The Big Relegation Thread

[Durnford]

10 minutes ago, Troy.1995 said:

Apparently the Jambos have come into some money and Nielson has said their going to strengthen. Really hope he doesn't raid Almondvale.Could have repercussions on our expectations. .

Not sure who they would want from our team TBH. The only one I can think of would possibly be Fitzwater but then he hasn't played much lately (like Halkett).

I cant see us being prepared to sell Nouble at this stage but then I'm not sure he'd fit into their system anyway.

[The Wrong Car]

Fitzwater may be a shout as a free agent, but I  doubt he'll leave in January anyway. I think the team we have will be the team we finish the season with, hence the confidence in staying up 

[Troy.1995]

5 minutes ago, Durnford said:

Not sure who they would want from our team TBH. The only one I can think of would possibly be Fitzwater but then he hasn't played much lately (like Halkett).

I cant see us being prepared to sell Nouble at this stage but then I'm not sure he'd fit into their system anyway.

Taking players from teams who could dent your expectations is a givin these.As someone mentioned previously,we've done it in the past,ie Raith Airdrie etc.Fingers crossed it doesn't happen to us when we're doing so well.But money talks unfortunately. 

[Durnford]

2 hours ago, Troy.1995 said:

Taking players from teams who could dent your expectations is a givin these.As someone mentioned previously,we've done it in the past,ie Raith Airdrie etc.Fingers crossed it doesn't happen to us when we're doing so well.But money talks unfortunately. 

Do Hearts see us as a threat that need weakening?

I remember the Raith situation very well; it was just after we'd been thrashed 4-nil by Raith and we signed Andrews; Tosh and Toastie. Raith did sort of bet their own back, of sorts, with Callum Elliott (I think) although the jury's definitely out on whether that was a good deal. Both Tosh and Andrews managed to appear regularly in the side although Burns appearances were sporadic at best; falling down the pecking order.

Airdrieonians was different in as much as all players were apparently made redundant in March 2001 and Fernandez/Broto were effectively free agents.

I do remember quite a few examples of the Old Firm weakening rivals; the difference there is, quite often, they'd sign players and not play them; or not play them regularly. Fernandez; Broto and quite a few Dundee players immediately spring to mind.

[Troy.1995]

Yeh,not sure if we're in the Prem,was so long ago.But another springs to mind being Dave Macky and Murray Davidson going to St Johnstone. Recall I was absolutely gutted to see them go at that time.Funny old game this Fitba. 

[Durnford]

45 minutes ago, Troy.1995 said:

Yeh,not sure if we're in the Prem,was so long ago.But another springs to mind being Dave Macky and Murray Davidson going to St Johnstone. Recall I was absolutely gutted to see them go at that time.Funny old game this Fitba. 

That was the Massone era wasn't it?

There was something about Dave MacKay complaining about Massone turning off the power to "teach the supporters a lesson"  and the fact that the playing staff hadn't been paid for the umpteenth month in a row due to "problems with the bank in Italy" apparently. Massone didn't like being challenged so shipped him out within the week.

Cant blame St Johnstone for biting our hand off then. Incidentally want Dave MacKay also our lead goal-scorer at the time?

[Lex]

So Livi out of this equation so early.Thoughts from other fans outside the top 2.So close to taking 3 from Ibrox.Its so tight.Early doors.But surely teams as per this thread realise early doors granted,got to get points on the board,which Livi have.Should have been more.Am I wrong,check your own clubs stats.

As long as David Martindale is manager of Livingston they will be an SPFL Premiership side. Excellent manager.

[btb]

14 minutes ago, Lex said:

 

As long as David Martindale is manager of Livingston they will be an SPFL Premiership side. Excellent manager.

 

This thread is getting far too polite - Livie are going down because their fans can't get the abbreviation right

[LiviLion]

6 minutes ago, btb said:

This thread is getting far too polite - Livie are going down because their fans can't get the abbreviation right

[Durnford]

13 minutes ago, btb said:

This thread is getting far too polite - Livie are going down because their fans can't get the abbreviation right

Sir 

Your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries......

[PauloPerth]

10 points between 3rd and 12th.

Its as if the diddies have all realised the relegation battle is the only one any of us  have a chance of winning, so everyone’s desperate to be involved.

Feel Hearts’ and Aberdeen’s greater finances will see them safe, but pick anyone from the other 8, although Livi currently look too strong to be involved.

Utd keep looking buried then produce random 4-0 victories. County looked hopeless but suddenly have two wins on the bounce. Killie look like the lost cause this midweek, but are bound to beat a sinking Hibs team on Saturday and climb off the bottom. 

Motherwell and Hibs are both on runs of 1 win and 5 defeats in their last 6. St Mirren on a fairly mediocre run of form as well. But it can all turn on its head quickly.

Expect the weekend’s matches will have an extra edge to them as everyone aims to finish as high as they can going into the break.

 

[Durnford]

1 hour ago, PauloPerth said:

10 points between 3rd and 12th.

Its as if the diddies have all realised the relegation battle is the only one any of us  have a chance of winning, so everyone’s desperate to be involved.

Feel Hearts’ and Aberdeen’s greater finances will see them safe, but pick anyone from the other 8, although Livi currently look too strong to be involved.

Utd keep looking buried then produce random 4-0 victories. County looked hopeless but suddenly have two wins on the bounce. Killie look like the lost cause this midweek, but are bound to beat a sinking Hibs team on Saturday and climb off the bottom. 

Motherwell and Hibs are both on runs of 1 win and 5 defeats in their last 6. St Mirren on a fairly mediocre run of form as well. But it can all turn on its head quickly.

Expect the weekend’s matches will have an extra edge to them as everyone aims to finish as high as they can going into the break.

 

Well there's also the "top-six" race (which really for the non-OF teams is a top four race) that we can challenge for.

Sa far as Livi being too strong; there are other sides with bigger squads able to withstand suspensions and injuries but also the big question is the January window. Pretty sure we've not got money to splash out on other players plus it is always possible we will be losing a player of two if the right offer comes in. TBH I wont be comfortable until we have a 20 point gap between us and the bottom two; not sure that's possible by the time the January Windows closes.

Other things coming into play; looking at the championship, with Ayr currently sitting top, I'm pretty sure there's no way Killie would even consider swapping places with them; possible or not their board will likely throw everything including the proverbial kitchen sink at staying up.

[LIVIFOREVER]

On 28/10/2022 at 10:26, Troy.1995 said:

Taking players from teams who could dent your expectations is a givin these.As someone mentioned previously,we've done it in the past,ie Raith Airdrie etc.Fingers crossed it doesn't happen to us when we're doing so well.But money talks unfortunately. 

 

On 28/10/2022 at 12:45, Durnford said:

Do Hearts see us as a threat that need weakening?

I remember the Raith situation very well; it was just after we'd been thrashed 4-nil by Raith and we signed Andrews; Tosh and Toastie. Raith did sort of bet their own back, of sorts, with Callum Elliott (I think) although the jury's definitely out on whether that was a good deal. Both Tosh and Andrews managed to appear regularly in the side although Burns appearances were sporadic at best; falling down the pecking order.

Airdrieonians was different in as much as all players were apparently made redundant in March 2001 and Fernandez/Broto were effectively free agents.

I do remember quite a few examples of the Old Firm weakening rivals; the difference there is, quite often, they'd sign players and not play them; or not play them regularly. Fernandez; Broto and quite a few Dundee players immediately spring to mind.

Sure i read it was Raith that approached us as they were in a dire financial situation, but it did look like we took their best 3 players off them after they hammered us.

On 28/10/2022 at 15:38, Troy.1995 said:

Yeh,not sure if we're in the Prem,was so long ago.But another springs to mind being Dave Macky and Murray Davidson going to St Johnstone. Recall I was absolutely gutted to see them go at that time.Funny old game this Fitba. 

Yeah the Airdrie situation with Broto & Fernandez was a fire sale when they were going into liquidation, same as Massone did to us with Griffiths to Dundee and Muzza to St Johnstone, think MacKay was thrown in for free just to get rid of him because as was said, he was a thorn in Massone's side, going to the papers telling them how he was treating the players and staff at Livi, not paying them for months.

34 minutes ago, Durnford said:

Well there's also the "top-six" race (which really for the non-OF teams is a top four race) that we can challenge for.

Sa far as Livi being too strong; there are other sides with bigger squads able to withstand suspensions and injuries but also the big question is the January window. Pretty sure we've not got money to splash out on other players plus it is always possible we will be losing a player of two if the right offer comes in. TBH I wont be comfortable until we have a 20 point gap between us and the bottom two; not sure that's possible by the time the January Windows closes.

Other things coming into play; looking at the championship, with Ayr currently sitting top, I'm pretty sure there's no way Killie would even consider swapping places with them; possible or not their board will likely throw everything including the proverbial kitchen sink at staying up.

Looks like us and St Johnstone have got ourselves right in the mix for the top 6 battle too now, with Motherwell lagging behind a bit, St Mirren have made a decent start to the season too, and stayed on in there. Looking ominous for Killie, and Utd aren't looking too clever either, not sure about County, they were poor against us but still won, and are just behind Motherwell, but the break for the WC could change everything, giving teams a wee chance to get injured players back and have a reset.

Still tight as feck between 3rd and 8th so every point is a prisoner helping us stay up there. December is going to be telling, lots of games crammed into it to make up for the lay off. We generally have a good run in December, going on a wee purple patch of unbeaten games, here's hoping we continue  that trend. 

[DC92]

It looks close, but the postponement earlier in the season has led to quite uneven fixture lists for some of the teams.

We've only played 10 games against non-OF teams (only 4 at home) but we've picked up 20 points. 2 points per game is about in line with how we were doing last season, so I don't think we need to do anything in January to finish well clear.

Kilmarnock, by contrast, have 12 points from 13 games against the diddies. They'll be struggling to make 30 points on that form.

[Troy.1995]

Having these points in the bag is a big plus for us.Decent return for Livi in the first part of the season.But im sure Davie will take nothing for granted.Imo we should have had a few more points than we've got,but most Livi fans will be happy where we are im sure.Long way to go but heading in the right direction. .

[RudiSkacel51]

At this point it looks like it could be either Killie or united that finish bottom? However Ross County could be dragged into it again as I'm still not convinced by them overall, I think it's a two team battle between United an killie though, would expect that Kilmarnock would be better prepared for a battle under an experienced manager like Mcinnes though.

[Durnford]

With County; United and Killie currently propping up the league And ICT; Dundee and Ayr viewing for promotion /play-off spots; it could be a vey interesting run in if this was the position in May.

I know it probably wont happen but would be intriguing if it did. 

[mizfit]

I’d like to think we’re safe enough, but after last season I’ll wait until about March. Although, a win on Saturday for us and we might start considering if we can make a dash for Europe post World Cup. 
 

im struggling to see past Killie in 12th just now though, they look really poor. Dundee United have a squad capable, but the behind the scenes drama and Liam Fox could cost them. 
 

Ross County are looking weird, they look capable of a result one week then doomed the next. It’ll be all about if uncle Roy opens his chequebook again this winter. 
 

lastly, Motherwell look like a side struggling. They might just be dragged into it. 

[Junior_Arab]

United’s results at the moment suggest to me we’re a fairly talented team that is either a) incredibly low on confidence or b) utterly lacking in fight. We seem completely incapable of scrapping our way to a one nil win or taking anything from a tight match, but if we score first and get on top we can look very good. 

[ropy]

2 hours ago, mizfit said:

. 

 

lastly, Motherwell look like a side struggling. They might just be dragged into it. 

That’s fighting talk, I will see you on Saturday.