith and Dan the man will be available so potential for changing the side who won on Saturday.

I expect to see another defensive minded set up and look to grab a goal on the break.

It's going to be Baltic so double underpants and woolies for the game.

 

[slf]

18 minutes ago, SaintJet said:

 

It's going to be Baltic so double underpants and woolies for the game.

 

Double voddy as well.

 

in aboot thum

[Two Cups 2021]

Jam Tarts on a roll (😆).

Unbeaten in 8 games.

Let's burst their bubble.

C.o.y.s.

[blueheaven]

I have a feeling we might sneak something from this one (which probably means the worst, given my awful performance in the prediction league this season). We seem to have a good record against Hearts at McDiarmid and Levein and Kirk are going to be desperate to get one over on their old team.

Will be interesting to see who drops out if Phillips and Matt Smith are back. Presumably Franczak would be one of them but I get the impression Levein won't want to drop any of Max, Connor Smith or Carey.

Kimpioka presumably starts on his own up front again, but hope Sidibeh gets another good run out too.

[Northern saint]

Logic says Hearts will score so we'll have to score more.  I feel we are better playing on the front foot so hope for two up front.  Kimpioka and Sidibeh get a run on a defence which doesn't know them.  

I wonder if Considine can manage two hard games with such little rest.  The pace in Hearts mean Gordon and he will be exposed.  Could Sprangler play in a back three?  The distribution would be far better.  

A 3-5-2 for me.  Back to back wins would be a boost for the team and the supporters.

[Cagey]

 Hearts form away from home this season has been good with 8 wins which is unusual.

I think we usually do well against them.

First game of season , when we had a poor team they beat us 2-0 with the second being a breakaway near the end I think.

Game in Edinburgh was 0-1 to an unlucky deflection.

Not expected to win so let's go for it. No more treating teams with more respect than they deserve .

Shankland will get his usual penalty.

[Cleveland-Saint]

Oh boy, this games coming at an interesting time with jambos riding high with 13 points from last 15.

We either see a step up from County and a new saints team begin to emerge with confidence or we get completely pummeled and back come Levein scorecard comments .... I am a betting man, but boy I cannot see where this will go.

maybe a banana skin?

[pezza70]

Hearts are a step up from RC at present in form on the pitch, but playing at home we should be up for this one.

If Motherwell v RC ends up a draw then that will give the lads a nice boost knowing we can put more points between us and them.

I just hope our defence is nice and compact as Shankland worries me if he gets a bit of space to run at Considine.

COYS

[Saintdunc]

7 hours ago, pezza70 said:

Hearts are a step up from RC. 

Not just one step, but a full staircase, or a country mile! 

[Don McVicar]

Hearts , Aberdeen , Hibs have always been a step up from RC and we’ve always managed to get results against them home and away 

[Steve McQueen]

Get your predictions in!

[johndb]

On 2/5/2024 at 1:17 PM, Two Cups 2021 said:

Jam Tarts on a roll (😆).

Unbeaten in 8 games.

Let's burst their bubble.

C.o.y.s.

Well I once knew someone who ate meat pies on rolls, from a Dundee Street bakery!

[Cagey]

With County getting pumped we have a wee bit cushion so let's go for it and get in top 6.

Well hammered County and we could only scrape a win.

We never go for it unfortunately.

[MySpazz]

Expecting a Zander horror show, a Sibbeth master class and Levein to say in his interview "they are an organised side" etc. In the words of @SLF, "in aboot thum" 

Edited February 7, 2024 by MySpazz

[garydavidson]

Still a few injuries.

[SaintJet]

Disappointing if Philips and Smith are missing; can see another buzy midfield tonight.

[blueheaven]

So possibly the same starting line-up as Saturday then? Has Levein picked the same starting XI for consecutive games yet?

[SaintJet]

37 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

So possibly the same starting line-up as Saturday then? Has Levein picked the same starting XI for consecutive games yet?

Just to keep us on our toes I can see him starting Sprangler tonight.

[PSJ.84]

Probably wishful thinking but I really hope Sprangler does start tonight. Felt County played through, and got in behind our midfield with relative ease at times. We got away with it against a poor team on Saturday but I can’t see it going the same way against this Hearts team. 

[John Bonham]

23 minutes ago, PSJ.84 said:

Probably wishful thinking but I really hope Sprangler does start tonight. Felt County played through, and got in behind our midfield with relative ease at times. We got away with it against a poor team on Saturday but I can’t see it going the same way against this Hearts team. 

I agree, if we’re going to get a grip of the midfield we need Sprangler in there providing a bit of bite

[blueheaven]

1 hour ago, PSJ.84 said:

Probably wishful thinking but I really hope Sprangler does start tonight. Felt County played through, and got in behind our midfield with relative ease at times. We got away with it against a poor team on Saturday but I can’t see it going the same way against this Hearts team. 

 

52 minutes ago, John Bonham said:

I agree, if we’re going to get a grip of the midfield we need Sprangler in there providing a bit of bite

 

Yep to this, especially with Phillips being out which leaves us with very little in the way of a ball-winner/tackler in midfield.

[Saintdunc]

Levein has not given Sprangler much of a look in so far, so I wouldn't hold your breath. 

[John Bonham]

3 minutes ago, Saintdunc said:

Levein has not given Sprangler much of a look in so far, so I wouldn't hold your breath. 

I just don’t get it tbh - seems to be some kind of irrational thinking from the manager with Sven. Should be miles ahead in the selection of Max. 

i always thought we could comfortably rotate Smith, Phillips and Sven with any 2 from 3 and not lose quality. 
 

it feels like a bit of tunnel vision from the manager (hoping he proves me wrong tonight) 

[SaintJet]

1 minute ago, John Bonham said:

I just don’t get it tbh - seems to be some kind of irrational thinking from the manager with Sven. Should be miles ahead in the selection of Max. 

i always thought we could comfortably rotate Smith, Phillips and Sven with any 2 from 3 and not lose quality. 
 

it feels like a bit of tunnel vision from the manager (hoping he proves me wrong tonight) 

I've decided not to second guess Craig Levein; pretty sure he knows our strengths by now so maybe he sees things differently. If Philips and Smith are not fully fit I'm glad he's left them out because Sunday is a huge game too.

If we are staunch in defense tonight and use Kimpy's speed we could give Hearts an uncomfortable night. We deserve a decent stress free result tonight it's been long overdue.

[garydavidson]

3 hours ago, blueheaven said:

So possibly the same starting line-up as Saturday then? Has Levein picked the same starting XI for consecutive games yet?

Maybe it is working:

Steven Naismith “And they’ve changed quite a few times in the systems they play and, actually, the way they’ve played in games recently. Against us, it might be different. We’ve got an idea of how they’ll play."