2015 Amber Machine advent calendar

Starts TOMORROW

I can't wait for the chocolatey goodness.

OK, here we go the scene is set. Ben Gordon is wearing a very wooly Christmas jumper and he's lecturing Spas Georgiev on the value Christmas shopping holds to the UK economy. Big Shags is getting in about a couple of stunners dressed in slutty santa outfits, Hugo Faria is enjoying some fine mulled wine, Darren Jamieson is pulling Christmas crackers with the Broxburn on-loan kids, Morgyn Neil, Declan Gallagher and Jackson Longridge are watching Elf starring Will Ferrell and Moses Duckrell is taking a snapchat film of Myles Hippolyte saying he hates spending winter in Scotland and that he's delighted to be out for 2 months with the flu.

Burchill and Hopkin are enjoying a Christmas dinner, while Kieran Gibbons gets tucked into a box of Quality Street. Gary Glen is singing Christmas songs and it's annoying everyone.

I, Lexi Collector, am beside the Christmas tree with an advent calendar as we kick off this Amber advent. So lets so who's behind window number 1...



Oh yes, we've started with a real Christmas cracker here, it's my favourite Livi player of all time, Stuart Lovell.

Lovell made just over 100 appearances for the Amber Machine between 2001-2005 scoring 7 times. Without a doubt one of our most notable ever players, he played in 4 of our 5 SPL campaigns and was captain throughout. He lifted the trophy on the clubs most memorable day at Hampden in 2004, and also captained us in Europe. He signed from Hibs were he played roughly the same number of games as he did for us. He left us to sign for QoS and was also capped for Australia twice, however he was perhaps slightly unfortunate that his prime came in a period where the Australians had their strongest ever squad and found it difficult to break into the side.

He sometimes appears through various channels of the media where he has spoken about Livingston and his time here, as well as issues surrounding the club, including our administration in 2009, but also our recent Challenge Cup win.

A smashing fella, who promoted (and featured) in the Livi legends calendar in 2010 and also appeared at the stadium for our 10th anniversary of the League Cup win. Due to his performances, achievements, commitment and memories he holds of the club, Stuart Lovell is my favourite Livi player of all time.

I'll never ever forget the overhead kick against the old Huns to secure a famous 2-1 win at Almondvale in 2002. What a fucking goal it was.

Wordsworth would be holding back a tear at that, Lexi. Beautiful.

Never known Lexi to be so erudite....& not an expletive in sight! Well done that man, I too will never forget the Lovell overhead kick but for different reasons...I wasn't there! It was the first game I missed as a ST holder. Superb result as that Huns side wasn't too shabby.

Amoruso scored from a corner a few minutes into the game and I thought we were sunk, was fantastic to win, and Lovell's goal was the icing on the cake. Can't actually remember who scored our other goal that day, i'll have to look it up.

Agree he's a top bloke and great player for Livi.

Barry Wilson with a belter just before half time....like I said, never forget it because I wasn't there   He had a couple of penalty claims waved away....Cherif Toure Maman looks like he had a decent game too.




Plenty of candidates for Lexi's calendar in that Livi side.

Yep good goal by Bazza too, and should've had a penalty. Nothing changed there then, just read Burchill complaining about us having 3 stone wallers in our last 3 games not being given. Yet we're getting them given against us.

It's a conspiracy I tell ye!!

Today is the 2nd of December, so behind window number 2, we have...
















































Its Fernando Pasquinelli. 'Pasqi' spent most of his career playing in his native Argentina, but spent 2 seasons in Scotland - the first of which with Livingston during the 2003/04 season before leaving for Aberdeen a year later. He was one of the latter foreign recruits during the 'glory days' who the club anticipated big things of, however, he failed to nail down a constant first team place and was often brought on from the bench. During his time with Livingston he played 30 times and scored 4 goals, as well as making an appearance in the League Cup final as a late substitute. He was ultimately released, but is still remembered for his exotic name, luscious locks and of course his medal from Hampden in 2004.

Always looked like he was going to be a Fernandez replacement but never got close, always flattering to deceive.

Never tire of watching reruns of that Rangers game after getting kicked about for most of it.Halcyon days indeed and what a home support.Where have they all gone.Agreed about Pasquinelli was sometimes a bit too lazy at times but i recall he was something of a favourite among our female support.Cant think why of the top of my head.

He was my Daughter's favourite player that season, obv had nothing to do with her thinking he was good looking. Well she was 12 at the time.

Was him that got us the penalty against Dundee wasn't it? And Lilley stuck it away to get us into the final.

Yeah, I think you're right LF... Soft one if I remember correctly but didn't care at the time and still don't

3rd of Deember, so behind the 3rd window is...











































This ones dedicated to Bertie Bassett, who specifically asked to see QUINO, so here he is. Qunio Cabrera, know an 'Francisco Quino' was another foreign import brought in for the beginning of our SPL campaign in the Summer of 2001. The Spaniard signed from Badajoz, but also played for Malaga, Cadiz and Recreativo. He played 99 times for Livingston and scored 10 times before leaving in 2004. Quino was a very silky player, very good ball control and could often beat men for fun. My main memory of Quino is of his league debut V Hearts in our first ever game in the top flight. He absolutely tore them apart that day and scored what was eventually the winning goal in a fantastic performance. A few months later he scored the winner in a game against Hibs, and often looked a class above in his time here. Towards the end of his time at Livi he featured less and less as he got older and his technique and pace started to ware off a little. He was, however, another member of the league cup winning team and also featured in Europe. Quino will be remembered for his fantastic continental skills on the ball and the touch of class he brought to the game here, a very successful signing indeed.

Quino, Quino, Quino!!!!!!

Cheers Lexi, IMO the best player to wear the shirt. You summed him up superbly and while Fernandez got more "rave reviews" Quino went about his business quietly and effectively, always finding time and space to play a pin point pass, he could also tackle and chipped in with a few goals. A real find who never let us down. Simply superb.

Yeah I'd say he was the most skillful and naturally gifted player we've ever had. Whenever he was on the ball he was simply a class above. I don't remember him too clearly as I was still really young, but if nobody has watched the highlights of the Hearts game I was on about then have a look for them on YouTube, he was immense that day. There was also a game at home to Motherwell in our first SPL season (think we won 3-1) and he ran the show at times that day, highlights for that one are on YT too. Also made the Huns look a bit daft at times during our 2-1 win over them. A real flare player was Quino.

Great shout from BB, if anyone wants to see any other players included then ask away.

Iain Russell week plz.

Absolute brilliant 25 yard predator from a corner, stayed outside the box at corners and rattled in some storming goals when the ball got cleared out the box. He positioned himself perfectly to pick up a clearance out the box, don't think we've ever had anyone in our team that has done that since.

Today is the 4 December.
























Its Robbie Winters! Here he is in what (for me anyway) was his most memorable moment in a Livi shirt. His 'dive' against East Stirling in 2010 which made that c*** with the daft name and the SFA really angry. It ultimately led to Gordon Smith's resignation from the top of the SFA, after he tried to get Livi punished for it and ultimately failed. Winters signed for Livi in 2009 following our demotion to the 3rd division and was with us until our return to the 1st division in 2011. In his first season he was our most influential player and finished as top scorer. He played just under 70 times for us and scored 20 goals. Winters signed for us aged 34 having previously played in Norway and for Dundee United and Aberdeen, as well as being capped for Scotland once. His best attributed were his vision, finishing and link-up play with other forward players. He seemed to be a player who was often in the right place at the right time, hence his decent scoring record for us. In his second season he featured less and lost his place in the side to Iain Russell. I liked Winters because of his experience, but he also had a bit of charisma about him. He knew he was playing for a club who shouldn't have been in the league they were in, and was partial to a bit of WUM tactics against diddies like Forfar and East Stirling, which Livi fans like me absolutely loved and gave him a bit of temporary cult-hero status. I wouldn't class him as a legend, or one of our best players, but he was there to get us out of the lower leagues and did it with a bit of patter as well. Deserves his place in this years Amber Machine advent calendar.

Loved having him in the side. He ended up forging a decent partnership with Rafa DeVita. You could see he wanted to play too, wasn't just here to get paid. Had a decent understanding with his brother David too. Another good shout Lexi

Yesterday I was too busy to open our advent calendar, these things happen, today will be a double rollover of chocolatey goodness.

5th December...













































It's Barry Wilson! Wilson signed from Inverness in the summer of 2000, and was one of the key players in our 2000/01 First Division title winning season which saw us promoted to the top flight for the first time ever. He spent 3 seasons with Livingston before returning to Inverness and was mainly a first choice player throughout. At the time of his signing he was our record buy for a reported £100,000. He played as a playmaker, and his key assets were his pace and delivery. As well as possessing fantastic goal provision statistics, his soring record wasn't too bad either, netting 25 times in over 100 appearances for the club. Wilson equalized in our 2-1 win against Rangers in 2002, and is also our record goal scorer in Europe, with an astonishing two goals in the UEFA Cup, both of which came in our 4-3 home win over Sturm Graz in 2002. Wilson will be remembered as one of the key players in our promotion to the SPL, but also in our run of form during our early SPL days. Well liked by fans and team-mates with a very professional attitude and fantastic on-field ability, Barry Wilson is certainly deserving of his place among this years amber festive fun.

Behind today's window for the 6th of December...






















































Dedicated to LIVIFOREVER this one, cracking shout mate - it's Philippe Brinquin. Brinquin was a cracking player, steady and reliable as they come and his character was one of those 'I'm playing for Livngston, it's a great time to be at this club, all the players and fans are loving it' - really nice guy and provided loads of memories for Livingston fans. Philippe spent most of his career in Lique 1 in France with Lorient, Rennes and Le Harve before signing for Livi in 2000 - his time spent with the club was the exact same as the last write-up, Barry Wilson, so was a key player in our promotion and initial SPL seasons. Brinquin was a very steady player, way under 6ft but was still decent in the air, and extremely good in the tackle. He could play either centre-half or full-back and used to always give players like Larsson and Amoruso total headaches, whilst being very physical. The picture on display was taken on my 8th birthday - our first ever away match in the SPL, a 0-0 draw with Rangers, who featured guys like Konterman and Flo. I absolutely love that picture. Brinquin left us in 2003 and retired with us. He came back to visit the club in 2010 after our 3rd division winning season. We had a great back 4 in those days: Brinquin - Rubio - Andrews - Bollan. Absolutely loads of great contenders for this thread, and Brinquin is certainly on of them.

Robbie Winters is arguably my second favourite ever player behind Iain Russell. Unbelievably classy player.