Livi v Brechin

Another game against the team sitting top of the league, lets knock them off it and hand them their first league defeat too.

I liked our attacking formation last week, 3 at the back with Cadden & Mullin running the wings, not sure Hopkin will stick with it if Longridge is back fit, or Neill back from suspension. Don't know how attack minded Brechin are either, suits us better if they come at us as we've enough firepower to outgun them in an open game.

Anyway, looking forward to it and i'll go for another Livi win, 3-1 Livi, fg 13 mins.

Can imagine this team will be as dirty as their manager when he use to play...

Interestingly their only dropped point was against Queen's Park at home.
The have beaten Stenhousemuir 2-1; Albion 2-0; East Fife 2-1 & Airdrie 3-2

So... if we turn in a performance like Saturday... Livi 3 Brechin 0 fg 19 mins

2-1 Livi, FG 24 mins.

Another incredibly tough game, and one I'm unsure how we'll cope with. Stenny came here and sat in and we managed to break them down fairly comfortably, but away to QP it was a completely different story. Brechin will be no pushovers, and I reckoned they'd be in contention for a top 4 spot at the start of the season. A win here and a wee favour from QP and we'd be looking good going into a fairly difficult run of games.

3-1 Livi, FG 29 mins.

I didn't think Stenny did sit in against us, thought they came at us and made it easy for us to get in behind them.
QP have had good results against the top teams, drawing against Brechin and beating us (although it should've been a draw too with Mullin being onside for his goal), so hopefully they'll get at least a point against Alloa.

I'm a bit nervous going into this game, I was convinced all last week we'd beat Alloa but not as confident here, 100% believe we're better than Brechin and will beat them if we're focussed on the job but that's the bit i'm nervous about, we might be a bit relaxed after getting the win over Alloa last week. Hope not anyway, and that we're fired up for this and get an early goal to push on for another comfortable win.

Hopefully home advantage will see us through this Tricky game.Brechin are a bit of an unknown entity,but their not top of the league for nothing.Reckon if our strikers are up for this and get us an early goal then the task will be made that little bit easier.Would be good to ,get a decent crowd down for this match but i wont hold my breath.Cmon the Lions ,take us back to where we belong.Do itLivi!!!

I agree with LF regarding the Stenhousemuir game, they were quite open & almost adventurous but as such made it an easy home win.

LF, I think you are only concerned because I am tipping a reasonably comfortable win.

Noticed they've got the best defence in the league but I hope we skelp them and Darren Dods.

4-2 #AM victory. FG 19 mins.

Another team put to the sword by Livi and handed their first league defeat. Prob should've been a lot easier than it was, completely dominated the first half and could've been up 3-1 going in, hit the post and Buchanan stopped us scoring with a goal line clearance. Brilliant save by Kelly to keep them from scoring too but with chances and passage of play 3-1 would've been a fair reflection on the first half.

2nd half we didn't have the same impetus in attack and it was a far more even game. Was relieved when Pittman scored another cracking goal from outside the box, it gave us a bit of breathing space, and we got away with a 1 on 1 with Brechin clean through on Kelly just before that too.

Ref as usual was brutal, can't see Buchanan diving and looked a penalty to me, he hasn't any previous for that sort of thing anyway, all through the game the ref made wrong decisions for both sides. Was sweating when the ball hit a Livi player on the arm inside the box right at the end, thought the ref was a certainty to award a penalty.

Dods has taught them well with the kicks, bunch of dirty feckers. I didn't think they were anywhere near the quality of Alloa but can see how they scrape wins. So great to get the 3 points against them, can't see them lasting the course and being a threat to us, by January I can see them falling away and it being between us and Alloa.

Still don't understand why we continue to play Allen ahead of Carrick.

Should have been a lot easier than it was, dominated. Love playing that back three, although I have said for around two years that is how we should be playing. Pitman impresses yet again and another pearler of a strike. Thought Buchanan had one of his best games for us (goals aside) he ran everywhere, although he did dive to try and win a pen.

Not sure how long we can persist with Watt however, doesn't seems to offer too much when he has come on.

Lastly, Im all for giving out free tickets to the kids, however it isn't an opportunity for West Lothians parents to let their wains go to the football on their own and run riot.

Durnford wrote:Still don't understand why we continue to play Allen ahead of Carrick.

Was puzzled about that too, esp after Carrick scoring 2 goals in the Development game this week. Maybe Hopkin felt Allen offered a physical target man up front as our substitutions were more defensive to hang onto our lead and we'd be more likely to play long balls up to the strikers than playing through midfield, Cadden going off for Sinclair was a defensive substitution.

Sunderland, disagree with you on Watt, has energy and gets stuck in, I believe if he had more game time he'd score goals, got about 8 for Brechin last season when he was on loan from Airdrie. Kinda unfortunate for him that our set up requires 2 holding midfielders that allows Pittman to get forward and we also need Cadden and Mullin on the wings, so Watt isn't going to get a start unless Pittman gets injured. Don't think it was a dive either, when has Buchanan ever dived, Mullen yes, have never seen Buchanan try and con a penalty though and looked like he got hit.

Thought Cadden was superb in the first half, ran rings around the Brechin players, more like the player I saw in our pre season and cup games.

Another impressive performance by the Lions yesterday i thought though as has already been said by many it could have been made a lot easier in the first half display.Thought Pittman was once again outstanding for us and thoughraly deserved his goal after running his socks of for us.There seems to be a togetherness about this team with everyone fighting for each other which is very pleasing to see.Tough away games coming up but if the Lions apply themselves the way they have been recently i see no reason why we shouldnt be opptomistic of bringing maximum points back to West Lothian.Once again well done Livi .Keep it up!!!

Another good team performance against a battling Brechin who didn't make it easy for us. I am enjoying the dominance in the air by Crighton and Lithgow. We lacked that no nonsense stuff in defence last year. Pittman has been immense and Mullen and Buchanan are always a threat to opposition defences.

One thing that does irritate me is the performance of the referees. We may have won our last two games but it was made all the harder by the officials. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to believe there is no agenda here but then I've always been a one for a good conspiracy theory.

orco wrote:Another good team performance against a battling Brechin who didn't make it easy for us. I am enjoying the dominance in the air by Crighton and Lithgow. We lacked that no nonsense stuff in defence last year. Pittman has been immense and Mullen and Buchanan are always a threat to opposition defences.

One thing that does irritate me is the performance of the referees. We may have won our last two games but it was made all the harder by the officials. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to believe there is no agenda here but then I've always been a one for a good conspiracy theory.

Yep, I still can't get the nightmare defending of Darren Cole out of my head from last season.

Crighton and Lithgow have been very good signings, funny how Airdrie fans were slating them when we signed them but now i'm reading them saying they wish they were still at Airdrie.

Liviforever wrote:

orco wrote:Another good team performance against a battling Brechin who didn't make it easy for us. I am enjoying the dominance in the air by Crighton and Lithgow. We lacked that no nonsense stuff in defence last year. Pittman has been immense and Mullen and Buchanan are always a threat to opposition defences.

One thing that does irritate me is the performance of the referees. We may have won our last two games but it was made all the harder by the officials. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to believe there is no agenda here but then I've always been a one for a good conspiracy theory.

Yep, I still can't get the nightmare defending of Darren Cole out of my head from last season.

Crighton and Lithgow have been very good signings, funny how Airdrie fans were slating them when we signed them but now i'm reading them saying they wish they were still at Airdrie.

I think players like Crighton and Lithgow need to play full-time football to show what they're really capable of. It also helps having the opportunity to train more than two nights a week as well avoiding to concentrate on a full-time job outside of football. Crighton looks and plays more like a full-time professional than Ben Gordon did.

As I said in another thread some time ago, I wouldn't listen to an Airdrie even if they claimed they had the winning lottery numbers.

LiviCub wrote:

Liviforever wrote:

orco wrote:Another good team performance against a battling Brechin who didn't make it easy for us. I am enjoying the dominance in the air by Crighton and Lithgow. We lacked that no nonsense stuff in defence last year. Pittman has been immense and Mullen and Buchanan are always a threat to opposition defences.

One thing that does irritate me is the performance of the referees. We may have won our last two games but it was made all the harder by the officials. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to believe there is no agenda here but then I've always been a one for a good conspiracy theory.

Yep, I still can't get the nightmare defending of Darren Cole out of my head from last season.

Crighton and Lithgow have been very good signings, funny how Airdrie fans were slating them when we signed them but now i'm reading them saying they wish they were still at Airdrie.

I think players like Crighton and Lithgow need to play full-time football to show what they're really capable of. It also helps having the opportunity to train more than two nights a week as well avoiding to concentrate on a full-time job outside of football. Crighton looks and plays more like a full-time professional than Ben Gordon did.

As I said in another thread some time ago, I wouldn't listen to an Airdrie even if they claimed they had the winning lottery numbers.

Agree with this. I think everyone was pretty unanimous in their criticism of Lithgow and Crighton initially, but they have proved a lot of us wrong with some of the performances recently. The understanding they have with Halkett now we have the three of them at centre half has been a good base for us to go and win the last two games with relative ease. That said, there is a nagging doubt in the back of my head that if we do win promotion, are the pair of them good enough for the Championship? Difficult to say at the moment but I guess the game against Crusaders and later rounds in the Scottish Cup (if we progress) will be a good indicator. Hard to criticise them at the moment, though, I must add. Crighton's crossing especially is a real shock, albeit a very, very welcome one. If he could do that every week instead of long diagonals, I'd be more than happy.

I think Buchanan did dive, btw, and he should be pretty ashamed of it, really. On paper, he is the most experienced player in the team and he should be banging them but still, and I'm probably in the minority here, he always seems like he's lacking that one little thing about him to really set him apart from anyone else. I thought he'd come here and score a barrowload, but he was a real disappointment last season, and although he's scoring this season it's not exactly a badge of honour. It's a shame that Allan looks pretty useless and Carrick isn't in the frame at the moment, because we could do with a bit of pressure on him I feel.

Afro wrote:

LiviCub wrote:

Liviforever wrote:

orco wrote:Another good team performance against a battling Brechin who didn't make it easy for us. I am enjoying the dominance in the air by Crighton and Lithgow. We lacked that no nonsense stuff in defence last year. Pittman has been immense and Mullen and Buchanan are always a threat to opposition defences.

One thing that does irritate me is the performance of the referees. We may have won our last two games but it was made all the harder by the officials. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to believe there is no agenda here but then I've always been a one for a good conspiracy theory.

Yep, I still can't get the nightmare defending of Darren Cole out of my head from last season.

Crighton and Lithgow have been very good signings, funny how Airdrie fans were slating them when we signed them but now i'm reading them saying they wish they were still at Airdrie.

I think players like Crighton and Lithgow need to play full-time football to show what they're really capable of. It also helps having the opportunity to train more than two nights a week as well avoiding to concentrate on a full-time job outside of football. Crighton looks and plays more like a full-time professional than Ben Gordon did.

As I said in another thread some time ago, I wouldn't listen to an Airdrie even if they claimed they had the winning lottery numbers.

Agree with this. I think everyone was pretty unanimous in their criticism of Lithgow and Crighton initially, but they have proved a lot of us wrong with some of the performances recently. The understanding they have with Halkett now we have the three of them at centre half has been a good base for us to go and win the last two games with relative ease. That said, there is a nagging doubt in the back of my head that if we do win promotion, are the pair of them good enough for the Championship? Difficult to say at the moment but I guess the game against Crusaders and later rounds in the Scottish Cup (if we progress) will be a good indicator. Hard to criticise them at the moment, though, I must add. Crighton's crossing especially is a real shock, albeit a very, very welcome one. If he could do that every week instead of long diagonals, I'd be more than happy.

I think Buchanan did dive, btw, and he should be pretty ashamed of it, really. On paper, he is the most experienced player in the team and he should be banging them but still, and I'm probably in the minority here, he always seems like he's lacking that one little thing about him to really set him apart from anyone else. I thought he'd come here and score a barrowload, but he was a real disappointment last season, and although he's scoring this season it's not exactly a badge of honour. It's a shame that Allan looks pretty useless and Carrick isn't in the frame at the moment, because we could do with a bit of pressure on him I feel.

Still too early to decide who's good enough for the challenge of the Championship but Hopkin was given a one year deal so I think he's went out and got a squad who'll get us out of this league and hasn't looked any further than that. He'll only start thinking about next season when it becomes a lot clearer on where we're most likely to finish. The way Scottish football works these days, I wouldn't be surprised if more than a quarter of the eighteen from Saturday we're gone by next season, regardless of what league we're in.

As for Buchanan, you can't fault his work rate which is why I think he's still starting every game. Definitely agree though that despite his experience, his decision making can be questionable. I just think with Carrick it's about building up his match fitness considering he's only been available for a third of our fixtures.

I think Hopkin has had the time to assemble a squad of players that work as a team and play well together, a good balance and shape to the team. Last season we were all over the place, Glen isn't a great striker and doesn't turn up for most games in midfield either, Cole isn't a CB, in fact I question if he's a footballer, Millen wasn't very good as a defender so Halkett ended up playing RB, Fozzy was fading as the holding midfielder and Pittman was having to hold back, White ended up having to go into midfield too. Hippo even played LB a couple of times. It was a bit of a clusterfuck tbh.

I actually think the team we have just now would do better in the Championship than the one we had last season, but I think we'd need a few added quality players next season if we gain promotion or it would be another struggle, def still short of striker options as after Mullen and Buchanan go off we're weaker with the players coming on.

Nice pic of the winning goal.

Can't disagree with most of the content above...but here's what I can disagree with...

Buchanan - pen or dive? I say neither, just one of those things that happen sometimes, no need for him to dive as a shot was on but that doesn't immediately mean he was tripped by an opponent. I simply thing he went over as his upper body got to far ahead of his legs, he's not as fast as he thinks he is.

I have liked the look of Crighton & Lithgow from the start. They defend with safety in mind but they also have more skill than most would expect.

I think Brechin gave us our hardest game so far. Once we got ahead at Alloa I was confident we'd win, I wasn't as confident on Saturday.

I have to agree on failing to see what Lewis Allen brings to the table.... he is supposed to be an alternative to the starting players but we never play high balls to him, Mullen gets more high balls played to him than Allen does. He is a bit better than Orr was but I'd rather have kept Sheerin.

Personally I think QP gave us our hardest game because we struggled to break them down and created very few goal scoring chances. However we created at least 6 clear chances against Brechin and should've won that game quite comfortably. I would say the only reason it ended up being a bit nervy was because we made it harder for ourselves than it needed to be. Brechin haven't the quality of players Alloa or Livi have.

In saying all that it was the type of game we'd have lost last season, we played Dumbarton off the park in games, failed to take our chances and ended conceding late goals to throw away points. We've a bit more about us this season and are seeing out games to take all 3 points.

I can't argue with you as I failed to negotiate a 5 mile tail back on the way to Hampden & had to turn back when it was clear I wouldn't get there before half time.

I agree that Brechin's players aren't as good but the team is better than the sum of its parts.