Hearts vs Dons

[RicoS321]

1 hour ago, BigAl said:

Was McGarry ok or shaky ?

Both. He played well for a guy that hasn't played all season, but because he hasn't played all season was shaky! He's not great defensively, so that was already a given. He was very shaky on the ball, which is the bit we expect him to be okay at, but settled after the first half of the first half and was fine from there. Basically, his default is shaky (also known as pish), so anything better is okay. 

[wee toon red]

We're a much better team when it's Shinnie and Nilsen in the middle, I'm really not convinced by Palaversa.

[RicoS321]

1 hour ago, wee toon red said:

We're a much better team when it's Shinnie and Nilsen in the middle, I'm really not convinced by Palaversa.

I think so too, but it's difficult to keep both in the team for every game, with midweek fixtures. It was also noticeable that Shinnie coming on alongside a tiring Nilsen didn't really help matters either. For me, Palaversa should really be the one coming off the bench if we're trying to rest either of the other two (rather than starting Palaversa I mean). Palaversa is a young player learning still, and I think he'll be a good one to sign long term. I'm really keen to see if Polvara can bring some of the form he showed at the end of last season, or if that was just a product of playing meaningless end of season bottom six fixtures. In season's past, we could have happily experimented with both Palaversa and Polvara by giving them minutes in the number ten role, upfield a bit where they could have less pressure on them and utilise their good passing, but we have numerous players looking to play there.

A lot has been said about Thelin's ability to turn crap players into good ones, but actually it's really only Morris we're seeing with any real consistency. The rest have been carried along by a good team, with guys like Devlin, MacKenzie and Shinnie benefitting from being played to their strengths. I think it'll become a little more clear in the next few games where we are, but I suspect we'll likely find out that guys on the periphery, who will be asked to play a larger role, are improved, but still not good enough. That includes MacDonald, McGarry, Besuijen, Ambrose, Palaversa (to a lesser degree), Milne, Sokler etc, who we could happily have one or two  playing parts here and there, but not a few of them in whole games between them (e.g. McGarry replaced by Milne). I mentioned several times that we needed to see guys out the door in the summer, and we didn't really get that. I think we need a bit of a tidy up with some of the aforementioned. 

[Reekie_Red]

10 hours ago, RicoS321 said:

I think it'll become a little more clear in the next few games where we are, but I suspect we'll likely find out that guys on the periphery, who will be asked to play a larger role, are improved, but still not good enough. That includes MacDonald, McGarry, Besuijen, Ambrose, Palaversa (to a lesser degree), Milne, Sokler etc, who we could happily have one or two  playing parts here and there, but not a few of them in whole games between them (e.g. McGarry replaced by Milne). I mentioned several times that we needed to see guys out the door in the summer, and we didn't really get that. I think we need a bit of a tidy up with some of the aforementioned. 

I would not be bothered if any/all of the ones you mention go out on loan or even sold/released. They're journeymen who turn up once every 4 or 5 games, at best. Next month will be JT's first real chance to start showing what he can do in the transfer market. I would not be surprised if we see JT returning to the Scandinavian market - his last few windows at IF Elfsborg seemed to have a consistent theme of him bringing Swedish-born players back from overseas. Maybe worth looking at centrebacks at Elfsborg who'll be at or reaching the end of their current deals, such as Gustav Henriksson, or even an older head such as Sebastian Holmén who can help to steady the defence and provide a education for the likes of Rubi and Molloy