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    Livi v Motherwell

    Liviforever
    Liviforever


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    Post by Liviforever Mon Jul 29, 2019 10:54 am

    At last, the league opener. bounce

    Looking forward to this game, it'll be a good test for our defence, Motherwell are a solid midtable team, that'll prob finish somewhere between 5th-7th, they have quick players down the wings and forwards that can smash in the ball if given a whiff of a chance of a clean shot at goal. Added to that, big Dec is in defence for them and is superb at bumping and nudging players off balance when he's near them.


    If we come out of this with a point i'll be very happy, 3 and i'll be doing cartwheels (in my mind anyway). lol!

    No idea which keeper we'll start with now, possibly Sarkic with him playing in our prev game. Not sure i want Pepe starting (i shudder to think what Motherwell's nippy players will do to him) but again, he started against Berwick so you'd think that was pretty much how Holt will line up against Motherwell. And on that note, Sevane may have to sit this one out and Lamie will start as LB again.


    Attack wise i think we'll be fine, the attacking midfield 3 all supported Dykes well, and Sounda & Devlin looked good on the wings, hopefully Lamie keeps up his goal scoring form and bangs in another goal against Motherwell, and the ref doesn't chop it off this time. Mon the Lions, lets do this. cheers
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    Durnford


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    Post by Durnford Mon Jul 29, 2019 11:46 am

    Its a difficult one; I would have preferred a three central defenders plus two wing backs and we have that but Ibrahima Savane hasn't appeared since the Alloa Friendly and wasn't even on the bench on Saturday.

    Goalkeeper wise again I'm not really sure; admittedly Sarkic kept the first clean sheet of the campaign but then again it was against Berwick (as demonstrated by the fact that the reserve keeper was Maley).

    Auld Nick
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    Post by Auld Nick Mon Jul 29, 2019 7:47 pm

    This is where we will get some sense of our side’s capabilities.

    I got the impression we were playing within ourselves in the 3 games I have seen & the step up in quality of opposition will either confirm that or will highlight our deficiencies.

    I think Stewart has looked more composed in goal & the back four will almost certainly be the same as Saturday, Pepe may be a bit raw but as he has most appearances alongside the new skipper I don’t foresee him losing his place.

    More difficult to identify the starting midfield though... Pittman will start & I think Bartley will also start.
    I would imagine Lawless & Lawson might get the nod with Souda either making it a 5 or playing up front with Dykes.

    With all our midfielders I actually think we are lacking a wide right player as both Lawless & Souda are better down the left, although they can switch.

    Souda will possibly be surprised at the difference in quality he will face on Saturday compared to what he has faced so far.

    I reckon Motherwell will nick it by the odd goal.

    Interestingly our first match of the second SPL season back in 2002/3 was also Motherwell, we went 3-0 up and held on to win 3-2. Rubio & Zarate with 2 were our scorers.
    Liviforever
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    Post by Liviforever Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:43 am

    Reading the online ROAR magazine, and see we've never lost an opening top flight game at home, 3 wins against Hearts, Motherwell and ICT. Here's hoping we can keep that record in tact tomorrow. bounce
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    Troy


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    Post by Troy Fri Aug 02, 2019 7:06 pm

    Well its finally upon us and no turning back now.I still feel that our failure to strenghthen our front line thus far is gonna cuase us major problems this season unless rectified.Such a tough opener against a very good Motherwell side and Gallagher aside i reckon theyl have a pretty decent season this term.In recent seasons ive been reasonably confident at this time of the season but for me the same cant be said of this moment.We know weve punched well above our weight for a few years but this time ifeel we are really going to pull out all the stops to have any chance of staying in this league.Like a few others id bite your hand of for a result that gets points on the board tommorow for us and in saying so i wish Gary and the boys all the best for tommorow and indeed for a tough season ahead.Over to you Livi!!
    orco
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    Post by orco Sat Aug 03, 2019 12:15 pm

    We will miss Dec and Halkett. Being hard to beat was the basis of our success over the last two seasons and those two were a huge part of that. I'm not yet sure that the replacements will do the same job. I'll bite your hand off for a draw.
    Auld Nick
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    Post by Auld Nick Sat Aug 03, 2019 2:16 pm

    So a back 4 it is...
    Stewart
    Devlin, Lithgow, Lamie, McMillan
    Lawless Pittman Jacobs Bartley Souda
    Dykes
    I’m assuming a 5 in midfield with Lawless, Pittman & Souda taking it in turns to support Dykes but it is most likely to be Souda who is the most advanced based on what I’ve seen so far
    Auld Nick
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    Post by Auld Nick Sat Aug 03, 2019 5:49 pm

    Well, we are back with a point on the board & a clean sheet, which is a lot more than can be said for St Johnstone.

    I enjoyed the game today, we were playing against a much better team than we had up to now & matched them. Highlight was Souda’s overhead kick attempt which brought the save of the match from the Well keeper, who over the piece had the more difficult saves to make. Stewart did make an excellent stop when he saved at the feet of Hylton though.

    Overall I’d say a draw was about right, we ended the first half on top & the had the best of the second half.

    Ref didn’t bother me too much but still made some poor decisions.

    I don’t think the match sponsors were watching the same game though because there is no way in the world that Jack McMillan was MotM, he was okay but he was not the best player on show.

    Hard to say who I thought was MotM a few guys had some good moments without being outstanding all game. Lamie was solid, Bartley had a good game, Lawless caused problems late on, Souda caused problems in the latter stages of the first half. Pittman & Dykes worked tirelessly. Jacobs was decent defensively but his free kicks were poor. Devlin put in a decent shift. Lithgow was dependable. Stewart did well enough. McMillan was okay. None of the subs had enough time to really make an impact. Personally I’d have put Tiffoney on to inject some pace against a tiring well defence.
    Liviforever
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    Post by Liviforever Sat Aug 03, 2019 7:18 pm

    I thought for once they got it right, McMillan was excellent, he def was motm for me.

    Anyway, good point against one of the fancied teams for a top 6 spot, we were well worth it too, and could've nicked it at the end. Our midfield are still excellent, battle for everything and don't give opposition players a second's rest to pick out a shot. Also thought we defended well too, easily dealt with set pieces, and didn't give anything away, except when Pepe came on and lost the ball, then got the break of it and collected it again Laughing he's always going to be entertaining anyway.

    I'm pretty happy with how we defended today, it was the one area where we really didn't know how we'd do, but on that showing I think we'll be fine.
    Auld Nick
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    Post by Auld Nick Sat Aug 03, 2019 10:41 pm

    Not sure what you saw to make him MotM. I’m not saying he was bad just saying he wasn’t the best player. There was one occasion where Lawless had got back to defend but need help from McMillan, the latter needed to move wide to a. Get out of the way & b. To give Lawless an angle for a pass. But he stood there doing nothing, when he did eventually move Lawless had no space or angle & the ball went out for a corner.
    Liviforever
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    Post by Liviforever Sat Aug 03, 2019 10:57 pm

    He was up and down the wing putting in good tackles and playing really well in attack too, really stood out for me, think it's the best game he's had for us.
    orco
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    Post by orco Sun Aug 04, 2019 1:44 am

    I'm satisfied with that performance. We didn't look too different from how we performed last season. We are certainly making the chances. We just need somebody to take advantage. I'd like to see Tiffoney paired with Dykes sometime. He's a tough wee cookie and if I recollect he put two past Motherwell at Fir Park when he came on. He might be the one to get on the end of flicks and assists. Failing that we need to get a striker. We missed a chance with Nesbitt who went to Dunfermline from Raith.

    Auld Nick
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    Post by Auld Nick Sun Aug 04, 2019 10:04 am

    Liviforever wrote:He was up and down the wing putting in good tackles and playing really well in attack too, really stood out for me, think it's the best game he's had for us.

    Strangely I noticed Devlin doing that sort of thing, McMillan not so much. In fact when I saw the name of the owners of Premier Taxis I figured it was a name related choice.

    Like I said before, I don’t think he played badly, I just didn’t have him on the radar for MotM

    Orco, I’m with you on Dykes needing a partner & Tiffoney could be the ideal nippy & tenacious type to benefit. The problem then is which midfielder to leave out. I thought we should have brought Tiffoney on to give Well’s defence a new problem. Maybe we would have if McMillan hadn’t been injured.

    BTW where is Robbo these days? He’s another that might benefit from a link up with Dykes.
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    Post by Liviforever Sun Aug 04, 2019 10:25 am

    orco wrote:I'm satisfied with that performance. We didn't look too different from how we performed last season. We are certainly making the chances. We just need somebody to take advantage. I'd like to see Tiffoney paired with Dykes sometime. He's a tough wee cookie and if I recollect he put two past Motherwell at Fir Park when he came on. He might be the one to get on the end of flicks and assists. Failing that we need to get a striker. We missed a chance with Nesbitt who went to Dunfermline from Raith.


    Yeah can't believe we didn't try to get Nisbet, he ran Dundee ragged in Fri Night's game, and looked like he'd have fitted in well at Livi, we'll maybe look to bring him to Livi next season, but I reckon he'll score enough in the Championship that bigger teams than us will be looking at him, we've prob missed our chance there.

    Yeah Bertie I agree with you on Devlin, he's looking like an excellent signing, as is Bartley, all these pundits focussed on the players that left, saying we'd struggle without them. Devlin and McMillan have really helped in that score, and we've also Devane to come in, but right now we're looking like we've got a good looking back 4.

    Michael Stewart saying we'd lost the spine of our team with Kelly, Gallagher, Halkett, Byrne and Hardie leaving, and we'd really struggle, however I noticed Holt replying to that one after yesterday's game;
    "We had the better chances but to have a clean sheet and a draw with players making their debuts for us shows we’ve a backbone because, apparently, we’re spineless.
    lol!  

    Hardie was excellent in the Championship, but we still had enough to win the play offs without him, and he barely made a contribution last season, so no great miss this season. Byrne has been brilliant for us though, and a huge part in our success, but midfield is our strongest area, and we've an abundance of quality players there, including Bartley now, and Devlin helping out in attack like Gallagher did. Not sure we can play with a back 3 now, but i'm pretty happy with a back 4 and it frees up Lawless to get into attack more, without having to cover in defence.


    Last edited by Liviforever on Sun Aug 04, 2019 10:43 am; edited 1 time in total
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    Troy


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    Post by Troy Sun Aug 04, 2019 10:42 am

    As 0-0 games go i thoughrally enjoyed that.Much to my surprise it was an evenly matched game with two teams going for it although i reckon we could have just shaded it with the better chances we had especially the two from Souda and Devlin.Thought wee Lawless was outstanding today and an impressive showing from Mcmillen as well.Lost count of the number of arial balls that Dykes won today in what was probably his best showing for us so far but as has been said on numarous occasions he does need a striker up with him to capitalise on the chances that fall to us.Frustrating.All in all a decent game and the signs are looking promising although i realise its still early doors but nevertheless well done Gary and the boys for getting us on the board.
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    Post by Liviforever Sun Aug 04, 2019 5:16 pm

    We're in the top 6 after the first set of fixtures. cheers
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    Post by Liviforever Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:21 am

    Gallagher and Gillespie getting in the BBC team of the week tells a story on who was the best team in that game. Gallagher made a couple of crucial tackles in the box and headed Pittman shot away from goal with Gillespie stranded, and Gillespie made at least 2 cracking saves, from Souda and Devlin.

    Nice of them to choose our colours as their team strip too. lol!

    They also picked up on the bad challenge by Well's number 3 on Devlin, which should get a ban.

    Livi v Motherwell Ebhb1s10

    Wonder if Robinson would appeal against it, citing the pitch as to blame. He was blaming our pitch on Ilic heading for a red card and having to substitute him at HT, fecker should already have been off, and it had nowt to do with the playing surface either, he was acting like a pillock going about fouling players and then pretending he was injured.
    orco
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    Post by orco Mon Aug 05, 2019 12:07 pm

    You don't need an artificial pitch to jump up and put your studs into somebody's thigh. A grass pitch will suffice.
    I'm beginning to love all these comments on our pitch. Get it right up yeez! Razz
    Mon the pellets! cheers
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    Post by Liviforever Mon Aug 05, 2019 12:26 pm

    Aye he was jumping up to avoid all those black pellets and accidently landed on Devlin's thigh.

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