Match Day Thread Heart of Midlothian FC v Sunderland AFC - Saturday 26th July 2025 - KO 15:00

3 weeks out we wont be close to ready tbh. Full fitness, sharpness, mentally, patterns of play, combinations and connections. None of it will be there. Pre seasons are really fine tuned these days, to get a squad ready for the first league game. Nothing else imo.

I wouldnt read much into any of our pre season games so far. I am not as confident in the new lads based on pre season performances, in the same way I am not writing others off for the same. Today was the first game against an opposition properly tuned and ready to play. It showed all over the park, they were sharper and more aggresive.

No dramas from me at this stage. Crucial we remain balanced on all players, new and old. Chances are some of the old lads will shine and some of the new lads will. Equally some of the old lads will struggle and some of the new lads will too. Footy. Up to Regis to find the balance now.

 

Really? Does it?! Pre season are pre season for a reason. Never about results or goals. Just about miles in the legs. Unless you carry an agenda (not sure if you do, but that, to me, is the only time when pre season results matter)

 

Recall under Peter Reid we won every pre season game on SW tour
Finished 4th bottom in the Premier League

but yesterday performance was absolutely shocking

 

Remember when we beat Spurs one pre-season and Cabral was gonna be prime Vieira?

 

Reading some of the knee jerk reactions to this defeat against Hearts make me think how bad it will get when get beat in the Premier League. Some of our fans emotions go up and down faster than a hookers panties..No doubt if we get beat against Hull they will be back again with doom and gloom...or if we win, will be contesting for Europe.
This is PRE SEASON... yes its nice to play well and win, but in the grand scheme of things is it that important ? we have lots of new players, the coach is looking at new formations, the players need minutes..who gives a s hit about the result....I'm sure the coaching staff are well aware of or short comings and have games and time to put things right....and potential new signing incoming.. lets get things into perspective

 

Most people are just watching a **** performance and calling it what it is. I don't think they're being critical of the club at all and they're all still excited for the season ahead.

If people don't post about the performance they're watching in the match thread then there's literally no point in having one.

 

Aye, but context is the key. Folk who called the run up to the play offs **** got told we were waiting and players were on a pause. Same here, folk bemoaning a pre season performance and players being doubted as prem ready, yet not framing it in context.

 

It's not knee-jerking. People have got a right to be disappointed and feel let down after spending time and money travelling there to watch a poor performance. It's an isolated match though and it's not going to define our whole Premier League season.

I didn't expect Hearts to be so brutal in a friendly testimonial match. They were going in hard on our lot and the ref let a lot go. That frustrated me.

 

Much of the debate, about the match, was posted on the Transfer Rumour thread so hard to keep track tbh.

It was a weird game from the start imo, difficult to see what positions players were taking up etc ...

... and it looks like free kicks, corners, etc, are being 'kept secret'. presumably to avoid giving away the element of surprise.

The players ran around a lot which was about the best you could say, much of it avoiding Hearts tackles.

 

Def need to look at the context, there was also folk saying the depth looks good based on 2nd half performances against Sevilla and Sporting. We cant rave about one then ignore the poor performance (and viceversa), the truth will be somewhere in the middle

We don't want to peak now so I'm fine with a performance like that as long as we learn from it - just feel bad for the fans that traveled up for it

 

We just looked off it, hearts were fired up and were playing it like a competitive match and we treated it as a friendly.

Had a few messages overnight from Hearts fans and they are all just saying the same, that we looked tired.

It was like they were trying too many new things so it turned into a bit of a mess with players not knowing what they shouod be doing

Good to get that out the system now tho

 

You'd imagine it was a bigger game for Hearts tbh.

As you say we were trying things out and the players didn't all seem to be on the same page.

Once we replaced players it got even messier.

 

Hearts had players fighting for places for their game next weekend, we had players just focused on getting minutes in the legs, knowing they still have a few weeks to stake a claim to start

 

I saw a patchy 25 mins of the first half. Exactly how it looked. One team ready to go and treated is a league game. The other building on every aspect of the game.

 

Wrote this yesterday, but did not post as it sounded bitter , not being a fan of Craig Gordon, but here goes :-
Dissapointing result, games in Scotland at this time of the year are a bad idea imo.

 

You'll know better than most, sometimes need a performance and result like that to refocus the squad

 

You make a fair point about those that travelled. In my, limited, experience of Scottish football it is predominantly fast and physical, to the referee a number of the tackles in our game would be perfectly normal.
I'm expecting my youngest lad back around lunchtime today and will get a full report, once he pulls himself together, preliminary enquiries indicate that he had a rather good day yesterday, well apart from the match.

 

Disappointing as it can be for fans, you are right. As a coach sometimes you want your team to take a harsh lesson. Allows you to really change the tone in training, and when you have a group you are trying to gel it can be a blessing. Everyone now knows this is going to be hard. Better mow than West Ham.

 

I doubt there's any surprise tbh, a friendly at Hearts won't have changed anything.

We have a deep thinking methodical manager and good coaches now ...

... there are lots of new players to bed in which won't all just click into place.