Durnford

TBH dropping those two points against United really have made things a lot more challenging.

More "safe journey home afterwards". Looking at the BBC; the weather isn't looking too good for the A9 after 6pm. Take it easy guys.

Think its normally one match for a "professional foul" but this is his second this season so could be different.

The potential disappointments would include Kouider-Aïssa and Kabai who, on paper at least, should be doing better than he is. Also some that people originally wrote off as duds, such as Sean Kelly, has started to come into his own once being played in the correct position. It is however regretful that, of the names you've listed, for those that have left; only two of them did we end up getting any money for at all. I suppose its always a balancing act over length of contract for an unknown quantity.

I agree with a lot of what's said here, but I think a lot of what's caused other clubs to drop down in previous years is the standard of management; not just of the team but for the club as a whole. Vision as well should not be underestimated. Year after year we've ended up ahead of clubs better funded; with better facilities; larger income and support etc. etc. Punching above our weight is often a term used but its more than that. Quite often, in my business life, I have liked to use the example of Samuel Pierpont Langley. If you haven't heard of him; he was the real shining star in the Physics and aeronautic world at the turn of the twentieth century. He was a professor of astronomy but also Secretary for the Smithsonian institute. He spent a lot of time trying to discover the secret of powered flight and, in the late 1890's was given a sum of $70,000 mostly from the US War Department (somewhere in the region of £140,000,000 in today's terms) to basically develop manned flight. With this money he recruited the best authorities in their field; physics; engineering etc. and he bought the best equipment. So why is it so few people have actually heard of Samuel outside the worlds of Physics and Astronomy? Surely the promise of almost unlimited funds; of access the the best; all the best publicity; not the mention the undoubted pedigree of the man himself; this MUST have meant that he HAD to be successful; right? Strangely the names most people have heard of, when talking about powered flight, are the Wright brothers. Two brothers who's principle business was a bicycle repair shop; who could only attempt powered flight on their day's off; who, it is said, could only ever attempt four tests on one day as that was the limit of the spares that they could carry on the back of their van out to the Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina. Surely the outcome was clear; the premier all-stars v's the eager upstarts? No contact. Well not until December 1903 and the rest, as they say, is history. The thing though that is rarely published is what Samuel did after the news broke that the Wright brothers had beaten him to it. Rather than taking their idea and trying to improve upon it or pressing ahead with renewed vigour; he simply gave up. Within less than three years he was dead. Personally I would hope that we try to emulate the Wright brother; not Samuel Peirpont Langley.

Yes; this has been his poorest season although he did also seem to fall off a bit when he was first made Captain; seemed to interfere with his focus. All that being said he's been an excellent servant to the club and a club ambassador. His long throws will be a big loss but then again we haven't really been capitalising from them this season. Not surprise over the wage comment to be honest. For a club with an average home support of around 1500 plus the cost of VAR is a huge challenge. Simply put we really need to increase the home support section to around 3000 if we're to stand a chance wages wise. Free tickets to schools was one of the most effective in the past but, to work, it needs to be several games on the trot; to build up the "habit" of coming back to games.

I would struggle to think of a better manager anywhere for spotting a diamond in the rough and bringing them through; as a trainer for developing a high tempo side; for letting, what some people may describe as, mediocre or flawed player realise their full potential. I do sometimes question his tactics; often in the form substitution choices but then I doubt there's any manager I haven't been guilty of doing that with. I'm not a glass half empty or half full guy. I'm not even a glass is twice as large as it needs to be. I'm a "that glass needs topping up" codger.

I think what riles most Livi supporters is that we recently had Pittman and Holt receive straight reds that were significantly less clear cut that this one. However, the last thing we would want is for a SFA review with a prospective post award of a red card. That just wouldn't be fair and reasonable and nothing to do with the fact that you play St Mirren next and we would prefer you to be a full strength.

Ignoring the cards debate for a moment - I cant get over how bad we've become from set pieces. There was a time, not too long ago, when a free kick just outside the area; a corner or even a long throw in, gave us a strong chance of a goal. For a while now we've been totally toothless. Almost everyone of our corners went sailing over all the players to the far end of the penalty area with no-one around.

you can watch it in glorious full motion technicolor if you prefer https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/64897751 TBH the guy seemed genuinely remorseful afterward; effectively really bad timing but Oor Wullie (Collum) would have had the red card out even before contact was made.

Would love Guthrie to prove us all wrong and really start to show what he can do. Sadly I dont think its going to happen. Agree about Omeonga; he was pretty poor, won a lot of balls but seemed almost clueless on what to do next. Always said; for him to be effective he needs to be on from the start so that he can grow into the game as it develops; he certainly isn't an impact sub and trying to force him into that role is going to cause more mayhem

Just watched the highlights off the beeb: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/64897751 What on earth was Devlin doing for their goal? Seemed totally oblivious that there was a player behind him. As for the tackle near the end on Pittman; how on earth was that not a straight red?

Yes; Anderson chased and harried himself into the ground as usual. It was good to see a few route-one balls as well where he was given the chance to run on to them rather than standing being cuddled by a defender. Thought Nouble was good playing more on the left side; faded a bit when moved to the right and don't think he had enough left in the tank to play in the centre. Also thought Shinnie had one of his best games for us for a while. De Lucas had a very solid game; looked more reliable than Fitzwater of late. Thought Holt was well off the pace; both in terms of speed but also concentration. Maybe the in/out of the team situation has effected his concentration. Taking Bradley, who had been playing well but faded off in the second half, for Omeonga was completely baffling. Omeonga may be able to mix it up in the midfield but offers zero goal threat. Surely Bahamboula would have been the better choice there? If we had to bring Omeonga on surely the best choice would have been the underperforming Holt. As for taking our main striker off fifteen minutes from the end when we really needed a goal - well; I'm totally flummoxed there.

A top six finish is worth about £300k in additional gate receipts let alone the significant increase in prize money. For a club as short of money as ours; "letting it fizzle out" surely cant be an option?

Was pleased with De Lucas starting debut; pretty solid IMO. Its difficult to be certain based on one and a bit games but I though he was well ahead of Fitzwater; or rather the Fitzwater that's been playing since the world cup break.

Extremely frustrating. To have 71% in the first half but only score one goal was bad; to have ten shots at goal compared to two in the first half was equally galling BUT he second half was a real mess. Holt was having a relatively poor game yet Martindale brought on Kelly for Anderson. His decision to take Bradley off may have been down to an injury but, if that was the case, surely the most sensible replacement would have been Bahamboula rather than Omeonga. Omeonga is most effective on from the start; wearing down teams and then substituted when he's picked up a caution; bringing him on for the last 15 was truly pointless. As for bringing Guthrie on I'm not really sure what that was meant to achieve. United were decidedly "robust" today but I found it quite interesting as it demonstrated a team with spirit. A couple of weeks back they were dead in the water; now I'm not s sure. The biggest challenge is, with Goodwin now instilling his personality in the team, whether they can keep 11 players on the pitch with a different referee in charge. According to the stats I can find; Matthew MacDermid has averaged about 4 yellows per game and not issued a red since 2021. Compare that to Willie Collum or Andrew Dallas et al? A far bigger travelling support than I'd expected; between 900 and 950 as far as I could calculate which is pretty impressive considering the history (and temperature). Irrespective though that was two points dropped for us in my opinion.

Just been outside. been outside and its bl00dy baltic. Its going to take me at least half an hour to get all the layers on (just hope I don't need a #### before fulltime).

Just noticed United are classed as a category B game along with Hearts and Hibs. If it makes you feel any better Aberdeen and Motherwell are Cat C meaning they can get in for £25..... but probably not. TBH its a bit of a strange one; cant see United bringing more than a couple of hundred down the road on the off-chance the game is on. If the tables were turned I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be heading up to Dundee - but then again I am a bit of an old fossil and will likely be tucked up in bed with a cup of cocoa before the United supporters are near Stirling.

I like Omeonga in games where he can fulfil the role of attacking midfield. Where he's defending (AKA the two Rangers games at home) he can be a liability giving away free kicked in dangerous positions. Given his proper role he can persistently break up any attacks through the midfield

Ever the optimist; I think its good news that we haven't had much rain recently meaning that the ground will be hopefully fairly dry. As I understand it; the biggest problem with "the corner" was that the water stored up in the sand was freezing solid and not getting the change to melt. Provided the moisture's not there; the salt treatment should be more effective. But then again I could have got the wrong end of the decidedly sh#tty stick.

Nope.... The fact that you haven't heard of him before though is perhaps a good thing i.e. not controversial?

I see Matthew MacDermid refereed the 1 - 0 Kilmarnock v Dundee United game on 1st Feb. He dished out four yellows and awarded a penalty for United (which Fletcher missed). It would be interesting to hear what United supporters thought of his performance.

Seems warmer this morning. Don't get me wrong; a layer of frost all over the cars but the roads and pavement doesn't seem as bad as it was yesterday. Depends on whether we get snow but hopefully its missing us. Covers have to be left on until 7pm at least; minus 2 forecast for kick-off so who knows. Expect multiple pitch inspections: Livingston F.C. v Dundee United F.C. cinch Premiership 08/03/2023 7:45pm Tony Macaroni Arena Referee: Matthew MacDermid AR1 David Doig AR2 Colin Drummond Fourth Official Scott Lambie VAR Steven McLean AVAR Sean Carr

It seems there going to be a PPV option if the game is on https://ppv.livingstonfc.co.uk/