Our Immense Defence

How good are we in defence, that's six games in the Premiership now, four of them against top six teams from last season and only conceded four goals. The fact three of those goals were in the league opener against Celtic at Parkhead makes it even more impressive, because since then we've only conceded one goal from our other five games.

Having Lithgow back in defence certainly helps too, the back three of Halkett, Gallagher and Lithgow with Kelly in goals are looking tremendous.









Sevco to stick 5 past us next Sunday now.

1 Goal conceded in 5 League games. But the other stat I think is equally as impressive is the number of shots on goal against us, not counting the Celtic game is 6, 2 for Killie, 2 for Hibs and 2 for Hearts According to the BBC anyway.

Lothiangamer wrote:1 Goal conceded in 5 League games. But the other stat I think is equally as impressive is the number of shots on goal against us, not counting the Celtic game is 6, 2 for Killie, 2 for Hibs and 2 for Hearts According to the BBC anyway.

Yeah noticed that yesterday, Hearts had more possession, esp in the 2nd half, but we limited them to 2 shots on target and we had 4 shots on their goal. The only one that looked like going in was headed away by Pittman, that looked like it was heading for the top corner, some bit of defending by Scotty P.

As a team we press and hassle players all over the pitch, which also helps our defence, brilliant back 3 and keeper though.

Someone mentioned it on P&B, that moment when Pittman, Byrne and Jacobs flew into tackles one after another to finally knock the ball clear in Hearts half when they were breaking on us. Can't remember the order but say it was Pittman first, he goes in and the ball breaks to another Hearts player, before he has time to do anything Byrne is in there, again the ball breaks loose to another Hearts player and the next second Keaghan is on him and knocks it out for a throw in. Hearts must've been wondering how the feck can we play against this mob, they're on us within a second of getting the ball.

The fact that we harry and press teams so much and don't give the opposition any time is the main reason why some teams supporters seem to think they have had a poor game...It's not that they were poor, it's mainly we don't let them play.

Loved that Sportscene was finally giving Jacobs, Pittman, and Byrne the credit that they deserve. If that was a central midfield of a bigger club they would be getting plaudits week in week out.

Aye decent comments, took them a while but they've finally got there and seen there's more about us than agricultural football on a plastic pitch.

Was listening on the radio and Michael Stewart couldn't praise us enough. Was really good to hear. Him and the other commentator were consistently telling listeners not to believe the rubbish about us being a physical long ball team.

Players really deserve the praise, though I do love us being underestimated.

Another clean sheet as our Immense defence beats Sevco 1-0.

That's 1 goal conceded in 6 games playing the likes of Killie, Hibs, Hearts and Sevco too, what a team.

And still, not a sniff of a Scotland call-up

Lothiangamer wrote:And still, not a sniff of a Scotland call-up

Think Halkett will be in the discussion though. The players ahead of him right now are:

Scott McKenna - absolutely no arguments really.
Kieran Tierney - again, can't argue at all.
Jack Hendry - probably a couple of poor performances before dropping out.
Charlie Mulgrew - will be in his last campaign but atm will be the experienced head to keep the younger guys going.

There's also Liam Cooper - I'm not sure if he's not accepting call ups or if he's being overlooked, but I'd imagine he'd be straight in if he wanted it.

Reckon it'll be a season at least before Halkett would be involved tbh, even if he moved to one of the arse cheeks in January.

Halkett in the team of the week again

They're like a well oiled machine this season, it's a step up but they look even better than they did last season. Everyone playing together for 3 seasons certainly paid off, and same goes for our midfield 3.

Kelly has really improved since he was last here on loan as well, hasn't put a foot wrong, he's been superb at holding onto the ball and dealing with crosses and pass backs.

Yeah, been thinking that about Kelly, looks much more assured this time around.

Always thought Dec was top tier material, even from when he first signed. Also always thought Halkett was capable of playing at the highest level. Lithgow has shown exactly why he should never have been left out since Miller’s departure.

Lamie looked like he can fit in to that back 3 if/when suspensions or injuries come along & is a definite upgrade on Jacko in the LWB/LM role. Lawless has a bit more defensive nouse than Mullin did.

The stability of the squad over the last few years has also worked wonders.

I think Lamie and Jack McMillan would make great wingbacks playing together/at the same time too. Jack scored a goal or two this season in Betfred cup games and reserve games playing there, pretty decent at crossing the ball and good defensively. Think we are well covered in defence with the squad we have.

Yeah, I like McMillan as well. I saw Holt on SPFL Matters & the ethos is play the same team if it works well & that is what he’s doing... makes it hard for guys to get in the team unless there is an injury or suspension but they just have to keep working hard & take any chance they get.

I like Kaja as well but he’s not been involved for a few weeks now. Also Crane but he’s out on loan now

I liked Hopkins as a manager but sometimes he could leave making a change in formation a little too late.

By contrast Holt quickly saw that Lawless was being put under pressure by serial diver Moralos and change the defence to a flat four at the back until things settled. Often Hopkins could have left it until after we'd gone a goal down before making a change.

Also last year there were some strange formations where Da Vita was playing as a wing back; a role that doesn't naturally suit him. To be fair so far this season Holt has benefited from a settled team that pretty much picks itself. The challenge starts now with several players returning to fitness.

Yeah we were 3 goals down against the Pars and being ripped down our right flank by Aird before Hoppy made changes and brought on Dec and McMillan for the 2nd half at HT. It was a mistake leaving our Dec because he had been suspended the previous game but also Mullin was blatantly out of his depth defensively against Aird and McMillan should've been on after the first goal went in. He did learn from that though but yeah, Holt looks a lot quicker in making tactical changes.

Noticed in the Hearts game too when Dec was tiring and struggling a bit in the 2nd half Holt threw on McMillan to help him out down our right flank.

Now sitting with the lowest goals against in the Premiership, what a season we're having.

It took a bit of a bashing in November, with 5 goals scored against us and no reply, but another clean sheet yesterday has us the 2nd best defence in the league. Only 2 goals scored against us at the TMA is outstanding, fortress TMA.

It is pure snobbery that prevents Halkett getting mentioned as a Scotland prospect.

Who'd have thought that after having Kelly, Gallagher and Halkett leave we'd have such a good defensive home record, 5 goals against us in 10 games, and one was a wrongly given penalty on Cosgrove, and another an offside goal by Morelos.

Changed formation too, from a back 3 to a back 4, and never had a settled defence all season. What an accomplishment for the whole team to have conceded so few goals at home this season. And for the management team to have dealt with losing so many key players, and recruited so well in replacing them.

Yeah, Guthrie has been a big success, Devlin was doing great before his injury & now might struggle to get his place back the way Lawson has filled in, he is almost like a new signing.

Lamie has slipped into the centre half position well... he has had a few dodgy moments, but on the whole has been fine.

Taylor-Sinclair looks like a useful acquisition & between him & McMillan i think we aren’t too bad down the left, not as good as the right but good enough.

Sarkic has been very good but for me it’s the fact he has had so little to do in games that speaks volumes for the guys in front of him. The goals he has conceded could have been avoided but by the time they get to him he has had no chance (except that one mistake he made).

Jury remains out on Odofin & Pepe for me as we haven’t seen enough of them for one reason or another.

Overall I think the recruitment side of things has gone well & not just at the back, Bartley & Dykes have both done very well too & Souda has been better than his usage suggests... but I do get the impression that the management don’t really rate him.

Also, I don’t think our management team gets the respect it deserves from the media or indeed from some of our own supporters.

Bertie Bassett wrote:Yeah, Guthrie has been a big success, Devlin was doing great before his injury & now might struggle to get his place back the way Lawson has filled in, he is almost like a new signing.

Lamie has slipped into the centre half position well... he has had a few dodgy moments, but on the whole has been fine.

Taylor-Sinclair looks like a useful acquisition & between him & McMillan i think we aren’t too bad down the left, not as good as the right but good enough.

Sarkic has been very good but for me it’s the fact he has had so little to do in games that speaks volumes for the guys in front of him. The goals he has conceded could have been avoided but by the time they get to him he has had no chance (except that one mistake he made).

Jury remains out on Odofin & Pepe for me as we haven’t seen enough of them for one reason or another.

Overall I think the recruitment side of things has gone well & not just at the back, Bartley & Dykes have both done very well too & Souda has been better than his usage suggests... but I do get the impression that the management don’t really rate him.

Also, I don’t think our management team gets the respect it deserves from the media or indeed from some of our own supporters.

Yeah I really don't get that, what exactly do they have to do for those 'Livi' fans to give them a bit of credit, 2 seasons running we're looking a comfortable mid-table team, last season we fell away at the end but finished the last 5 games with our feet up safe from relegation. This season we actually look even better at home, and are a couple of places further up the table than last season at this time.
Martindale esp gets some unjustified stick, maybe they just wont forgive him his past, but he's been a huge part of our success in winning promotion to the top tier, and staying there. And has done an incredible job behind the scenes keeping everything progressing well between seasons, with personnel changes in management and players.

Gawd help them when we eventually get relegated, the knives will be well sharpened for them.

Then there others who claim it is Martindale pulling the strings while Holt is the figurehead. One of my sons was sitting near the dug out against Ross Co and said that Martindale shouts a lot but doesn’t actually say anything of any great importance and often shouts nonsensical instructions. Which suggests to me that he is better at behind the scenes.

What a difference a month makes, last month I actually read some Livi fans calling for Holt and Martindale to be sacked, now we're sitting 5th and talking about a European place for finishing 4th above Aberdeen, wonder if all the numpties wanting the management team punted are as vocal at giving them some praise now.

Liviforever wrote:What a difference a month makes, last month I actually read some Livi fans calling for Holt and Martindale to be sacked, now we're sitting 5th and talking about a European place for finishing 4th above Aberdeen, wonder if all the numpties wanting the management team punted are as vocal at giving them some praise now.

Funnily enough I'd seen a comment by Callum Carson where he said that some "supporters" were calling for Holt's head a month ago.

Fortunately I didn't see any such posts; I mean what planet are some people on?

With a budget that is probably one of the smallest in the league he's kept us in the premiership; but not just that; we've stayed in the premiership with a certain degree of flair.

I suspect about 90% of the "available" managers couldn't have achieved that. Okay; its frustrating when we let a two goal lead slip and I don't always agree with his choices of substitute but this isn't Football Manager; its real life.