By just about every available measure, there is little to separate Livingston and St Johnstone, who will contest the last of this season’s Scottish Cup quarter-finals in West Lothian tomorrow night.
While St Johnstone can claim to be the Premiership club, they have only a fragile hold on that status and might very well swap places with Championship Livingston in the summer.
On the SPFL ladder, there are only three places between Simo Valakari’s bottom-placed side and David Martindale’s promotion hopefuls, who are unbeaten in 11 outings.
Livingston have a season-long winning habit that has established them in the top three, six points behind leaders Falkirk. Relegated only last summer, they also have a strong core of experienced players.
More significant still is their streetwise manager who would be operating at a higher level had he not remained loyal to Livingston, the club that helped him turn his life around.
Add to that the artificial pitch, as well as Livingston’s history of unsettling higher- ranked opponents, and you can see why some bookmakers have the Championship side as favourites.
Livingston manager David Martindale says the Premiership should be expanded to 16 clubs
St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari will welcome a break from his team’s relegation battle
Livingston defender Ryan McGowan will be up against his former club in the Scottish Cup
Asked if there was much between the teams, Martindale said: ‘I don’t think so. The longer you are out of the [Premiership], potentially the gap gets that little bit bigger, but we are just out of it. If you go round that dressing room, there’s a lot of boys who played [Premiership] football last season. I don’t think there’s anything in it.’
All of which makes for an intriguing cup tie, a welcome distraction for two teams whose league campaigns are about to get very stressful. The winners will join Hearts, Aberdeen and Celtic in the semi-final draw.
What it doesn’t do is make an argument for reconstruction, as many suggest at times like these.
Martindale was at it the other day, repeating his view that the Premiership should be expanded to a minimum of 16 teams. He believes it would reward ambitious clubs such as his, introduce more variety to the top flight and create more space at that level to develop young players.
It’s an attractive proposition, albeit one that slightly misses the point. However comparable they are on the pitch, would more Championship sides in the top flight produce a net gain once you have taken into account crowds, facilities and marketing potential?
Adding Falkirk, Ayr United, Livingston and Partick Thistle is all very well, but you need at least another two clubs the following season. Three years ago, the Championship’s top four finishers included Arbroath, who are now in League One, and Inverness, who went into administration.
Then there are the logistics. Fewer matches against the same old teams at the same old grounds would be a welcome development but, like it or not, chairmen want at least two visits from Celtic or Rangers every season. The TV companies want four Old Firm games.
And what about our praise for a competitive Premiership this season, a competition so tight that some clubs don’t know whether they are trying to avoid relegation or secure a place in Europe? You can’t congratulate the top flight for its drama and tension and then argue that there needs to be less pressure.
There is no easy answer, except to point out that the Scottish Cup, gloriously simple in its concept and execution, has no such issues.
Martindale said he used to be sick of the sight of St Johnstone, with whom he and his players would lock horns four times a season, often in a grim, poorly attended battle for survival.
But here we are, looking forward to the reunion of two clubs now playing in different divisions. Suddenly, there is a lot to like about a clash that might have been deemed a turn-off 12 months ago.
St Johnstone have a different manager, new players and a tactical approach that is unrecognisable from that of previous Perth teams. Ryan McGowan, one of many who departed McDiarmid Park, is in the heart of Livingston’s defence.
The tie will be played to a finish, with extra time and penalties if necessary. And it will be the only quarter-final with no VAR, both clubs having opted, as is their right in the Scottish Cup, to do without the technology that would have cost £16,000 between them.
As the two sides eye up a semi-final at Hampden, it begs the question: who needs a bigger top flight when the Scottish Cup brings together well-matched teams from across the SPFL and raises their encounters to another, more exciting level? Isn’t that what it’s there for?
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