Livi v Falkirk

Thought both teams were dreadful with Falkirk being marginally better.

Glen was anonymous for the majority of the match; Fordyce was slower than a wet weekend in Kelso and as for White; what is his intended role in the side?

Midfield was hopelessly undermanned; Beaumont was okay but inexperienced to be played in a two man midfield; why on earth is Propratnik on the bench? The lad might as well turn up in jeans and a sweatshirt if hes never going to be played.

We started the game with four strikers Burhill White Mullen Glen and wonder why we were poor. You will never play football with the ball on the deck with that starting line up. Is Mckenna our only natural winger ?

It was a minging game of football which Falkirk won on the basis that they outnumbered us in midfield and could press against our forwards pretty quickly.

It also helped them that Callum Fordyce was playing. He is one of the worst defenders we've had in recent years. The sooner Kyle, Moffat or Donaldson are fit to play the better because he's bloody awful.

LiviCub wrote:It was a minging game of football which Falkirk won on the basis that they outnumbered us in midfield and could press against our forwards pretty quickly.

It also helped them that Callum Fordyce was playing. He is one of the worst defenders we've had in recent years. The sooner Kyle, Moffat or Donaldson are fit to play the better because he's bloody awful.

Bit harch on Fordyce there. His big problem is his speed; he just doesn't have it - he's actually slower than Mensing and that's saying something.

As a defender he tackles quite well and his headers are usually pretty good but lack of speed is a major handicap when it comes to playing as a right back; I lost count of the number of times he got skinned on the right. Only so much Gallagher can do to cover for him - can't be everywhere.

Troble is currently there's a choice of him or Sives at right back

Durnford wrote:

LiviCub wrote:It was a minging game of football which Falkirk won on the basis that they outnumbered us in midfield and could press against our forwards pretty quickly.

It also helped them that Callum Fordyce was playing. He is one of the worst defenders we've had in recent years. The sooner Kyle, Moffat or Donaldson are fit to play the better because he's bloody awful.

Bit harch on Fordyce there. His big problem is his speed; he just doesn't have it - he's actually slower than Mensing and that's saying something.

As a defender he tackles quite well and his headers are usually pretty good but lack of speed is a major handicap when it comes to playing as a right back; I lost count of the number of times he got skinned on the right. Only so much Gallagher can do to cover for him - can't be everywhere.

Troble is currently there's a choice of him or Sives at right back

I know he's not a natural full back but considering he's been played in that position on/off for two and a half years, you would imagine that he can accustom there. But he lacks pace, any sense of positioning and his range of passing is limited to taking one touch before punting it up the park. Other than that, you'll only ever see him heading the ball out or getting beaten by a winger with half decent pace. End of the day, he's not good enough for the Championship.

LiviCub wrote:I know he's not a natural full back but considering he's been played in that position on/off for two and a half years, you would imagine that he can accustom there. But he lacks pace, any sense of positioning and his range of passing is limited to taking one touch before punting it up the park. Other than that, you'll only ever see him heading the ball out or getting beaten by a winger with half decent pace. End of the day, he's not good enough for the Championship.

Would really love to disagree with your post; unfortunately, on recent evidence, I'm struggling.

We've not had a decent right back for years yet alone a player that can actually fill in as a RB. I don't think Dycey is that bad playing as a CB when I've seen him there with either Mensing or Gallagher, Sives is hopeless though, and Dycey with Sives is just a farce. I'd keep Dycey as cover for injuries as we've hardly had our best 2 CB's fit this season.

Dunno why Moffat hasn't had a shot, can't be any worse than Dycey or Kyle playing RB.

Falkirk were getting acres of space on the wings and had a spare man out there getting the ball all game. Gave them an attacking option down the wings every time they got the ball.

Afro wrote:Defended fairly well I thought, but the lack of creativity is astounding. If we have any it's being absolutely crippled by this long ball tactic - please John McGlynn, it's not the answer. IMO we've got two quality wingers in McKenna and Hippo, could see the difference when they came on and it was only then that we actually looked like snatching a draw. Another one of the main differences for me is White - not the fastest of players, his chance against MacDonald when the latter had to come racing off his goal line reminded me of McNulty against Morton in McGlynn's first game. Pacy striker got to the ball first and slotted it in - White today struggled to get to the ball and couldn't make a clean connection. It's wee things like that but they all begin to add up over the course of a season, especially when we only had two or three genuine chances today.

Even a point today would've made bursting my baws this morning clearing the pitch seem totally worth it.

Wasn't going to post on this again but when people constantly get things factually incorrect it really grinds my gears haha, Afro too many drinks before the game maybe but it was Ogleby that missed the chance, White probably would have taken it round the keeper and scored.

My reflection of the game and of many games this season is we weren't outplayed and worked hard enough, what cost us today was a lapse in concentration from Shaun Rutherford who had a very nervous game after a good start which gave Falkirk an early Christmas present IMO. We created heehaw from the midfield and no service as per usual and our end ball was abismal, Fordyce put in the best cross of the game in the second half that says it all.

Better service and we will score more and pick up more points as simple as that.

Livi2IDie wrote:My reflection of the game and of many games this season is we weren't outplayed and worked hard enough, what cost us today was a lapse in concentration from Shaun Rutherford who had a very nervous game after a good start which gave Falkirk an early Christmas present IMO. We created heehaw from the midfield and no service as per usual and our end ball was abismal, Fordyce put in the best cross of the game in the second half that says it all.

Better service and we will score more and pick up more points as simple as that.

Ok Rutherford loses the ball in front of the dugout 40 yards from goal with three defenders behind him and there goal comes a minute later from the opposite side of the  pitch and this has cost us the game ?

The midfield did heehaw no service and our final ball was abysmal.

Ripped  Dycey with your cynical comment about his cross .

Then touché better service and we will win , looked through your posts you rip everyone in the team apart from Jordon White    who you praise constantly .................

Don't want to be too critical of young players as they are still learning and will hopefully improve, Rutherford's crosses and throw ins need some work though. His cross right to the keeper wasted a great attacking opportunity, and his throw ins were too slow and safe. Glen made a move to roll his man and have a clear run towards the box but Rutherford ignored him and threw it to a Livi player that was being marked.

He wasn't the only one right enough, all our crosses were poor and a few went straight towards the keeper.

I was really impressed when I saw the balls we put in against Raith, just don't know why we can't do that more often.

Edward snowdon wrote:

Livi2IDie wrote:My reflection of the game and of many games this season is we weren't outplayed and worked hard enough, what cost us today was a lapse in concentration from Shaun Rutherford who had a very nervous game after a good start which gave Falkirk an early Christmas present IMO. We created heehaw from the midfield and no service as per usual and our end ball was abismal, Fordyce put in the best cross of the game in the second half that says it all.

Better service and we will score more and pick up more points as simple as that.

Ok Rutherford loses the ball in front of the dugout 40 yards from goal with three defenders behind him and there goal comes a minute later from the opposite side of the  pitch and this has cost us the game ?

The midfield did heehaw no service and our final ball was abysmal.

Ripped  Dycey with your cynical comment about his cross .

Then touché better service and we will win , looked through your posts you rip everyone in the team apart from Jordon White    who you praise constantly .................

What a dafty mr parent what I actually meant was Dycey put in a great cross same as last week how can a full back produce the best cross of the game two games running!! That's my point which you took out of context and my other point was it was Ogleby not White two valid points what's your issue here stating facts!

Another opinion shared by others around me at the stadium and at half time was Rutherfird cost the goal yes a lot went on after but he had so much time and got caught needlessly.

Liviforever wrote:Don't want to be too critical of young players as they are still learning and will hopefully improve, Rutherford's crosses and throw ins need some work though. His cross right to the keeper wasted a great attacking opportunity, and his throw ins were too slow and safe. Glen made a move to roll his man and have a clear run towards the box but Rutherford ignored him and threw it to a Livi player that was being marked.

He wasn't the only one right enough, all our crosses were poor and a few went straight towards the keeper.

I was really impressed when I saw the balls we put in against Raith, just don't know why we can't do that more often.

The youngsters' lack of competitive experience really showed in the number of time they dwelt too long on the ball or took too long making up their mind what to do next with the moment passing or getting robbed. This will come with experience but for Beaumont in particular it was really unfair to make him 50% of a two man midfield.

Liviforever wrote:I disagree it was pretty even until they scored, they were clearly on top leading up to their goal and I felt it was coming. Then they continued to press and hit the post twice.

2nd half was def better or we'd have been scudded, Falkirk didn't really have a clear chance 2nd half and mostly took shots from range. Not saying we improved greatly but we certainly limited their chances.

Don't think we're back to post points deduction form either, we were leaking goals like a sieve up to the Raith game, now we've conceded 2 in 2 games. Gallagher being back has made a huge difference and Mensing is also forming a decent partnership with him. We had a couple of close chances but just didn't take them, and against a much tougher team than Raith.

Lets be honest here, we were bottom of the league before the points deduction, and bottom for a reason. We're not suddenly going to be a top 5 team just because we've beaten Raith 5-1, it'll be a slog getting above Cowden and Alloa and we'll have to suffer along the way.

That's okay, you can be wrong if you want to be. I thought it was fairly entertaining & even for 20 minutes; then Falkirk got a grip of the game & scored; thereafter the 1st half was one way traffic as we began to look disjointed & pulled out of shape constantly. 2nd half we didn't really threaten until the substitutions with the possible exception of Beaumont's free kick which was a decent effort but I can't recall if it was before or after the substitutions.

We started the 2nd half as we have done many times recently, slowly & badly & I can only put it down to McGlynn's half time team talk or he is giving them Horlicks to drink.

I agree that Gallagher & Mensing seem to be forming a decent partnership in the centre of defence & that, to my mind, is why we weren't blown away in the early part of the second half.

Also to the poster who moaned that we started with 4 forwards....the same starting line up (Kyle Jacobs replaced by Beaumont the only enforced change) did well enough at Raith & those goals were scored playing football.

Liviforever wrote:Don't want to be too critical of young players as they are still learning and will hopefully improve, Rutherford's crosses and throw ins need some work though. His cross right to the keeper wasted a great attacking opportunity, and his throw ins were too slow and safe. Glen made a move to roll his man and have a clear run towards the box but Rutherford ignored him and threw it to a Livi player that was being marked.

He wasn't the only one right enough, all our crosses were poor and a few went straight towards the keeper.

I was really impressed when I saw the balls we put in against Raith, just don't know why we can't do that more often.

The crosses were quite often sent into the right area but no one attacked them & thus they were easy for McDonald to deal with...they were possibly too close to the keeper but as our players were never at the races in getting to them it is actually difficult to be definitive.

The balls we put in against Raith were possibly from a little further forward but the biggest difference was that our guys attacked the ball.

Bertie Bassett wrote:

Liviforever wrote:Don't want to be too critical of young players as they are still learning and will hopefully improve, Rutherford's crosses and throw ins need some work though. His cross right to the keeper wasted a great attacking opportunity, and his throw ins were too slow and safe. Glen made a move to roll his man and have a clear run towards the box but Rutherford ignored him and threw it to a Livi player that was being marked.

He wasn't the only one right enough, all our crosses were poor and a few went straight towards the keeper.

I was really impressed when I saw the balls we put in against Raith, just don't know why we can't do that more often.

The crosses were quite often sent into the right area but no one attacked them & thus they were easy for McDonald to deal with...they were possibly too close to the keeper but as our players were never at the races in getting to them it is actually difficult to be definitive.

The balls we put in against Raith were possibly from a little further forward but the biggest difference was that our guys attacked the ball.

The ones that stick in my mind were wasteful and sent straight towards their keeper, saw as soon as it was hit that's where it was going. You need to put them across the 6 yard line for the players to have a chance at getting them.

Liviforever wrote:

Bertie Bassett wrote:

Liviforever wrote:Don't want to be too critical of young players as they are still learning and will hopefully improve, Rutherford's crosses and throw ins need some work though. His cross right to the keeper wasted a great attacking opportunity, and his throw ins were too slow and safe. Glen made a move to roll his man and have a clear run towards the box but Rutherford ignored him and threw it to a Livi player that was being marked.

He wasn't the only one right enough, all our crosses were poor and a few went straight towards the keeper.

I was really impressed when I saw the balls we put in against Raith, just don't know why we can't do that more often.

The crosses were quite often sent into the right area but no one attacked them & thus they were easy for McDonald to deal with...they were possibly too close to the keeper but as our players were never at the races in getting to them it is actually difficult to be definitive.

The balls we put in against Raith were possibly from a little further forward but the biggest difference was that our guys attacked the ball.

The ones that stick in my mind were wasteful and sent straight towards their keeper, saw as soon as it was hit that's where it was going. You need to put them across the 6 yard line for the players to have a chance at getting them.

This man talks sense, seems to be one of few and preferably midfielders crossing which doesn't seem to happen much in this Livi team at the moment i.e a lack of creativity and I know we have the players it just isn't happening.

Bertie Bassett wrote:

Liviforever wrote:I disagree it was pretty even until they scored, they were clearly on top leading up to their goal and I felt it was coming. Then they continued to press and hit the post twice.

2nd half was def better or we'd have been scudded, Falkirk didn't really have a clear chance 2nd half and mostly took shots from range. Not saying we improved greatly but we certainly limited their chances.

Don't think we're back to post points deduction form either, we were leaking goals like a sieve up to the Raith game, now we've conceded 2 in 2 games. Gallagher being back has made a huge difference and Mensing is also forming a decent partnership with him. We had a couple of close chances but just didn't take them, and against a much tougher team than Raith.

Lets be honest here, we were bottom of the league before the points deduction, and bottom for a reason. We're not suddenly going to be a top 5 team just because we've beaten Raith 5-1, it'll be a slog getting above Cowden and Alloa and we'll have to suffer along the way.

That's okay, you can be wrong if you want to be. I thought it was fairly entertaining & even for 20 minutes; then Falkirk got a grip of the game & scored; thereafter the 1st half was one way traffic as we began to look disjointed & pulled out of shape constantly. 2nd half we didn't really threaten until the substitutions with the possible exception of Beaumont's free kick which was a decent effort but I can't recall if it was before or after the substitutions.

We started the 2nd half as we have done many times recently, slowly & badly & I can only put it down to McGlynn's half time team talk or he is giving them Horlicks to drink.

I agree that Gallagher & Mensing seem to be forming a decent partnership in the centre of defence & that, to my mind, is why we weren't blown away in the early part of the second half.

Also to the poster who moaned that we started with 4 forwards....the same starting line up (Kyle Jacobs replaced by Beaumont the only enforced change) did well enough at Raith & those goals were scored playing football.

Was one way traffic a bit before the goal Bertie, can't say I agree it was after the goal they got on top. Bit sketchy now but I think they hit the post before the goal and then hit it again not long after, we were fortunate to just be a goal down at HT.

Wouldn't have complained had we nicked a point in the 2nd half though, has happened to us a few times this season, not burying teams in the first half when we had the chances to do so.

Yeah Glen may be a forward but he plays tucked in behind White and Mullen has also played in midfield , or drops deep a lot, I prefer him up front as an out and out striker. Would've rather kept Mullen on tbh, just don't see what Ogleby brings to the team, and replacing Mullen who has actually scored most of our goals in recent games seemed madness.

Hi Bertie I'm the poster who moaned about four strikers and ok I see why they started after the Raith game but that was against 10 men for 85 mins so yes it's eaaie to play football.

Our record against 10 men is not great, so I don't agree that it is easy to play football against 10.

LF if you read what I am saying you will see that I said Falkirk had taken control before scoring but it wasn't 1-way traffic from the kick off.

I agree that the crosses need to be in the "corridor of uncertainty" but the attacking players also need to be there in order to get on the end of it, or lurking around the 18 yard line/penalty spot ready to attack the cross when it comes in, on Saturday they were nowhere near and so the keeper collected the ball unchallenged, even the last corner saw him jump freely to collect the ball with no pressure on him. It was a last gasp chance and not one of our players made an effort to get near it.

Bertie Bassett wrote:Our record against 10 men is not great, so I don't agree that it is easy to play football against 10.

LF if you read what I am saying you will see that I said Falkirk had taken control before scoring but it wasn't 1-way traffic from the kick off.

I agree that the crosses need to be in the "corridor of uncertainty" but the attacking players also need to be there in order to get on the end of it, or lurking around the 18 yard line/penalty spot ready to attack the cross when it comes in, on Saturday they were nowhere near and so the keeper collected the ball unchallenged, even the last corner so him jump freely to collect the ball with no pressure on him. It was a last gasp chance and not one of our players made an effort to get near it.

Fair enough, we're not usually far apart in our opinions, just slightly picky on small points.