The Morton game

Liviforever wrote:Goan yersel Bertie, take one for the prediction league with another bad prediction, your negativity is a good luck charm.

Yes keep up the good work Bertie, get the draw changed to a loss

Bertie Bassett wrote:

Smithy wrote:5 nil first goal 5 mins.

Just going for it as I think we are on a roll,however would be happy to win by one goal as it's the three points that matter

What a difference a couple of wins make to everyone's attitude.

Except mine...can't see us winning. We'll be lucky to scrape the draw I predicted earlier...tempted to change it...

Get it sorted mate


You know we are going to lose so just say so lol

2-0 livi...sheerin and hippo with the goals

cptn_hooch wrote:2-0 livi...sheerin and hippo with the goals

Hippolyte isn't playing apparently

We've not got a very good history of heavy pitches unfortunately

Currently my prediction is that Faria will not see out the 90 minutes

Smithy wrote:

Bertie Bassett wrote:

Smithy wrote:5 nil first goal 5 mins.

Just going for it as I think we are on a roll,however would be happy to win by one goal as it's the three points that matter

What a difference a couple of wins make to everyone's attitude.

Except mine...can't see us winning. We'll be lucky to scrape the draw I predicted earlier...tempted to change it...

Get it sorted mate


You know we are going to lose  so just say so lol

Was seriously considering changing to 1-0 but thought I'd stick with my initial feeling. Dag nabbit!!

Anyway...the lad and I decided to make the journey today for the first away game for a season or two. Never been to Cappielow before and given the poor rep it has can honestly say it wasn't as bad I expected. Cliftonhill is infinitely worse. And the Livi police could learn a thing or three about getting a car park emptied. A single lane out on to a main road and not a hold up at any stage.

To the game... I thought we went in at half time unfortunate to be behind having dominated the half and played some decent stuff. My feeling was that if we did the same in the second half it would be at least a draw. But we clearly had horlicks for the half time cuppa because we were slow and devoid of ideas in the second 45. Morton were better in the second half than they had been in the first but we're still pretty poor, especially their keeper. I didn't think we deserved to lose over the 90 but we just were not clinical enough in front of goal and did not shoot enough. Shots skidding off the surface would have caused that keeper no end of trouble.

Was it a pen? Not 100% convinced as i thought he might have got the ball to give away a corner but it was certainly something I'd have been shouting for had it been us on the attack. I though Buchanan had won us one later in the half but we got a corner. It certainly looked similar.

Looks like we elected to only have 5 available subs again. Not sure what that is about.

We're such a dull team to watch, whenever I go to see us I'm always sitting there thinking 'what a pish game this is, I wanna go home'. We have no pace down the wing, no cutting edge from an attacking sense and resort to hopeless long balls to White, who always has 2 defenders marking him. Very boring and 1 dimensional side.

Longridge was absolutely terrible today.

What a difference pace makes. We have none and Morton are full of it. I know we are on a tight budget but a pacey winger is desperately needed in January. It will give us more options going forward.

The game itself I didn't think we deserved to lose, but hey, that's the story of our season in a nutshell. Our defence was rock solid again despite a shite needless tackle from Longridge in the first 5 minutes.

We have no plan B unfortunately. If we aren't scoring, the next thing to do is send another striker on to make it 3 up front. Sometimes flooding their defence with strikers can work, but not for us.

On another day we might have won by 3 or 4, but we can't keep relying on "other days"

Morton played like the away team, compact at the back, sitting in and trying to hit us on the break, playing balls down the channels for their pacey wingers to chase. Worked well for them because they aren't really good enough to take us on and come at us more.
We just couldn't break them down going through the middle of the pitch as they were far too compact there, really needed to work overlaps and hit the bye line but we haven't any wingers and everything was either through the centre or down the right wing with Glen.

There was tons (pardon the pun) of room down our left wing, just crying out for a Livi player to get down there, Longridge didn't venture up that wing too often and when he did he wasn't confident/good enough to take players on so just hit diagonal balls towards the box.

Still think we are playing well enough, unfortunately our style of play suited a team like Morton who sat in so much, we needed them to come at us more so we could get in behind them. We def could do with a winger though, that really exposed our lack of one, to get to the bye line and get balls in behind the defence for crosses along their 6 yard box.

As much as Hippo has been slagged off on here I think he would've been the ideal player to come on as sub to get in behind their defence. His trickery and ability to get past players and run at defenders is what we needed in that game, don't know why he wasn't on the bench.

Prob deserved to be a 0-0 draw but they got a pen and we didn't when it looked like we should've had one, and that was the only way either of us was going to score a goal in that game.

On the bright side everyone around us lost too and our GD is even better now.

LiviCub wrote:A Calum Elliot-like career ender on Bobby Barr from Jacko Longridge would be pleasing on the eye.

However, I think we'll bottle this one. 1-0 Morton, FG 59 mins.

Not surprised at the result or performance yesterday. The only part of the game where we were dominant was the fact we had the ball in and around their box for most parts but we never tested the keeper with shots on target other than one free kick from Glen. Morton were set up to suck it up and hit them on the counter, as others have said we really lacked pace as Glen holds the ball for too long and Longridge wasn't getting forward as much as the previous games. It was also a lazy tackle by Longridge to give away the penalty when he should've stood off the player to reduce his options rather than panic and throw himself in.

I think Burchill will regret not starting Sheerin since we won everything in the air and he would've caused more of a handful. Having Buchanan coming on against a tired defence on a heavy pitch would've made the difference. When the keeper kept dropping crosses, we should've went a more direct 4-4-2 and had two wingers constantly putting balls in the box; EL made a good point during the game in that we missed Mullen who is direct with a bit of pace and isn't afraid to take a player on.

I probably see it similar to LF in that Hippo would have made a difference yesterday . There seems to be a problem with the manager and him but it needs sorted out. I also understand that some fans don't want him playing but. If we are paying his wages we need to utilise him when required.

Really felt the penalty killed us and Longridge has to accept responsibility as he cost us the game as Hippo did v Dumbarton . He faded right out of the game  yesterday and played so far back when he should have been pushing forward as we started as a 352 which I feel is our strongest formation with the players at our disposal.

We have a strong back three and a strong strike force it's definitely the middle of the park that needs addressed. Glen is technically good but he is not a winger.

I think we need to change it a bit in the middle and my five would be Millen on the right with Hippo on the left Gary Glen iin behind the front two and The other two central midfield places would be a toss up between  Gibbons Pittman Fario. This gives us two wide players who can drive forward and each of them  can deliver balls into the box for Buchanan and White.

It's only a little bit of tweaking but I think it can work, also it was clear to myself and I heard others say the same yesterday amongst our fans that Sheerin is still a good bit to learn to play at this level as he has still a lot of bad habits of a junior player about him especially when he blasted the ball well over the bar when White and Buchanan were in good positions for a square ball near the end of the game yesterday. I really like the big guy but the penalty and a wild shot like that cost us the points , very fine margins , both down to inexperience. I don't want to hang both players out to dry but it's just the way I saw things yesterday and having taken an overnight to think about it feel the same.

On the whole we were the better team especially the first half and I'm just a bit disappointed to come away from that game without at least a point.

Dunno Buchanan had a decent chance early on and missed it too, also missed two good chances against Raith and he's a proven goal scorer at this level. Think if Sheerin had been on from the start he'd have created chances for himself and White as he can handle crowded boxes well.

We needed to change things 2nd half though and didn't really have the players on the bench to do so.

Agree about Mullen being the type of player we missed yesterday, he has the ability to score from outside the box, and drives at defenders the same as Hippo.

That wee feck Pepper is becoming a pain in the arse to us, was him that got Ben Gordon sent off in the first game and won the pen yesterday.

So it could be said that Morton "Peppered" our defence?

Pretty much agree with LF. I thought the park was on the small side too which meant their pacy players could get forward and back quickly while we were too ponderous going forward. I agree that Hippo could have used to reasonable effect but even he isn't a pacy winger IMO.

Mullen on the other hand would have spent most of the match on his backside against that defence.

Yeah it was more Hippo's ability to put defenders on the back foot driving forward and being able to get past a player, that would've opened up gaps for Buchanan and White, also more likely to hit the bye line and put a cross along the 6 yard box.

Mullen can score from 25 yards and likes taking players on too so at least that would've been something different too. We really could've done with someone taking long range shots and getting them on target, esp with their keeper looking so dodgy at holding onto anything that went into him.

Just something different to mix it up a bit, we were too one dimensional going through the middle all the time. Wouldn't mind seeing us bring in a pacey winger too though, would give us a plan B.

Pretty much agree with everything that's been said. We didn't play poorly but didn't test what was a shaky keeper anywhere near enough.

Morton have a few good players, probably the most outside of the top 3 and we easily matched them. The much lamented Jim Duffy played his tactics spot on yesterday in sticking O'Ware on White the whole game and the guy was clearly man of the match as it pretty much nullified us in the second half. I think Sheerin for Buchanan, in hindsight, would have given the remaining defenders a lot more to worry about.

No depth on the bench is terminal for us, when we're behind. I really think someone like Hippolyte or Duckrell getting into space would have allowed the big guys to flood the box and perhaps have gotten us an equaliser.

The only remaining minor point is that Pittman has really been flattering to deceive recently. He's been incredibly meh in the middle of the park which he really shouldn't be in his position. Gibbons and Faria are having to do a lot more running than I think they should be because he is making nowhere near enough runs into space or doing enough with the ball when he gets the chance. I'd bench him and put Glen in his place with someone else on the right. I think with the next game being Hibs and a more defensive focus being needed, I'd try Millen in right mid/wing back.

Liviforever wrote:Yeah it was more Hippo's ability to put defenders on the back foot driving forward and being able to get past a player, that would've opened up gaps for Buchanan and White, also more likely to hit the bye line and put a cross along the 6 yard box.

Mullen can score from 25 yards and likes taking players on too so at least that would've been something different too. We really could've done with someone taking long range shots and getting them on target, esp with their keeper looking so dodgy at holding onto anything that went into him.

Just something different to mix it up a bit, we were too one dimensional going through the middle all the time. Wouldn't mind seeing us bring in a pacey winger too though, would give us a plan B.

Totally agree on shooting from distance and following up for the rebound, the combination of the wet surface and a clearly dodgy keeper would have presented numerous opportunities. That said we did try that in the first half but the shots were blocked by Morton defenders, but had we persisted, something would have got through. Hippo also has that in his game. When he played last season he got a number of shots on target from distance. Must admit I assumed he and Burchy had kissed and made up when he came on as sub against RR last week, so very puzzled that he was not even on the bench yesterday.

Anyone know if Hippo & Moses are suspended or just being left out the squad cause of the Snapchat fiasco?

After we brought on Sheerin there was no more decent options on the bench. Currie seems decent but he's still a young guy with a long way to go.. Millen + Spas haven't impressed at all, so really doesn't fill me with confidence.

On the plus side, when's the last time we went this long without conceding from open play?

Genuinely think Gordon, Gallagher + Neill are our best backline since the 04/05 days...

It would appear so because I saw somewhere at the weekend in the press could have been via Twitter that we were without 3 players due to long term injury Sives Mullen Cole.

No mention that Hippo or Moses were injured so I assumed they are in the bad books ,that's why I said it needs sorted if we are still paying their wages.

Seems strange after Hippo being a used sub against Raith, you'd have thought everything was sorted. Read an article about Hippo last week too, saying he knows he will have to bide his time to get back into the starting line up after the team doing so well the last two games. Haven't seen anything indicating he was in the bad books again.

Yeah agreed Forzalfc, our defence is looking really solid, only 4 goals conceded in our last 5 games, incl away to Sevco too, which is pretty good when you see the goals they're scoring at home against other teams. They're really restricting teams from getting shots at goal too, McCallum isn't having that much to do.

On results, I checked our OS there and it is wrong in a couple of results, has us losing 2-0 to Dumbarton and winning 3-1 against Alloa, I was at both games and we lost 2-1 to Dumbarton and won 3-0 at Alloa.

If we actually had pace out wide we'd be an absolutely deadly counter-attacking team. That was the only thing that was missing on Saturday for me, we are far too one-dimensional pace wise at the moment and breaking down a resolute Morton team who were sitting back was difficult without it. I don't want to pin too much hope on the guy but going by what I've read Duckrell's got a bit of pace? I can appreciate that both he and Hippolyte are out of favour at the moment but for the good of the squad, get them in. We have nothing to change the game off the bench to a major degree, whatever striker doesn't start out of Shagz, Buchanan and Sheerin is a good option naturally, but as we all saw on Saturday, it doesn't mean a hoot if there's nothing getting into them except poor balls.

Agree with whoever said Glen should be in behind the striker, he is coming on to a good bit of form at the moment and he is wasted out wide. Think he has the skill set to sit behind the front two and add some creativity in the middle.

Afro wrote:If we actually had pace out wide we'd be an absolutely deadly counter-attacking team. That was the only thing that was missing on Saturday for me, we are far too one-dimensional pace wise at the moment and breaking down a resolute Morton team who were sitting back was difficult without it. I don't want to pin too much hope on the guy but going by what I've read Duckrell's got a bit of pace? I can appreciate that both he and Hippolyte are out of favour at the moment but for the good of the squad, get them in. We have nothing to change the game off the bench to a major degree, whatever striker doesn't start out of Shagz, Buchanan and Sheerin is a good option naturally, but as we all saw on Saturday, it doesn't mean a hoot if there's nothing getting into them except poor balls.

Agree with whoever said Glen should be in behind the striker, he is coming on to a good bit of form at the moment and he is wasted out wide. Think he has the skill set to sit behind the front two and add some creativity in the middle.

Good post, agree with everything.

Was it Scott Ferguson from Clyde who we were linked with a year or so back? Mate of mine who watches us occasionally was at Clyde - Montrose on Saturday. Said Ferguson ran the show, was quick, direct, skillful and set up 2 of Clyde's 3 goals from a wider area. Young fella too who Barry Ferguson says will make the step up to full-time football very soon. Sounds exactly like the kind of player we need. Even though he's playing against weaker opposition every week, he's still got a bit about him and seems to have all the attributes needed.

Also, didn't know Darren Cole had a long-term injury, thought he was just dropped for being a fud.

Our problem with players on the wing is having one that can take on players and get past them.  We've not got any wingbacks able to do that either so we need to get players to work overlaps with the wingbacks to help them get to the bye line.

We've got the front line sorted with big White and Buchanan/Sheerin, but when that isn't working and a defence is set up to nullify our front two then we need to be able to get down the wings.

I even noticed Gordon and Gallagher trying to push forward and hit the byline 2nd half, Gallagher tried to work an overlap with Longridge but when he ran on into space Longridge knocked the ball back the way and we were left with the same old ball up to White with two players on him. Hopefully it was a good learning experience for us, we hadn't had that problem before this season and didn't seem prepared for it.

Lexi Collector wrote:Also, didn't know Darren Cole had a long-term injury, thought he was just dropped for being a fud.

Aye and so is Mullen, don't know what injury they have and the expected timescale but wish to feck Mullen was back fit, he chips in with goals and is a miss for us.

Duckrell is injured again too, think the lad is turning into a sick note player.