Not liked. Not wanted. Not Bothered. You don’t have to look far to find criticism of Livingston, a club many people seem to see as the unacceptable face of Scottish football.

But the above message came from the club’s own X account, just seconds after David Martindale’s side had put Ross County to the sword in Dingwall in May to regain their top-flight place at the first time of asking.

Anyone expecting the Lions to fulfil their role as the panto villains of the Scottish Premiership this season may yet be disappointed.

The old tired surface is no more, with a new, elite level artificial pitch installed for the coming season. If manager David Martindale can be taken on his word, his team will come to top table after a 12 month absence ready to entertain, not frustrate.

Rejuvenated by the enthusiasm and financial backing of new owner Calvin Ford, Martindale insisted the days of his team scratching, snarling and biting their way to safety are over.

David Martindale will lead his Livingston side out at Kilmarnock in the season opener

Livingston will look to hit the ground running after earning promotion via the play-offs

The much-criticised playing surface at Almondvale has been replaced by an upgraded version

Speaking in the aftermath of their play-off final win, he said: ‘I think we’ve got a genuine opportunity to go and compete. I’m not talking about competing for the top four, I’m saying survival can’t be our goal.

‘As a club we now have good owners behind us, there’s a good skill-set in the building, and I’m hoping it’s going to give us a wee bit of a better platform, so we’re not approaching playing in the Premiership, and looking on it as survival — we want to compete.’

Anyone watching Livi’s progress through the play-offs will have noted the quality of their football under Martindale these days. 

Swashbuckling may be an exaggeration but the fare on offer is certainly a vast improvement on that offered by the 2023-24 version who departed the top-flight in inglorious fashion, winning just five games on their inevitable trudge towards the trap door.

This may be the last season we see plastic pitches at Premiership level after the top 12 voted to ban them from season 2026-27. But, as Martindale himself has argued, that particular debate is more nuanced than it first appears.

How can Livi’s new pitch, and the version at Falkirk, be acceptable for European participation but not for the Scottish Premiership?

Meanwhile, top flight games were played last season in Dingwall, Perth and Paisley on dreadful pitches more suited to Sunday league football.

Kilmarnock plan to replace their pitch at the end of this season but if Falkirk and are Livi retain their place in the top flight, there may be an awkward stand-off with the authorities.

Robbie Muirhead was a key source of goals last season but can he replicate that in top flight?

Mo Sylla has arrived from Dundee and will be a key figure in the Lions’ midfield this term

Martindale noted: ‘I’ll be interested in the narrative going forward this season. I think Falkirk’s is a really good surface and I enjoyed playing there last season. We’ve now got the newer version of their surface.

‘It would be good to get feedback also, to see how they find playing on it. In my experience in the Premiership, during a three-month spell in the season, some of the parks are not great to play on, and I found that to be the case even more so in the Championship.

‘So if you asked me if I would rather play on Falkirk’s surface over some of the surfaces we have played in over the years then I would take their surface all day long.

‘Hopefully, the bigger teams coming along to Livingston or Falkirk this season aren’t going to gripe too much about the surface.’

Back on the pitch, Livi’s summer transfer business has been steady but not spectacular, Martindale backing himself to bring the best out of players who have slipped out of the spotlight or toiled elsewhere.

Perhaps the most eye-catching of their summer influx is French midfielder Mo Sylla, who signed up after leaving Dundee.

Handing a three-year deal to a player who will be 32 in December is bold but sometimes newly-promoted clubs have to push the boat out to convince Premiership standard players to commit.

There are suggestions, both from his Dundee spell and his previous club Hartlepool, that the giant midfielder can be a difficult player to manage but in his pomp at Dens Park he was a force of nature.

Stevie May is back in the Premiership and will offer experience at the top end of the pitch

Martindale has earned a mean reputation as a master motivator and he is excited to go again

Sylla is a handy player to have when you are trying to suffocate better opposition in midfield and, while being tidy in possession, is also the perfect man to have when the game degenerates into head tennis.

Zak Rudden, signed from Championship Queen’s Park, has struggled to show his ability at top-flight level in spells at Dundee and St Johnstone but has energy, athleticism and an eye for goal.

Not many expected to see Stevie May and Graham Carey, aged 32 and 36, plying their trade in the top-flight this coming season after leaving St Johnstone. But Martindale believes both still have something to offer. Perhaps Carey’s magnificent winning goal for Saints in last season’s Scottish Cup quarter-final at Livi — a howitzer of a shot from 30 yards — was fresh in the Livi manager’s memory.

Carey may not have the legs to play 90 minutes these days but the former Plymouth and St Mirren playmaker’s set-piece mastery will be a useful asset for the Lions.

Despite interest from Latvian champions RFS, Livi have managed to hold onto their star goalkeeper Jerome Prior, the standout No1 in the Championship last season.

Winger Lewis Smith, at 25, now looks to be fulfilling the early promise he showed at Hamilton and will be seeking to showcase his ability to a Premiership audience.

And can striker Robbie Muirhead, once one of the bright young things of the Scottish game, complete his redemption arc and repeat his Championship scoring form at a higher level?

The former Hearts, Dundee United and Kilmarnock forward scored 19 times last season and has fully earned another crack at the top-flight after impressive spells at Morton and then Livi.

To succeed and prosper in the Premiership Livi will have to be better than the sum of their parts. Luckily for the Lions, that kind of alchemy is Martindale’s speciality.