Motherwell 3 St. Johnstone 0

Motherwell booked their place in the Scottish Cup final with a comfortable 3-0 win over St. Johnstone at Hampden Park. Despite the three goal margin, Stuart McCall’s side didn’t have to perform to the best of their capabilities to see off their opponents.  All three goals were avoidable and included two goalkeeping errors from Peter Enckleman, who we know is no stranger to a blunder or two.

Teams and formations

St. Johnstone welcomed Jody Morris back into the centre of midfield with Chris Millar missing through injury.  They lined up 4-1-4-1 with Morris patrolling the area just in front of the defence and Colin Samuel leading the line.  St. Johnstone’s midfield was quite narrow considering there was five of them, with Liam Craig and Danny Invincible more inclined to drift inside than stay out wide.

Motherwell started in a 4-4-2 formation that often looked like a 4-2-3-1 when Chris Humphrey and Jamie Murphy pushed on and either Francis Jeffers or John Sutton dropped deep.  Keith Lasley and Steve Jennings sat deep for the most part, allowing the wingers to play higher up the pitch, and dominated despite a man disadvantage in that area.  At times the numerical advantage was negated by one of the strikers, usually Jeffers, dropping deep to keep tabs on Morris.  The other alternative would have been for either Lasley or Jennings to come and meet him, which consequently would have left space for Kevin Moon or Murray Davidson to exploit, but they resisted this and remained disciplined.

Motherwell gifted two goals early on

For the first few minutes it looked as if St. Johnstone were going to take the game to their opponents.  They almost opened the scoring through an Invincible header after a Danny Grainger free kick but their bright start was undone after only five minutes when Enckleman came for a Tom Hateley corner and completely missed the ball, allowing Stephen Craigen to nod the ball home from a standing position.  The finger can also be pointed at Invincible who was caught ball-watching and left the Northern Ireland international unmarked.

The match was over as a contest when Murphy put Motherwell 2-0 up after fourteen minutes.  It was a well taken goal from the 21-year-old but the goal, again, could have been avoided.  After a lucky break following a poor Craigen pass, Motherwell bypassed the St. Johnstone midfield all too easily.  Sutton then dropped deep and fed Murphy, who cut inside with a diagonal run.  Michael Duberry looked to have Murphy in his sights but was impeded by fellow centre-half Steven Anderson before Murphy finished well from the edge of the box.

Two shots for Motherwell = two goals.  All without having to massively outplay their opponents.  Game over.

St. Johnstone offer nothing going forward

Predictably, Motherwell then became more inclined to sit deep, allow St. Johnstone possession and hit on the counter attack.  Morris was now seeing plenty of the ball although there were several occasions where he was visibly frustrated by the lack of options in front of him.  You could see that after waiting for some movement in order to pass the ball forward, he would turn and play a sideways or backwards pass before shrugging his shoulders or stretching his arms out in a ‘what am I supposed to do’ manner.

Samuel looked isolated up front but to be fair he never really offered his teammates any option.  He looked sluggish and rarely got into space.  The few times he did drop deep or wide, the midfielders very rarely attempted to get beyond him.  All St. Johnstone’s first half chances came from set-pieces.

Another goalkeeping error made it 3-0 going into half time.  A long punt up-field from Darren Randolph was nodded down by Jeffers and hit by Sutton on the volley from around twenty-five yards.  Enckleman’s positioning was so poor that he struggled to get across his goal and could only get a hand to it on its way into the net. 

A mostly uneventful Second half

After the third goal St. Johnstone moved Invincible up front and Moon to right midfield, switching to 4-4-2.  At half time Samuel was replaced by Jordan Robertson, who done more for his side after ten minutes on the pitch than Samuel had managed in forty-five, and stuck with the formation they had ended the first half with.

With two target men in attack, St. Johnstone were now more inclined to hit long balls but after a while their play settled and they enjoyed long periods of possession but again without creating much.  Keith Lasley admitted post-match that Motherwell were happy to spend the second half focusing on not conceding a goal rather than adding to their tally.

A few substitutions for either side failed to change the outcome of the match or add to the scoring.  St. Johnstone managed to string together a few decent passing moves with Davidson the main driving force.  The same player struck the bar with a header late on but it was too little too late from a side who had gifted the win to their opponents very early on in the match.

Conclusion

After the match, Stuart McCall conceded that his side were “2-0 up without turning up”.  This is a pretty accurate assessment, even if ‘without turning up’ is a little bit of an exaggeration.  St. Johnstone, and Enckleman especially, gifted Motherwell their goals, making the win much more comfortable than it perhaps should have been.

Starting with a extra man in the centre of midfield should have caused St. Johnstone to dominate that area, but three factors – (i) Jeffers and Sutton taking turns to drop deep and pick up Morris, (ii) the fact that Jennings and Lasley were better on the day, and (iii) that the more attacking Motherwell players offered their midfielders more options – meant that Lasley and Jennings dominated. 

The second half was little more than Motherwell sitting back and protecting their lead and St. Johnstone huffing and puffing but to no avail.

The Alternative Player of the Year

Despite each side having at least five fixtures still to play, the SPFA Player of the Year nominees were announced earlier this week.  The shortlist consist of Kilmarnock’s Alexi Eremenko, Steven Naismith of Rangers and Celtic pair Gary Hooper and Emilio Izaguirre.  All these players are worthy of their nomination, however, since they will be written about extensively elsewhere, I thought it’d be a good idea to look at a few players who have either been unlucky to miss out or else are players I've enjoyed watching this season.

Marian Kello

Along with Beram Kayal, Marian Kello is probably the player who is unlucky not to have found himself among the candidates for this year’s award.  Goalkeepers, and defenders for that matter, are less likely to win such awards since a lot of their good work often goes unnoticed.  Attacking players, that is creators and scorers, are more likely to find themselves nominated for such awards.  Of the four nominees, one happens to be a defender, however, Izaguirre is the most effective attacking full-back in the country.

That defensive players are less likely to win may be partly down to the cliché that ‘goals win games’ but Hearts supporters would argue that Kello has undoubtedly contributed to several wins this season.  Kello has faced up to three penalties this season and saved them all.  The one in the 93^rd minute from David Goodwillie earned his side a crucial 2-1 win over Dundee United, who now sit only eight points behind the Gorgie side.

Kello was also part of the Hearts side that racked up seven clean sheets in nine matches between November and January.  Added to this, are outstanding performances against Rangers in a 1-0 win at Tynecastle in which he made four quality saves to keep the score at 0-0 and another in Aberdeen that earned his side a point in a 0-0 draw.

Danny Swanson

Granted, Danny Swanson has only made around twenty appearances this season, more than half of them from the bench, but despite this he has been one of the most exciting players to watch.  After an indifferent first half to the season in which Dundee united seemed to draw every week, it is no coincidence that their run of form over the last few months has been accompanied by the return from injury by Swanson and fellow winger Craig Conway.

A change in system from Peter Houston ensued.  Whereas the majority of the first half of the current campaign saw United line up 4-4-2 with David Goodwillie and Jon Daly in attack, the return of the two wingers meant that Houston was able to field an extra central midfielder and go with Conway and Swanson flanking Goodwillie in attack in a 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation.  Dundee United then embarked on a run of seven wins in a row and now find themselves with an outside chance of finishing third should Hearts’ poor form continue.

Whereas Conway sticks rigidly to a left wing role, hugging the touchline until receiving the ball and then cutting inside on to his stronger foot, Swanson seems to take up more of a free role.  The former Berwick Rangers winger is quick, intelligent with his feet and if he had been fully fit for the entire season, he would surely find himself among the actual nominees for SPFA Player of the Year.  Moreover, Dundee United would likely be sitting a lot closer to, if not above Hearts in the table. Swanson’s stand out performance this season was during the 3-1 victory over Aberdeen last month in which he capped a man of the match display with an outstanding goal.

Keith Lasley

I have a soft spot for Keith Lasley.  From what I’ve seen of him this season, he is one of the most intelligent central midfielders in Scotland and when on form, he dictates matches as well as most in the SPL.  In the 2-0 victory over Celtic in February, he formed a midfield three with Steve Jennings and Ross Forbes and they completely overran their direct opponents that day.  Whereas Jennings sits deepest of the three, Forbes has licence to drift left and is more inclined to join the attack than the other two.  Lasley’s role is then to sit somewhere between these two and orchestrate attacks. 

As well as this, Lasley is a tenacious player and not afraid to do the dirty work.  In the 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock earlier in the season he almost single-handedly dominated the midfield area as one of two deep-lying central midfield players, allowing Motherwell’s two wingers to play high up the pitch and cause problems for the Kilmarnock defence.

Lasley was deployed as one of two carilleros in a midfield diamond in the most recent Lanarkshire derby.  For the first half of this match, even though taking up a role not entirely suited to him, he still performed well, covering a lot of ground and finding himself involved in the few times Motherwell got the ball down and passed it around.

One possible reason as to why his form has ebbed and flowed this season - as well as Motherwell’s form as a whole - is that since Stuart McCall has taken over, he has still not settled on his favoured formation or starting eleven.  This is permissible due to the fact that McCall is not long in the job and should be excused for one or two poor performances for the purposes of experimentation, but further to this, his preparations for some matches have been hampered by injuries.  None more so than in the more recent defeat to Kilmarnock in which McCall lost Steven Hammell to injury during the warm up and then Steven Saunders only nine minutes into the match.

Five things to take from Sunday's Edinburgh derby

In what was surely the final Edinburgh derby of the season, ten-man Hearts came from behind to salvage a well deserved point.  Hibernian extended their unbeaten run to seven matches although will be disappointed not to have taken all three points.

Ryan Stevenson can play as a striker, as long as you don’t expect him to win an aerial battle

It was surprising to see Stevenson again take up a striking role for Hearts.  The former Ayr United midfielder was deployed as an auxiliary striker in the 1-0 win over Rangers in January but looked out of his depth on that occasion.  The difference on Sunday was that he was joined in attack by Stephen Elliott in a 4-4-2/4-2-4 formation.

Furthermore, and again unlike during the victory over Rangers, the strategy of Hearts was to move the ball quickly towards Andy Driver and David Templeton, who took up advanced positions on either wing, and not to hit long, direct passes towards the edge of the box.  Hearts have struggled to fill the void left by long-term absentee Kevin Kyle, especially in matches where they have a tendency to, or are forced to play long ball.

Stevenson opened the scoring in the first half with a control and finish that any seasoned SPL striker would be proud of.  Not only this, he also dropped deep earlier in the move to link play.  As well as this, Stevenson relentlessly closed down the Hibs defence and was one of the start performers on the day.

Stephen Elliott is definitely better with a strike partner

Relatedly, the Hearts performance in the first thirty minutes showed that Elliott is much better when not used as a lone-striker.  Stevenson’s presence in attack and the advanced positions taken up by Driver and Templeton meant that Hearts effectively lined up man-for-man against the Hibs defence.  Consequently, Elliott was afforded more space than usual and his movement between the lines and the inside channels caused the Hibs defenders many problems.  Early in the match he found himself on the end of a few well worked moves, one of which he should have scored, another that should have earned his side a penalty.

After the red card, Elliott was moved to the right side of midfield in a 4-4-1 formation.  He continued to perform impressively, although Hearts inevitably created less and most of his work was defensive in nature.  He was left unmarked for the equalising goal after some poor set-piece defending from the home side yet finished well.

Hibs failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage in midfield

Hibs started the match with a numerical advantage in central midfield.  Even before the ordering off of Marius Zaliukas, there were times when Hibs had a 3v2, and sometimes even a 4v2, advantage in the centre of the pitch.  Despite this, and perhaps counterintuitively, Hearts dominated.  Jim Jefferies’s side started with two deep-lying central midfielders and defended the area while avoiding playing through it.

Therefore, on paper at least, Victor Palsson, Liam Miller and Matt Thornhill should have dominated the central areas.  However, they failed stamp their authority on the match until the second half when Hearts were down to ten men and were more inclined to sit nine men behind the ball.

Thus, the three main reasons for Hibs failing to dominate the midfield early in the match were: (i) they failed play the ball through the area effectively, (ii) Hearts defended the area well and avoided playing through it themselves and, (iii) Elliot and Stevenson showed a willingness to defend from the front and press Hibs high up the pitch.  There was no such willingness from the Hibs strikers.

Hibs looked better with wide men in advanced areas

Admittedly it is more difficult to judge when possessing a numerical advantage, however, Hibs were much more dangerous in the second half when Ricardo Vaz Te was introduced in place of Martin Scott.  Hibs had started in their familiar 4-1-3-2 formation (although it appeared to be more like a 4-4-2 diamond formation with Thornhill more advanced than Miller has been in the same role recently) but moved to a more expansive 4-2-3-1 after the break.  Vaz Te took up a right-wing role, with Derek Riordan moving to the left in a fluid front five and Hibs instantly improved.

The switch meant that Hibs no longer relied solely on their full-backs for width.  Callum Booth managed to get forward for most of the match from left-back whereas Richie Towell struggled to do the same on the opposite flank.  Not until the second half did Richie Towell regularly find himself in possession in an advanced area, although this was partially down to Driver’s frequent drifting into the centre, leaving plenty of space on that side.

What should have been the winning goal for Hibs came from the right-hand side and involved Towell.  By this time he was linking up with Wotherspoon down the right and Vaz Te had moved to just off Akpo Sodje in attack.  With players like this available to Calderwood, a  4-2-3-1 or similar variant certainly an option for Hibs.

Hibs will be fine under Colin Calderwood

Much doubt was cast over Calderwood after a terrible run of results, including a Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Ayr United shortly after taking over.  He inherited a side low in confidence before making six new signings in January.  He has now not only steadied the ship, but also has everyone involved with the club looking up rather than down the table.

Their recent run, although admirable, had until Sunday come against teams mostly from the bottom six.  Seven games without defeat, including matches against Kilmarnock and Hearts, looks a lot more impressive.  To expect to end the season in the top six would be overly-optimistic, although they should have no problems finishing in the top half of the table next season.

Calderwood was appointed at Easter Road with an impressive record in the English lower leagues behind him.  Those who prematurely, even in the merry-go-round era of football management, called for Calderwood to be relieved of his duties after two wins in his first fourteen matches in charge must surely now recognise his pedigree.  In the space of a few months and with very little money, he carried out effective business in a notoriously difficult January transfer market.  He has now turned a side fighting relegation into one that has now reached the form the supporters expect.

Hibernian v Hearts preview

Tom Hill from The Scottish Football Blog and I wote separate pieces for today's Edinburgh Derby. The first part, written by Tom, is from the Hibs perspective.  The second part was written by myself.  My secret is out.

Please follow the link above and check out Tom's blog.

Edinburgh Derby Preview: A Hibs Perspective
 

Colin Calderwood recently the had pleasure of meeting me for the first time.

Truth be told, I’d possibly over indulged. 

Drink beer and wine you'll feel fine. But when you drink wine and beer you'll feel queer. 

Quite.

So my attempts to congratulate him on Hibs’ recent run of form possibly sounded a little like:

“See me, Col, I’m a bit pished.”

But he’s a very approachable chap, smiled benignly and said that he had much work still to do.

And indeed he does.

His tenure at Hibs has been short but not without challenges. He took over a failing team and it continued to fail.

Faced with both a bleak league table and a squad that clearly did not impress him, he then had to use the transfer window to halt a decline that was beginning to look perilously like a manifesto for relegation.

He pulled that off. Hibs have won five of their last six games, only a draw at St Johnstone denying them 18 points from 18.

That’s impressive. More so when we consider that this has been done with a team that bears little resemblance to the one John Hughes started the season with.

It’s quite unusual in Scottish football for a manager to scrape together such a transformation in the January transfer window. It’s unheard of at Easter Road.

So Calderwood has laid aside his faltering start, begun to sweep out the mess left by his predecessor and taken some steps towards convincing the fans that here is a manager who can prosper at a club that has recently shown a remarkable intolerance to any perceived weaknesses in the dugout.

As a Hibs fan all of this heartens me.

And that should mean I’m feeling reasonably confident about Sunday’s derby.

Well, to an extent.

Partly my trepidation comes from too much experience of Hearts-ache. Partly it’s because I am, by nature, predisposed to take a bleak view of the world and everyone and everything that’s in it.

Those are general, lasting reasons for a sense of pre-derby misgiving.

There are also more pressing concerns for Sunday.

The fact that Hibs haven’t played a competitive game since March 5th means, at the very least, they are going into this one short of match practice or any real guide to their form. That could either be a good thing or a bad thing.

The six game undefeated run has been welcome, it’s been enjoyable and calmed talk of a club in crisis.

But Kilmarnock are the highest placed side to have been beaten. There’s been no test against the Old Firm, no measure of progress against a form team like Dundee United.

A new look side has done well to win so many games as they searched for cohesion and understanding in the squad.

Yet even taking into account the slight halt to Hearts’ progress as they find themselves bogged down in the no man’s land of third place, a derby represents a completely different challenge for Hibs.

They could well prove up to that task but it remains something of a step into the unknown.

Hearts have also won the last four of these clashes and are now undefeated in six. We have to go back to Derek Riordan’s late penalty at Tynecastle in May 2009 for the last Hibs win.

All of which serves to dampen my ardour for proceedings. And yet...

Certainly I’d be disappointed and a touch surprised if Hibs appear as devoid of intent and purpose as they have done in the previous two clashes this season.

This is, for all that they’re relatively untested, a Hibs team with more edge, more thrust and an added stomach for the fight. Hearts should find more resistance as they attempt to impose themselves on Easter Road.

In Richie Towell and Callum Booth the home side have full backs who are capable of giving Hearts’ midfielders and defence pause for thought. Akpo Sodje gives an added dimension in attack, Derek Riordan retains a certain enigmatic quality.

Victor Palsson’s injury in Iceland’s under-21 clash against England is a concern. He’s become a combative component of a midfield that Calderwood has transformed into a more formidable unit. Here’s a 19 year old who does not look like an Edinburgh derby would give him any reason to be fazed.

It’s a different Hibs, a better Hibs.

All of this leaves me searching for a prediction. Into the mix I must throw Hibs’ improvement, Hearts’ slight slips, Hibs’ inactivity, my own pessimism, Hibs’ new faces and the added pressures and dig of a derby clash.

Which, when processed, means?

I really don’t know. I expect this one to be close. I don’t expect Hearts to be able to dictate the way they did earlier in the season.

These are games that rarely throw up treats for the neutral footballing aesthete. If the sides are more evenly matched then we might find the game turning on an individual contribution, be it a flash of brilliance, an honest mistake or a moment of madness.

And that can make a game something of a lottery.

Which drags me inexorably towards predicting a draw. With the proviso that either team could sneak this one by the odd goal.

Apologies if that’s about as decisive as a tactics talk from John Hughes. But there we have it.

I’m feeling sick with nerves already.

Edinburgh Derby Preview: A Hearts Perspective

After two solid months of nothing but Old Firm matches, attention now turns to Easter Road for Scotland’s real showcase football match.  Hearts will be looking to make it five wins in-a-row against their Edinburgh rivals but will surely face a sterner test this time around from a resurgent Hibs team.

Hearts without a number of players

Jim Jefferies is without a number of key players heading into Sunday’s match.  Eggert Jonsson and Adrian Mrowiec are suspended; Kevin Kyle, Lee Wallace and Calum Elliot are all out injured, whereas Rudi Skacel, Marius Zaliukas and Suso Santana are doubts.  Consequently, Hearts find themselves light in almost every area of the pitch.

Whereas Hibs now have a settled back four, the Hearts defence has chopped and changed in recent weeks.  Full-back has proved to be a problem position all season.  Ruben Palazuelos has deputised adequately for long-term absentee Lee Wallace at left-back but his services would have been more beneficial in the centre of midfield due to the lack of options there.

Right-back has been more of an issue and with Jonsson suspended, Craig Thomson looks set to start.  Although a full-back by trade, Thomson has looked unsteady defensively this season and has shown that his best qualities lie in deliveries into the box, be it from open play or from dead ball situations.  He started on the right-wing against Dundee United recently but was moved back to his natural position as a consequence of the erratic and reckless performance of Ismael Bouzid. 

No matter who starts, right-back is a weak spot in the Hearts back four, which will otherwise consist of a central defensive pairing of Andy Webster and Marius Zaliukas, should the Lithuanian pass fit.

Formation and the midfield battle

At half time in their most recent match, and trailing 1-0 at home to St. Mirren, Jefferies switched his side to a 4-4-2, sacrificing holding midfielder Mrowiec in favour of another striker.  Hearts went on to win the match 3-2, however, it would mistaken to deduce from this that they will start with four in midfield and two up front on Sunday.

Hearts were chasing the game and required a dramatic change in approach after an inept first forty-five minutes.  Lining-up with a midfield of Skacel and Black flanked by two wingers would inevitably lead to Hearts losing the midfield battle as Hibs have vastly improved in this area since the last time the sides met.

The starting position of Colin Calderwood’s side sees them line-up in a narrow 4-1-3-2 formation, which becomes a  4-2-3-1 of sorts when Martin Scott pushes on, David Wotherspoon pulls wide right and Derek Riordan drops deep and wide left.  Victor Palsson is deployed as a regista and is vital to Calderwood’s system.  He is also a doubt for Sunday but should he and Skacel overcome their knocks, then this will be one of the game’s key battles.  As well as dictating play from deep, Palsson will be tasked of keeping Skacel quiet, a tactic that a few other sides have successfully employed against Hearts in recent months.

From a Hearts perspective, Skacel is expected to not only create and score goals, but, being in that area of the pitch, to pay close attention to Palsson when not in possession.  Much like the way he nullified the threat of Liam Miller in Hearts’ 2-0 victory at Easter Road earlier in the season.

Martin Scott is another key man in the Hibs midfield.  His energy is exceptional, he looks like he can score goals and is prepared to graft and do the dirty work.  I fear that the central midfield of Hearts, which will likely consist of Black and Stevenson as the holding pair with Skacel in a more advanced position, will be overrun and Hibs will dominate as a consequence.

Goals a worry for Hearts

Despite three goals in their most recent outing, Hearts have struggled for to find the net of late, managing only five in the eight matches previous to the victory over St. Mirren.  The prolonged absence of Kevin Kyle has left Hearts bereft of an adequate target man.  When at their peak this season, the midfield runners of Hearts thrived on Kyle’s ability to hold the ball up and link play.

Hearts have struggled to fill the position since his absence.  Stephen Elliott has been marginally better than the other aspirants and will likely start.  He has displayed an ability to score a few goals despite not being entirely suited to a lone-striking role.  What can be frustrating to watch is when Hearts ignore the obvious mismatch in height between Elliott and most central defenders, yet insist on lumping long balls towards him.

In attack for Hibs, Ricadro Vaz Te looks to be an astute acquisition for Hibs although he has struggled for match fitness.  Even more so now that Hibs have just completed an entire month without a competitive match.  Whether he or Akpo Sodje start, the Hibs attack is an entirely different proposition than in recent Edinburgh derbies.  Derek Riordan was isolated as a lone-striker in Hearts’ 2-0 win at Easter Road earlier in the season and Valdas Trayks was similarly anonymous in the same role at Tynecastle on New Year’s Day.

Prediction

Hibs are the form side going into the match, unbeaten in the last six, even though five of these matches have been against sides in the bottom six.  Nevertheless, how the break has affected Hibs will go a long way to determining the outcome of the match.  It will be interesting to see whether a month without a competitive fixture will have a detrimental effect on them or not.

The home side have a settled back four now, Booth and Towell look dangerous when they push on and Stephen Elliott may struggle to get an inch from Dickoh and Hanlon.  Without Mrowiec and Jonsson, and with Palazuelos required at left-back, Hearts look weak in the centre of the pitch and I expect Palsson, Scott and Miller to dominate.

Hearts have a lot of players missing and will likely get plenty of men behind the ball and attempt to hit on the break, and if players like Templeton, Skacel and Driver hit form, then Hearts always have a chance of scoring.

1-1.