Livingston - all the threads merged

[EdinburghLivi]

#Halkett2020

[LIVIFOREVER]

Never in doubt that Scotty was staying, don't think Halkett will be making a commitment to anyone until the season has finished either, media just makes shite up whenever there's the slightest rumour going around. Would be surprised if he stays with us right enough, but can see bigger clubs than Hearts being interested in him.

 

Quite glad Halkett didn't get called up to the Scotland squad now, wouldn't want him going anywhere near that clusterfuck of a team with McLeish in charge. Kelly may well get a shot in goals after seeing how bad Bain was though, he'll be bloody busy if he does.

Edited March 23, 2019 by LIVIFOREVER

[LogieLivi]

Never in doubt that Scotty was staying, don't think Halkett will be making a commitment to anyone until the season has finished either, media just makes shite up whenever there's the slightest rumour going around. Would be surprised if he stays with us right enough, but can see bigger clubs than Hearts being interested in him.
 
Quite glad Halkett didn't get called up to the Scotland squad now, wouldn't want him going anywhere near that clusterfuck of a team with McLeish in charge. Kelly may well get a shot in goals after seeing how bad Bain was though, he'll be bloody busy if he does.

I canny see Kelly getting a start over McLaughlin to be honest. Kelly is there to make up the numbers unfortunately.

[crispy]

Solid enough performance last night. Missed a few good chances and evidently missed captain Halkett for the sloppy goal from a corner, for example. 

I thought Erskine looked good and Lawson brought some pace to the midfield. He is also getting better in the air and tougher tackling, I think. Lawson and Sibbald coming good for me when I was bit unsure of them at Christmas. 

We’ve a couple of obvious areas to address for next year: a finisher (doesn’t everyone need one?) and someone with a bit of pace to slot in where Halkett vacates. However I’m enjoying forward to seeing the team evolve. The starting 11 maybe isn’t as clearcut as it used to be and I think that’s for the right reasons.

[LIVIFOREVER]

Yep, Sibbs and Lawson have really improved for us these last few games, also agree about Erskine, he isn't a forward but since dropping back a bit he's looked really good, all we really need just now is someone to be a bit more clinical up front, or our midfielders to get their scoring boots back on. We've a few who are capable of getting us goals  from midfield, unfortunately they've all gone off the boil at the same time.

Didn't mention it on the match thread, but Robinson put in some shift last night, thought he did really well making a nuisance of himself up front, and being up against big defenders, managed to mug the ball off them with his pressing play.

[Livilion28]

Halkett will no doubt be a massive miss along with Gallacher. We will need 2 good defenders signed in the summer. 

Whats going on with Byrne he’s arguably our best midfielder and he hasn’t been playing lately? 

Good to see dykes scoring today but don’t know if he will score enough goals next season , a lot of reviews on him say he does his best work outside the box?

[LIVIFOREVER]

2 hours ago, Livilion28 said:

Halkett will no doubt be a massive miss along with Gallacher. We will need 2 good defenders signed in the summer. 

Whats going on with Byrne he’s arguably our best midfielder and he hasn’t been playing lately? 

Good to see dykes scoring today but don’t know if he will score enough goals next season , a lot of reviews on him say he does his best work outside the box?

Lawson and Sibbald both got their chance with Byrne suspended, and have kept their place. Holt tends to do that with players out injured or suspended, Brown was still played at LB last night with Lamie back fit, Lamie only got on when Brown was injured.

[thruthenight]

I have a complete love/hate relationship with Steve Lawson. Yesterday, he did all of the good things and all of the bad things.

I'm not sure if it's lack of concentration that puts him in bad positions, or limited tackling ability, but we do give away a lot of chances through mistakes he makes. Last night for example, Mallan's snapshot after 2 mins came because Lawson wasn't paying attention and let him get the run on him. Something similar happened after 67 mins or so when Mallan had a pop from 20 yards when Lawson didn't close him down. He can definitely put in a tackle though, he put in a couple of excellent ones yesterday, which makes me think it's a concentration thing.

On the other hand, he's probably our best creative outlet. Great run to win the penalty yesterday, and he can pick a pass better than anyone else in the team. Our best moments yesterday came from him taking the ball and running with it. Because of this, I kinda want to see him pushed up the park a bit, into the role that Pitts plays. A 4-2-3-1 with Byrne & Keags sitting back, and Sibbald, Lawson & Erskine further up would be a decent attacking force I reckon. Dropping Pitts would be harsh af though.

[thruthenight]

4 minutes ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Lawson and Sibbald both got their chance with Byrne suspended, and have kept their place. Holt tends to do that with players out injured or suspended, Brown was still played at LB last night with Lamie back fit, Lamie only got on when Brown was injured.

Lamie was at fault for the first IMO, if Brown is fit for Wednesday then I expect he starts.

Brown looked good in the air yesterday, wouldn't mind seeing them both play with Brown at CB if Halkett is still out injured. Gallagher Brown Lithgow Lamie would be a strong back 4.

 

[LIVIFOREVER]

Not looking good for Hardie when Holt is selecting midfielders ahead of him when we have no other strikers available, only other fit striker we had was put out on loan to Alloa and he isn't getting much game time there.

Another thing bugging me just now is Raffa not getting playing, he's had several full games in the reserves as well as a few sub appearances/starts and been subbed, yet just sits getting splinters in his arse on match day for the first team. Is he ever going to get a frigging game this season, we're not exactly banging in goals and Raffa is a goal scoring attacking player.

[Afro]

17 hours ago, thruthenight said:

I have a complete love/hate relationship with Steve Lawson. Yesterday, he did all of the good things and all of the bad things.

I'm not sure if it's lack of concentration that puts him in bad positions, or limited tackling ability, but we do give away a lot of chances through mistakes he makes. Last night for example, Mallan's snapshot after 2 mins came because Lawson wasn't paying attention and let him get the run on him. Something similar happened after 67 mins or so when Mallan had a pop from 20 yards when Lawson didn't close him down. He can definitely put in a tackle though, he put in a couple of excellent ones yesterday, which makes me think it's a concentration thing.

On the other hand, he's probably our best creative outlet. Great run to win the penalty yesterday, and he can pick a pass better than anyone else in the team. Our best moments yesterday came from him taking the ball and running with it. Because of this, I kinda want to see him pushed up the park a bit, into the role that Pitts plays. A 4-2-3-1 with Byrne & Keags sitting back, and Sibbald, Lawson & Erskine further up would be a decent attacking force I reckon. Dropping Pitts would be harsh af though.

I agree with you on Lawson, I'm reserving any real criticism of him as a long term option given how much he's come on since Christmas time. His versatility alone is a great asset to the squad, looked like he played just off the striker against Hibs before Christmas and hasn't been there since, would be interested to see him and Pittman swapping positions. IMO Pittman is the undroppable figure in the midfield, the only member of the midfield who can really drive us on. Wasn't at his best on Friday but he was immense in the game against St Johnstone recently. Byrne will get another shot in this team due to his attitude alone, but I'd say it'd be harsh to drop anyone from the central 3 at the moment. Erskine for Lawless would be my only change.

6 hours ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Not looking good for Hardie when Holt is selecting midfielders ahead of him when we have no other strikers available, only other fit striker we had was put out on loan to Alloa and he isn't getting much game time there.

Another thing bugging me just now is Raffa not getting playing, he's had several full games in the reserves as well as a few sub appearances/starts and been subbed, yet just sits getting splinters in his arse on match day for the first team. Is he ever going to get a frigging game this season, we're not exactly banging in goals and Raffa is a goal scoring attacking player.

No need to rush him back, get what you're saying though LF. The pace of reserve games probably suits him down to a tee at the moment, no need to risk him given the pace of a game he'd be stepping back into in the Premiership. Would be great to see him back after the split, though.

[LIVIFOREVER]

30 minutes ago, Afro said:

I agree with you on Lawson, I'm reserving any real criticism of him as a long term option given how much he's come on since Christmas time. His versatility alone is a great asset to the squad, looked like he played just off the striker against Hibs before Christmas and hasn't been there since, would be interested to see him and Pittman swapping positions. IMO Pittman is the undroppable figure in the midfield, the only member of the midfield who can really drive us on. Wasn't at his best on Friday but he was immense in the game against St Johnstone recently. Byrne will get another shot in this team due to his attitude alone, but I'd say it'd be harsh to drop anyone from the central 3 at the moment. Erskine for Lawless would be my only change.

No need to rush him back, get what you're saying though LF. The pace of reserve games probably suits him down to a tee at the moment, no need to risk him given the pace of a game he'd be stepping back into in the Premiership. Would be great to see him back after the split, though.

Really not getting the no need to rush him back stuff Afro, he's had ample gametime in the reserves and is scoring goals there, what exactly is the difference from playing football there and risking him breaking down to giving him a sub appearance in the first team?

 

Hardie was stuck straight into the team again in Dec after recovering from his 2nd op and  wasn't having to play about 500 mins in the reserves first.  If Raffa has come through full games in the reserves ok then he's fit to get some sub appearances in the first team, the standard is higher sure, but he'll soon get up to speed after a couple of games coming on as sub, wont if he keeps sitting on his arse on the subs bench though, and the reserve league is almost finished now so his match fitness isn't going to improve much more unless he starts getting first team games.

 

Just checked the reserve league, the last game is on Tues night, that should be a good indicator of Raffa's chances of getting a game on Wed then. 

Edited March 31, 2019 by LIVIFOREVER

[crispy]

I think Raffa is a classy and intelligent footballer. I’m pleased he’s back playing again.

6 hours ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

we're not exactly banging in goals and Raffa is a goal scoring attacking player.

I’m not sure Raffa is the answer to our goal scoring problems. I’m not convinced he’d score at a greater rate than the current players - it’s difficult to establish from stats (found on Wikipedia) across different leagues but  it would seem he hasn’t scored more than a couple of goals in a season for 7/8 years. I don’t think there is a clear candidate in midfield to drop to fit him in either; can’t see him playing as a solo striker.

Edited March 31, 2019 by crispy

[LIVIFOREVER]

1 hour ago, crispy said:

I think Raffa is a classy and intelligent footballer. I’m pleased he’s back playing again.

I’m not sure Raffa is the answer to our goal scoring problems. I’m not convinced he’d score at a greater rate than the current players - it’s difficult to establish from stats (found on Wikipedia) across different leagues but  it would seem he hasn’t scored more than a couple of goals  a season for 7/8 years. I don’t think there is a clear candidate in midfield to drop to fit him in either; can’t see him playing as a solo striker.

Yeah I'm not putting him forward as the solution to us not having a prolific goal scoring striker, i'm saying he is a goal scoring attacking player who started out as a striker for us years ago ( and if we're playing midfielders as strikers then i'd put Raffa ahead of all of them), and considering we're struggling for goals just now, I think he'd give us another player who can score a goal or two.

Hardie is the nearest thing we've got to a prolific goal scorer, but he's been dropped to the bench, i'd have both Raffa and Hardie getting starts asap, in Hardies case that would be against Accies, and Raffa should be getting about 20 mins in that game too,

 

Checked the thread I did last season on the Liviroom forum and Raffa scored 6 goals in total. 3 in the league, 2 in the cups, and 1 in the play offs before he got injured against Utd. They were all away from home, would be nice seeing him getting a goal at home this season.

 

His goals against Hibs and Falkirk in cup games were memorable, almost got an equaliser against Hibs too as it curled round the keeper and hit the post.  He's good at free kicks as well.

Edited March 31, 2019 by LIVIFOREVER

[crispy]

It’s a fair point to say that you don’t need to be striker to play up front for us haha. I think he’d have the composure to have put away the chance that Robinson missed against Dundee and another at Hibs on Fri however I’m not sure he’d be in those positions. It’s tricky. I totally appreciate an appetite for getting him in the team. Lawless is another potential goal scoring midfielder... I’d like to see Wylde in to see what he can do with a run. Decent competition for places! 

[EdinburghLivi]

Hardie will start on Wednesday with Robinson shifting over to the right, imo. He looked back to his old self when he came on.

3000 Hibs fans on Friday meaning 1700 home fans. Great turnout, hopefully we can keep building on that.

[EdinburghLivi]

33 minutes ago, crispy said:

 I’d like to see Wylde in to see what he can do with a run. 

Agreed. He deserves a chance in his favoured position rather than the nonsense LWB position he was playing earlier in the year.

[Livilion28]

3 hours ago, Afro said:

I agree with you on Lawson, I'm reserving any real criticism of him as a long term option given how much he's come on since Christmas time. His versatility alone is a great asset to the squad, looked like he played just off the striker against Hibs before Christmas and hasn't been there since, would be interested to see him and Pittman swapping positions. IMO Pittman is the undroppable figure in the midfield, the only member of the midfield who can really drive us on. Wasn't at his best on Friday but he was immense in the game against St Johnstone recently. Byrne will get another shot in this team due to his attitude alone, but I'd say it'd be harsh to drop anyone from the central 3 at the moment. Erskine for Lawless would be my only change.

No need to rush him back, get what you're saying though LF. The pace of reserve games probably suits him down to a tee at the moment, no need to risk him given the pace of a game he'd be stepping back into in the Premiership. Would be great to see him back after the split, though.

Byrne would be in my team along with pitts and Keags. Lawson has done well lately but maybe playing him as wide right position for his driving runs. Don’t know how we will line up Wednesday as brown and oddoffin both came of injured. Would love to see rafa get game time

[andylivi1]

TalkLivi episode six is out now, you can find us on all mainstream podcasting sites.

Audio problem sorted and we’ve added a third host on the advice from someone on here so thanks for that, we are always looking for advice on how to improve things and will always take it on board. 

On this weeks episode we feature an exclusive interview with livi number 1 Liam Kelly, aswell as an interview with Gary Holt, plus all our usual match reviews and previews and ramblings about the dud 11, we also delve into the Scotland national sides results after more disappointment during the international break. 

We also have a pair of Liam Kelly’s signed goalie gloves to give away, all you need to do to be in with a chance is listen to the episode, listen out for the question, and send us the correct answer along with your name to talklivipodcast@gmail.com, good luck everyone. 

Let us know what you think once you’ve listened.

#TalkLivi 

ITunes - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/talk-livi/id1454431947?mt=2#episodeGuid=73dde2a5c01b4eb3ad32b7b44be98dc9

Website - http://talklivipodcast.libsyn.com/

Castbox - https://castbox.fm/vd/140545044

We are also on Soundcloud and Spotify, simply search for TalkLivi and you’ll find us no problem. 

Edited March 31, 2019 by andylivi1

[LIVIFOREVER]

Don't agree with your opinion on the Hibs game Andy but really enjoyed the podcast, think it's the best one yet, including the sound quality. Liam Kelly was superb too.