Black Saturday

[Thracian]

What an utterly depressing result from an utterly depressing game.

Levein will doubtless point to another clean sheet, another point, another game unbeaten.

He can also point to another two points frittered away, another goalless day for his forwards, another day when two of his main strikers failed to score ...

Oh yes and he can also point to the dung heap - cos that's what his team's performance amounted to in the end.

Leicester City, yet again, contributed to a public exhibition of the sort of football which will drive even the most faithful fans from the terraces.

And I have to ask here and now... how long are the directors going to put up with this sort of thing being served up as the club's offering football wise.

Long term it surely cannot go on.

Hearts supporters said it from the start: "He'll get you results but he'll bore you to death".

Well, we're getting the boredom but the results still make for pretty grim reading.

In the past Levein has arguably lacked the players within a familiar and cohesive unit, to reasonably be expected to do the job - namely to win and to do so playing something which might properly be described as positive football.

That is no longer the case. He DOES have decent players, he does have options, he does have pace and the players are now familiar with each other.

But Cautious Craig just refuses to play his best and most complimentary side.

Apparently now, he's talking about loaning Sheehan out. Not Nils of Sylla or someone else we'd probably not miss, but Sheehan, the key to our attacking fluidity.

Truly I would rather shed the manager and his safety first tactics that produced endless draws last season and are doing exactly the same this year even with a far better side.

Hume played up front in a pair today - no real effect. Hammond played up in a pair - no real effect.

Because they are NOT< NOT< NOT< NOT natural strikers they have to play as a three with MDV.

It means shedding Sylla but so what. He doesn't attack as a flying winger anyway and he niether makes nor scores many goals.

Gold-Smith HAS to provide the width because he is far and away the most threatening player.

With Joey and Tiatto (cos of his left side strength in midfield) we would have solidarity, balance and movement.

But Sheehan remains the key because only he can produce the crossing/passing we would otherwise lack from the left in this system.

Most of the time we only need three at the back - certainly that was the case today and the best three are Stearman, McCarthy, Gerrbrand. Sheehan could then float between full back and far left midfield in a 4-3-3/3-4-3 formation that would constantly make the best of our resources.

Williams provides a first change possibility for one of the rotweilers (Joey and Tiatto). Hughes could well compete for Joey's place if fit, as could Kisnorbo.

This will work BETTER as an attacking unit with the players we've got. Why is Levein too proud to put it to the test?

I am not against 4-4-2 but ONLY when the "wingers" in 4-4-2 take men on, get behind defenders and can constantly produce dangerous crosses. Ours don't and haven't done all season. Craig likes them cos they defend quite well but we don't score enough as a result and that is WHY we draw too many games which we could and should be winning.

This is not being wise after the event. I have explained it time and time again. We HAVE to play to people's strengths.

The 4-4-2 might work fine if we had two natural strikers (but we don't) and with Gold-Smith replacing Hammill or Sylla. But NOT with what we have. So play 4-3-3 and you could then fit Chambers easily into the system as a sub cos three up front would give him that extra bit of space.

Without Sheehan in all this the left-side passing becomes too inaccurate and ineffective (without Hammill)

Using Sheehan/Tiatto they could even interchange and take time each to provide genuine width.

TRY IT CRAIG. JUST HAVE THE HUMILITY TO TRY IT BEFORE YOU SEND YOUNG SHEEHAN OUT ON LOAN AND LEAVE US SADDLED WITH A GREAT BIG WEAKNESS AT LEFT BACK THAT WE DON'T NEED TO HAVE.

There are presently two big weaknesses in the team as I see it: Nils and Sylla.

It's time they were corrected and it's time the club's directors insisted that the negative play must stop (except when there is really no sensible alternative, as at Cardiff).

[Gené and Tonic]

Seriously, if your that pissed off about it, at least email the club or the Foxes Trust or ring up on the phone in (which Tim Davies listens to) to make your point. Nothing will ever happen just by continually posting it on here. Maybe then you will get an answer, or begin to see changes on the pitch.

[Thracian]

Seriously, if your that pissed off about it, at least email the club or the Foxes Trust or ring up on the phone in (which Tim Davies listens to) to make your point. Nothing will ever happen just by continually posting it on here. Maybe then you will get an answer, or begin to see changes on the pitch.

There are plenty of people from Foxes Trust read these threads. They can use the material as they like. Am I truly the only one who, reflecting on the season so far, is horrified at the number of points we have sacrificed that we could so easily have won with better tactics? I don't think so.

[Gené and Tonic]

I'm sure Levein will learn though, he is a young improving manager. He may not have the quality atm of the likes of Bothroyd or Tilson, but he will improve. I am willing to give him time, as he has built a much better future for the club than Adams ever did, and even if he did move on, we would be in much better shape than we were when he arrived.

[Blue Arrow]

i think a 352 would be good

-------------Henderson

--Stearman McCarthy Gerrbrand

Smith Williams Joey Hughes Hamill<------Or sheehan as a defensive winger

-------Hume/Elvis--- MDV

[Anish]

Sorry Thrac, but to be honest your posts are far too long that I really cannot be arsed to read through it all anymore.

To sum up the game from my perspective at Deepdale, I thought it was a drab match with very little to get excited about...from both teams. They were a poor outfit but we also looked bad ourselves. This was the sort of game that many Hearts fans warned us about with Levein, and they were spot on. We didn't show any ambition going forward but our defence was more than comfortable with their strikeforce. Our midfield offered no support to the defenders or the strikers (when in possession), nobody was making any forward runs, and our off the ball movement was non-existent.

Very frustrating stuff, until Dublin came on and actually held the ball up and played the simple lay-off (unlike De Vries).

Playing Kisnorbo (I DO NOT rate this guy at all) and Joey was always going to be negative, but with Joey not having a great game today it made it worse. No creativity at all in midfield. Well done Mr Levein.

Still, he'll be happy with a point and a clean sheet. I wasn't. The game was there for the taking for us if we'd shown any sort of ambition or desire to score...which we didn't until the last 20 minutes.

[Blue Arrow]

And by then it was to late?

[Anish]

And by then it was to late?

Well when you start attacking with 20 minutes to go in the hope of getting a goal, it's always going to be too late.

[Population-1]

I must take issue with Thracian's points am afraid. Undoubtedly today was frustrating as we played a PNE team who are a shadow of the side they were in January and would have won with slightly more ambition. However, I am actually a firm believer in Craig's philosophy for one good reason - you give yourself a far greater opportunity of winning games with a solid back line than a solid front two.

Yes, the focus on the back four impairs our attacking potency. Yes, we once again failed to penetrate the flanks of an average back line. Please remember however that we are now unbeaten in 5 away games, not a record to pour scorn over. I actually think CL is right in his philosophy of ensuring we don't give away foolish goals early and then pressing home the advantage when the home team burn out. Thats exactly what happened today, and with a slightly higher midfield line in the last 20 mins and some overlapping instead of symmetrical running we would have won the game. This is my only complaint. Sylla and Smith both have the pace and guile to beat their men, there lies the frustration. It is obvious that Sylla and Hamill had been instructed to hold their lines and not abandon Maybury and Nisse, and I think this shone through.

Where I would like to see some greater urgency from an offensive perspective is at home. This is where we absolutely must play two up with one floating behind, either Humey or Smudger. Away results such as these are excellent ones if we are guranteed an average 10 points from every four home games. Sadly we don't reproduce this form. As an away manager however I actually applaud CL to some degree, as we now are looking increasingly solid and certainly don't look capable of another Sheff United type collapse.

Two final points to sign off upon:

1. There is an obvious need for an 'intelligent' player upfront. By intelligent, I don't mean a man who reads Nietzsche but a player who has the ability to create room for himself in a packed area. Who can predict the next passage of play. Dion proved this today but lacks the pace to really make it count. Hume is crying out for someone who can read his game and free up space for him. Perhaps we can convince a certain Mr Bergkamp to continue for one final year next season? (Wishful thinking)

2. Secondly, I am sorry but I fail to understand the show of support for Sheehan at this stage in his career. He is simply not ready for first team action at the moment, as the Sheff Weds game illustrated. Don't get me wrong, with time I think he will blossom into a top class left-back, but for me he is still far too tentative for this level of football (admittedly that may be due to lack of games). Loaning him out is a very sensible move so long as CL re-assures him that it is simply to keep him fresh and allow him to gain experience. The risk is that you cross the line between allowing him to mature and then knowing when he is ready to play and learn the hard way. I just hope CL realises when this moment is upon us. After all, potential can only be used to describe a player for so long. Sheehan is NOT yet good enough however and he is NOT pivotal to a turn-around in our tactical play.

I do however agree that Kisnorbo is lacking at this level (certainly at the moment). He charged around today but with little conviction and was a passenger. We can't afford any, simple as that.

[Gené and Tonic]

That's a very good post and I found myself agreeing with all the points there.

[The People's Hero]

I've been away for a bit....

Did we play 2 defensive midfielders in the middle AGAIN?

[Anish]

I've been away for a bit....

Did we play 2 defensive midfielders in the middle AGAIN?

Yes

[The People's Hero]

Is Williams still out of favour and Hughes still 'injured'?

[Libertine]

Yes

I'm all for sticking with people who have played well etc, but we only beat Coventry, who are awful. We might get away with two defensive mids against them, but against a better team like PNE, you won't.

[Anish]

Is Williams still out of favour and Hughes still 'injured'?

Looks that way. Hughes was injured but I don't think there was any explanation on Williams's absence.

[The People's Hero]

When Levein has stifled all of our creative options will people still be saying 'give him time' and 'he's an amazing manager'??

[Thracian]

That's a very good post and I found myself agreeing with all the points there.

If you overweight the team defensively you can play for months without conceding many goals. Trouble with the Population 1 theory is that we DON'T pick up three points at home all the time but lose by the odd goal to packed defences like QPR/Burnley and lots more as you look back.

I'll remind Population 1 that we won the game against Sheffield Wednesday by two clear goals (and we haven't done that too often this season) and Wednesday had no more chances than the teams we've kept clean sheets against lately. Sheehan played every bit as well as anyone else in what was generally one of our best performances on the eye this season.

Anyway, I've campaigned and campaigned for attacking football but sometimes it seems many people on here would rather grind out 0-0's like today just to say we weren't beaten. What on earth did anyone enjoy about it for Heaven's sake?

I would love to have a time machine and to have seen if my team with Sheehan and 4-3-3 come 3/5/2 collected more points than the present system of carrying at least two weaknesses per game.

But Levein sticks with the system that causes him the same frustrations time and again and which falters at home against almost every packed defence they come up against.

[Libertine]

When Levein has stifled all of our creative options will people still be saying 'give him time' and 'he's an amazing manager'??

I don't think people have gone that far. But obviously we'll have to review the situation if we aren't scoring/creating most games.

[The People's Hero]

I was just trying to provoke a reaction mate, playing devil's advocate if you like.

If you ask me, Levein is WAY over cautious. We should be making other worry about our game, making ourselves a unit to be feared home or away.

As it is, I think Levein is stifling is in to submission. A one way ticket to mediocrity.

Still, others think otherwise which is fine - we'll see.

[Libertine]

I was just trying to provoke a reaction mate, playing devil's advocate if you like.

If you ask me, Levein is WAY over cautious. We should be making other worry about our game, making ourselves a unit to be feared home or away.

As it is, I think Levein is stifling is in to submission. A one way ticket to mediocrity.

Still, others think otherwise which is fine - we'll see.

To be honest, I totally agree with that post. But I still think he is taking us in the right direction.

[Thracian]

When Levein has stifled all of our creative options will people still be saying 'give him time' and 'he's an amazing manager'??

I've never gone that far but I think he's categorically improved the playing staff. the value of the side and the club's finances.

On the back of that I hoped he'd develop an entertaining side as he included better players but there is no signs that he has the tactical imagination or the humility to change a system that is costing us points and producing diabolically unexciting football.

When so many of our best players either perform badly or can't even get in the team then it's time to ask questions - especially when we don't score at all.

[Blue Arrow]

I thnk we should have too mangers

Levein in the transfer market etc.

Another-Burley Maybe?- To actually make decisions on wo should play, and how we should play (Hmmmbut isnt the reason Burley left hearts because the chairman chose who to buy?)

[Louise]

Why are people saying that 'Levein is happy' with this result? He clearly wasn't after the match, he took some positives out of it of course as all football managers do, but he said that players didn't play well (he named de Vries especially) and that we were very poor in the first half. I do sometimes wonder if he can ever win (with the fans, not on the pitch!). We won with the midfield today against Cov, we won with the defence today against Cardiff. There is method to his 'madness', not long ago we were despairing because we never seemed to be play with the same back four and/or midfield in any match. Now some might disagree with just keeping in players just because they won in the last game, but then equal amounts of people will say 'don't change a winning team'.

I honestly don't understand some of the depression on here today. We didn’t win, ok, but we got a point and more importantly moved up into 12th. If we win against Plymouth we could go to 10th.

[Jonbluefox9]

The defence today was solid. Apart from the odd corner or decent cross the back four didn't look troubled all game. McCarthy did very well to stop their big striker from getting involved all game. Gerrbrand also looked very comfortable on the ball. The problem is the full backs, Maybury and Johansson, offered us nothing going forward until really late on when they started to push up into the Preston half. Maybury didn't look awake all game. Regularly the ball got stuck under his feet and when he did get into a crossing position the final ball was poor. Johansson was really solid in the tackle etc but he continually pumped these meaningless balls down the left flank. Without meaning to sound like Thracian, Sheehan should play at left back. I can't see us conceding many with Maybury-Gerrbrand-McCarthy-Johansson at the back but there's not enough support in attack from the full backs.

Although I didn't think much of Ryan Smith, he wasn't really involved much, I would play him against Plymouth just because he adds pace to our attacks. He turned corners for PNE into throw ins in good positions for City. Basically our passing in the final third is not fluid enough to create good goal scoring opportunities. By the time we've got the ball to our wingers they're marked. We need to be able to switch the play quickly to create space for the wingers. The central midfielders need to get in the box for attacks too. Plenty of times Sylla had the ball on the right and Gudjonsson and Kisnorbo were back on the halfway line.

[Thracian]

Why are people saying that 'Levein is happy' with this result? He clearly wasn't after the match, he took some positives out of it of course as all football managers do, but he said that players didn't play well (he named de Vries especially) and that we were very poor in the first half. I do sometimes wonder if he can ever win (with the fans, not on the pitch!). We won with the midfield today against Cov, we won with the defence today against Cardiff. There is method to his 'madness', not long ago we were despairing because we never seemed to be play with the same back four and/or midfield in any match. Now some might disagree with just keeping in players just because they won in the last game, but then equal amounts of people will say 'don't change a winning team'.

I honestly don't understand some of the depression on here today. We didn’t win, ok, but we got a point and more importantly moved up into 12th. If we win against Plymouth we could go to 10th.

Cos we dropped another two points for a start. Cos we dropped em without good reason for another.