Livingston - all the threads merged

[EdinburghLivi]

So impressed with how much Anderson has improved over the season. He has developed into a really good all round striker - great intelligence, hard work and good finishing.

Get a few more goals before the end of the season and there will be good offers in the summer.

[LIVIFOREVER]

Nobody brought it up because we won, but feck me, Sotto was pretty howling when he came on, first 3 touches was to give the ball away to Utd, heading it from the halfway line back into our own half just outside our box to a Utd player in one instance. Thought he was heading for being subbed back off when i saw our 2 subs coming on. 

[Guest]

Aye, his early touches went awry. He seemed a bit uptight and over-eager tonight. Was well positioned for the winning own goal, though, and I'd like to think he'd have finished had the cross got to him

[Cptn Hooch]

5 hours ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Nobody brought it up because we won, but feck me, Sotto was pretty howling when he came on, first 3 touches was to give the ball away to Utd, heading it from the halfway line back into our own half just outside our box to a Utd player in one instance. Thought he was heading for being subbed back off when i saw our 2 subs coming on. 

Yeah, he seemed to be trying too hard but never hid. There were a few good touches in there too and he's shown a bit of class at times in his brief appearances so far. The other thing that hasn't been mentioned was the penalty shout that Nouble had. He controlled the ball in the box and turned to shoot, the united defender bounces off him and falls to the deck while pulling Joel's shirt, the big guy drags the defender with him but he shouldn't HAVE to go down for it to be a penalty. Other than that, I thought the ref had a decent game

Edited March 3, 2022 by Cptn Hooch

[Durnford]

8 hours ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Nobody brought it up because we won, but feck me, Sotto was pretty howling when he came on, first 3 touches was to give the ball away to Utd, heading it from the halfway line back into our own half just outside our box to a Utd player in one instance. Thought he was heading for being subbed back off when i saw our 2 subs coming on. 

I though Soto did okay; some mistakes but lots of good positional play meaning he dragged the defenders out of position. As FF also said he was largely responsible for the own goal; Edwards had to make the interception else it would have fallen to Soto for a knock in.

[Durnford]

Changing the subject slightly last night did anyone else think Alan Forrest was a bit on the greedy side last night; there were at least 3 occasions when he insisted on hanging on for a shot when there were clearly better options? Cant criticise the guy because he's been immense over the past couple of months but cant help wondering if all the speculation and press attention has been getting to him?

[thruthenight]

3 minutes ago, Durnford said:

Changing the subject slightly last night did anyone else think Alan Forrest was a bit on the greedy side last night; there were at least 3 occasions when he insisted on hanging on for a shot when there were clearly better options? Cant criticise the guy because he's been immense over the past couple of months but cant help wondering if all the speculation and press attention has been getting to him?

Forrest's been ball greedy for 3 years. Tbf I think the opposite, I think the attention is doing him good and he's working his hardest in order to get the best contract possible. He had another great game last night, and the improvement in him (and Bruce, incidentally) has been amazing in 2022

[Cptn Hooch]

5 minutes ago, Durnford said:

Changing the subject slightly last night did anyone else think Alan Forrest was a bit on the greedy side last night; there were at least 3 occasions when he insisted on hanging on for a shot when there were clearly better options? Cant criticise the guy because he's been immense over the past couple of months but cant help wondering if all the speculation and press attention has been getting to him?

Yeah, certainly looks like he tries to do it all himself at times which will be to show his talents for a big move. The one where seigrist passed to him and he ran into the box, he had Anderson in the middle for a tap in

[LIVIFOREVER]

1 hour ago, Durnford said:

I though Soto did okay; some mistakes but lots of good positional play meaning he dragged the defenders out of position. As FF also said he was largely responsible for the own goal; Edwards had to make the interception else it would have fallen to Soto for a knock in.

Forrest was there too, though think it was largely down to Devlin's ball into the box.

Soto calmed it down a bit later, but could easily have been subbed back off when we brought on 2 players not long after he was on, wasn't working anywhere near as hard chasing and pressing players as Anderson had been either, something Chuckie got criticized for, and hooked.

Yeah Forrest was a bit too desperate to score a goal*, and took shots when a pass would've been better, still had a cracking game though. 

Don't think Omeonga and Obileye have been their usual selves either, Obileye esp gave the ball away with slack passing, and had some dodgy moments in defence, set up the Nouble flick on to Anderson for Pitts goal though.

Anyways, on the whole we're really looking good and in top form, tough run in for the top 6 but we've given ourselves a good chance, then it would be game on for 4th or 5th place too.

*Prob due to the story about Utd being interested in him.

 

[LIVIFOREVER]

1 hour ago, thruthenight said:

Forrest's been ball greedy for 3 years. Tbf I think the opposite, I think the attention is doing him good and he's working his hardest in order to get the best contract possible. He had another great game last night, and the improvement in him (and Bruce, incidentally) has been amazing in 2022

I think Nouble has made a big difference to getting us up the pitch for Forrest and Anderson to do their thing, Devlin too is thriving having Nouble hold the ball up for him to run onto his passes down the wing. And of course now we're seeing Pittman getting back to his best, making runs into the box, imo that's all down to us having a big physical target man getting us up the pitch.

[Durnford]

7 minutes ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

I think Nouble has made a big difference to getting us up the pitch for Forrest and Anderson to do their thing, Devlin too is thriving having Nouble hold the ball up for him to run onto his passes down the wing. And of course now we're seeing Pittman getting back to his best, making runs into the box, imo that's all down to us having a big physical target man getting us up the pitch.

Nouble is such an enigma; seeing him run you think "this boy shouldn't be a footballer"; so often he looks like he's almost going to fall over or it appears like he's lost the ball only to twist and amazingly he still has it and the defender is nowhere. Even up against two defenders he won out more often than not.

He's really made that position his own; I cant see Bailey getting a start ahead of him and Josh Mullen has no chance when he returns in the summer. 

As a side note I really feel for Craig Sibbald; he's not had the best luck this season but really struggle seeing him get back into the team at the moment with so many players ahead of him in the pecking order. Shame really because he's a fantastic player but his injuries have surely impacted his development.

[Cptn Hooch]

10 minutes ago, Durnford said:

Nouble is such an enigma; seeing him run you think "this boy shouldn't be a footballer"; so often he looks like he's almost going to fall over or it appears like he's lost the ball only to twist and amazingly he still has it and the defender is nowhere. Even up against two defenders he won out more often than not.

He's really made that position his own; I cant see Bailey getting a start ahead of him and Josh Mullen has no chance when he returns in the summer. 

As a side note I really feel for Craig Sibbald; he's not had the best luck this season but really struggle seeing him get back into the team at the moment with so many players ahead of him in the pecking order. Shame really because he's a fantastic player but his injuries have surely impacted his development.

With Sibbald's injury issues he'll need a few games to get up to speed and he won't get that at this stage in the season. I'd imagine Davie has had a word with him along the lines of effectively putting this season to bed and concentrate on returning next year. Another one I feel sorry for is McMillan who looked so impressive playing in midfield but has fallen out the team completely again. Hard to drop any of the guys from the starting lineup with how they are playing so I suppose the fringe players can't be too upset, would be a different story if, for example, Penrice had been poor lately then Jacko would be more than within his right to complain, or Sibbald if Pittman, Omeonga or Holt weren't performing.

[Cptn Hooch]

47 minutes ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Forrest was there too, though think it was largely down to Devlin's ball into the box.

 

Impressive from Forrest, getting into the box from the bench 

[1320Lichtie]

Nouble maybe wouldn’t suit being uptop by himself cause he goes everywhere and anywhere when he was with us he was up in a 2 so there was always someone upfront if he went away on his wonders. 
 

He will get better and better by the way he was quite reserved with us until he knew he was a fans favourite and he started to express himself even more and try some even more outrageous stuff

[LIVIFOREVER]

1 hour ago, Cptn Hooch said:

Impressive from Forrest, getting into the box from the bench 

Ohright, swear i saw him the other side of Soto on the highlights, need to get my eyes checked. Shows just how greedy Forrest is, even trying to score when he's subbed off. 

 

Aye it was Montano.

Edited March 3, 2022 by LIVIFOREVER

[Durnford]

1 minute ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Ohright, swear i saw him the other side of Soto on the highlights, need to get my eyes checked.

You're half right; there was another Livi player behind Soto with a United defender in-between.

Edit - just checked; it was Christian Montano - not exactly identical?

[LIVIFOREVER]

1 minute ago, Durnford said:

You're half right; there was another Livi player behind Soto with a United defender in-between.

Edit - just checked; it was Christian Montano - not exactly identical?

Think it was the number on his back, thought 11 was 17, that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it.

[LIVIFOREVER]

1 hour ago, 1320Lichtie said:

Nouble maybe wouldn’t suit being uptop by himself cause he goes everywhere and anywhere when he was with us he was up in a 2 so there was always someone upfront if he went away on his wonders. 
 

He will get better and better by the way he was quite reserved with us until he knew he was a fans favourite and he started to express himself even more and try some even more outrageous stuff

Aye if he was being played up front, we'd need Anderson playing off him, but def looks suited to playing wide on the wing, was good on the left but it made Forrest having to play on the right, and he wasn't anywhere near as good, so switched during a game and did just as well playing on the right. And has played there since, in a front 3 of Forrest-Anderson-Nouble. It has also allowed us to let Pittman get into the box too, with Omeonga and Holt doing DM duties, and Pitts has scored twice in the last two games. Nouble just makes everything click in attack.

1 hour ago, Durnford said:

Nouble is such an enigma; seeing him run you think "this boy shouldn't be a footballer"; so often he looks like he's almost going to fall over or it appears like he's lost the ball only to twist and amazingly he still has it and the defender is nowhere. Even up against two defenders he won out more often than not.

He's really made that position his own; I cant see Bailey getting a start ahead of him and Josh Mullen has no chance when he returns in the summer. 

As a side note I really feel for Craig Sibbald; he's not had the best luck this season but really struggle seeing him get back into the team at the moment with so many players ahead of him in the pecking order. Shame really because he's a fantastic player but his injuries have surely impacted his development.

Aye he's like Bambi on ice the way he moves, but once he has the ball he rarely loses it, even when being fouled.

1 hour ago, Cptn Hooch said:

With Sibbald's injury issues he'll need a few games to get up to speed and he won't get that at this stage in the season. I'd imagine Davie has had a word with him along the lines of effectively putting this season to bed and concentrate on returning next year. Another one I feel sorry for is McMillan who looked so impressive playing in midfield but has fallen out the team completely again. Hard to drop any of the guys from the starting lineup with how they are playing so I suppose the fringe players can't be too upset, would be a different story if, for example, Penrice had been poor lately then Jacko would be more than within his right to complain, or Sibbald if Pittman, Omeonga or Holt weren't performing.

Yeah not sure where Sibbs fits in just now, can't get in the Mid 3 though McMillan might if one gets injured or has a drop in form, he's shown to be more suited to that battling style when he last played there. Wont get in the front 3 either, as Bailey and Soto, maybe even Chuckie will be ahead of him, oh and Montano too, we've pretty much got a 4-3-3 nailed down as our best formation, and the best players filling those positions. 

As you say, he'll prob have to wait till next season, and see what players will still be here and fight for his starting place with everyone else.

Edited March 3, 2022 by LIVIFOREVER

[crispy]

I'm sure i read that both Keaghan and Sibbald had been challenged by Martindale to get fit and back in the team this season otherwise unlikely to be playing next.

 

Just dug it out, "

Speaking to the West Lothian Courier, Martindale said: "I had a good chat with Sibbs. A couple of clubs have come in for him and he's out of contract in the summer.

"He's hardly played any minutes this season but do I want to lose him? No. Can we continue doing what we're doing? Not really.

"So I put a challenge down to him. I need him to get as fit as possible so I can get him back in the team and offer him a contract in the summer.

"Fair play to him because he's got clubs interested and we spoke about it. I said he had my blessing if he wanted to go but he told me he wanted to stay at Livingston.""

 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/livingston-boss-provides-update-midfield-26063418

[LIVIFOREVER]

10 minutes ago, crispy said:

I'm sure i read that both Keaghan and Sibbald had been challenged by Martindale to get fit and back in the team this season otherwise unlikely to be playing next.

 

Just dug it out, "

Speaking to the West Lothian Courier, Martindale said: "I had a good chat with Sibbs. A couple of clubs have come in for him and he's out of contract in the summer.

"He's hardly played any minutes this season but do I want to lose him? No. Can we continue doing what we're doing? Not really.

"So I put a challenge down to him. I need him to get as fit as possible so I can get him back in the team and offer him a contract in the summer.

"Fair play to him because he's got clubs interested and we spoke about it. I said he had my blessing if he wanted to go but he told me he wanted to stay at Livingston.""

 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/livingston-boss-provides-update-midfield-26063418

Guess that means Keags wont be here next season then, not unless he is able to get into the coaching side of things, good times can't last forever though, he's been a brilliant player for us. 

Don't think Sibbs could replace any of the players playing in our current system, and be as good as them, but hopefully he at least gets the chance, he deserves that.

Edited March 3, 2022 by LIVIFOREVER