Out of our hands

 

After the disappointing draw with Dundee in midweek, our destiny is in the hands of others. All we can do is gather points and hope that others can lend a helping hand by taking points of Dunfermline and Dundee as we visit Tynecastle to take on Champions Hearts. All games kick-off at 3:00pm on Saturday, it's a massive day of football in the Championship.

We remained unbeaten on league business against Dundee on Tuesday night but it wasn't the result we were looking for. A 1-1 draw takes hands the control to Dunfermline who can now only throw away their play-off place. It all kicked off in the second half against McPake's illustrious squad. Unfortunately two red cards for Scott Allardice and Brad Mckay swung the game heavily in favour of the Dee. Incredibly we took the lead with six minutes to go when Dan Mackay brilliantly scored his eighth goal of the campaign. Alas, two minutes later Lee Ashcroft made the most of our missing players as he headed almost unchallenged into the net following a corner from Charlie Adams. That's how it ended, us with nine men and a point apiece. 

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The table looks like this ahead of Saturday's fixtures with Inverness one point below a play-off place. It has to be said that the Pars have the more comfortable conclusion to their season, but Arbroath could spring a surprise. Should Dundee also fail to win their remaining games, they could also be caught. 

Remaining fixtures for 3rd & 4th play-off place.

Hearts v Inverness CT ---- Dunfermline v Arbroath ---- Dundee v Raith Rovers

Inverness CT v Ayr United ---- Alloa v Dunfermline ---- Queen of the South v Dundee

		Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
1.	Hearts	25	15	6	4	56	24	32	51
2.	Raith Rovers	25	12	7	6	44	30	14	43
3.	Dundee	25	10	9	6	45	39	6	39
4.	Dunfermline	25	9	9	7	34	30	4	36
5.	Inverness CT	25	8	11	6	34	26	8	35
6.	Queen of the South	25	9	4	12	38	49	-11	31
7.	Arbroath	25	7	8	10	25	30	-5	29
8.	Ayr United	25	6	9	10	29	35	-6	27
9.	Morton	25	6	9	10	21	32	-11	27
10.	Alloa Athletic	25	4	6	15	28	59	-31	18

Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Hearts. Peer through your fingers only...

1 - 1 (H)

1 - 2 (A)

0 - 1 (A)

0 - 3 (N)

0 - 5 (A)

1 - 1 (A)

3 - 3 (H)

1 - 5 (A)

0 - 0 (H)

0 - 2 (A)

Venue (all competitions)

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	18	4	10	4	16	17	-1
Away	21	5	4	12	23	37	-14
Neutral	3	0	2	1	3	6	-3
Total	42	9	16	17	42	60	-18

As expected, Hearts have cruised to the title. Despite this, many Jambos are still bemoaning the fact that Robbie Neilson is in charge. Some folk are just never happy Their last outing was a 0-0 draw at Cappielow where we won easily recently. Prior to that they thumped relegated Alloa 6-0. Our problem is we don't know which Hearts will turn up on the day they get their Championship trophy, maybe they will be demob happy.

Neil talking ahead of the trip to Tynecastle

 

***Latest Team News***

Neil McCann is appealing the two red cards received in the Dundee game. The problem with this is we won't know the outcome until the night before the game which is unsettling for his squad preparation for what is now the biggest game of the season. So, we could well be without Brad Mckay and Scott Allardice. Cammy Harper will come in at left back with maybe James Vincent in the holding midfield role. 

***NEWS JUST IN: SCOTT ALLARDICE is free to play but Brad Mckay will serve his ban after a meeting of the disciplinary committee in Glasgow today.

Robbie Neilson has plenty talent to choose from. Jamie Walker was not involved at Cappielow and Raith bound Cristophe Berra was also missing. Young defender Harry Cochrane has not signed a new contract and it's unlikely that any of them will feature against Inverness. Neilson has twelve players out of contract this summer.

 

 

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FT 4-3. Ah well, next year.

13 minutes ago, Robert said:

4-3 at Dunfermline. 

Looks like Arbroath had 5 attempts in stoppage time, but we can’t complain as we had let it be out of our hands.

At least we matched Hearts second half. In the first half, they were much better than both St Mirren and County, and played very good football. 
 

To be fair to the three teams in the play off places, they deserve to be there. Neither Hamilton nor Ross County will fancy their chances against any of them/.

2 minutes ago, Jack Waddington said:

Unless Arbroath snag a veeery late equaliser, we'll be looking at fighting for the title next season

Fighting for the title? 

Do you know something we don't?

Cracking final day next Friday, shame we've not got a dug in the race. Arbroath, Morton and Ayr all playing for 8th and Dundee and Rovers playing for 2nd.

Well this time 6 weeks ago (or so) we were worried about relegation. There’s a good team spirit there. On reflection we’ve now had three of the youth academy embedded into the team, gained Allardice (ok not his best today) Deas and Duffy look like they can be decent at this level, Danny Devine looks like he could become a leader, and Toddy looks like he could be a target man. There’s times when you see neat pockets of play. More positives than negatives 

Edited April 24, 20214 yr by FrontRow
Spelling

Remember the season is 9 games shorter so if under normal circumstances you’d imagine we could have even finished 2nd.

7 minutes ago, Satan said:

Fighting for the title? 

Do you know something we don't?

Well, as things stand, we're the prime contender depending on who comes down. Us, Dundee and Raith are the top teams next season (assuming either of the latter don't go up). Not sure how much of a fight Patrick will put in, and Hamilton I don't think will be able to do a whole lot either.

Not saying were practically going to be champions from the get go, but there's a chance...

We've got the core of a decent side, I'm more optimistic than a year ago. Don't forget Falkirk. Or maybe Cove are a bigger worry.

Well it's been a tough few weeks with such a busy schedule and we gave it a darn good go, they have done themselves proud to turnaround a very difficult situation - as Mantis said 5th place was the most realistic outcome. In hindsight (wonderful thing), the cup game at the Midden did us no favours but it was a brave attempt.

Looking forward to the derby victories next season now!

League Cup starts 77 days from now.  Lots to sort out both on and off the field before then.

2 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

We've got the core of a decent side, I'm more optimistic than a year ago. Don't forget Falkirk. Or maybe Cove are a bigger worry.

Yep it does feel as if we're in a stronger starting position for next season. Doesn't really matter who comes up or down into the Championship it will still be a very competitive and hard fought league - the Championship is my favourite league both north and south of the border.

Never realised Partick won on Tuesday. Last I looked, Falkirk and Cove were neck and neck 😂

Well, that's it all but over, in this strangest of seasons (unless the Challenge Cup is a goer), and it hasn't lacked excitement over the last few weeks. Disappointed, but definitely glad that we are not fighting relegation. I've really enjoyed the games recently and feel proud of the team.

On the plus side, who needs the biased refereeing, top six cut off and Ugly sisters in the SPL - looking forward to next season - maybe we'll even get to see a live game later this year!

And thanks to everyone involved with our Inverness Caledonian Thistle for keeping it a reasonably exciting time under the circumstances ! ❤️⚽

It is very unfortunate not to be in the play offs when you consider we have the beating of any team in it and whoever it is from the premier division. Sure the players will be very disappointed. 

2 hours ago, Jack Waddington said:

Unless Arbroath snag a veeery late equaliser, we'll be looking at fighting for the title next season

Can I have some of what you are on?

2 hours ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

League Cup starts 77 days from now.  Lots to sort out both on and off the field before then.

Hope our number 77 is still here in 77 days time. 

Hope we also have a number 9 next season!!

10 minutes ago, aaroncoganshogun said:

Hope we also have a number 9 next season!!

That's exactly what I was thinking when I read Mantis' comment on the other thread about the number of draws that we have had.

Lack of a reliable, prolific goalscorer has been our biggest problem since Billy Mckay left in 2015.

Though if we did have one, we'd still have to get the ball to him!

With the League Cup starting on 10 July, I wonder if we will furlough them players until late June. I think last year we made their wages up to 100%, so if we did the same they will not lose out, but the club will avoid the bulk of the wage costs for several weeks.

Regarding number 9, I’d imagine Storey will move on so any front player coming in to replace him could take the number.

Is Toddy out of contract this summer?

14 minutes ago, Robert said:

With the League Cup starting on 10 July, I wonder if we will furlough them players until late June. I think last year we made their wages up to 100%, so if we did the same they will not lose out, but the club will avoid the bulk of the wage costs for several weeks.

Regarding number 9, I’d imagine Storey will move on so any front player coming in to replace him could take the number.

Is Toddy out of contract this summer?

Just checked the squad thread which has slipped onto page 2. Seems Toddy is out of contract. Hope we can keep him but looking at the list, I’m not bothered about any of the rest.

 

If you have not already seen the goals, here they are. Robbie Deas look away now...

⚽️ The goals from Hearts' Championship match against Inverness CT ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/TlyTuFKhrD

— Heart of Midlothian FC (@JamTarts) April 24, 2021

Jings!

We really lay down for them, time & space and then a comedy goal thrown in for good measure. 😆

Won't be watching that a second time.

Christmas came early for them indeed.

Shocker!!!