Second leg v Stranraer

That ET period is without a doubt the worst I've felt as a Livingston fan. The utter dread when they scored their second then the inevitability when Longworth got clear for their third was tough to take, particularly given the spectacular end to normal time. Credit where it is due to the players, I don't think there is much more we could have done in terms of performance today. Certainly we couldn't have gotten any worse than Wednesday, but to come so close is gutting.

The gung-ho nature of the team towards the end of normal time was fine, all things given, but to not make any conscious change to the shape or personnel in ET was horrific management. Decided to sit over in A3 today, and it was pretty apparent that David Martindale was making most of the decisions. That doesn't bode too well for the future.

The pumping on Wednesday cost us ultimately, too much to do today. Gutted especially for certain players who burst their baws, particularly White and Halkett. The pair of them looked despondent when leaving the stadium.

Very worried about where we go from here. I don't think I'm alone in thinking that.

You've got to question the fitness of a full time team that looks more tired than the part timers in extra time.
Fotheringham sold the goal they scored in normal time. He and Cole are football imposters. But if the management team can't see that then time for change.

It was a gallant effort at stages today but it was too little too late. The tie was lost on Wednesday. More effort like there was today throughout the season would have meant a higher finish in the league and no need to be in the play offs. Going into half time the momentum was with Livingston but I have no idea what Hopkin says at half time but the team allowed Stranraer back into the game. It was the same at 90 minutes again the momentum is with Livingston and again when the game moved into Extra Time it was surrendered. The team are less than the sum of the parts and the manger must take responsibility for that. Poor refereeing aside the team should have had enough about them to see this one over the line. Taking a step back and rebuilding from a lower level may be no bad thing. If the club stay full time they have the nucleus of a decent squad. Add someone like Jim Goodwin who has been freed by St Mirren and you willl have a leader on the field. Get a proper manager in the dugout and it will be a short stay in league one.

That was a killer.
Beat by a team of part timers and has beens - who its got to be said made Livi worse than them.
I cant recall ever seeing a team that 80% of them cant manage to play for 90mins just so unfit and so badly managed , that i'm even dreading next season.

Heartsick my friends,that's how I'm feeling this morning,thought we backed the team superbly,every section of our support got stuck in and it was a joy to hear the support for once in unison!! But unfortunately we have too many players not fit for purpose and a management team who are the same,they really have let us all down,particularly on Wednesday nite. It was a valiant effort at times,especially to score they two late goals (Sergio aguero style)to take the tie to extra time. But in ET we ran out of steam,even though we're the full time team,disappointing but the damage was already done. What now for LFC?? Part time football?? Or worse??

Other clubs have gone down and rebuilt, QoS, Morton and Dunfermline to name 3; okay they may be on a more solid financial footing but there is no reason why we can't do the same.

It would have been good for that level of support to have been around all season, supporting through the thin times, but it's not cheap so I can understand PATG supporters picking and choosing when to attend

Good effort by the players but the damage was done midweek, was just too much for us yesterday.

Thought Longworth was the difference for Stranraer, when he came on they had an out ball with fresh legs to run at us and he absolutely ripped us in ET. Hopkin prob should've put Mullin on in ET to give us someone that would've got down the wing and in behind them. Halkett had started off great getting runs down there but he dropped back when Cole went off. Kakay was knackered too and could hardly run.

Was dreading it in ET if we didn't go on to win it after the way their coaching staff behaved, just knew that clown who kept banging the roof of the dugout would taunt Livi fans big time, don't know why he wasn't sent to the stands with their idiot manager, going to make our games with them next season tasty though, they've really set themselves up for getting it tight from Livi fans now.

Their time wasting tactics right form the start of the game didn't help them much either, we scored 3 of our goals thanks to the added time by the Ref. All ifs and buts too but White getting a pen for us to go 3-0 and I doubt we'd have needed ET, reckon we'd have won 4-0 and finished them off in normal time. Like I said though the 5-2 game done us, that's where we let ourselves down.

Just hope we get a new manager in for next season, one like McCall, that has experience and knows how to get us back up. Hopefully we can retain the core players we have who are more than good enough for League One.

What an effort by the players the were excellent and looked dejected at the end. Shame about Wednesday as any other score then would have gave us a better chance even if we were only two goals down. when we scored the fourth goal it was unlike anything seen at Almondvale for years and I hit the highest of highs supporting Livingston, only to be absolutely devastated when they scored the second and third. The atmosphere yesterday was superb and good to see everybody get behind the team.

Don't know where we go from here. In an ideal world we would keep the core of the team and stay full-time. Unfortunately I don't know what our financial situations like, would love to bounce straight back up.

Woke up this morning feeling kinda surreal after all the hullabaloo surrounding yesterday.Yes the team did put in one helluva shift with the exception of the extra time farce.yes i agree the support we gave them was one of the best ive heard at the vale for god knows how long.But has been said by many it wasnt just this game that got us relegated,Lets be bluntly honest about this with one or two exceptions weve really been rank rotten this season and probably deserve to be where now find ourselves.And also this kind of foregone conclusion from some posters on various other forms that next season will be a stroll in the park for us just shows how fickle and delusional some people really are.I dont expect to see at least half of that squad or maybe more pull on a Livi shirt ever again.Nevertheless i will as usual put my hand in my pocket and purchase my season ticket because withiut being to sentmental at this time football is my hobby and Livingston is my team.As ive said numerous times before on here i just hope to god this time next year ive still got a team i can call my own.LOL.

Well apparently 14 of the squad are still under contract for next season, which I think means we'd have to stay full time for them but could technically offer part time contracts to any new signings...not sure but I think that would be right... I suppose the club could technically release the players by mutual consent, in which case you would be right Troy but I'd like think both club and player would honour those deals.

Part of the reasoning behind my comment Bertie is that of the squad that will remain with us and i personally dont know many will at the moment ,will they have the desire whether under contract or not to go through a season in League 1 or opt for a possible clause in said contracts that might allow them to leave us.Of those who stay possibly they might feel that they have a point to prove and will have a better chance of doing so in the lower division.In any case its all pure conjecture at the moment and i await future developments with baited breath!

Doubt players at this level of talent care much where they play as long as they're getting paid. Talbot and Dycey dropped down to League One for a season and Sevco players were happy coming up from League Two, League One, then two seasons in the Championship.

Most of ours will just be happy to be employed, apart from White and Buchanan I doubt they'd be sought after in the Championship.

I just want Ayr to go up so Stranraer can come back to the 'Vale next season and I can throw eggs at Brian Reid and his gang of VL's.

There will be blood.

Still can't believe Hopkin and Martindale thought it was wise to leave Fotheringham and Neill as our centre-back pairing. They both have the combined pace of a double decker bus filled with concrete bricks.

Was it wise having the Stranraer supporters in the same stand as us - for such an important match surely saving a few quid on the stewarding was false economy?

Hopkin and Martindales tactics were at fault going into extra time. The players knew what to do in the first 90 and we did it, going 4-1 up. 
We had 4 strikers on in extra time but did not change the mind set. The players were out on their feet and needed to sit back and absorb some pressure for the first half of extra time just to get their breath back. 
We continued to push up and up, meaning tired defenders were under pressure from counter attacks. 

Also, as I mentioned, the players were out on their feet in that extra time period. First of all, for a full time team who will be working on fitness every day in training, we looked very very unfit, compared to a team who train a couple hours a night after a shift at work. Embarrassing and needs to be addressed, perhaps this is another answer to why we continually give a lead away in the second half?
We used 2 subs, why did we not bring a pair of fresh legs on? Currie, Knox and Mullin all capable of going on and doing a job at least against a tiring team. Bizarre. 

I predicted we would go down by playoffs, over the course of the season it's what we deserve. No point in beating Rangers, Falkirk etc and losing against utter shite like Alloa, Dumbarton and St Mirren.

We only train a couple of hours through the day too, footballers don't exactly work an 8 hour shift. Was wondering if Hopkin was hanging on with our last substitution saving DJ for the penalty kicks. Could've done with putting Mullin or Currie on to give us someone in midfield with fresh legs. Mullin would've given us someone to take it up the wing and give the knackered defenders a bit of a breather.

We certainly train more and longer than Stranraer and other part time teams. Training from what I can remember at Livingston was 9-12 then break for lunch, back in 1-2:30 for gym work etc. This would be 4/5 days a week. Clearly isn't the case now. 
Stranraer will maybe train Monday Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours a session.

Footballers eh, dinny ken they're born.

How much of Saturday stems from putting players out on loan and not having squad depth.

By god we could have done with having Sives not out on loan. Sives at a minimum of coming off the bench would have not only organised the defence but meant that we wouldn't have had Fozza at Centre Half.

Aye, Sives should never have been sent out on loan

Losing Ben Gordon early in the away Morton game a few weeks ago was significant in the final games where we might have picked up some points. Certainly he was missed in the play offs.