LFC Squad - 2020-21

Still In Contract
Robbie McCrorie - Contracted until May 2021 (On Loan from Rangers)
Gary Maley - Contracted until May 2021
Max Stryjek - Contracted until May 2023 (Signed from Eastleigh)

Julien Serrano - Contracted until May 2021 (On Loan from Monaco)
Jack Fitzwater - Contracted until May 2021 (Signed from WBA)
Efe Ambrose - Contracted until May 2021
Jon Guthrie - Contracted until May 2021
Alan Lithgow - Contracted until May 2021
Steve Lawson - Contracted until May 2021
Aaron Taylor-Sinclair - Contracted until May 2021
Nicky Devlin - Contracted until May 2021
Jack McMillan - Contracted until May 2022
Jackson Longridge - Contracted until May 2023 (Signed from Bradford City)

Djibril Diani - Contracted until May 2021 (On Loan from Grasshopper Club Zurich)
Josh Mullin - Contracted until May 2021 (Signed from Ross County)
Jason Holt - Contracted until May 2022 (Signed from Rangers)
Keaghan Jacobs - Contracted until May 2022
Craig Sibbald - Contracted until May 2022
Marvin Bartley - Contracted until May 2022
Alan Forrest - Contracted until May 2022 (Signed from Ayr Utd)
Scott Pittman - Contracted until May 2023
Jaze Kabia - Contracted until May 2023 (Signed from Shelbourne)

Jay Emmanuel Thomas - Contracted until May 2021 (Signed from PTT Rayong)
Gavin Reilly - Contracted until May 2022 (Signed from Carlisle United)
Matej Poplatnik - Contracted until May 2022 (Signed from Kerala Blasters)

Away
Ryan Schofield - Loan Finished
Hakeem Odoffin - Hamilton Accies - Undisclosed Fee
Ricki Lamie - Out of Contract
Cécé Pepe - Released
Ciaran Brown - Loan Finished
Steven Lawless - Out of Contract
Craig Henderson - Out of Contract
Chris Erskine - Out of Contract
Robbie Crawford - Motherwell
Aymen Souda - Released
Lyndon Dykes - QPR - £2million
Dolly Menga - Released
Lars Lokotsch - Mutual Termination
Scott Robinson - Out of Contract

On Loan
Ross Stewart - Hearts
Brian Schwake - Linlithgow Rose
Carlo Pignatiello - Arbroath
Rafa De Vita - Edinburgh City
Jack Hamilton - Arbroath
Scott Tiffoney - Partick Thistle
Salim Kouider-Aïssa - Queens Park

Do we get 3 wishes, keeping hold of Dykes and Lawless for the first 2, and for the coronavirus to feck off so we can get playing in the 20/21 season.

I'd be surprised if any of those happened tbh.

Liviforever wrote:Do we get 3 wishes, keeping hold of Dykes and Lawless for the first 2, and for the coronavirus to feck off so we can get playing in the 20/21 season.

I'd be surprised if any of those happened tbh.

Dykes is under contract so no danger there unless we need to sell for financial reasons but I'm not sure if anyone's likely to pay our valuation at the moment.

Would be happy to retain any of the following:

Aaron Taylor-Sinclair
Ricki Lamie
Steven Lawless
Scott Tiffoney
Dolly Menga

With Steve lawless' performances this season I strongly suspect other clubs to come in for him including some Championship ones with better budgets than ours (particularly if the premiership is extended to 14). Likewise, if Hearts are spared, I would expect a massive clear-out meaning they'll be keeping an eye on the situation.

Don't see Alan Lithgow making a return now; he seems to be getting one injury after another which isn't a good sign.

Would also consider Ciaron Brown if he was available on a free but would depend again on finances. His long throws are even better than Lithgow's and that's saying something - he was also seemingly settling into the team.

Would be interesting if Ryan Schofield was available but think he'll be well beyond our budget.

Durnford wrote:

Would be interesting if Ryan Schofield was available but think he'll be well beyond our budget.

I think his contract with Huddersfield is up next month so perhaps the lure of first team football could persuade him...saying that, I believe he's a Huddersfield supporter so may want to try make it there.

I’d rather get Sarkic back

Updated with Gary Maley signing a new deal, so I believe the following players are out of contract as of this weekend:

Aaron Taylor-Sinclair
Alan Lithgow
Ricki Lamie
Carlo Pignatiello
Steven Lawless
Chris Erskine
Scott Tiffoney
Dolly Menga

Would especially like to see us keep ATS, Lithgow (depending on injury) & Lawless, although looks likely that Lawless is on the way out with Forrest coming in.

No need for Lawless to leave even with Forrest coming in as that gives competition for places.
Sign the deal Steve, you know you want to.

Think Dolly signed an extension to make up for when he was out on loan, sure I read that somewhere.

There was a bit of a rumour a while back that Motherwell were after at least three of our first team squad. seeing today that they've released 10 players from their current squad including their captain makes me wonder.

Bertie Bassett wrote:I’d rather get Sarkic back

I certainly agree with you Bertie but I'm not sure that's too likely unless, of course, Villa release him. But even then I imagine he'll have plenty of offers on the table.

Durnford wrote:There was a bit of a rumour a while back that Motherwell were after at least three of our first team squad. seeing today that they've released 10 players from their current squad including their captain makes me wonder.

As most of our squad is still under contract I would hope the club would be wanting substantial fees before even thinking about it.

Durnford wrote:

Bertie Bassett wrote:I’d rather get Sarkic back

I certainly agree with you Bertie but I'm not sure that's too likely unless, of course, Villa release him. But even then I imagine he'll have plenty of offers on the table.

You are probably right... but he was called back because of injury to one of their keepers & hardly even made the bench. Suggests they don’t rate him as highly as they ought to.

Bertie Bassett wrote:

Durnford wrote:There was a bit of a rumour a while back that Motherwell were after at least three of our first team squad. seeing today that they've released 10 players from their current squad including their captain makes me wonder.

As most of our squad is still under contract I would hope the club would be wanting substantial fees before even thinking about it.

Unfortunately neither ATS or Steven Lawless are currently under contract. Both used to play for Motherwell I believe; Lawless in particular may feel he's got unfinished business there.

Liviforever wrote:Think Dolly signed an extension to make up for when he was out on loan, sure I read that somewhere.

Ah good point, totally forgot about this

Durnford wrote:

Bertie Bassett wrote:

Durnford wrote:There was a bit of a rumour a while back that Motherwell were after at least three of our first team squad. seeing today that they've released 10 players from their current squad including their captain makes me wonder.

As most of our squad is still under contract I would hope the club would be wanting substantial fees before even thinking about it.

Unfortunately neither ATS or Steven Lawless are currently under contract. Both used to play for Motherwell I believe; Lawless in particular may feel he's got unfinished business there.

Interesting take, i'd have thought the opposite, after they didn't think he was up to much. Aberdeen are usually sniffing around our players too though.

Think Motherwell are cutting back their wage bill with this lockdown in place, bound to be a lot of clubs doing the same, so there will be a lot of players out of contract and floating about waiting on the transfer market to pick up, getting the SPFL to release the fixtures for next season may help get the ball rolling. Still too much uncertainty about what is happening with the football though, so clubs wont be wanting to gather up players adding to their wage bill. If part of the season is to be played behind closed doors then the playing budgets are going to be reduced a fair bit too.

Sarkic's contract is up in June at Villa and he's said he doesn't want to sign an extension, he's trying to get a move to Sunderland though.

So now we know, 3 loan players (McCrorie, Schofield & Brown) heading back to parent clubs while our on load players are all coming back to us.

But the main news is 4 players leaving after their contracts expired, either because they turned down a new deal or weren’t offered one... we don’t know which of the 4 fall into those categories but the four leaving are:

Steven Lawless
Chris Erskine
Rickie Lamie
Craig Henderson

Can’t say I’m surprised at Erskine going, he was almost always a sub & not really used that much.
Lamie looked like he was going after losing his place to Brown; disappointed because on his day he was pretty solid, having said that he didn’t really improve that much during his time here. Can’t say much about Henderson, don’t remember seeing him play at all. The biggest loss is clearly Lawless who was an excellent acquisition who really shone last season. However, I think he is the type of player who will shine in a team like ours but could struggle at a bigger club. We will certainly miss his composure at penalties.

Disappointed when any player who has done the business for us leaves but such is football & I wish them well at their next clubs except when they play against us.

Yeah not that bothered about the others leaving, Lawless was brilliant for us this season though, and would've loved him to have signed an extension for this season. Lamie was decent cover and did a job when called upon, but ATS and McMillan should be enough to cover LB, and McMillan is that adaptable to play in both FB positions. With Guthrie, Lithgow & Ambrose we've plenty CB cover too, although wouldn't mind seeing us try and getting Brown signed up.

Hopefully Forrest does well for us and fills Lawless's shoes/boots, and both Hamilton & Tiffoney step up this season too, both have the potential to do well. Would make my year if Dykes sticks around for another season, but if not I hope he makes the move down South, and we get decent dosh for him.

I think Dykes has to move South to further his career*; if he goes to Parkhead or Ibrox he will gain weight sitting on the bench... but they could sign him & loan him back, I could probably live with that.



* Not necessarily right now though

Actually think Dykes up front with Morelos would be as lethal a combo as when he was at QoTS with Dobbie, he'd cause huge problems for defenders with his physical style of playing, leaving Morelos free to score tons of goals. But I hope he doesn't go there, as he's good enough to make it down South on his own, and out from the shadow of another player like Dobbie, as he's just proven this season with us.

With Brown away and Lithgow injured who is going to take our long throws?

Dykes

orco wrote:With Brown away and Lithgow injured who is going to take our long throws?

I'm sure I remember Devlin taking them at the start of the season

Good point Hooch, now that you mention it I think I remember that too.

Shame about Rickie Lamie; always liked the guy but did seem to be struggling with an injury for the majority of last season.

Not surprise about Lawless; there should be plenty of clubs coming in with contract offers based on his performance and most will be able to afford more than we can. We do have a plethora of options of replacement at the moment although who will take the penalties is another quandary.

Not sure we'll ever see Lithgow back to his best; he seemed to be blighted by one injury after another. Not a fan of Dykes taking the long throws so would love to get Brown back - That being said is Pepe still around?

Good to see ATS has signed a new deal; likewise maybe Tiffoney can get a shot at the first team?

Brown could throw the ball 5 or 6 yards further than Lithgow, and Dykes was well behind both of them, can't remember how far Devlin managed to throw it.

Plenty of our players are good at taking pens, Dykes aint one of them though, just imagine how many goals he'd have had last season if he could score from the spot, that would also have bumped up his price tag.
As good as Lawless was, i'm not sure he'd do as well in another team, that's the best season he's ever had in his career, playing within Livi's style of play, and players, him and Dykes formed a great partnership, he said himself in an interview that Dykes helped give him the room to play further forward. Good luck to him anyway, he deserves a big move to give him further financial security.