2017/18 Ins and Outs Thread

We had a lucky escape there then D, esp when you see what Hardie has been like for us. Reckon Hardie could make all the difference in the play offs for us having a decent chance of promotion. Miller too has formed a great partnership with him up front, both are really clicking playing together.

Durnford wrote:Interesting to see Nathan Austin isn't even getting a start with ICT despite them pricing us out of the running with wages and property deal.

Obviously not the regular proven goalscorer they were looking for.

I have to confess that based on what I've seen of him I think we got the best of his decision.

And I agree on Hardie/Miller - I had thought I'd prefer to see a wee guy with Hardie but in the last couple of games Miller has been terrific at winning the ball in the air & holding it up on the deck & seems to have shaken off any rustiness in his game.

I cant get over how lucky we've been with Hardie; when people said we needed a proven goalscorer I thought "fat chance". For Hopkins to pull this off is beyond my wildest dream.

As for Miller it just shows a lot of the Falkirk mob were talking rubbish; far from being past it he's running around like teenager but with an experienced footballing brain. The unselfish way he picked out Robinson and placed the ball in exactly the right position for him to run in and score is possibly one of many examples yesterday.

By contrast Steven Boyd has been a bit of a disappointment; at the moment I can only see him ever being used for more than ten minutes at the end of the game when everyone else has flagged a bit.

Tough call for Hoppy when Thompson is available again, how can he drop Robinson for Thompson to come back in after his last 2 brilliant performances. And Cadden keeping Mullin out too, also Keaghan can't get a starting place, competition for places is fierce and it is paying off for us through great performances.

Noticed Hoppy has stopped rotating players and is sticking with the same starting 11, I think it is giving us more consistent performances too. Watch him change 3 or 4 players for our midweek game against Morton now, and for us to win 4-0.

Liviforever wrote:Tough call for Hoppy when Thompson is available again, how can he drop Robinson for Thompson to come back in after his last 2 brilliant performances. And Cadden keeping Mullin out too, also Keaghan can't get a starting place, competition for places is fierce and it is paying off for us through great performances.

Noticed Hoppy has stopped rotating players and is sticking with the same starting 11, I think it is giving us more consistent performances too. Watch him change 3 or 4 players for our midweek game against Morton now, and for us to win 4-0.

As far as I'm concerned Robinson is streets ahead of Thompson; if you were talking Penrice it would be bit closer; Penrice had some exceptional games for us particularly the one against Falkirk at their place. Thompson has been okay but Robinson goes from strength to strength in my opinion.

My biggest concern is lack of proper cover for Alexander. If he gets injured then we're really in the soup.

I'd like us to get Hopkin tied down to a new contract soon. Things might follow from there in terms of players willing to re-sign

orco wrote:I'd like us to get Hopkin tied down to a new contract soon. Things might follow from there in terms of players willing to resign

I hope you meant to type re-sign

Durnford wrote:

orco wrote:I'd like us to get Hopkin tied down to a new contract soon. Things might follow from there in terms of players willing to resign

I hope you meant to type re-sign

I did just there before I read yours.

Durnford wrote:My biggest concern is lack of proper cover for Alexander. If he gets injured then we're really in the soup.

Looked like he should have saved the United goal - it was well worked but it looks like Neil pushes it in rather than wide. But that apart we need to be thinking of a decent second keeper as Neil is getting towards the end of his career - albeit that he looks like he has a few years left yet.

I'd assume we'd bring in an emergency loan keeper if Alexander got injured, fingers crossed it doesn't happen though. It is more than just his goal keeping he brings to our team, our defenders look a lot more comfortable knowing they can pass back to him and he'll deal with clearing it, and generally our whole defence just looks confident playing with one another when Neill is behind them.

I do wish Hoppy would get Pittman signed up first before going around telling everyone on the telly and papers that Pitts is the most underrated player in Scotland. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/livingston-boss-david-hopkin-calls-12090414

“I’m surprised that no Premiership clubs have had a look at him to be honest because he’s a seven or eight out of 10 every single game.”

Yeah; get him signed up so that we can get a fee for him when the Pl clubs do wake up & take notice.

I reckon Pittman is the type of player who will blend in what ever level he is playing at. He stepped up to us with ease & has been arguably our most consistent player since arriving at the club. Showed he was too good for 3rd tier last season & is proving his worth at the top end of the second tier.

Of course another reason for getting him signed up is so that he can play in the top tier for us, should we do the unthinkable & actually go up again.

Adam Frizzell joins on loan from Killie until the end of the season. Hopefully he can score a couple of these:

Cant help thinking this will mark the end of Steven Boyd's appearances

Also notice they're planning to give him number 16 which is also Matthew Knox' number.

I suspect Knox's number is available with him being out on loan & technically not in the squad

Bertie Bassett wrote:I suspect Knox's number is available with him being out on loan & technically not in the squad

provided he doesn't return early. Basically his season will finish before the play-offs even start.

Boyd came with a reputation of scoring those type of goals too and sadly has shown nothing of note in any of his appearances, so i'll hold back on getting enthusiastic just now. Hopefully though he'll add to our chances of promotion through the play offs and bang in some goals.

Boyd has shown energy & desire on his fleeting appearances, I think he is the kind of guy who needs games to flourish. Robinson on the other hand just slips in to the line up as if he plays there every week. Hopefully Frizzel will give us energy & desire as well as fitting in as if he is a regular starter.

Maybe he will be the catalyst for Mullin to pick up his form again, because he has been going backwards at an alarming rate of knots since he was bigged up as being one of the best crossers in the league.

Im still very hopeful for Boyd. You can tell hes a player, just needs a goal. Very unfortunate that we have the best two stirkers in the league infront of him.

Its amazing how we have managed to change this team from what we had at the start of the season. Hoppy deserves massive credit for that.

Steven Boyd's disappeared from the playing squad on our site, there was a Boyd starting for Accies U20s tonight too but not sure if it's him.

Combine that with the fact he hasn't been on the bench for our last 2 games and I think it might be safe to assume he's left early.

Didn't really work out for him at Livi, in fact Frizzell has made more of an impact in his 2nd sub appearance for us than Boyd did in all his time here. Both came with much the same recommendation on their playing abilities but Frizzell looks an exciting prospect.

Boyd showed ability but he seemed too eager to play for himself rather than the team.

orco wrote:Boyd showed ability but he seemed too eager to play for himself rather than the team.

Tend to agree but think that was down to immaturity. Also his physique wasn't really big enough to cut it at this level (although the fact that he wasn't much smaller than Pittman kind of disproves my whole argument).

Frizzell looks quite small too, so does Robinson, both of them look very capable at this level though.

Agree about Boyd being too selfish, he'd try to take everyone on and get a shot at goal,and would lose the ball instead of making a pass.

From what I saw of Frizzell i'm looking forward to seeing him play again, wasn't bothered if Boyd played for us at all though.