The concerned pundit reckons there is one way that David Martindale’s struggling side can unlock the champions.
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Stuart Lovell has witnessed a number of teams fail when faced with the pressure of 60,000 spectators in the Parkhead stands.
However, the Livingston legend believes his former team can cause a major upset in the Scottish Cup if the Celtic players begin to feel pressured. Lovell knows the Lions have a difficult schedule ahead of them. There is an air of uncertainty as David Martindale’s team is heading towards the Championship, can hardly afford to win, and are beset by internal political and financial issues.
In addition, Livi have never triumphed at Celtic Park, and despite their difficulties this season, the Hoops managed to defeat Dundee 7-1 on their home field the previous time they played. Lovell sees a glimmer of hope for the Lions this Sunday, though. This season, Parkhead hasn’t exactly been a stronghold. Before Christmas, Hearts won all three points and departed the East End, held by Motherwell and St Johnstone.
For months, there have been loud complaints from the terraces, including boos and jeers following the Saints’ draw, open animosity following Hearts, and even jeers during a 1-0 victory against Ross County from disgruntled fans who weren’t happy with the team’s performance.
Following the league defeat at Tynecastle last weekend, there will be a great desire to defeat Livingston quickly in order to stay in the running for trophies. Furthermore, Lovell believes that the increased pressure on the Celts may present Martindale with an opportunity to enter.
This term hasn’t been good for Parkhead, and Livi League Cup winner Lovell stated, “I would agree.” Being a manager, you must attempt to consider what can annoy them, and this is Celtic’s own territory.
“They have a big advantage because the audience is supporting them. How, therefore, can you turn it around and say, “The crowd won’t be happy if it’s still 0-0 after 20 minutes”? They anticipate to see Celtic destroy Livi and are prepared to witness a deluge of goals.
The advantage for Celtic with the home crowd behind them naturally turns into a disadvantage if Livi are able to set themselves up and make themselves difficult to break down and reach the 20–25 minute mark and try and collect their breath – which is always the difficult part. You can then use that to play.
Naturally, there is an other side. The bettors will unwind and the afternoon may grow lengthy if Celtic gets off to a fast start. Livi has only secured three draws in the previous five years at Parkhead, so they will have to persevere if they are to win there for the first time.
Lovell stated: “You have to always be prepared for a quick start when playing in Glasgow. After over twenty years, Celtic seems to be the team that emerges from the traps the quickest. Every manager will tell you the same old cliché: try to calm the crowd down, although it may take some time.
The audience may be ecstatic for a while. It always boils down to this: if there are 60,000 people present and Celtic starts out quickly, it will engage the audience and soon cause problems. Sometimes it feels like a tsunami when you’re up against a formidable Celtic team.
“They just crushed Dundee, and I believe Celtic can outscore anyone when they play at their peak. Livi needs to figure out a strategy to counteract their threat and attempt to provide something of their own moving forward.
Otherwise, if all you’re doing is playing all the football in your own half and trying to hold them at bay, it just becomes a really exhausting afternoon. I believe that striking the correct mix between attack and defense has been Livingston’s biggest challenge this season.
“They are playing at a really difficult point in the season, and nobody in the nation is expecting them to win, so it could be a great diversion for them. This season, people have bloodied the noses of Celtic and Rangers in their own backyards. It’s a unique, different mentality.
“They must draw courage from that. Over the past few weeks, there has been some resiliency demonstrated. You can never assume they’ve given up on them by looking at Livi.
Livi is facing challenges, but is this really new? Over the years, the Almondvale team has been one of Scotland’s greatest underdogs, overcoming both financial and physical obstacles to finish in the first division for six seasons. Even their greatest achievement, winning the League Cup in 2004, came despite all odds.
Livi may believe things are difficult now, but when Lovell and company won the trophy against a Hibs team that included stars like Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, Garry O’Connor, Derek Riordan, and Gary Caldwell, the team was under administration.
“I have amazing memories,” Lovell remarked. You get that feeling when you walk outside, and I haven’t been back to Hampden all that much. Since Livi is a small club, these events don’t occur frequently.
“We had a very skilled collection of guys and a very strong unit. Just a few weeks prior, the club had gone into administration, which made for an extremely unpleasant experience for us. The worst of it had passed a day or two prior to our semi-final match at Easter Road versus Dundee.
“That was the time of all the cuts, and working in that environment was pretty brutal. However, we made it through the semifinals, and at that point, you were only working.
“I was really confident going into that game because I thought our team had a lot of real-world experience.” Twenty years ago, it was a fantastic time for the club. It seems like yesterday even now.
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