Five Things: MD 17 - St. Johnstone

A first win against St. Johnstone in Perth for 13 years, edged Livingston away from the bottom pack, continued David Martindale's 100% run as interim boss and handed St. Johnstone their first defeat since the end of October. Here are Five Things from this weekends action:

Marvin Bartley

Early performances from Bartley hinted at the long close down having taken a bit away from his game. At times he looked sluggish, most noticeably against St. Mirren towards the end of November, and the engine appeared to be stuttering, in need of an oil change and a tuning. And with the engine ageing, you had to wonder if the rust could be cleared and whether it was time to write it off.

But, once again, Bartley showed why you should never consider writing him off. Against St. Johnstone he, along with the rest of the team, appeared to be back to his combative, driven self. The match intelligence was never missing, Bartley is one of the most fouled players in the league this season for a reason (joint 1st alongside Martin Boyle, each being fouled 36 times) and a lot of that comes from how he intelligently positions his body between opposition and ball leaving opposition players with no alternative but to try and go through him but, at times earlier in the season, it looked like the head and the body were not co-operating for the other areas of his game. They found each other this week and it was very much to Livingston’s benefit. We saw the Bartley we saw last season who could cover every blade of grass in the centre of the pitch, hurrying and harrying the opposition into a mistake, not to mention his usual trip down the wing. When Marv is on the top of his game, Livingston are on the top of their game.

Jack Fitzwater

After what can only be described as an inauspicious start to his Livingston career, Jack Fitzwater put in a performance that gives a glimpse at the potential that was promised on his arrival in the summer. Far from the finished article, and more performances like this will be required to show what he’s really all about, but he looked a more confident and competent player than the one that started the season. On Saturday, he was a more than suitable partner for Jon Guthrie and perhaps there were signs of a sweeper/stopper type relationship developing between the two, Guthrie was his usual self, leading the Lions on loose ball duels and interceptions, while Fitzwater was more active in the air and in one on one situations, he attempted and won the most defensive duels of any Livingston player and won double the number of aerial duels as Guthrie. More than anything, a lot of the issues of earlier appearances seem to have been taken care of. There was not the (virtual) collective intake of breath from the fans, at least in this household, as the ball approached him under pressure. Arguably between him and Stryjek, more could have been done for the goal but it shouldn’t take the shine off what was a solid performance.

Jack Fitzwater Defensive Duels - Wyscout

If the last 3 seasons have shown us anything it’s that our defenders are regularly required to produce double duty and at the other end of the pitch, Fitzwater was involved. A ball winning tackle in midfield was the catalyst for the Lion’s second of the afternoon, allowing Mullin to play a perfect chipped through ball for Robinson, and his vollied attempt from a long throw from Ciaron Brown caused trouble for the Saints defence and could have seen Fitzwater add to the two goals he picked up in the Betfred Cup against Ayr United, but for a smart save from Zander Clark.

Reverting to Style

This felt like a real back to basics, reverting to type performance from the Lions. Previous seasons have seen a style, labelled as industrial by some, that relied on players to “win their battles” and there have, of course, been the criticism of an over reliance on long passes. After 3 seasons of “overachieving”, it was natural for the management team to look to evolve and advance the style and so far this season it’s seemed that the evolution has produced shaky results. Experimentation and evolution is one thing, but Efe Ambrose at left wing-back is quite another.

After these initial forays back into the 3-5-2 formation that worked well in the Gallagher-Halkett-Lithgow era, for most of the season the Lions have lined up in a 4-3-2-1 formation but something has felt different from previous seasons, be that a team that relies so heavily on the fitness of it's players having to build them back up again after months in lockdown whilst or having to integrate players into a team built on it's cohesion, and results have reflected this. The return to a style that relies on hunting in packs seems to have brought out the best of players like Scott Pittman & Marvin Bartley, who thrive in situations where they can hunt down the ball or force the opposition to play backwards rather than being able to play through the lines.

Three touches from winning the ball to scoring

The opener came from a well worked set piece, something that we’ve seen multiple times in recent seasons. Mullin’s lofted ball on to (the back of) Jon Guthrie’s head was further proof, if needed, about why he was brought back. For all Alan Forrest’s performances this year and the 9 goals in 22 games he’s brought to the team, his set pieces have, at times, been lacking. Mullin’s delivery allowed us to exploit the threat of Jon Guthrie in the air with a well worked free kick. Mullin again showed his worth with the second goal. The goal showed Livi doing the thing they get least credit for, inventiveness in the opposition half. There were three touches from winning the ball on the halfway line to the ball hitting the back of the net, but it would be grossly unfair to label the goal a product of a direct approach. Fitzwater's tackle was timed perfectly, Mullin's chipped through ball was weighted perfectly and Robinson's finish was cool.

Audition

Whilst from the outside it may seem that Martindale’s ascension to the top job is more coronation than contest, if this, and the 2 games before it, was an audition, it would be a straight tick and pass exercise. 3 wins from 3, 8 goals for and just the solitary goal given up. A team that looks more assured than it has at most points during this first half of the season. Tactically, Martindale got this spot on, changing from the 4-3-2-1 to a 3-4-1-1 with the introduction of Ciaron Brown in the aftermath of St. Johnstone’s equaliser. Doing so allowed Fitzwater to step out from defence to meet Stevie May on the halfway line, allowing Livingston to hit St. Johnstone on the counter. 

This wasn’t a standout performance by the Lions by any stretch of the imagination, St. Johnstone arguably had the best of the first half, but this was a performance that even in the best of times in the last 2 and a half seasons would have seen a very different result. Is this down to Martindale? Time will no doubt tell.

Post-match, Martindale joked about his desire to be upgraded from a Skoda company car to a Range Rover. Livi fans will be hoping that the appointment of Martindale is a Skoda appointment, dependable, reliable and built to last. Most of all, Livingston fans will hoping that the consistency brought on by a Martindale appointment will breed more of the success that he has helped bring to the club,

Momentum

On multiple fronts, this result will hopefully see the team kick on and look up rather than down the table. Three wins on the bounce going into two huge games for the club is certainly not to be sniffed at. A win on Wednesday against Ross County will see us visit Hampden on cup duty for the first time in 16 years and 3 points against Hamilton Accies on the following Wednesday could conceivably place us in the top 6 and, depending on County and Accies game on the Saturday between, see us push further away from the Accies or County at the bottom of the table.

This push into the top half and Hampden semi-final would change the entire complexion of the season. From a shaky start in August to a team that looked inconsistent and a shadow of last season to a club looking up with ambition of a fourth successive season in the top flight. This is a team that has been built on a camaraderie and team spirit, what better for camaraderie than a trip to Hampden?