Livingston V QoS

[Shagz White]

3-2 to the Amber Machine with top shagger Jordan White getting at least one.

[Ayia Napa Daz]

Any stats for number of penalties won by Russell SD? Despite being told often enough by opposition fans that it is a regular ocurrance I can't think of too many occasions it's happened.

Dunno about QOS, but he won a shitload for us in divisions 1&2. Dived to win a lot of them anaw

[Fae_the_'briggs]

Obviously hoping for an away win here but certainly not a formality. Any points picked up away from home this season will be well earned and after their defeat at Raith, Livingston should be desperate to do well in their first home match. We look like we can pose a good threat in front of goal but we were also a bit fortunate not to concede another couple against Alloa so will need to be more alert here. I think I'll risk a punt at 2 - 1 to Queens.

[19QOS19]

Looking forward to this. Bad start for livi yesterday so expecting a tricky tie as its their opening home game of the season.Hopefully hilson will be back in the team,is millar still suspended? Beany and jacobs will be well up for this too. Will say 2-1 south beany and conroy with the goals.

(Unless you meant squad) Who would you drop? I'd be genuinely disappointed and shocked if Lyle and Russell don't start on Saturday after yesterday's performances. I've been impressed with Hilson in the short time I've watched him but I don't think he merits an automatic starting spot just yet.

Personally my only swap would be Millar in for Pickard. Pickard did do well yesterday but you have to play your best players when they're available. Millar is far superior to Pickard at this time.

We are well off for potential takers though. Conroy, Millar and Jacobs were all designated penalty takers at previous clubs with Conroy seemingly considered a particular expert at them so there is no shortage of candidates and it hopefully bodes well if any of the cup ties go to penalties. Pickard is the usual penalty taker for the 20's too.

Considering the guy's accuracy from outside the box, with a wall in the way, I'd be stunned to see him miss a penalty

I'd take draws in the next 2. A very tough run of fixtures coming up for us now, why winning yesterday was important

Looking for 4 personally. It'll likely be the most difficult season in this division for us since we came back up and we need to be looking to beat relegation contenders (IMO Livi) both home and away. As well as looking to take at least a point away at teams who will be round about us (IMO Dumbarton). Hence I would be hoping for the 4 from our next two. That's not to say I EXPECT 4 points, just that I'm hoping for 4. I really think Dumbarton could be dark horses this season if they keep their starting 11 fit and free of suspensions.

[Monkey Tennis]

(Unless you meant squad) Who would you drop? I'd be genuinely disappointed and shocked if Lyle and Russell don't start on Saturday after yesterday's performances. I've been impressed with Hilson in the short time I've watched him but I don't think he merits an automatic starting spot just yet.

Personally my only swap would be Millar in for Pickard. Pickard did do well yesterday but you have to play your best players when they're available. Millar is far superior to Pickard at this time.

Considering the guy's accuracy from outside the box, with a wall in the way, I'd be stunned to see him miss a penalty

Looking for 4 personally. It'll likely be the most difficult season in this division for us since we came back up and we need to be looking to beat relegation contenders (IMO Livi) both home and away. As well as looking to take at least a point away at teams who will be round about us (IMO Dumbarton). Hence I would be hoping for the 4 from our next two. That's not to say I EXPECT 4 points, just that I'm hoping for 4. I really think Dumbarton could be dark horses this season if they keep their starting 11 fit and free of suspensions.

Our away form last season was really pretty poor, despite the season being a success.

We'd be doing very well this season to match the home form of last time. I'll be disappointed if we can't improve on our away record though.

We really need to be looking for wins in games like the next two. I too would be very pleased with 4 points from them though.

[LIVIFOREVER]

Feck knows how this will go, was well up for the Raith game and we blew several good chances to score and hit the bar twice, goals have been hard to come by in our last 2 games. Got 3 decent goal scorers in Buchanan, White & Mullen, with Hippo always in with a shout to score some too so don't know why we can't buy a goal just now.

Gordon will be back in anyway so that's good news, was a bit of a jumble in defence against Raith so should be more settled with Gallagher and Gordon in the team. I'd actually like to see Sheerin start and have Buchanan coming on in the 2nd half this time, Sheerin has looked good coming on as sub, doubt he'd last a full game though as still looks at least a stone overweight.

Fine lines in games so hope we get a goal to give us something to sit on and make the other team work for a change.

[Skyline Drifter]

Gordon will be back in anyway.

Will he?

Not that it is unheard of to have errors in it but the SFA suspension list shows him starting the season with a two match ban.

[LIVIFOREVER]

Will he?

Not that it is unheard of to have errors in it but the SFA suspension list shows him starting the season with a two match ban.

Oh sugar, will Millen be back or is he serving a 2 match suspension too?

Would prefer seeing Neill coming in alongside Gallagher then instead of Sives or Cole. Gallagher wasn't too hot playing RB and both Cole and Sives had bad games too so I'd rather just put Gallagher in his CB position and if Cole is being played then put him at CM and not on the wing.

I think Burchill experimented with a few players and none of them really worked, hopefully he'll sort it out better for this game. Would also like to see Hippo on the left wing where he did well at the tail end of last season, against Raith he wandered about all over the place and seemed to have a fee rein.

[Guest Flash]

Our away form last season was really pretty poor, despite the season being a success.

We'd be doing very well this season to match the home form of last time. I'll be disappointed if we can't improve on our away record though.

We really need to be looking for wins in games like the next two. I too would be very pleased with 4 points from them though.

Fowler likes a draw in away games. 8 draws last season, 3 wins and 5 defeats.

As for beating relegation candidates away from home, we won 1 out of 4 against the bottom 2 last season - a win at Cowdenbeath. The others were a defeat at Cowdenbeath and 2 draws at Alloa.

[andylivi1]

Oh sugar, will Millen be back or is he serving a 2 match suspension too?

Would prefer seeing Neill coming in alongside Gallagher then instead of Sives or Cole. Gallagher wasn't too hot playing RB and both Cole and Sives had bad games too so I'd rather just put Gallagher in his CB position and if Cole is being played then put him at CM and not on the wing.

I think Burchill experimented with a few players and none of them really worked, hopefully he'll sort it out better for this game. Would also like to see Hippo on the left wing where he did well at the tail end of last season, against Raith he wandered about all over the place and seemed to have a fee rein.

Gallagher played CB at the weekend alongside Sives and Cole played RB, I'd much rather see depending on availability Millen going back into right back and Cole stepping into midfield as we looked very lightweight in the middle.

If Millen isn't fit I'd be happy with Gallacher RB as IMO he played ok there v Clyde and I'd bring Neill in to partner Sives at CB.

[justin time]

Oh sugar, will Millen be back or is he serving a 2 match suspension too?

Would prefer seeing Neill coming in alongside Gallagher then instead of Sives or Cole. Gallagher wasn't too hot playing RB and both Cole and Sives had bad games too so I'd rather just put Gallagher in his CB position and if Cole is being played then put him at CM and not on the wing.

I think Burchill experimented with a few players and none of them really worked, hopefully he'll sort it out better for this game. Would also like to see Hippo on the left wing where he did well at the tail end of last season, against Raith he wandered about all over the place and seemed to have a fee rein.

Once Gordon gets alongside Gallagher and Cole plays in midfield the team will be much stronger, but that's for another day! I'd imagine Millen will come in at rb. But who knows about the rest. Think some of the criticism of the defence was harsh on sat with two suspensions and left back of at ht injured we were left with a guy who hadn't played for a month and another who was in the nick two weeks ago in a makeshift back 3. Even at that we still looked better than raith for large parts of the game without getting any breaks. Livi will be fine once injuries and suspensions settle down.

[Monkey Tennis]

Fowler likes a draw in away games. 8 draws last season, 3 wins and 5 defeats.

As for beating relegation candidates away from home, we won 1 out of 4 against the bottom 2 last season - a win at Cowdenbeath. The others were a defeat at Cowdenbeath and 2 draws at Alloa.

What happened in the other two away games?

The point definitely stands though and I don't think it's unique to Fowler. It was perhaps particularly conspicuous last season because we were so strong at Palmerston. Drawing at Ibrox (twice if you count the play-off) and winning at Easter Road was obviously great, but in addition to the supposedly easier trips you mention, we also struggled a bit at Dumbarton and a lot at Livingston.

Now obviously it's a general rule of football that teams tend to do better at home, but I've felt for many years that our mind set at away games is markedly different (3rd tier season aside) and that there's therefore something self fulfilling about what we do.

There was an interesting series of tables published last season which showed that our 4th place finish consisted of being 2nd (behind Hearts unsurprisingly) in the 'home' table and 6th or 7th in the 'away' one. Our plastic pitch may play some part in this discrepancy, but I'd be interested to see similar tables for previous seasons. I think a similar picture would emerge over several seasons, but I don't know if that's just my retrospective feeling, or if it's really the case.

Either way, a few more wins on the road this season, would be good.

[Skyline Drifter]

What happened in the other two away games? The point definitely stands though and I don't think it's unique to Fowler. It was perhaps particularly conspicuous last season because we were so strong at Palmerston. Drawing at Ibrox (twice if you count the play-off) and winning at Easter Road was obviously great, but in addition to the supposedly easier trips you mention, we also struggled a bit at Dumbarton and a lot at Livingston. Now obviously it's a general rule of football that teams tend to do better at home, but I've felt for many years that our mind set at away games is markedly different (3rd tier season aside) and that there's therefore something self fulfilling about what we do. There was an interesting series of tables published last season which showed that our 4th place finish comprised of being 2nd (behind Hearts unsurprisingly) in the 'home' table and 6th or 7th in the 'away' one. Our plastic pitch may play some part in this discrepancy, but I'd be interested to see similar tables for previous seasons. I think a similar picture would emerge over several seasons, but I don't know if that's just my retrospective feeling, or if it's really the case. Either way, a few more wins on the road this season, would be good.

Pretty sure a similar picture wouldn't appear. I'm sure I looked at it a few seasons ago.

We won 4, drew 8 and lost 6 away last season. Four wins were at Hibs, Raith, Dumbarton and Cowdenbeath. Six losses were at Hearts (twice), Rangers, Raith, Livingston and Cowdenbeath. We largely fielded a reserve side in that last game at Livi too. Our away record wasn't that bad, and included four points at Easter Road and a draw at Ibrox. It did however compare badly to Falkirk who had an excellent away record of 7 wins and 4 draws. They actually got 6 more points than us away from home but 13 less at home. We also got 2 less away points than Raith who got 22.

We were 6th in the "away" league table, and yes, 2nd in the "home" league table, behind Hearts mainly because they won twice at Palmerston and we lost twice at Tynecastle. Remove the head to heads and we were only one point worse than them (again a defeat to Cowdenbeath ruining our record).

To be honest, other than the loss at Cowdenbeath which was deserved as a result of a horrible 45 minutes, we didn't do that much wrong away from home. Slightly disappointing not to have won at least one of the games at Alloa and Livingston, especially given we led all three games and Livi scored twice in the last ten minutes to get their draw, but far from a disaster. And ok we drew our second visit to Dumbarton 0-0 but to say we struggled there is harsh. We won 4-0 the first time and haven't lost there since 1992! It's a place we have an excellent record at.

[Monkey Tennis]

Pretty sure a similar picture wouldn't appear. I'm sure I looked at it a few seasons ago.

We won 4, drew 8 and lost 6 away last season. Four wins were at Hibs, Raith, Dumbarton and Cowdenbeath. Six losses were at Hearts (twice), Rangers, Raith, Livingston and Cowdenbeath. We largely fielded a reserve side in that last game at Livi too. Our away record wasn't that bad, and included four points at Easter Road and a draw at Ibrox. It did however compare badly to Falkirk who had an excellent away record of 7 wins and 4 draws. They actually got 6 more points than us away from home but 13 less at home. We also got 2 less away points than Raith who got 22.

We were 6th in the "away" league table, and yes, 2nd in the "home" league table, behind Hearts mainly because they won twice at Palmerston and we lost twice at Tynecastle. Remove the head to heads and we were only one point worse than them (again a defeat to Cowdenbeath ruining our record).

To be honest, other than the loss at Cowdenbeath which was deserved as a result of a horrible 45 minutes, we didn't do that much wrong away from home. Slightly disappointing not to have won at least one of the games at Alloa and Livingston, especially given we led all three games and Livi scored twice in the last ten minutes to get their draw, but far from a disaster. And ok we drew our second visit to Dumbarton 0-0 but to say we struggled there is harsh. We won 4-0 the first time and haven't lost there since 1992! It's a place we have an excellent record at.

I'd maintain that four wins in eighteen attempts is a poor record for a team with genuine aspirations for promotion, a team that did in fact still manage to have a good season.

"Struggled a bit" at Dumbarton also strikes me as a reasonable enough phrase, given that in half the games we played there, we huffed and puffed badly and picked up a suspension that quite possibly cost us a genuine crack at the Scottish Cup.

As I said, even allowing for the fact that away form naturally tends to be poorer than the home stuff, I'd still have thought we have done less well as visitors than we should have over several seasons.

Maybe, as you say though, I'm imagining it.

[palmy_cammy]

Whether or not our points return from away matches last season was good, bad or indifferent seems to be open to interpretation. I tend to agree with MT that it wasn't exceptional, and could do with improving. The fact we didn't gain maximum points is tangible evidence that there is room for improvement. I don't think it's a particularly unreasonable expectation. As we are unlikely to do so exceptionally well at home again makes it more of a necessity than a wish.

Interesting to see people using Livi's 3-0 defeat as a reason to be wary (they'll want to bounce back). I can't imagine they wanted to lose 3-0 last week either, so I'd be more inclined to suggest that the defeat indicates that they aren't particularly good.

As far as I'm concerned we should be looking to win this game. That's not to say we will of course.

[mealsonwheels]

you might need a little petrolium jelly Plastic team. QOS are gonna pump you!!

[LIVIFOREVER]

Whether or not our points return from away matches last season was good, bad or indifferent seems to be open to interpretation. I tend to agree with MT that it wasn't exceptional, and could do with improving. The fact we didn't gain maximum points is tangible evidence that there is room for improvement. I don't think it's a particularly unreasonable expectation. As we are unlikely to do so exceptionally well at home again makes it more of a necessity than a wish.

Interesting to see people using Livi's 3-0 defeat as a reason to be wary (they'll want to bounce back). I can't imagine they wanted to lose 3-0 last week either, so I'd be more inclined to suggest that the defeat indicates that they aren't particularly good.

As far as I'm concerned we should be looking to win this game. That's not to say we will of course.

I think we both will be looking to win the game, last weeks defeat could make us more determined is what folk prob mean though.

I think we've had quite a few 2-2 draws with Queens, wouldn't surprise me if that's how this match ends. We'll need to actually start scoring fricking goal for that to happen right enough but I'd imagine QoS will be more attacking than Raith and Clyde which should make it a bit easier for us up front too. We've struggled to break defensive teams down so far, though we had several chances but fluffed them all.

[palmy_cammy]

I think we both will be looking to win the game, last weeks defeat could make us more determined is what folk prob mean though.

I think we've had quite a few 2-2 draws with Queens, wouldn't surprise me if that's how this match ends. We'll need to actually start scoring fricking goal for that to happen right enough but I'd imagine QoS will be more attacking than Raith and Clyde which should make it a bit easier for us up front too. We've struggled to break defensive teams down so far, though we had several chances but fluffed them all.

I know what they are getting at, but I'd much rather play you off the back of a 3-0 defeat than a 3-0 victory. My overall feeling though, is it won't matter all that much what happened last week.

I think a score draw could be a pretty good predication. We look like we have plenty of goals in us again this season, but we won't be as solid at the back. Certainly to begin with until our new look defence/goalkeeper build an understanding.

[Skyline Drifter]

Whether or not our points return from away matches last season was good, bad or indifferent seems to be open to interpretation. I tend to agree with MT that it wasn't exceptional, and could do with improving. The fact we didn't gain maximum points is tangible evidence that there is room for improvement. I don't think it's a particularly unreasonable expectation. As we are unlikely to do so exceptionally well at home again makes it more of a necessity than a wish.

Just to be clear, I never said it was exceptional (clearly it wasn't) nor that it couldn't be improved upon (clearly it could). I just don't think it was quite as awful as implied. We need to turn some of those draws into wins really but five competitive defeats away from home (I'm not counting the final game at Livi), two of which were to a Hearts team who pretty much beat everybody, would suggest we weren't exactly cannon fodder away from Palmerston. There were a couple of dreadful performances in there (Raith and Cowdenbeath) but generally we were not easily beaten.

Happy to accept though that it's likely we'll need to improve on 20 away points to make the playoffs again.

[Monkey Tennis]

Just to be clear, I never said it was exceptional (clearly it wasn't) nor that it couldn't be improved upon (clearly it could). I just don't think it was quite as awful as implied. We need to turn some of those draws into wins really but five competitive defeats away from home (I'm not counting the final game at Livi), two of which were to a Hearts team who pretty much beat everybody, would suggest we weren't exactly cannon fodder away from Palmerston. There were a couple of dreadful performances in there (Raith and Cowdenbeath) but generally we were not easily beaten.

Happy to accept though that it's likely we'll need to improve on 20 away points to make the playoffs again.

I think that's it to be honest. We didn't really lose too often last season, although Cowdenbeath was obviously a bit of a disaster.

Draws aren't really that useful if your aspirations are top half though, especially if they come against teams several places below you.

This all started with Flash bemoaning Fowler's apparent fondness for an away draw. On the available evidence, he's probably got a point. If a more enterprising approach results in more victories and a similar increase in the number of defeats, then we'll be better off. Obviously, this won't conform to a formula, but I do think we need to go for it more and stop regarding draws necessarily as good results, unless visiting sides above us.