Livi v Accies

Should be winning this one but Killie hammering them 5 zip wont have done us any favours, i'm expecting a reaction from that game and Accies to be really motivated to make amends for that result. It's a home game though and despite us losing to Hibs we don't lose many home games, and I think we'll be wanting to make up for that result ourselves and get the win here.

Accies defending can be terrible, they've a minus 46 GD, this is the ideal game for us to start scoring a few goals, Hardie has to start imo, he looked very sharp against Hibs, i'd have him and Robbo up front causing Accies defence a lot of problems, and hopefully Halkett will be back in defence for us too. Mon Livi, get right in about them. :

Agree. And I’d have De Vita & Tiffoney available on the bench as replacements when the two starters are beginning to tire.

So the battle of the so called Diddy Alliance tommorow night then.Personally i feel theres no pressure on us as opposed to our opponents and thus should present us with the opportunity to put this season to bed arguably.Surely we must take the chances that will no doubt come our way as opposed to last Friday night.If Hardie starts up front with someone beside him i believe hes hungry enough to bury this mob if hes up for it.The top six has finnally gone so i feel we can relax and play our football the way we know we can and confirm our safety.On a side note i wish Craig Halkett all the best and hope the move to Auld Reekie works for him.Hes leaving with the best wishes of all Livi supporters for the service hes givin us although like a few others i feel hes better than Hearts,anyway good luck Craig and to Gary and the lads tommorow night.Cmon the Lions.

The right combination of results tonight & we could officially confirm our top tier status for next season.
There are 21 points left and we are 18 points clear of the play off spot & 20 points clear of auto relegation. A win coupled with a St Mirren failing to do so & we can celebrate official safety, even if they were to win against Celtic we would still be 18 clear with 18 points left and a vastly superior GD.

So here’s to us getting the 3 points that will secure our status officially

It’s official, we are staying up.

Congratulations to all involved, confirming our status before the split is an incredible achievement for a side that was expected to be canon fodder for the rest of the division.

This is how it feels to be Livi
Safe before the league split you know

Not a particularly great game but we did what we had to do. Great to see Rafa get some time on the pitch. Accies weren’t up to much but got away with almost everything as the ref was as usual largely inept. Nice composed finish from Hardie, great cross from Sibbald & header from Captain Halkett for the second which meant a leisurely final 10 mins.

Good to get the win last night in spite of more awful refereeing. Muir seems to specialise in punishing Livi over balls that hit players on the face. Robinson last night, Coll Donaldson v QoS many moons ago.
Now, I am currently confused over the rules governing players leaning on the shoulders of opposition players. Last night all over the park it was being allowed. Robinson's shoulders in particular must have been sore. Then as soon as it happens in the penalty box it becomes an offence that can disallow a goal. Time for clarification perhaps.
I was glad to see Hardie get the start and do what he does best. The teams 2nd half performance emphasised the difference between our points total and that of the team below us.
Halkett's shoes are going to be hard to fill as he had yet another excellent game. I hope we have scouts scouring the divisions in search of another gem.
So, we can relax now and just enjoy our football for the rest of the season.
Well done all those associated with the team this season!

Aye their big number 5 was bear hugging Hardie and Robinson all game and constantly leaning over them, their number 13 was grabbing and pulling Lamie all over the place too, yet both got away with it. Was the same against Sevco, their number 3 (Worral) is the worst offender for grabbing onto players since Pressley, and gets away with it.
Sure we had a corner and it was given as a goal kick too, but apart from that the ref was ok.

That's as poor as any team has been against us, Accies offered nothing in attack until we were 2 nil up, looked like Rice had come to try and frustrate us into a 0-0 draw, thankfully Hardie is back looking sharp and stuck his first real chance away, and big Halks followed it up to make the game safe. We had enough chances to bury them five nil but i'm delighted with the 3 points and having our Premiership status secured as early as this, we can go into the Celtic game with absolutely no pressure and see if we can cause an upset there, finally beating them would be the cherry on our iced cake of a season too.


Halkett has been immense in defence and attack for us this season, but he's had 3 seasons in which to grow, playing at different levels and stepping up each time, anyone coming in to replace him will have a tough job and wont have had the luxury of enjoying the same time Halkett had developing into the player he is now, so we'll need to be a bit realistic in our expectations of a replacement.

Honestly think Halkett has been the best defender we've had at Livi, he'd def be in my team of best XI Livi players.

IMO the lad is the best Scottish centre back in Scotland if not the UK & the fact Mcguide-dug-leish hasn’t picked him is simply evidence that he shouldn’t be in the job.

He’s not the finished article yet either, there is more to come from him. He has the stopper attributes that the likes of Jim Holton, Gordon McQueen & Willie Miller & the ball playing attributes of Alan Hansen. With the right coaching he can be better than all of them, which is why I wish he’d gone south to Leeds, I think Bielsa would be ideal for him.

Holt is in the tabloids saying he advised Halkett on going to Hearts, saying they were the best he could go to from the options available. Saying for a few hundred pounds more down South is it worth not being guaranteed a starting place. And a lot of young Scottish players have gone there and it hasn't worked out. Also said he had no doubt at all Halkett would end up playing in the top league in England, but had plenty time in his development to get there.


I see what he's saying, McNulty and Griffiths didn't manage to succeed down there, but Snoddy and Dorrans did, Snoddy in particular managed to do it from a lower league and gradually step up till he got into the Premiership. I don't think Halkett will be at Hearts for more than two seasons, and hopefully he gets a decent move to a Championship or lower Premiership team, and succeeds for them.

Just about recovered from those baltic conditions last night.Firstly congrats to Gary Davie and all the lads for securing the formality of our safety.Another game of two halfs i thought against a poor Accies side.Once we got a grip of it in the second their was only gonna be one winner and deservedly so after once again the chances we missed.Uncharecteristic display from big Decks in the first half but he made up for it in the second imo in fact it was a joy to whatch that back three once more showing their class and quality during the game.Masterclass from Halks again and its gonna be so sad to see him go as well as others whove givn there all for the cause.Great to see Dolly and Rafa getting some game time as well,augers well for the future.Its going to be an interesting finaly to the the season and i for one am looking forward to some more twist and turns.Once again well done the Lions.

Liviforever wrote:Holt is in the tabloids saying he advised Halkett on going to Hearts, saying they were the best he could go to from the options available. Saying for a few hundred pounds more down South is it worth not being guaranteed a starting place. And a lot of young Scottish players have gone there and it hasn't worked out. Also said he had no doubt at all Halkett would end up playing in the top league in England, but had plenty time in his development to get there.


I see what he's saying, McNulty and Griffiths didn't manage to succeed down there, but Snoddy and Dorrans did, Snoddy in particular managed to do it from a lower league and gradually step up till he got into the Premiership. I don't think Halkett will be at Hearts for more than two seasons, and hopefully he gets a decent move to a Championship or lower Premiership team, and succeeds for them.

Yeah, I think I said on here or in the Den that it looks like he is managing his career sensibly by stepping up gradually. McNulty was outstanding in the 4th tier with Coventry but struggled to get game time at Reading in tier 2.