THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Heart of Midlothian -V- Inverness Caledonian Thistle Scottish Cup Semi-Final PREVIEW 13th April, 2019 @ 12:15PM, Hampden Park, Glasgow Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage   AUDIO COVERAGE BBC Sportsound BBC Sportsound [UK Only]   LIVE TEXT (ONLINE) Sporting Life BBC    VIDEO LIVE (in UK) : https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/47791821 SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel   TEAM LINEUPS Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC

Did not disgrace ourselves but when will we learn to defend cross balls and stop giving away silly penalties? If only McCarts goal had counted and Chalmers free kick had gone  in instead of being saved who knows what the result might have been.

30 minutes ago, Alan said:

Did not disgrace ourselves but when will we learn to defend cross balls and stop giving away silly penalties? If only McCarts goal had counted and Chalmers free kick had gone  in instead of being saved who knows what the result might have been.

3-2 ?

It was always going to be a struggle against a top 6 SPL side and the difference in quality really showed. Hearts were more determined, more penetrating, more dynamic and always 1st to the 2nd ball. Our defending from set plays was dreadful and that's what cost us. Maybe would have been better with Donaldson playing but who knows. If we manage to get promoted then plenty of investment would be needed to stay up. And why oh why does robbo continue to bring on Austin? he was rubbish against county and he was rubbish today

13 minutes ago, Doofer said:

It was always going to be a struggle against a top 6 SPL side and the difference in quality really showed. Hearts were more determined, more penetrating, more dynamic and always 1st to the 2nd ball. Our defending from set plays was dreadful and that's what cost us. Maybe would have been better with Donaldson playing but who knows. If we manage to get promoted then plenty of investment would be needed to stay up. And why oh why does robbo continue to bring on Austin? he was rubbish against county and he was rubbish today

Austin is terrible, he offers nothing and needs punted 

15 minutes ago, Doofer said:

It was always going to be a struggle against a top 6 SPL side and the difference in quality really showed. Hearts were more determined, more penetrating, more dynamic and always 1st to the 2nd ball. Our defending from set plays was dreadful and that's what cost us. Maybe would have been better with Donaldson playing but who knows. If we manage to get promoted then plenty of investment would be needed to stay up. And why oh why does robbo continue to bring on Austin? he was rubbish against county and he was rubbish today

You are right Doofer we were hoping for an upset that did not happen.  I would have preferred to see Macgregor come on at least his heart would be in it!  

22 minutes ago, Doofer said:

It was always going to be a struggle against a top 6 SPL side and the difference in quality really showed. Hearts were more determined, more penetrating, more dynamic and always 1st to the 2nd ball. Our defending from set plays was dreadful and that's what cost us. Maybe would have been better with Donaldson playing but who knows. If we manage to get promoted then plenty of investment would be needed to stay up. And why oh why does robbo continue to bring on Austin? he was rubbish against county and he was rubbish today

Who else could replace White!? Is Austin not our only other striker plus what can he do when he is not on the pitch long enough to make an impact!!? 

Edited April 13, 20196 yr by CaleyTennis

2 minutes ago, CaleyTennis said:

Who else could replace White!? Is Austin not our only other striker plus what can he do when he is not on the pitch long enough to make an impact!!? 

Push Doran upfront and bring in a midfielder. 

12 minutes ago, CableGuy said:

Austin is terrible, he offers nothing and needs punted 

A bit harsh. He has had the odd promising spell but does lack consistency.

2 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

What a ridiculous post. The second half was a bit disappointing and we defended poorly but there is nothing new there.

Folk seem to be overlooking the fact that Hearts have a player budget almost six times ours.

Whys it ridicolous to expect us to beat a poor Hearts team low on confidence that there best player was Mulraney speaks volumes we blew a great chance of another final never showed up but as long as u were only a bit disappointed eh! I no they've a bigger budget dunno if it's 6 times ours tho if it is they've spent it badly 

31 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

A bit harsh. He has had the odd promising spell but does lack consistency.

Not harsh at all.... He offers nothing when he comes on, falls over more than a 2 legged donkey and wins nothing on the ground or in the air. 

All things considered it wasn't our day today. Hearts on the day had a bit too much for us and we didn't get any breaks.  However I am sure the team will all be very disappointed as are the rest of us.  The support at the game was superb and it would be good for that to continue into the coming games. The ship sails on...

Hard  ask today  hearts came out 2nd half looking to force us into errors   they've managed to bully us then went 1 up   but we were so unlucky with the free kick and mcart goal    no disgrace today   we have improved greatly from the poor start of the season     play offs now is our target  if we can pinch 3rd place all the better   let's get right behind the boys  

It would be easy to be disappointed today but this was the diddy team mixing it with Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts. Amazing really when you consider Owain Fon Williams , Col Donaldson and Sean Welsh were out of the squad. We've lost Angus Beith from the squad. We probably had to sell George Oakley in January. Daniel Mackay has had an injury packed season. Carl was injured quite early on in today's game. We had three youngsters on the bench today. So all things taken into account, quite a remarkable achievement. 

The cup experience this year might prove very useful in the potential games against Ayr assuming we make the play offs. With us having a superior goal difference and 8 point advantage, I cannot see Dunfermline winning all three of their remaining games and us losing all four of ours although nothing can be taken for granted. Tuesday game at Morton is now a big game - we move on.

What does Owain Fon Williams have to do with it, as long as he's out of the squad we don't go bankrupt due to his appearance fees.

Let those that were there decide our future........

1 minute ago, tm4tj said:

Let those that were there decide our future........

Our future? 

We still have the opportunity to get to the final - the play off final- the day after the Scottish cup final - which one would you rather be in?

Early on in the season if someone had said to me we will make the semi-final in the Scottish Cup I would have laughed  After today's effort I will now settle for the play off final if we can get behind the team and make it 

Exactly IBM _ We were outplayed and outclassed today - by an average Hearts team. Some of our players were found out for being lacking at this level. Without Coll and Tremarco we will struggle but we have got further than I thought that we would

Felt it was a bit of a reality check today. We didn't play badly but we didn't play well, other than the first 10minutes of the match and for 10minutes after the first goal. We're currently a second flight side and it showed at times. That said, if Chalmers free kick goes in and McCart's 'goal' is allowed, it could've been a whole different story? And who knows if it would've been a different game if we had Donaldson and Welsh available?

I'm not overly disappointed at the outcome. Reaching the semi-final was a bit of a bonus this season and we still have a play-off place to aim for. So looking at the bigger picture I think we've actually done well.

Saddest thing for me about today was when I read that our former player who scored that legendary goal to get us to the 2015 Scottish cup final didn't even receive a winner's medal!  http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47861664

That is such a shame, never knew they didn't receive a medal for Scottish cup final.                                                          We should club together, get them a trophy/keepsake as a thanks for one of the greatest moments in our teams history 

10 hours ago, Satan said:

What does Owain Fon Williams have to do with it, as long as he's out of the squad we don't go bankrupt due to his appearance fees.

A senior player not playing. Possibly taking up a wage or two. Hearts had virtually a full squad available that was way in excess of our lightweight squad and budget. Simple economics.

6 hours ago, RednBlackComeback said:

Saddest thing for me about today was when I read that our former player who scored that legendary goal to get us to the 2015 Scottish cup final didn't even receive a winner's medal!  http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47861664

That is bad.  I just checked the rules, and, yes, they give a medal or souvenir to "each of the players, to each of such substitutes as are eligible, the Manager or Head Coach and to the match officials, in the Final Tie".  That last bit is the key - only those involved in the Final get anything.

In contrast, each team in the English cup final receives 40 medals, to distribute as they see fit.

We weren't on our game. We never pressed them and we allowed them to take control. They had time on the ball. When we had it we looked rushed. We made errors and gave the ball away far too often. If we'd have gone at them from the start like we did in our last two cup ties against County and Dundee Utd we'd have had them rattled and on the back foot. In my view Hearts were there for the taking - I mean even Partick Thistle gave them a scare. Having said that, we made it to the semi final which I never thought we would. It was still a good day out. Onwards to play offs now - lets go for it.

Just one question - there were six substitutions in the second half and a couple of stoppages for injuries but...only 1 minute added. It wouldn't have made a difference to the result of course but could you imagine if that happened in a game involving 'them'.

8 hours ago, RednBlackComeback said:

if Chalmers free kick goes in and McCart's 'goal' is allowed, it could've been a whole different story?

(Pedant alert!)

I'll grant you either of those, but you can't have both! If the first had happened then nothing that happened in the rest of the game would have happened.