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Another player who arrived from Airdrie is Livingston goalkeeper Javier Sanchez Broto, who has already proved his worth after his display against Rangers and his magnificent penalty save from Henrik Larsson during last weeks Visit of Celtic. Marvin Andrews arrived from Raith Rovers last season in a three-player deal, which also included Steven Tosh and Alex Burns.
Livingston also signed three Inverness Caledonian Thistle players, Barry Wilson, Mark McCulloch and Canadian Internationalist Davide Xausa. Barry arrived in May 2000 in a deal worth £100.000 and up to now is Livingston's most expensive signing.
In the summer Livingston also signed two St Johnstone players, Gary Bollan and Nathan Lowndes and Hibs Australian internationalist Stuart Lovell, again these signings were under the Bosman ruling.
Gary has fitted in well at left back but Nathan has struggled to win a first team spot after the displays of Fernandez and Xausa up front. Stuart was given the captains role as soon as he signed for Livi and has shown in the first four games that he is one of Livingston's best summer signings.
Livi also made two more superb summer signings, Rubio who plays beside Marvin Andrews in defence and Quino who plays in the heart of midfield alongside David Bingham. Bingo joined Livingston in 1998 when he moved from Dunfermline who were in the Premier League to Livi who were then in the Second Division. The attacking-midfielder is out to prove that he is good enough for the SPL and I'm sure Bingo will be up there with the top goalscorers at the end of the season.
Paul Deas should get his chance after Gary Bollan's act of stupidity last week. Paul moved from Stirling Albion along with former Livi manager Ray Stewart, and is a player you can always depend on to give a solid performance when he is called upon. The departures during the summer were Alex Burns who signed for St Mirren, former Motherwell player Jamie Dolan who signed for Partick Thistle and Derek Fleming who also signed for Thistle. My predictions for the League this year is unfortunately bad for Motherwell.
I think relegation will be between three teams, St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Motherwell, with my favourites being St Johnstone. Dundee United have got enough quality to stay up as do Dunfermline. Dundee, Hearts, Hibs and Livi should all be near the top six, as should Kilmarnock. Livingston have shown over the past two weeks that equalling the Old Firm on the park is not impossible. After watching the Rangers and Celtic games I would have to say that with a bit of luck, we could have won them both. I fully expect Celtic to get stronger as the season goes on, but Rangers will have more to lose this year if they finish second, as there is only one Champions League place next year.
The best Livingston can hope for is a top six place, win the Scottish and League cup, and then go on to rule the world. Today the Livingston players come to Motherwell still on a high after their great start to the season, and I expect Livi to win all three points today. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think anyone outside the Old Firm has better players than Livi. Livingston have shown that they will not play defensive against any team in the league, especially against the Old Firm, when they played with three up front at Ibrox and at Almondvale when they played Celtic. Motherwell have got off to a slow start and must win the Livi game as the next three games against Hibs, Rangers and Hearts are all difficult games.
My thoughts on Rangers and Celtic breaking away from the Scottish league are mixed. I don’t think they should leave altogether, as this would be devastating for Scottish football. A British cup or a British league would be more beneficial to everyone. What happens in 2 years time if the Old Firm leaves Scotland? If Livingston win three in a row, does that mean that Livingston are too big for Scottish football, then Livi leave, Motherwell win the league, then they leave. Who’s going to be left? Aberdeen V Forfar, attendance 14. Scottish football needs excitement, just because the Old Firm has more money than everyone else it doesn’t mean we should all moan, or lie down to them when our team plays them. The best move for Scottish football would be for teams to join forces, Dundee and Dundee United should become one team, it makes sense. I know it’s a touchy subject, but Airdrie and Motherwell should join forces. Some people say that clubs have history and that’s the reason why they don’t want teams to amalgamate, but if they don’t there may be no future for these clubs. Bill Hunter moved Meadowbank to Livi so why can’t other teams do the same, Meadowbank still have their history, they are still alive within Livi, but if Meadowbank stayed in the capital then the name of Livingston FC would never have been born. You just have to look at our four results against Hearts, Rangers, Dundee and Celtic and although we got beat against Dundee, I was told a draw was what we deserved (I was on a stag weekend in Newcastle and I highly recommend it).
The management team of Jim Leishman and Davie Hay has been very successful and has proved a lot of people in the media wrong. Some people thought that the appointment of Davie Hay to work alongside Jim was a recipe for disaster, but with Davie’s experience and Jim’s knowledge it will not be too long before Livingston are challenging for a European spot. And finally, I’m sure all Livingston supporters would join me in thanking the one man that made all our dreams come true. As I’ve mentioned before it was Bill Hunter’s idea to move to Livingston when he was the Chairman at Meadowbank. He got a lot of abuse from some supporters, but now these supporters will understand why Bill made the decision. They will look at how far Livi have gone and then look how far Meadowbank would have gone. Bill is now just an ordinary Livingston supporter, He pay’s for his season ticket, and shouts just as loud as me, but the only difference between Bill and the rest of the Livi supporters is that he created Livingston FC and no one can take that away from him. Thanks.
Dov
Livingston FC Fanzine
www.livifanzine.com