Livi v Raith

Hopefully we've got the players back in the stadium training this week, and properly prepared for this game, it's a must win for us if we are to keep our league cup group stage qualification alive. New signing Shinnie will be straight in the team, so that will add a bit of quality and experience to our attack.

Looking for a big improvement from the Alloa game, Raith will be tough and we'll need to be back playing with high energy and press, getting right in about them from the start. Lets do this Livi.

Yeah, any repeat of Saturday and we’ll be out on our ears.

Hoping for some kind of reaction from the team after Saturday. We're at home and should have a decent backing from the East stand.Raith will be a stern test for us and Mcglyn will have them up for this no doubt.Hopefully the bug has eased enough for us to compete and set up a storming finish to the group.Havent sat in the East stand for about 25 years.Gonna be surreal but can't wait to get back to our home.Mon the Lions,Do it..

They gave us a scare last season so hopefully lessons were learned & applied. This team doesn’t seem as good as last season though so I will not be surprised by the result whatever it turns out to be… and I think we will draw at best, maybe sneaking the extra point

Alloa lost to Brechin, that'll leave it a 3 horse race if we can beat Raith tomorrow. Us, Raith and Cowden would be on 6 points going into the last game.

Raith will be right up for it right enough, a win against us would virtually guarantee them first place, with their GD and us playing Cowden in the final game.

That shows how rank we were on Saturday and from what I’m hearing we’re not any better tonight

Well we got the draw I said would be our best … can we get the extra point… looking at the team I now don’t think we will

Bertie Bassett wrote:They gave us a scare last season so hopefully lessons were learned & applied. This team doesn’t seem as good as last season though so I will not be surprised by the result whatever it turns out to be… and I think we will draw at best, maybe sneaking the extra point

And I called it….

Another poor showing but pretty much the same squad except for Shinnie as Saturday so we really shouldn’t have expected much more

Anderson needed to stick his chance away, that was the 3 pts right there.

At least Stryjek has improved saving pens, he wasn't even close against the sheep in the Scottish cup, went the right way in the Alloa pen too, but didn't get to it.

We're now relying on Alloa beating Raith, and us actually scoring to beat Cowden. Or Alloa winning the pen shoot out if it's a draw, but then we'd need to score a few to get above Raith's GD, and that isn't looking likely the way we're playing.
Not sure 8 pts would get us a best 2nd placed team if Raith finish top. A few 2nd placed teams looking like finishing on 9 pts.

One thing for sure, we need to turn up in the first half, we've been absolutely murder in all 3 games till the 2nd half (esp against Brechin and Raith).

Christ I waited a year and a half for that.Awfull game of football,not helped by baking in that stand for an hour.When I saw Collum was the ref I knew I was in for a long night.Shinnie and Anderson look decent,but Holt had a shocker,lost count of the amount of times he lost the ball.Martindale was looking for a reaction after Saturday,he didn't get it in my humble opinion. Even with the bonus point I'm not sure we will progress,relying on other results to go for us.Yes it was great to be back,but I left feeling underwhelmed.Massive improvement will be required,even this early in the season.Im off for a lie down.

Just to edit from last night.Thought Mcmillan and Jacko had decent games.Max barely broke sweat which was something in itself considering the heat.As for Parkes and Fitzwalter, they are a bomb scare waiting to happen.The defence i fear will ultimately cost us in all competitions this season.Needs to be sorted out ASAP. I've already put this competition out of my mind as I feel the Alloa game has sunk us.Sorry for the doom and gloom here and I appreciate its early doors.But seeing it first hand worries me as it should others.

As shaky as the defence looks it has only conceded one goal, and a dodgy pen decision, in 7 games. A lot of the problems is brought on by ourselves playing it out from the back though, and looking decidedly vulnerable under pressure. Getting us back to no nonsense defending could sort that out, but looks like Martindale wants to play it out from the back more this season.

We're losing the ball in our own half a lot too, something we never did when we got it up the pitch as quickly as possible under Hoppy & Holt, to play the ball in the opposition's half. For some reason Martindale wants to abandon that philosophy, and play more football in our own half.

Actually it's very similar to how Kenny Miller had us playing, bringing it up to the halfway line before knocking long diagonal balls up the pitch, giving opposition defences more time to set themselves, as it condenses them all in their own half. When we knock it up the pitch quicker they're spread out more, with some still in our half, this way of playing slowly shifts them all back into their own half before we knock the ball down the diagonal. Making it tougher to find space to get in behind them and score goals.

Troy wrote:Just to edit from last night.Thought Mcmillan and Jacko had decent games.Max barely broke sweat which was something in itself considering the heat.As for Parkes and Fitzwalter, they are a bomb scare waiting to happen.The defence i fear will ultimately cost us in all competitions this season.Needs to be sorted out ASAP. I've already put this competition out of my mind as I feel the Alloa game has sunk us.Sorry for the doom and gloom here and I appreciate its early doors.But seeing it first hand worries me as it should others.

My lad thought The entire defence was poor & that Parkes was the best of them without being good.

He gave Anderson & Shinnie pass marks but only just & the rest didn’t get more than 4/10

Liviforever wrote:As shaky as the defence looks it has only conceded one goal, and a dodgy pen decision, in 7 games. A lot of the problems is brought on by ourselves playing it out from the back though, and looking decidedly vulnerable under pressure. Getting us back to no nonsense defending could sort that out, but looks like Martindale wants to play it out from the back more this season.

We're losing the ball in our own half a lot too, something we never did when we got it up the pitch as quickly as possible under Hoppy & Holt, to play the ball in the opposition's half. For some reason Martindale wants to abandon that philosophy, and play more football in our own half.

Actually it's very similar to how Kenny Miller had us playing, bringing it up to the halfway line before knocking long diagonal balls up the pitch, giving opposition defences more time to set themselves, as it condenses them all in their own half. When we knock it up the pitch quicker they're spread out more, with some still in our half, this way of playing slowly shifts them all back into their own half before we knock the ball down the diagonal. Making it tougher to find space to get in behind them and score goals.

And you have got to ask why he is doing that when it was a back to basics Livi that had the long unbeaten run.

Bertie Bassett wrote:

Liviforever wrote:As shaky as the defence looks it has only conceded one goal, and a dodgy pen decision, in 7 games. A lot of the problems is brought on by ourselves playing it out from the back though, and looking decidedly vulnerable under pressure. Getting us back to no nonsense defending could sort that out, but looks like Martindale wants to play it out from the back more this season.

We're losing the ball in our own half a lot too, something we never did when we got it up the pitch as quickly as possible under Hoppy & Holt, to play the ball in the opposition's half. For some reason Martindale wants to abandon that philosophy, and play more football in our own half.

Actually it's very similar to how Kenny Miller had us playing, bringing it up to the halfway line before knocking long diagonal balls up the pitch, giving opposition defences more time to set themselves, as it condenses them all in their own half. When we knock it up the pitch quicker they're spread out more, with some still in our half, this way of playing slowly shifts them all back into their own half before we knock the ball down the diagonal. Making it tougher to find space to get in behind them and score goals.

And you have got to ask why he is doing that when it was a back to basics Livi that had the long unbeaten run.

Got me bamboozled, i remember Holt saying he constantly told the players they had to do the basics really well before thinking about trying to play any fancy stuff, and the minute they thought they were superstars they'd come unstuck very quickly. Think Martindale needs to remind himself of that exact message, or he's going to be in for a fraught season fighting down the bottom of the table.