u/FootOfDavros

Another funny result last night, although obviously still very early days and banter aside, they'll probably they'll steady the ship sooner or later but if The Rangers don't and McInnes gets the boot, where do you see these main characters of the Tynecastle post season drama heading post The Rangers?

And will ANY of them find success again?

McInnes may well have landed the Scotland job had timings aligned better but more than likely he'll get punted after a new national manager has been appointed. Depending upon where he goes, his fallen star may never again rise and the national position with it...

But who would have him? Most likely Aberdeen would give him another go but again, with their manager not long in the seat, it's unlikely that's going to happen. So where would he land up?

The Shankland one is funny - He's about to turn 31. He isn't exactly the most mobile. If the goals don't start coming soon, even McInnes may start benching him (further). But with McInnes gone, would any new manager who was completely sane and didn't want to dampen his chances of success, risk it on continuing to play a slightly portly 31 year old, probably in his last season of even a passable glancing appearance of mobility?

Probably not - So where would he go? What SPFL top flight clubs would give him a go. No way he's ever returning to Tynecastle now. Hibs are out the question. Can't see Motherwell touching him with a barge pole. So who'd have him? Are we looking at Aberdeen or one of the Dundee clubs? But would even they pay him the wages he'd be after on the slightly chunky hitman who'd be approaching 32? Tough call...

And Devlin? Perhaps the most bizarre one. Sure he throws in a good tackle and puffs his chest out in front of the defence but realistically, even Hearts fans weren't as bothered with him leaving - more so the timing of it / keeping the club hanging. Again, works for McInnes - Goes into a new club and wanting some of his familiar "generals" around him. But a new manager coming in. At the size of club The Rangers imagine themselves to be / aspire to reach. Is a new manager going to play him? I wouldn't think so...

So where would he land up? Would the MLS options he apparently had still exist six / eight months down the line? Or would he land up just gathering dust at Ibrox on his slightly improved pay deal? Would he agitate for a move to another non OF team in Scotland? Can't really see it but where could he land up?

Thoughts? Could YOU see any of them make it if The Rangers or bust option actually goes bust (which fingers crossed 🤞 it will)?

Big game tomorrow.

Although we've had a poor start, not a huge amount of blame can be placed on the manager or the players, given the lack of proper build up for the European games and the continuing injury problems.

Having said that, it's really important we bounce back tomorrow with a home win versus United.

Given the manager's supposed preferred formation of a 4-2-3-1, how would you like to see the team line up tomorrow with the players available?

I'd go:-

• Reus
• Altena McEntee   Kamson-Kamara Miller
• Renaud Mendy
• Kabore Guendouz McPake
• Braga

I'm not sure KK really works there or is even good enough to be playing in the first team but I'd rather see him given the chance to cover over McCart.

Not sure Miller is really producing enough when over on the right but I'd rather see him cover for Milne (who looks miles off the pace) and give McPake (who looks way more powerful a player than Miller anyway) a chance further up.

Seems like most people hate him but I think Kabore is no forward / no finisher. However he is a total handful, powerful and likes to run into space. I'd give him a chance as Miller has shown nothing there, Karjota (who I like) fluffed his lines at Pittodrie and Kyziridis is sorely lacking at the moment. I think Kobore and McPake on the wide positions could work really well.

Spittal surely must step aside now. We need to see the Renaud Mendy partnership start there and Guendouz is more of a 10 there than Braga and works back a bit more as well - We need that two to become a three when not in possession.

Anyway, that's my thoughts. What would everyone else like to see?

I've been sitting on these plans for a while now but given the recent announcement, this seems like the right time to put forward my plan to save Scottish football:-

1. Immediately withdraw from European club football. Simply offer an apology, explain we aren't good enough and withdraw for a set period - maybe five / ten years after which we can re-assess.

2. Split the SPFL Premiership into 2 equal divisions. Division A would consist of The Rangers and Celtic. They would play each other 34 times over the season.

Division B would be an 18 team league, who would play each other home and away over the course of a 34 game season. This Division would have regulations around the number of Scottish players who had to be on the field at all times - Let's say a minimum of 6 eligible for the Scottish national team, with a set number of U21s to be included in the match day squads.

At the end of the season the Division A and Division B winners would meet over a two legged home and away context to crown the Scottish champions.

3. All referees to be drawn from abroad. No top flight fixtures to be officiated by Scottish referees.

4. VAR to be outsourced to an independent, foreign body. No Scottish nationals to be involved.

I think this is the way to go and could recover our place in the footballing world maybe within a decade or so...

Anyone know what's happening with this guy?

I saw him appearing in a couple of the pre-season training videos but it looks like he has completely disappeared again.

Any news on when he's due to come back or whether he's been injured again?

Do you think he's ever really going to play for the club or are we looking at a very expensive mistake here?

Afternoon team

A few weeks ago I got myself one of these rectangular flat hot plates for laying on top of the barbeque in order to make smash burgers.

It worked just fine and I'm pretty happy with it. The next thing I was going to use it for was making some Philly Cheesesteaks.

I won't be using the barbeque for anything else, so I'm wondering if I would be wasting my time using lumpwood charcoal as it won't be flavouring anything? Am I as well just getting a big bag of cheap briquettes for whenever I'm using the barbeque just for this hot plate?

I am a total novice to barbequing but I do know that the briquettes last longer as well - so maybe if I'm doing the cheesesteaks in batches that would be better?

Or does the lumpwood burn hotter and that would be better for cooking on the plate?

Or does it make no odds at all and I'm overthinking this?

As I was saying, this is purely for when I won't be using the barbeque for anything else but hot plate cooking (smash burgers / cheesesteaks).

Thanks folks!

A few tickets left here:-

Event Information Screen - Heart of Midlothian eTickets

For anyone who fancies attending the game.

Okay, partially in response to the disaster of last night, but what's the views on how this chap has performed since the end of last season?

For me, there have been a number of disappointments all of which, to some degree or another, I think he could been more on top of / handled better.

1. The disgusting stuff which happened at Fir Park (twice!) at the end of last season. No one at the club said anything, including Jones. As the sporting director, should we at least have expected something questioning the decisions from him? We got nothing, so we can expect nothing other than the same things to happen again going forward...
2. Shankland. This is the major screw-up for me. I appreciate others may not hold this view but giving him that release clause was ridiculous. He should have played hard ball there and then. Firstly, I don't think Shankland's hand was actually that strong at the time. And two, the whole JTA thing and trusting in it's ability to unearth players is "supposedly" core at Hearts now. Signing Shankland on that contract went completely against the philosophy. He was very weak as far as I'm concerned on this in particular.
3. Devlin. Again, absolute amateur hour stuff leaving this to fester as long as it did. Again, he knows and is supposed to be onboard with the Jamestown approach but instead of "trusting the process" and giving the guy a reasonable deadline at the end of the season, he let it drag on to the point it was too late to get an adequate replacement in on time for the biggest game the club have had for years. Utterly useless and makes us look like idiots as he took saunters off along the M8 to Glasgow...
4. Lack of any kind of professional approach to what was that biggest game for the club in years (in terms of Europe).

Now I guess some will say this is maybe unfair but I think the whole McInnes leaving, getting a replacement in and having an adequate build up to the Graz game last night was a disaster.

We'll never know for sure - well maybe it will come out one day - but it doesn't seem to have been any secret that McInnes wasn't fully onboard with the JTA approach. Being the sporting director, Jones more than anyone would have known EXACTLY where he stood. Danny Röhl leaving Rangers was being talked about for some time before it happened and we all knew who they'd go for. We should have been moving there and then, so there was no time lost at all. In fact, if the situation was so poor with McInnes, we should have been moving before anything even came to light... But as I said, maybe unfair as we don't know yet exactly what the situation was.

Nevertheless, McInnes or not, we always had this game on the horizon from the end of last season. We go into it with ONE home friendly against a team of any note whatsoever and a couple of diddy Scottish lower league opponents before that. How can the club's sporting director possibly have been happy with that / allowed that to have happened? Absolute shambles, amateurish and just embarrassing...

I was at the game on Friday night and took some real positives from it (as in fact you can still do from some aspects of last night) but I did question how we could expect the defence to hold up, given the very limited game time they'd had to play together. We should have had at least two or three games against strong opposition lined up months ago ahead of a CL qualifier - Not just hoping to wing it on the night!!

... Anyway that's my thoughts / rant re Jones.

What's everyone else thinking? Too harsh? Or should he be shouldering a good chunk of the blame here?

Morning folks

We were at the recycling centre earlier and every time we visit I marvel at how organised it all is and how we manage waste these days.

I contrast that with my hazy memories of visiting the old "dump" as it was then with my dad when I was a kid back in the 80s.

I swear there used to be just this massive pile of stuff stretching in all directions. You could sort of walk over the piles of rubbish and see what other people had thrown away. But my memory is that it was in no way as organised as it is these days.

I'm guessing it all eventually just became landfill but it really is amazing to think how long we lasted with such a half-arsed approach to dealing with waste! 😂

Anyway just wondering if anyone else has any memories of that place? Maybe there were actually a few dotted around Edinburgh but I'm guessing the place I'm thinking of must have been to the west - Somewhere in West Lothian maybe but certainly out of Edinburgh to the west on the Gogarburn side.

Anyone know the place I am talking about? It surely doesn't exist anymore but just wondering if anyone else remembers it or has some photos of that place they could share...

Overall last night was a very positive first Tynecastle look at Wouter Vrancken's new Hearts 4-2-3-1 set-up.

Here's some thoughts I had:-

1. I'd be very surprised if the starting line-up will become our first choice 11 for the season or, perhaps more importantly, for next week's game vs Strum Graz. Given how close we are to that game, it was surprising not to see the starting 11 get maybe the first hour to work together to help establish themselves before such a big task.
2. Ba-Sy was obviously the star of the show with his two goals but even before then, he was showing signs he could be a handful in the SPL (yes, calling it that). For a big guy, he had some pretty good turns on the ball to get past his man and also looked good at finding his passes / combining - did it a few times out on the right wing especially. It's only a friendly but fingers crossed on this guy.
3. Tom Renaud looks like he's going to fit in very nicely in one of those holding midfielder roles. I'm not one of those jumping on the "Devlin was crap and couldn't do anything going forward anyway" bandwagon and think we'll miss him but Renaud definitely showed he had a physical side to his game, as well as a sharp eye for passing, which could ultimately see him be a potential upgrade. Again, earlier doors but good signs...
4. Sabri Guendouz looks like he could be the real deal and a very important player for Hearts this coming season. He came on for the second half, which made it harder to judge as the mass changes ruined the rhythm of the game, but he looks like a real threat - Great feet, trying to go past his man, eye for a pass. This guy is definitely a baller and he's going to play off the likes of Miller, McPake, Kyziridis and definitely Braga (if he stays) for fun. He will be key to us scoring a lot of goals this season.
5. Re McInnes' forgotten men - Borchgrevink and Mato, it was funny watching them - you can see straight away why McInnes wouldn't play them. Nothing to do with actual ability or anything, just too short for him! I thought Borchgrevink did okay in the first half, certainly nothing to warrant banishment from the squad (!) and got into good space to put the cross in for the second goal. Mato was unfortunately subbed off but showed some good involvement when he was on the park - winning the ball and setting up the break which lead to a third goal which was chalked off. I'm not sure but he may find a role as a sub this season but for him it's hard as there are so many wing options I'd imagine are ahead of him.

Overall, very positive signs. The only concerns I had were trying to work out exactly where the likes of Magnusson, Kabore and Braga fit into the side. I don't really see Magnusson as one of those two holding midfielders - Would be very surprised if the starters from last night in those positions, i.e. Renaud and McEntee, don't start on Tuesday. Braga played the first half in that position behind Ba-Sy, which ultimately is going to be Guendouz's, so he won't play there. Maybe he plays up front - could link well with Guendouz from there but other options, not least of which is Ba-Sy...

Anyway, was a good night. For Tuesday, I'd probably go:-

Schwolow

Borchgrevink  Fagan-Walcott Findlay  Kingsley

Renaud  McEntee 

Miller Guendouz Kyziridis (edited in!)

Braga

Hi Folks

Just wondering if anyone uses this service and can let me know if it's pretty reliable?

It's been a few years since I used this to get out to the Pentlands but I'm pretty sure it used to be operated by stagecoach or some other major operator (no offensive to Houston's!).

Anyway, there are three of us looking to use this, so I'm just wanting some reassurance that there are usually spaces on the bus and that it will definitely run as per timetable (looks like its approx. one per hour) and doesn't regularly get cancelled or anything.

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I used to be a massive Flaming Lips fan. Must have seen them live maybe a dozen times...

But here's the thing - I think maybe starting with Embryonic and The Terror I started losing interest. And then they started doing all these collaborations and cover projects. When I saw them live at that point, it was still the zorbing ball over the audience and confetti. Don't get me wrong - at one point I thought that was fun and loved the shows but it was like they were stuck. I lost interest, still occasionally playing Priest Driven ambulance or something but they kind of fell away from being a central interest to me.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I'm listening to various rubbish on youtube and decided to play Madonna's Borderline (always my favourite Madonna song). Next thing the algorithm is doing its thing and I am presented with the Flaming Lips cover.

It's brilliant! I find myself listening to it on repeat and subsequently looking the band up again and reading through what they've been doing since they dropped off the radar for me. So I see they have done some "new" albums and that American Head was supposed very good.

A few days on now and I'm thinking this is a brilliant album! But the funny thing is that its six years old! And I hadn't heard a thing from it... Such a weird feeling to be captivated by an album from a band which were one of your favourites and it's already years old!

Anyway, has this happened to anyone else? I can't imagine I was the only one to drop off and then re-discover their brilliance was still there. Now looking forward to listening to the other two misses for me - Oczy Mlody and King's Mouth...

Apparently he held talks with the new manager which went well and he is now likely to re-sign.

Anyone else have any further info re this?

Personally, I hope this is true - would be a big boost going into the new season and he would fit in excellently with the new 4-2-3-1 system in one of those holding midfield positions.

Given his world cup (non) involvement though, it's probably going to be too early to expect him to be involved in the Graz match. Or maybe, given his lack of playing time, he'll just soldier on into these important games and then have some time off afterwards...

Anyway, if he does re-sign and we keep Braga and Kyziridis at least for the qualifiers, then I'm reasonably confident we've got at least a chance.

Seems like this would be a fair way to keep one of the leading players in the tournament.

What do YOU think? Should Trump make the special call?

I have some 18mm class 3 plywood to use as a new subfloor in our upstairs bathroom.

I ripped up all the old subfloor some time ago now (which was some kind of tongue and groove plywood I think) and am left with the old floorboards sitting atop the joists.

The floorboards are 25mm, so my plan was just to screw the boards down at some kind of set interval with 4x40mm wood screws (drilling pilot holes through the plywood first)

The bathroom is pretty small - something like 2.2m x 2.2m so I will need to use 2.4x1.2m boards.

So I have two questions here:-

1. Am I okay just securing these boards into floorboards with these 40mm screws; and if so how far apart should I do so? Or should I be working out where the joists fall as well and putting some longer length screws in at those points?

and

2. Is there any preferred way of laying the boards, e.g. inline with the floorboards which are already running across the joists. Or should I lay them perpendicular to the floorboards or does it not really matter?

If it doesn't really matter, I also have the question of whether it is better to have the split running across the centre of the room for the side the entrance door is. Or whether the split should go from left to right mid-way across the room, which would mean one full sheet would be in place under where the bath will sit against the opposite wall.

Thanks for reading and for any advice you may be able to give.

Me and my partner are both on the Smarty network which I believe piggybacks off Three UK.

Last night on her way home from work she was just asking me re what I fancied for dinner.

I texted:-

>I'm happy with pizza. But if you could just get a reasonable size basic Margherita one from Aldi or Sainsbury's (just a cheap one) and get a little tin of anchovies and some black olives, I'll make it up...

Her replies came back as "Eh?", "Are you unwell?", "Have you been taken over by AI?", etc with me becoming increasingly confused. Anyway, she eventually said I'm going to text back what you sent. And I received this:-

>I'm happy with pizza. But if you could just get a reasonable size basic Margherita one from Aldi or Sainsbury's (just a cheap one) and get a little tin of an of meal planning or what you'd like to do at the weekend. Try not to let it get you down.

😂

Can anyone let me know what's happened here? Has the word "anchovies" triggered some AI takeover half way through my message and caused it to write absolute gibberish?!

Pretty funny in this case and we were laughing looking at it on each others phones afterwards but what if this had been a serious text I was sending to someone and I'd potentially have had no idea it'd done something like this.

Is my phone the problem, the receiving phone or did the network do something to it in transit?