Livingston - all the threads merged

[EdinburghLivi]

Quitongo's contract offer has been withdrawn. Imagine he will have something else lined up but worth noting.

[ATLIS]

41 minutes ago, EdinburghLivi said:

Quitongo's contract offer has been withdrawn. Imagine he will have something else lined up but worth noting.

Don't think we ever actually offered him a deal to be honest

Club would be making a lot of our fans happy by signing him though

[EdinburghLivi]

I'm pretty positive overall after Saturday. The team worked hard and got caught out with some naive defending against a very good side.

We very much came into the game in the final 15 minutes with Celtic still trying to score. As has been said, Kaja looked good and I think will create plenty chances against poorer teams.

I would hope that Hardie will come straight into the team when he comes back from injury and Miller will try to influence the game from the bench and sideline. That said, it will be interesting to see how he matches up to more equal teams.

[EdinburghLivi]

1 minute ago, ATLIS said:

Don't think we ever actually offered him a deal to be honest

Club would be making a lot of our fans happy by signing him though

Sorry, I meant Morton's contract offer if that wasn't clear.

[Jamie_M]

Take Tiffoney, by all means, but gtf with this sending him back pish.

Not wanted.

[ATLIS]

3 minutes ago, Jamie_M said:

Take Tiffoney, by all means, but gtf with this sending him back pish.

Not wanted.

Enjoy him  

[Jamie_M]

Enjoy him [emoji3] 

Oh I will enjoy hounding him. Just didn't expect to to be with him back in a Morton shirt.

[EdinburghLivi]

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/livingston-to-shut-down-youth-academy-1-4782401

It hasn't really yielded much in recent years but a surprise nonetheless. Seems to be in relation to Project Brave.

[Mpire]

44 minutes ago, EdinburghLivi said:

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/livingston-to-shut-down-youth-academy-1-4782401

It hasn't really yielded much in recent years but a surprise nonetheless. Seems to be in relation to Project Brave.

Very disappointed about this and the way it has been handled by the club. So much for building new links with the community.

[LIVIFOREVER]

1 hour ago, Mpire said:

Very disappointed about this and the way it has been handled by the club. So much for building new links with the community.

Yeah seems a bit cold telling everyone by texts, all about the money though, and if it is costing us too much to run them then what can you do. So much for project brave being the saviour of Scottish football.

[Mpire]

12 minutes ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Yeah seems a bit cold telling everyone by texts, all about the money though, and if it is costing us too much to run them then what can you do. So much for project brave being the saviour of Scottish football.

Aye - it sounds like SFA decided Livi's facilities werent good enough for Project Brave so pulled the usual funding which has tipped our youth football over the edge... still don't think club has handled it well!!!

[RandomGuy.]

2 hours ago, EdinburghLivi said:

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/livingston-to-shut-down-youth-academy-1-4782401

It hasn't really yielded much in recent years but a surprise nonetheless. Seems to be in relation to Project Brave.

More proof Project Brave will kill the youth system. 

[Afro]

Would like to see a breakdown of the costs associated with running such a youth setup. I imagine the Project Brave stuff has limited the amount of funding available from the SFA and consequently has had a knock-on effect. Ultimately, we’ve not sold a player on for a good number of years and even at that, the majority of these players were all picked up from other academies at a relatively older age. If it’s about young people having the chance to play football in West Lothian then surely the Youth Foundation provides that?

I’m assuming this decision wasn’t taken lightly, so it’s somewhat disappointing this has been sprung upon the players and parents. I don’t think it’ll have been as brutal as a text message across the board as the article makes out but I’m guessing it’s just been announced without much notice. Disappointing but if there’s no benefit financially then what’s the point? The current transfer policy across the board seems to be picking up players released from bigger clubs and/or forging out a career at a lower level. I can’t see that changing.

[joriki7]

Would like to see a breakdown of the costs associated with running such a youth setup. I imagine the Project Brave stuff has limited the amount of funding available from the SFA and consequently has had a knock-on effect. Ultimately, we’ve not sold a player on for a good number of years and even at that, the majority of these players were all picked up from other academies at a relatively older age. If it’s about young people having the chance to play football in West Lothian then surely the Youth Foundation provides that?

I’m assuming this decision wasn’t taken lightly, so it’s somewhat disappointing this has been sprung upon the players and parents. I don’t think it’ll have been as brutal as a text message across the board as the article makes out but I’m guessing it’s just been announced without much notice. Disappointing but if there’s no benefit financially then what’s the point? The current transfer policy across the board seems to be picking up players released from bigger clubs and/or forging out a career at a lower level. I can’t see that changing.

It was as brutal as that. Boys had left training and then received text on way home.

[EdinburghLivi]

Not good at all. Hopefully the boys can get a new club sorted in the very near future. 

 

Livi Statement

 

On a slightly related note, I am looking forward to seeing how the Under 20s get on against Forfar on Tuesday. Given the 'Colts' results last season, I wouldn't expect a win but it will be good to see how the likes of Knox and Hamilton play.

Edited August 12, 2018 by EdinburghLivi

[Afro]

http://scotfa.co/livingston

Some fluff from the SFA.

[Disc Potato]

Berwick Rangers helped  develop young star Jack Hamilton last season which has seen him progress to become a first team player.  We are hoping to get another young Livi player on loan again this season and I am aware of the financial burdens in running  youth teams at all levels.  
I  was told that the charity funded West Lothian foundation who own your new pitch and could let the youth teams play for free this year, they still turned down the opportunity to take over the Livi youth system because they could not cover the projected season losses?

[ATLIS]

4 minutes ago, Disc Potato said:

Berwick Rangers helped  develop young star Jack Hamilton last season which has seen him progress to become a first team player.  We are hoping to get another young Livi player on loan again this season and I am aware of the financial burdens in running  youth teams at all levels.  
I  was told that the charity funded West Lothian foundation who own your new pitch and could let the youth teams play for free this year, they still turned down the opportunity to take over the Livi youth system because they could not cover the projected season losses?

Due to the way the SFA are planning tournaments now we have to have an u20s team or face sanctions so that they can play in the Irn Bru Cup. 

Stadium is owned by the council though and it took years of fighting to get the new park

It would cost the club 40k a year to run the youth academy, we haven't produced a youth that we have sold for about 9 years with the costs being about 360k for that time. Players we did bring through were McNulty and Scougall who we actually got from Hibs/Hearts even then the fee we got for them likely would've been 110k combined and we got no sell on fee with either. So it wasn't profitable or making business sense at all. 

I'm happy we've made a sensible business choice to ensure the club runs more smoothly and efficiently in terms of funding

[Durnford]

29 minutes ago, ATLIS said:

Due to the way the SFA are planning tournaments now we have to have an u20s team or face sanctions so that they can play in the Irn Bru Cup. 

Stadium is owned by the council though and it took years of fighting to get the new park

It would cost the club 40k a year to run the youth academy, we haven't produced a youth that we have sold for about 9 years with the costs being about 360k for that time. Players we did bring through were McNulty and Scougall who we actually got from Hibs/Hearts even then the fee we got for them likely would've been 110k combined and we got no sell on fee with either. So it wasn't profitable or making business sense at all. 

I'm happy we've made a sensible business choice to ensure the club runs more smoothly and efficiently in terms of funding

Not sure where you got the £40k a year figure as most of those doing the training were actually volunteers or people normally involved in the first team. For each of the (four?) teams kit cost about less than £1000 (the kids use to pay for their own boots however).

The under 18's was the expensive one as this was where some of the boys started being offered contract. Other than that oftI get that Project Brave (the youth development project not the wife beaters one) is a self serving organisation only interested in funnelling money to those clubs that need it and with Malky Mackay in charge is that entirely a surprise; but was this really necessary?en the boys families would chip in with some of the costs.

Agreed the youth team hasn't generated many Snodgrass/Dorran/Griffiths of late but the impact o the community was equally important. I new a boy from a Celtic supporting family who use to insist on attending the Livi Senior games and his dad came along as well. The family didn't convert overnight but it did give some hope for the future.

Surrendering the ground to the old firm and the Edinburgh clubs isn't going to start generating the kind of crowds we need to maintain a club at the highest level.

I remember the club used to run a variety of fund raising opportunities for the youth teams but I cant recall even a can rattle at the turnstiles of late.

I am normally supportive of the board but I think this decision is basically flawed. I get that Project Brave (the youth development project not the wife-beaters one) is a self-serving organisation only interested in funnelling money to those clubs that need it and with Malky Mackay in charge is that entirely a surprise; but was this really necessary?

I know the criteria of top tier Project Brave is particularly onerous (the demand to have six-full-time coaches focusing solely on development) but dozens of local youth teams manage without their assistance.

[ATLIS]

3 minutes ago, Durnford said:

Not sure where you got the £40k a year figure as most of those doing the training were actually volunteers or people normally involved in the first team. For each of the (four?) teams kit cost about less than £1000 (the kids use to pay for their own boots however)

Direct quote from John Ward on the Facebook group which I think clears near enough everything else