2020/21 Half-Term Report

At time of writing, Livingston are probably one of the form teams in the Premiership. 13 points from the last 6 games, 4 wins on the bounce and a Betfred Cup semi-final on the horizon, things are undoubtedly looking positive for the Lions. However, to say that this season has been a bit of slow burn is an understatement. On paper, the first half of the 2020/21 season has seen much of the same from Livingston. At the halfway point the Lions sit 6th in the table on 24 points, after 19 games last season the picture was pretty much the same, 22 points and sitting 6th in the table. However, there’s been a general feeling of disappointment around, at least, the first quarter of the season, which ultimately led to Gary Holt’s resignation at the end of November. Spotty team performances were compounded by spotty individual performances, with players like Jack Fitzwater and Robby McCrorie coming under particular scrutiny.

Some interesting tactical choices at times, Efe Ambrose at left wing back being the biggest of these, also contributed to a general malaise around the form of the club. It seemed like the management team had moved away from the things that made Livingston such an unexpected success in the last 2 seasons, there didn’t seem to be the same hunting in packs and there was an unmistakably Lyndon Dykes shaped hole upfront, which forced a change in how attacks were built. In terms of shape, there looked to be an appetite to return to the 3 at the back that had worked so well in the first Premiership season, but that the loss of Halkett & Gallagher had put to bed last season. Against St. Mirren and Hibernian, this manifested itself in the form of back three’s consisting of Fitzwater, Guthrie & Taylor-Sinclair (St. Mirren) and then Fitzwater, Guthrie & Brown (Hibernian), in both instances Efe Ambrose played his aforementioned role as left wing-back, a role that both Taylor-Sinclair & Brown are capable of playing. It’s almost understandable why you would try what, on the face of it, seems questionable, Ambrose is fantastic ball player, you want the benefit of him being able to pick the ball up and carry it, and by putting him out on the left you could see the thinking that it could help to mitigate the risk of him losing the ball on the edge of his own box, something every fan of every club Ambrose has played for has feared at some stage. In reality though, it just never worked.

That’s not to say the start to the season was all negative. There were positives from the first quarter, a disciplined backs to the wall performance against Rangers saw Livi earn a 0-0 draw. A 1-0 home win against Ross County gave Livi their first win of the season a fortnight later. But outwith these games there wasn’t a lot to write home about.

15 games in and with Livingston in 10th place, after a 1-0 home defeat to St. Mirren, Gary Holt said "I'll look at myself tonight and decide whether what I'm doing is right or if it's good enough. If it's not, get someone else in." By now it was beginning to feel like the spark was gone and a burnout was starting. Ultimately it ended in his resignation, it’s too early to tell whether or not this will ultimately be the right decision for both the club and Holt. There has, and always will be, speculation around the dynamics of the Martindale/Holt managerial team but it is undeniable the part that Holt played in the success of the last 2 years. 

Whether it was system, player performance or a managerial burnout from Gary Holt, overall, the second quarter has been a lot more positive. There have been good wins against Dundee United and St. Johnstone, both at home and away, which have roughly bookended the impressive Betfred Cup campaign. Since David Martindale took over at the end of November, performances have been consistent and results have been good. The 4 league and 2 Betfred Cup wins have provided a positive launchpad into the second half of the season and now the Lions sit in 6th place. 

The appointment of Martindale has also seen a return to the squad for Jack Fitzwater. Fitzwater was a bit of an unknown quantity when he was announced in July. He had arrived after coming through the ranks at West Bromwich Albion and early indications from coaching staff and performances during pre-season suggested that we had a decent young player coming into the squad. However, against St. Mirren & Hibernian, he looked particularly out of his depth in a team that was under-performing. Fitzwater quickly came in for criticism. To have completely written him off that early would have been harsh, the SPFL Premiership has proven to be a difficult league to come into, players with much more experience and much bigger reputations than Jack Fitzwater have come and performed much worse. There was a strong performance against Rangers in the 0-0 draw at Almondvale, before he dropped out of the squad and, since winning his place back in the starting XI, he has been a changed player. Alongside Guthrie he has formed a partnership that has conceded just a solitary goal from open play in 6 games. 

On the attacking front, understandably, there hasn’t been a Lyndon Dykes replacement. As it stands there’s a sort of Franken-Dykes whereby there are players who possess individual traits that made Dykes such a great player, but no single player has that full package that allows for continuity. It was always going to be nigh on impossible to make that kind of like for like replacement and multiple combinations have been tested there, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Matej Poplatnik and Scott Robinson have all played the number 9 role to varying degrees of success, and the less said about Anthony Stokes the better. However, in the wide areas, the re-signing of Josh Mullin has proven to be a smart one. Since returning to Almondvale, the winger has provided a creative spark that has time and again made Livingston look dangerous going forward. When he signed, Martindale said of him; “I didn’t envisage that when he left the club, that Josh himself would be the one filling the void he left two years later.” In reality, Mullin has probably surpassed expectations, picking up 4 goals and 6 assists in 13 games this season and appearing to be an astute piece of business. On the other wing, Alan Forrest felt like a signing that might take a season to bed in after nearly 200 appearances in the lower leagues with Ayr United but he has acclimated well, impressing most in the Betfred Cup where he is the competitions top scorer. He has thus far provided an interesting dynamic to our wing play, showing himself to be a real threat cutting in from the left.

Another very important turnaround has been the return to form of Marvin Bartley. In the early weeks of the season, it seemed like Bartley’s age was beginning to catch up with him and his impact on games was on the wane. It was understandable, at 34 the last thing you need is a sustained period of time away from the game, players can see the game catch up with them over the course of a normal summer shutdown. In Bartley’s case, he had to contend with an extended time away from training with minimal opportunity to keep fitness levels high and an extremely limited pre-season game schedule when football did finally return. During the summer lockdown, Bartley spoke to the Terrace Podcast about his frustration with trying to keep fit during uncertain times and the mental effect, what was available to him, had on him. He spoke about how the training opportunities available were so different from what is actually required as a professional footballer as to be almost redundant. Bartley said as much in the interview stating his uncertainty that he would be as fit as he would like to be, come the start of the season. As the season has progressed however, Bartley has managed to begin showing the player that we saw and loved last season. Once again he’s harrying opposition players into mistakes, winning smart fouls and scoring his annual scissor kick. It has become a fact that when Marvin Bartley plays well, Livingston play well.

To sum the first half of the season up, the feeling around the team can probably be boiled down to one desire, to kick on from last season and the opportunity to do so having been there in the early parts of the season, but having been missed while the squad settled. Given how solid our home form was in the last two seasons, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to have expected to have picked up a few more wins at the Tony Macaroni Arena. Being overly optimistic, we could have been looking at having won 3 or 4 of the home games we’ve lost this season and being 12 points further ahead than we currently are. Livingston are getting there though. It now seems like the squad is working as a unit, the system is in place and that ultimately Livingston can look back on the first half of the season in a positive manner. If you offered any Livingston fan top 6 and a cup semi-final come January, most would have bitten your hand off for it. What has probably been missing from the first half of the season is that big result that provides the catalyst for a positive atmosphere around the club, in 2018 it was the Dolly Menga inspired win over Rangers or the 5-0 defeat of Hearts, in 2019 it was Lyndon Dykes bullying Christopher Julien during the 2-0 defeat of Celtic. The Betfred Cup Quarter Final went some way towards achieving it, but the biggest thing that has allowed for an air of confidence around the club in the last weeks of 2020 is the consistent form under David Martindale. In reality, even while struggling to pick up league wins, Livingston have so far never really looked in trouble. It would not be wholly unthinkable to see consolidating a top 6 place as a realistic goal for the early part of 2021. If the Lions can do that, and barring any global pandemics, then there is real hope of surpassing the achievements of last season.