BOUNCE SLACK ABILITY
No new gaffer factor for Jim
Humbled by a gutsy, organised and tenacious Livi side at four dreadfully defended set- pieces, this was a pin-sharp snapshot of everything that’s been wrong with the Dark Blues all season.
Afterwards McIntyre admitted that confidence is clearly an issue for a dismal Dundee side who folded in a second half when they never looked like mustering the grit to battle back from the 2- 0 deficit at the break.
Instead their new manager’s first game in charge descended into an embarrassing defeat that killed any notion of benefiting from the bounce-effect that so often comes when a new man takes over.
On this evidence goodness knows what table-topping Hearts will do to them when they travel to Dens Park on Tuesday night with McIntyre afforded such little time to work with a defence that froze at almost every dead ball situation that came their way.
McIntyre said: “In a nutshell we d id n’ t defend set- plays. We told them we could not give away silly freekicks because it’s one of Livingston’s major strengths.
“But equally, you need to stand up and be counted when it comes to m a n - t o - ma n defending and we didn’t do that.
“Obviously when you take a job and the team are bottom of the league, you’ve got a lot of work to do. But equally, we’ve not helped ourselves with the goals we’ve conceded.
“When you’re on a run like we’ve been the confidence drains very quickly. It’s about trying to get through that. We didn’t create enough and when you lose that third goal it drains confidence.”
Amid all the focus on Dundee’s change of manager it had been largely overlooked in the build up that Kenny Miller was returning to Livi for the first time since being sacked as manager.
The striker came within a whisker of putting Dundee ahead in just 11 minutes. Cutting inside on to his r ight foot , the veteran unleashed a curling effort that flashed just wide of the top corner.
What a way that would have been to send a message to hi s former paymasters, who ended his first foray into management after just seven games because he refused to hang up his boots and focus only on his dug-out duties.
But soon the message was clear from the home support, taunting “let’s all laugh at Kenny” after Livi hit their first goal in 18 minutes. A looping free-kick from the left f lank found Declan Gallagher out - j umping Ryan Inniss at the back post to power home a header.
Livi then struck again on 43 minutes in eer i ly similar c i rcums t anc e s . A nother Keaghan Jacobs free- kick, another Livi star – Craig Halkett – afforded too much space in the box to glance in a neat header.
By the 76th minute it was all over. Lawless whipped in a free-kick. Alan Lithgow got there f irst , missed his connection but he had done enough to put off the Dark Blues defence who could only watch in despair as Lawless’ delivery curled into the net.
Lithgow got in on the act with a minute left as again the Dees defence stood and watched Steven Lawson’s corner reach the back- post unchecked. Another soft goal – but another well deserved win for a united Livi who represent everything Dundee are not.
McIntyre has much work to do.