David Hopkin

Bollox!

Hopefully the club will use the time to source a suitable replacement if the need arises.

Liviforever wrote:

orco wrote:Apparently he will be having talks with the club on Friday.

They sure ken how to drag it out, next Hoppy will be away on his hols and we'll have to wait till he's back before he decides what's happening.

Some turnaround from 2 season's ago when none of us were keen on him staying on as our manager. From relegation to back to back promotions, it really is incredible, if someone came up with this as a script for a film they'd be told it was too far fetched and nobody would buy it.

Just call me mystic Liviforever.

The good news is I doubt St Mirren will be wanting to wait till he's back from his hols to get their manager vacancy filled, so hopefully he hasn't left them his mobile number.

Still think a significant element will be relating to how much budget he's given to work with.

Trying to rack my brains but last summer he brought in three midfielders didn't he; Peters, Brown and Robinson but only one of those really made the grade.

Others like Machin; McMillen; Buchanan and Miller either didn't appear for more than half a season or have only really appeared off the bench. Loan players aside about 90% of the first team were made up of player who also played in the first division.

Ideally we will be wanting to secure several of our key first team members who are currently out of contract and the for likes of Byrne and Halkett it won't really matter what style our team play to next season.

Mullin to my mind only really suited the one game plan; he wasn't overly equipped to play a defensive game but certainly was one of the better crossers of the ball. His moving on is probably good news for Jackson Longridge though as, with the signing of the young lad from Hibs on a PCA as a left back I was left to wonder if he was out of the door. Freed from his defensive shackles he has the ability to move further up the field playing on the left wing.

Both Cadden and Robinson (and Jacobs for that matter) have done a good job on the right wing so its not a position we've struggled with.

If Hopkins were to move on I don't think it would be good news for Knox however; its difficult to imagine any new manager coming in and having the patience with someone who's development appears to have stalled.

Cadden plays on the left wing doesn't he, Rafa usually switched to right wing when Mullin got taken off for Cadden coming on. Can't remember Cadden playing on the right side.

Liviforever wrote:Cadden plays on the left wing doesn't he, Rafa usually switched to right wing when Mullin got taken off for Cadden coming on. Can't remember Cadden playing on the right side.

As far as I recall Cadden played on the right quite often in the first division; actually I think it was on the right that he first injured his shoulder.

However when Josh Mullin was on the pitch I think Cadden always appeared on the left but that might have been down more to Mullin's limitations than Cadden's.

Actually strangely I remember De-Vita originally always appearing on the left side but more recently has been almost exclusively on the right; except for those where he has been on the left, or in the middle that is.

Reading the statement on the OCS - no, I think the board will honour what they have said & give him the time & space to weigh up his options which now appear to exclude Morton as SSN are saying they are about to appoint McKinnon.

Turning your question on its head...it might be taken out if his hands if the other interested parties decide they can’t wait for him, leaving him where he is.

Liviforever wrote:Just call me mystic Liviforever.

The good news is I doubt St Mirren will be wanting to wait till he's back from his hols to get their manager vacancy filled, so hopefully he hasn't left them his mobile number.

Bertie Bassett wrote:Reading the statement on the OCS - no, I think the board will honour what they have said & give him the time & space to weigh up his options which now appear to exclude Morton as SSN are saying they are about to appoint McKinnon.

Turning your question on its head...it might be taken out if his hands if the other interested parties decide they can’t wait for him, leaving him where he is.

That's what I was thinking too, anyone without a manager will be looking to get one in place asap, I doubt they'll want to hang about for a fortnight and not even guarantee he'd sign for them.

It seems to be how we've done it in previous seasons with Hoppy so not really unusual for us, difference is this time there is interest in him after the back to back promotions, and that has us in the spotlight.

Salop fan in peace here, wondered if you were aware your manager is 7/4 favourite for the Shrewsbury job. We’ve just had an absolute dream of a season and a roller coaster of emotions over the last 48 hrs. Our fans sympathise with you if you were to lose him, we know how it feels. Question to you guys, do you think he’d take the job if your club was approached, what is his style of play and how do you think he’d fair on a small budget.

ShroppyShrew wrote:Salop fan in peace here, wondered if you were aware your manager is 7/4 favourite for the Shrewsbury job. We’ve just had an absolute dream of a season and a roller coaster of emotions over the last 48 hrs. Our fans sympathise with you if you were to lose him, we know how it feels. Question to you guys, do you think he’d take the job if your club was approached, what is his style of play and how do you think he’d fair on a small budget.

Question back at you Shrew; does your town still flood every 3 or 4 years.

We has a number of games called off last winter but least ways we were able to go out there without a wet-suit

To be honest I think Shrewsbury might be just a little too off-the-beaten track for Hopkins; lovely town and countryside but maybe a little too homely for a boy from Greenock.

That being said I believe he's off on his hols for the next couple of weeks so cant imagine your board would be that patient to wait.

He's been linked with every job under the sun, and now he'll definitely be taking one of them.

http://livingstonfc.co.uk/hopkin-departs-the-club/

Cheers for everything Hoppy, a Livi legend despite the small time here. Hope he does well wherever he goes.

Can't get on to the website. What does it say?

orco wrote:Can't get on to the website. What does it say?

Wish I'd copied and pasted it before it went down.

Along the lines of talking to him this morning and he's decided not to renew his contract. Sounds like no one wanted to be hanging around until he got back from his holiday. We've been 'assessing' other managers in case he did leave, and Martindale will take charge for the time being.

Ok. Thanks for that.

It's also been suggested that we could be making another signing today; one name being bandied around is Lewis Vaughan from Raith?

Whoever comes in will need to set the re-signing of Halkett and Byrne as a priority.

Gutted.

Some couple of days, Sibbald signing yesterday and Hoppy leaving today, bloody hell, wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Ah well; I was trying to put a positive spin on the original announcement in the hope he might stay but he’s probably done the honourable thing by confirming he thinks his future is elsewhere to allow us to move on.

Good that the board already have some targets in mind to replace him. Zidane anyone??

Whoever it is they get, he'll have to work with our existing backroom staff so that's good, it should help persuade players to stay on and our playing style wont change. The last time we were playing this well Hughes came in and mucked around with how we played and fecked everything up.

This may come as a shock to everyone but i'm still pretty upbeat about our chances of doing well in the Premiership. We're targeting good players and adding to what we already have, shame Hoppy has decided to try his luck elsewhere but life goes on and we're still going to be buzzing with winning promotion and having the momentum of that going into the new season.

David moving is a bit disappointing but not a disaster by any means.

His main skill was to build up the team ethos and to get the best out of player; his honest open style was also something the players warmed to.

Tactically he could be a little naive at times relying on the time honours strategy of grind the b#stards down. His transfer deals achieved during the January window were spectacular to say the least and went a long way to getting us into the playoffs. The transfer deals last summer were perhaps less spectacular though.

His relationship with the players is going to be hard to match and I now suspect that several of the guys will hold back until they find out who's being brought in.

The Premiership is a different level of challenge; the squad by its very nature will need to be at least 25 - 30% larger. We cant afford to run through this campaign with shortages where we're unable to fill a full subs bench; neither can we afford to play one striker with a midfielder unless by choice.

Whoever we get I hope he goes for exciting football rather John Hughes tippy tappy sh#te