Livi to take on Celtic in pre season friendly

Jun 26 2008 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

SPL champions Celtic could be coming to Almondvale this summer after Davie Hay revealed plans for an exciting pre-season schedule for Livingston.

The former Lions boss has returned to the club in a consultancy role to new manager Roberto Landi and he hopes to help Livi return to former glories.

A friendly against English Championship side Coventry has already been confirmed for Tuesday, July 29, but three more big-name sides have been lined up.

Celtic, an Italian side — believed to be Bologna — and Romanian’s Unirea Urziceni — who are bossed by former Chelsea star Dan Petrescu — have all been contacted with a view to a clash.

At the moment first-team players are few and far between at Almondvale but Hay has insisted the transfer embargo will be lifted and the new owners have earmarked a lengthy list of players.

“SFL have been paid so we are waiting for the formality of the embargo being lifted now,” said Hay.

“Once that’s done and we see players coming in, that will lift the fans.

“We need a squad of 25 players but at the moment we only have four or five. Pre-season starts on July 1 so we need to recruit.

“There are a list of players targeted already and they will be a mix of Scottish and foreign players.

There won’t be a mass influx of Italian players because I think in this Division you need a particular kind of British player to play in the league.

“One option could be loan players and we will be contacting clubs from the SPL, including the Old Firm, to see if there is anything we can do.”

Hay is a Lions legend having steered them to CIS Cup glory in 2004 and he is thrilled to be back at a club he holds close to his heart.

He continued: “One of the most pleasing days in my football career, particularly management, was when we lifted the CIS Cup in 2004.

“I had a lot of happy times here at Livingston and, hopefully, with a lot of hard work, we can recapture some of that.

“The link to Livingston was there with Tomasso being my son-in-law while Angelo had been to Livingston games in the past.

“Six months ago we spoke about investing in Scottish football. I mentioned Livingston right away and through time we spoke to Pearse Flynn.

“My involvement in the club will be more in the background, consulting on all aspects and helping the new manager when he comes at the end of the month.

“I won’t interfere. I will try and help as best I can but results will be down to him. Together we’ll bring in some new players to get us up and running in time for the new season.

“I was asked if I’d be interested in coaching or managing the team but I don’t want to end up being sacked by my own son-in-law.

“At this time I’m best suited in the role I’m in. Plan is to get back to the SPL within two years. We will be consolidating this season but that’ll be difficult as each team is capable of beating any other in this league.

“Our first target now is stability in the First Division and then build on that.

“When we come around to next season Tomasso and Angelo will have more time to prepare for the new season. It would have been better to have taken over the club in January but it wasn’t possible.

“Together we want to bring success and pride back to Livingston.”

The new owners have already signalled their intent by snubbing an offer for skipper James McPake from an SPL club, believed to be St Mirren, while they also offered the out of contract Robert Snodgrass a three-year deal.

But it appears very unlikely that the Scotland under-21 cap will still be at the club when Landi officially checks in on July 1.

Director Tomasso Angelini said: “The timing of ourselves coming and the previous owners leaving wasn’t great in terms of trying to retain the players we wanted.

“We offered Snodgrass a very good deal but he had already decided he wanted a new challenge. Unfortunately the offer of a three-year deal wasn’t taken by Robert and we wish him all the best for the future.

“But we have a number of players we are ready to present when the ban is lifted.”

Landi will be joined in West Lothian by assistant Valter Bernini and fitness coach Nazareo Salvatori who has worked with Italian legend Roberto Baggio.

Meanwhile, promising midfielder Murray Davidson has put pen to paper on a new two-year deal and will be part of Landi’s squad next season.