PREDICTED LEAGUE POSITION: Twelfth
LAST SEASON: Promoted via playoffs
NOTABLE INS: Cameron Blues (Falkirk), Callum Crane (Hibernian), Liam Kelly (Rangers), Ricki Lamie (Greenock Morton), Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle), Kenny Miller (Rangers, player-manager), Steven Saunders (The New Saints), Craig Sibbald (Falkirk), Ross Stewart (St. Mirren), James Brown (Millwall, loan), Ryan Hardie (Rangers, loan), Egli Kaja (Milton Keynes Dons, loan)
NOTABLE OUTS: Gregor Buchanan (Greenock Morton), Jackson Longridge (Dunfermline Athletic), Dylan Mackin (Falkirk), Josh Mullin (Ross County), Steven Boyd (Hamilton Academical, end of loan), Adam Frizzell (Kilmarnock, end of loan), Jordan Thompson (Rangers, end of loan), Neil Alexander (retired)
LAST SEASON'S BEST XI (Departed players crossed out):
This writer has always found rooting for Livingston to be rather difficult.
Historically it was due to a close rivalry with Caley Thistle as the two sides raced up the divisions, and the resentment that Livingston tended to be a step ahead.
More recently there has been the distaste left by their administrations in 2004 and 2009, the latter of which resulted in demotion to the fourth tier; the use of a loophole to bring in 'amateur' signings to help avoid relegation in 2005; a points deduction in 2014 for tax breaches; and, currently, the employment of one player who served a jail sentence for fracturing someone's skull with a baseball bat, another who was previously placed on the sex offenders register, and an assistant manager who spent several years in prison for his part in cocaine dealing. As you do.
And yet it was a joy watching Livingston see off Dundee United and Partick Thistle in last season's promotion playoffs. Having only just come up from League One, David Hopkin's side were expected to aim for consolidation rather than further progress...expected by everyone else, that is. They were grossly underestimated by opponents on a weekly basis, even when it became clear they were heading for second spot in the Championship and even in the aforementioned playoffs.
For Livi showed how far excellent organization, work ethic and stamina can take a team. Difficult to break down - not least thanks to an outstanding centre-back trio - they frustrated opponents whilst in turn wearing them down with seemingly tireless running. It's possible that the only time midfielder Scott Pittman stopped moving all season was when he ended up in the back of the net, with the ball, after scoring a crucial goal against Partick Thistle; of course, he had made a lung-busting burst from deep to get into the box to score.
Hopkin deserves a huge amount of credit; in fact he should have been Scotland's manager of the year and surely would have been were the award not announced before those playoff matches. And yet a week later he chose to let his contract run out and leave. Linked with Morton, St. Mirren, Bradford and Carlisle at various points, he curiously remains unemployed.
Time will tell whether his former club sink or swim without him. It took thirty days to appoint a new manager. In that time assistant boss David Martindale seems to have taken control of transfer policy and the new faces that arrived before Kenny Miller did.
Livi fans will not have fond memories of having a player-manager in the top flight - Paul Lambert managed only two league wins in six months in the role in 2005/06. Kenny Miller can hardly do worse, though given that he is now well into his thirty-ninth year and last season there was finally evidence of the inevitable decline in his performances on the pitch, any positive impact surely has to come from the dugout.
In the short-term, he could do worse than rely on his predecessor's strategy. It helps that the triumvirate of Craig Halkett, Declan Gallagher and Alan Lithgow remain - Halkett was outstanding last season and will surely have had offers from bigger clubs. Pittman, the closest thing Scottish football has to a Duracell Bunny, remains also. Out of those who have left only Josh Mullin and the retired Neil Alexander were regulars last season.
But it's reasonable to expect that guts and grit won't be enough on their own for the step up. Opponents at this level will be better and fitter. And relying on team spirit is easy when the results are coming, but less so when you're not winning most weeks.
And the club themselves have made it clear that, whilst their playing budget will treble this season they are not going to break the bank to increase their slim chances of survival. Miller will have to do what he can with what he has inherited, augmented by the signings made before he arrived plus whatever he can find himself.
For a start he needs to improve on his striking options unless he really is betting big on himself. Getting Ryan Hardie back on loan from Rangers for a third time is a huge boost and it will be intriguing to see how effective he is in the top flight, but until he recovers from a foot injury the manager only really has himself and namesake Lee as options - with a combined age of 73 between the duo. The latter will win a lot of headers and put himself about it but is only really useful as a late sub.
The midfield will not be short of sweat with the aforementioned Pittman and Keaghan Jacobs, but quality? Raffaele Da Vita is out injured long-term, so they desperately need Craig Sibbald to finally step up and fulfil the awesome potential he showed at Falkirk as a teenager. They have also brought in widemen Egli Kaja (on loan) and Steven Lawless. If they can create the chances and Hardie can put them in, they have hope.
That is, of course, as long as the defence continue to combine well and new keeper Liam Kelly can fill Neil Alexander's gloves. Kelly has lots of caps at age levels for Scotland, but he also has no league experience above League One. It's a big opportunity for him and a big risk for Livi.
Ultimately the plan is clear. Staying up would be fantastic but it isn't worth putting the club at risk; better to think of the future and make sure that in the event of relegation they are strong enough to bounce straight back up again and have a better shot at survival next time.
And that's just as well because they are relegation favourites and surely the weakest side to come up since Dundee were belatedly promoted in 2012 without getting any time to prepare.
But fans can look to Hamilton Accies for hope - a club who keep staying up against the odds, who also have a plastic pitch (Livi installed one this summer) and who, on paper, also look pretty weak this season. Accies have proved everyone wrong for years. Can Livi follow their lead?
THE SQUAD (players born after 1 January 1997 in italics)
Goalkeepers: Liam Kelly, Gary Maley, Ross Stewart
Defenders: James Brown, Callum Crane, Declan Gallagher, Craig Halkett, Ricki Lamie, Alan Lithgow, Jack McMillan, Steven Saunders
Midfielders: Cameron Blues, Shaun Byrne, Nicky Cadden, Raffaele De Vita, Keaghan Jacobs, Egli Kaja, Steven Lawless, Jack Ogilvie, Scott Pittman, Scott Robinson, Craig Sibbald
Forwards: Jack Hamilton, Ryan Hardie, Matthew Knox, Kenny Miller, Lee Miller, Kyle Sampson
THE BEST XI?
Lawrie Spence (LS) has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.
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