Late collapse leaves Livingston heading for more challenging rebuild than should have been needed

It’s difficult to accurately assess Livingston’s season.

On the one hand, comfortably avoiding relegation and sealing an unprecedented sixth successive top flight campaign whilst having the lowest budget in the division can be seen as a resounding success.

On the other, though, they were sitting pretty in fourth place at the start of February and had everyone expecting a top six finish and dreaming of a first European jaunt in two decades before a late, spectacular collapse.

Seven points from their last nine pre-split games ensured it was disappointment once again. Simply being bang average would have taken them over the line - and they weren't even that good. They didn’t particularly fare better in their post-split campaign either, having to settle for eighth place.

Add in a staggering 3-0 home loss to Inverness in the last-16 of the Scottish Cup and it’s fair to say the team failed to reach their potential. That loss, and their late league form, also cost the club a pretty penny.

While Inverness are preparing for a Scottish Cup final, Livingston are preparing for a greater, more challenging rebuild than should ever have been needed. Given they missed out on not only the top six but potentially a first-ever Scottish Cup final and perhaps even a European campaign, it’s not an exaggeration to say they may have missed out on £1 million.

Now, does that ensure key departures such as Nicky Devlin and Jack Fitzwater - or the expected sale of Joel Nouble - don’t happen? Probably not. But it certainly would have made the task of replacing them significantly easier and wouldn’t have resulted in a £200,000 cut to the playing budget.

The club have already announced the signing of centre-back Mikey Devlin as gaffer David Martindale