Livingston - all the threads merged

[LIVIFOREVER]

12 minutes ago, ATLIS said:

I can see it happening @EdinburghLivi, I can also possibly see us just letting everyone out of contract go (maybe bar Pignatiello?)

Montano can play LWB I think, Josh can play it on the right hand side. Motherwell don't seem to enthused with Lawless, maybe tempt him back?

Never know how a player will do coming back, esp after having a great final season before leaving, but i'd love it if we got Lawless for next season. Him on one wing and Mullin on the other, mouth watering prospect, could even have Forrest playing up front. Could also be a great combo for Hamilton to do well, Lawless and Dykes were a fantastic partnership.

Edited May 9, 2021 by LIVIFOREVER

[EdinburghLivi]

14 minutes ago, ATLIS said:

I can see it happening @EdinburghLivi,

Not convinced it actually suits the squad balance but Martindale seems determined to utilise Devlin on the right hand side despite it leaving us wide open. A 3 might give us more protection. 

Edited May 9, 2021 by EdinburghLivi

[EdinburghLivi]

On another note, there's a good chance that we would finish 5th with 2 draws. I really hope we can pull some good performances out our arse for these final games.

[LiviLion]

Wouldn't mind us going to a back 3 properly again next season assuming we can get some players in that suit it. Would definitely see us chasing another striker though IMO

[Cptn Hooch]

Wouldn't mind us going to a back 3 properly again next season assuming we can get some players in that suit it. Would definitely see us chasing another striker though IMO

I'm wondering if the back 3 was down to Davie and the 4-2-3-1 was Holt's input. We played the back 3 so well with Gallagher, Halkett and Lithgow and it would allow Devlin and Jacko to get forward more

[LIVIFOREVER]

10 minutes ago, Cptn Hooch said:

14 minutes ago, LiviLion said:

Wouldn't mind us going to a back 3 properly again next season assuming we can get some players in that suit it. Would definitely see us chasing another striker though IMO

I'm wondering if the back 3 was down to Davie and the 4-2-3-1 was Holt's input. We played the back 3 so well with Gallagher, Halkett and Lithgow and it would allow Devlin and Jacko to get forward more

Not sure about that, Holt went with a back 3 this season and it was a disaster (shoehorned CB's into WB's too right enough) , Davie went back to a 4 and we had that 14 game undefeated run. Then he experimented with a 3 again in some games and it again didn't work, just not got the players for it yet. Also need to get our defending of set pieces sorted, been far tooo easy to score against us from them.

None of our FB's are great defensively if we go with a back 3, Mullin was always better going forward when we played him as a WB, so was Lawless, and Devlin isn't much better, though Jacko looks like he's improved a bit.

[Cptn Hooch]

22 minutes ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Not sure about that, Holt went with a back 3 this season and it was a disaster (shoehorned CB's into WB's too right enough) , Davie went back to a 4 and we had that 14 game undefeated run. Then he experimented with a 3 again in some games and it again didn't work, just not got the players for it yet. Also need to get our defending of set pieces sorted, been far tooo easy to score against us from them.

None of our FB's are great defensively if we go with a back 3, Mullin was always better going forward when we played him as a WB, so was Lawless, and Devlin isn't much better, though Jacko looks like he's improved a bit.

Yeah, we certainly don't have the personnel atm for the back 3. The rumour of Montano signing points to a potential WB role. Would also allow Mullin to play more centrally behind a striker where he shone previously.

[LogieLivi]

I can see it happening [mention=14566]EdinburghLivi[/mention], I can also possibly see us just letting everyone out of contract go (maybe bar Pignatiello?)

Montano can play LWB I think, Josh can play it on the right hand side. Motherwell don't seem to enthused with Lawless, maybe tempt him back?

Lawless was offered a deal to stay. He turned it down but an offer was always there if he wanted.
When covid hit, he allegedly refused to do any fitness work at home. Martindale immediately removed the contract from him when, again, he allegedly decided to sign a new deal with us with the uncertainty.
If this is true, then we will never see Lawless back at the club.

[stan3600]

This is him in the Championship this season. Arguably the best target man in the division, and also an elite goal threat. Doesn't do much individual progression with the ball, or much on the ball in terms of creating/building play, but thats maybe Arbroaths tactics? Trying to figure out a way to display things like that.

Different tier so if you stick his figures in the Premiership database...

... you can see some form of difference in his "performance" which suggests theres a difference between tiers and/or theres a huge outlier in the Championship. 

This is him for Arboath compared to Dykes last season, as I feel like thats the type of player he'll get compared to.

Hamilton maybe a bit more selfish than Dykes? Although I think Dykes was a freak and its maybe unfair comparing against him, as its unlikely anyone will find an identical player anytime soon.

Going by this, I'd say he'll need to improve his play in terms of linking with team mates, and potentially become less selfish around the box, which I guess is the same thing. Rest of his game looks like hes ready, and deserves, to step up to the Premiership.

If you want to see raw figures of anything in particular, just let me know [emoji106]

I watched all his matches for Arbroath. In general play he blew a bit hot and cold - often drifted out of the game completely and looking disinterested, but at other times looking good. Around the box he came alive and his goals record is excellent- he kept us up. He’ll have to raise his work rate a lot to work for Livi. Maybe you should loan him to us for another season. Please. [emoji16]

[stan3600]

I can see it happening [mention=14566]EdinburghLivi[/mention], I can also possibly see us just letting everyone out of contract go (maybe bar Pignatiello?)

Montano can play LWB I think, Josh can play it on the right hand side. Motherwell don't seem to enthused with Lawless, maybe tempt him back?

Carlo Pignatiello didn’t get too much game time for Arbroath but he looked a decent prospect.

[LIVIFOREVER]

35 minutes ago, stan3600 said:

I watched all his matches for Arbroath. In general play he blew a bit hot and cold - often drifted out of the game completely and looking disinterested, but at other times looking good. Around the box he came alive and his goals record is excellent- he kept us up. He’ll have to raise his work rate a lot to work for Livi. Maybe you should loan him to us for another season. Please.

After watching JET playing for us this season Hamilton should look a bundle of energy. Seriously though, if we can make it work with JET, there has to be a way Hamilton can fit into the team, but he'll need to score a few goals to make up for not running around a lot. 

We've basically had midfielders playing up front, apart from Dykes, and it worked because they pressed the ball out of possession, and gave us an out ball too, i think we have players in the mid three that can take up the slack for Hammy, but like i said, he'd need to score some goals to make it worth their while doing the leg work for him.

[LiviLion]

9 hours ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

After watching JET playing for us this season Hamilton should look a bundle of energy. Seriously though, if we can make it work with JET, there has to be a way Hamilton can fit into the team, but he'll need to score a few goals to make up for not running around a lot. 

Might not be a problem if we are switching back to a 3, as long as there's someone energetic up there with him he can hopefully get himself in the right places.

[Cptn Hooch]

Might not be a problem if we are switching back to a 3, as long as there's someone energetic up there with him he can hopefully get himself in the right places.

This is the reason I think we should be giving Tiffoney another year at least. He held his own as a loan striker at times this season for us...but his finishing was perhaps not where we needed it....put him alongside Hamilton and you've got that Miller-Hardie partnership again

[stan3600]

Noooo. Hamilton’s not ready yet. Let him have another season at Arbroath. [emoji12]

[spiggle]

On 09/05/2021 at 17:16, EdinburghLivi said:

On another note, there's a good chance that we would finish 5th with 2 draws. I really hope we can pull some good performances out our arse for these final games.

One draw could be enough. 

If we lose to Rangers 1-0 and Celtic cuff St Johnstone 4-0, then a draw on Saturday would be enough.  We would finish above St Johnstone on goals scored. 

[EdinburghLivi]

5 minutes ago, spiggle said:

One draw could be enough. 

If we lose to Rangers 1-0 and Celtic cuff St Johnstone 4-0, then a draw on Saturday would be enough.  We would finish above St Johnstone on goals scored. 

Really shows what a terrible result that 6-0 was. We should have shut up shop at 3-0. 

[spiggle]

Just now, EdinburghLivi said:

Really shows what a terrible result that 6-0 was. We should have shut up shop at 3-0. 

It really does but we did catch them on their game and there's not much you can do against one of the old firm when everything clicks. 

Hopefully St Johnstone will have one eye on the cup final and their league form suffers. It would be a hell of an achievement if we could nab 5th place again. 

[LIVIFOREVER]

Sounds promising, can't wait to see what talented youngsters we can get from the top 6 English clubs.

 

Quote

"I don't want to name them but I have been contacted by a few of the top six clubs in England who are now wanting to work with Livingston and they have actually contacted myself.

"So that's a fantastic opportunity for Livingston Football Club to try and manipulate over the next two or three seasons.

"A couple of them came off the back of Football Focus, they saw me on Football Focus and maybe did a bit of background on the club and saw how well we are doing.

"And again they will look into the likes of Declan Gallagher and Lyndon Dykes no doubt."

Martindale is working on getting some deals over the line.

"I've got a couple," he said. "We are going to try and get our work done early.

"We are predominately looking at the English market and I'm dealing with a couple of Premier League clubs about a couple of loan deals.

 

"And I've got a couple of players on the radar that have played a lot of league football in England. Hopefully something will materialise over the next two weeks especially with League One and League Two in England being finished."

 

A step or two up from obscure foreign leagues and the Irish league, although getting Serrano from Monaco showed some decent business. Martindale is building up some very good contacts.

[Durnford]

The best part of 20 years ago we had a "tie-up" with Manchester United.  There were all sorts of promises but, as far as I can recall, the only player we got was Nicky Culkin - actually a good goalkeeper until injury ended his career prematurely.

[LIVIFOREVER]

22 minutes ago, Durnford said:

The best part of 20 years ago we had a "tie-up" with Manchester United.  There were all sorts of promises but, as far as I can recall, the only player we got was Nicky Culkin - actually a good goalkeeper until injury ended his career prematurely.

Yeah we didn't have Martindale 20 years ago though, and a lot of other things have changed at the club since then too. Think our profile is the best its ever been right now.