Livi v Hibs

Still not back to full strength but a lot better looking with Lithgow back in the team and us playing 2 up front.

Miller will prob be back fit so would think he'll start, would hope Hamilton will also start alongside him, I've been wanting to see how those two got on playing together for a while now. Not really that bothered who else starts as we'll have the usual core in midfield and defence, and everyone else can do a good job whether they start or come on as subs later.

Tough game and one we're not expected to get anything from, but I actually think we have a chance here, there isn't really a stand out team (well maybe Hearts could be) and I don't see why we couldn't get a draw, or even snatch a win playing at home. Hopefully Hibs will hate out pellets and plastic pitch, lose the game, then Lennon blames everything on the pitch.

Difficult to call team wise; not sure Miller will get too much joy without someone quick to feed off him. Might be worth trying him and Hamilton together - after all this is one that we're probably not expecting to get much from so what have we got to lose.

One concern I had about Saturday was that Lawless was left exposed a few times on the right hand side with Gallagher having drifted into a more central position. Against a dour St. Mirren this wasn't much of a problem although, on one occasion Byrne had to almost bust a gut to get across and provide additional cover. Think this is something we'll need to tighten up on.

Decisions; decisions....

Might see Dolly Menga and Hamilton up front now, our new signing should have international clearance for this game. I think it'll have to be Hamilton and either Miller or Menga, neither of those two are prolific goal scorers and look more suited to setting goals up, different styles to choose from, so maybe have them partnering Hamilton in either half. Miller has strength to hold off players and play Hamilton in, or jump and winning headers, Menga is quick and tricky to get in behind defenders and cross the ball to Hamilton for shots inside the box. Good options to have.

Question is who would you drop to bring in Menga?

Robinson has done pretty well thus far but particularly so when working with Hamilton. Menga's speed does seem pretty impressive though so would really look at him as being a potential impact sub - then again so if Kaja - and Lawless has been playing pretty well also.

I'd drop Miller for him, might not be fit anyway, but i'd rather start with Miller and Hamilton and sub Miller for Menga 2nd half when he's tiring. Covered all that in my post though.

Liviforever wrote:I'd drop Miller for him, might not be fit anyway, but i'd rather start with Miller and Hamilton and sub Miller for Menga 2nd half when he's tiring. Covered all that in my post though.

Being pedantic but you cant drop Miller as he wasn't in the squad last week.

Aye ok.

Here we go; one win at one of our happiest hunting grounds in the league & LF has convinced himself we can beat the 4th best team in the country last season. If he's right he'll be telling us we can win this league!

You stick to predicting we'll lose every game and i'll keep being confident in our players who have won back to back promotions, who's been the most right in the last 2 seasons Bertie?

Don't see why we have to go into a game thinking we've no chance, Motherwell just drew with Sevco and gave them a right good game, Accies narrowly lost to Celtic, we're just as good as those two teams and can give anyone a game. Even last season we showed we can compete with Hibs, took 2 dodgy ref decisions to beat us.

The big question is....

How many flares/smoke bombs will their brain dead supporters let off during the game whilst moaning about the pitch damaging football?

Right then, tough one this; mind you we could be saying that most weeks.

A draw would be a great result but I think we’ll have a right good go & just come up short

Livi 0 Hibs 1

FG 57 mins

We're gonna pump them.

Liviforever wrote:We're gonna pump them.

And their little dug to!

Durnford wrote:

Liviforever wrote:We're gonna pump them.

And their little dug to!

We'll take their dugs off them so they canny kick them when they get hame from an Amber Machine pumping.

Miller and Hardie still out so looks like Hamilton will be leading the line again. Could have Robinson, Menga or maybe even Burns as his strike partner.


Looking forward to seeing how our new signings do, would be some start for Burns if he scored against Hibs, esp with him being on loan from Hearts.

Strangely im pretty upbeat about to tommorow,the reason being i feel theres no pressure on us whatsover here.The general feeling outwith Livingston is that this has away win written all over it and that may be so as Hibs are a formidable opponent tommorow.Yes i know some will hark back to the League Cup Final all those years ago when we were massive underdogs and upset all the odds and try to make comparisons.For me im just delighted to have the big time back at the Vale and i for one intend to enjoy the occasion regardless of the result.Would be great to give Gary something on his first home match for us and im sure the lads will do their utmost to Keep wee Lennon and his troops quiet.Good luck to the Lions tommorow i think were gonna need it.

2-1 Livi with Lennon getting sent to the stands

Lothiangamer wrote:2-1 Livi with Lennon getting sent to the stands

That would be sweet.

Lennon survived but that was as sweet as they come..... absolutely brilliant, every player was simply outstanding and when did Messi grow to 6’ tall & sign for us? Byrne’s goal would be lauded & applauded for months if the wee Argentinian genius scored it, quite simply sublime & Pittman’s was pretty decent too.

I thought it was a pretty even first half & it was good to see us taking them on rather than sitting back & hitting on the break. Into the second half & I thought Pittman should have done better with his first chance but the ball did bounce awkwardly so can’t really blame him; feared it was going to be the gallant failure I predicted when they scrambled into the lead; the ball just wouldn’t fall for us to clear it.

But what a fantastic turnaround after that. That piece of Byrne magic to equalise, a fantastic save to deny Pittman’s header from an equally brilliant cross, Hibs coming back into it a bit before we turned up the heat again & Pittman’s winner. Tremendous game management after that. Couple of flashes of brilliance from Cadden with the shot that had Bogdan at full stretch & the wee twist away from two defenders by the corner flag as he “managed” the time. Close shave when they hit the side netting near the end but we deserved the win over the 90 mins. These boys keep proving me wrong & long may that continue.

Couldn’t believe some Hibs “fans” left just after we took the lead & the were disappearing in droves with 5 mins on the board... poor show from them because they still had a chance to salvage a draw & if their fans had stepped up they may have been able to raise their game.

They came, we pumped them, next.


Seriously though, absolutely brilliant from the players again and thoroughly deserved the win. Holt looks the perfect replacement for Hoppy, he knows how we play and doesn't want to change it, I like his pre match and post match comments.

What a player Dolly is too, boy can he shift, looking forward to him and Hardie playing together, that should be some frightening strike partnership for opposition defenders to deal with.

Didn’t see/hear anything other than his programme comments - was it papers or TV or radio you saw/heard?

Dolly & Miller might work too.. but yeah, Dolly looks a right good prospect, not only does he have pace & skill, he also has a good work ethic. Decent atmosphere today too, even if the visitors really only sang when they were winning.

BTW... we shouldn’t minimise this, we went behind to last season’s 4th best team & turned it around looking more likely to add to our lead than concede an equaliser; but we also need to keep our feet on the ground. So let’s revel in this deserved win & start preparing for the next game.

Bertie Bassett wrote:Didn’t see/hear anything other than his programme comments - was it papers or TV or radio you saw/heard?

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45305116

"The performance was brilliant, they gave everything that we asked of them. We scored two really good goals.

"We got the win and to show character to come back from a goal behind is testament to the players."

"If we suddenly turn up in two weeks' time and think that we're good players and we can pass the ball about and be tippy tappy, we'll get turned over- we need to stick to what we're good at."

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/livingston-2-hibernian-1-lions-13177991

"That today is how we play, last Saturday is how we play. If they give me their all week in, week out then the results will come."

I love his (not so) sly digs at Kenny Miller for trying to change a style of play that is perfect.



Great result today, stepped off the plane to see the score at 1-1, thinking we must be holding on/riding our luck and Hibs will win it shortly, then just a minute later it came through at 2-1, was convinced I was reading it wrong and it was actually Hibs who scored. Goes to show we can more than hold our own in this league, even when you consider that the Hibs team wasn't their strongest. Home to Hamilton next, would like to think we'll have enough to see them off if we play as well as we know we can.

It was like the Utd play off game, once we equalised I said we're going to get another goal, we could've won that game by 2 or 3 goals easy. Once we're at full strength and have the new signings up to speed we'll be some team. Don't think there is much in it between us, Killie and Motherwell, and we're better than Dundee, Accies and St Mirren. Haven't seen St Johnstone yet but can't be much in it there either.

We must be one of the luckiest teams ever. Every time we win it's because the other team had their worst performance for ages.

https://vimeo.com/287833211

Lovely goals.