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When Alan Stubbs Contract is done and moves on, would Martindale be a good choice ?

No doubt about it, his Livy team were impressive the last two seasons and were outstanding yesterday.

I would give him a chance.

From The Times ( should be COPYRIGHT - ISABELLA DUKE ) :)

The club where assistant is king

michael grant, scottish football correspondent

 

It’s usually difficult to care about much that a caretaker manager has to say. With all due respect to them they are harmless stop-gaps, guys on whom the normal rules of analysis and criticism are suspended because everyone knows that they are unaccountable and won’t be holding the baby for long. But not always.

Before St Mirren v Livingston this weekend the fella expected to pipe up with updates on the away team’s groin strains, or the lads’ mood in the dressing room, is one of the most intriguing figures in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Livingston assistant manager David Martindale’s background is well enough known to anyone familiar with this endlessly eventful, troubled, often chaotic little club. In a previous life, in 2006, Martindale was sentenced to six and a half years in jail after being caught in an undercover police operation that smashed a major cocaine gang. Long after his release, in 2015, when it emerged that he had joined the Livingston youth development structure, there was public criticism of the sort of message the club was sending out by having him anywhere near the place.

Martindale doesn’t need to talk about any of that. He did his time and served his sentence, and if rehabilitation is to have any value in society then he is entitled to his second chance. Clearly he cares enough about football to have made the enormous commitment it takes to secure the necessary badges and reach any sort of senior level in coaching.

Whispers and sneers about his past are inescapable, some in the game will always view him as the shadowy guy who was a drug dealer’s right-hand man, but it’s his present that really matters now. And when it comes to Livingston there are different whispers about that too.

In the aftermath of Kenny Miller’s absurd departure as player-manager last Sunday night, nobody comes out of this farcical episode looking good — a view crystallised by Martindale being unwilling to cede control to Miller and that after a promising start relations between the pair soon broke down.

Only a couple of weeks ago, Miller sang his praises on radio. “David Martindale has been there for a few years now and he does a lot of stuff behind the scenes that he probably doesn’t have to do or want to do, but it takes a lot of pressure off me.” The words were barely out of his mouth before he was a goner.

Martindale was David Hopkin’s assistant. Hopkin has gone and Martindale is still there. Martindale was Miller’s assistant. Miller has gone and Marindale is still there. John Hughes, the former Livingston manager, said on Monday: “All credit to the boy Martindale, if he is putting his money in then it’s his club. I think there has been a bit of friction and it’s come to a head.”

Those remarks alluded to a common understanding that Martindale carries far, far more weight and influence at Livingston than the position of assistant manager would suggest. Livingston seem to be a club where the assistant can be more powerful than the manager.

Even a cursory look at the last two seasons confirms that whatever the extent of Martindale’s contribution, if the chemistry is right it can be spectacularly successful.
Back-to-back promotions when Hopkin held the title of manager rushed Livingston into the Premiership when there is every reason to believe that they weren’t expecting or ready for it. But if the chemistry isn’t right, or it quickly implodes, then Miller won’t be the only “boss” who flits in and out of the place in a matter of weeks.

Miller left a club where assistant coach Martindale, right, has influence
Miller left a club where assistant coach Martindale, right, has influenceSNS

Miller is streetwise and well connected but this episode trivialises his coaching CV. It is a job he should never have touched. Livingston hardly made a secret of the fact that he would have to work with the backroom staff he inherited but it soured only seven games in, when results and performances had been generally fine, and predictably Livingston tied themselves in knots when it came to explaining themselves.

The statement claiming that “the club felt the player/manager role wasn’t working and had requested Kenny reverted to a full-time manager’s role” was shot through with holes and was soon contradicted by director John Ward saying that no, they hadn’t said Miller should stop playing, just that the balance wasn’t right.

Who did they think would buy an explanation that they wanted Miller as a player/manager in June but binned him for being a player/manager in August?

The calamitous public relations will blow over but the fundamental issues remain: Ward has said Martindale was offered the manager’s job on the day that Hopkin resigned but turned it down. If Hughes is right and it effectively is “his club”, or if he wants to call the shots on signings, selections and tactics without the profile or scrutiny of actually being the manager, then Livingston can have stability only if they are honest and transparent in this recruitment process.

If those are the conditions, they need to let the next guy know from day one that in essence he will be a figurehead and coach more than a boss. Otherwise they will plough through “managers” like Romanov’s Hearts.

Maybe Hopkin was just a good lower-league fit. Or maybe Martindale has plenty to offer and will find the right blend with someone else in what becomes a third successful season in a row. But none of this looks good.

Livingston are on a manager hunt when many believe he’s already there

Edited by shull
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2 minutes ago, Seaside Nipper said:

Martindale = low life scumbag.
Shouldn’t be in football at any level far less reading that some miscreant Saints fan jests we should give him a chance.
emoji854.png

Who is jesting ? 

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43 minutes ago, cambiebud said:

Get this thread closed. That criminal should not be near any football club

Should a Thread about Paul McGowan be allowed ? 

Did you applaud him at St Mirren Park, a few weeks ago ? 

 

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  • 2 years later...
  • 1 month later...

I guess this story may not have been fully played out yet, time will tell.  The current evidence suggests that he is a reformed character and if there is nothing to suggest the opposite then fine.  It's a good story.

Suggestions have been made that he is a significant investor in Livingston, he may have had substantial cash reserves to fall back on when he finished his jail term or he may have amassed large sums since his release through honest endeavor or has borrowings.

 

Either way, if there is still a question mark over his character then these things have a habit of coming out over the fullness of time.

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46 minutes ago, munoz said:

I'd suggest putting this thread in other football. 

As for him, he's done his time and deserves a second chance.

A quote from somebody born with a silver spoon shoved up their arse, you ever seen what drug deaths do to families or is ur head so far up your own arse? If he had sold drugs to one of your kids what would you be saying then!

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20 minutes ago, God of war said:

A quote from somebody born with a silver spoon shoved up their arse, you ever seen what drug deaths do to families or is ur head so far up your own arse? If he had sold drugs to one of your kids what would you be saying then!

So people that get caught up in it when they're younger should always be held to their mistakes, never given chances to grow, develop or progress their working life? You realise without rehabilitation and stifling opportunities, the chances of former criminals falling back into such patterns would likely increase significantly?

Can't speak for Munoz but if you asked me the same question about children or any member of my family the answer would be "the same". There are examples where people deserve second chances, this is one of them. 

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51 minutes ago, bazil85 said:

So people that get caught up in it when they're younger should always be held to their mistakes, never given chances to grow, develop or progress their working life? You realise without rehabilitation and stifling opportunities, the chances of former criminals falling back into such patterns would likely increase significantly?

 

Then don't release them.

Millions of others manage to live very decent lives without resorting to crime. What's so special about Martindale that he deserves a second chance when perhaps his victims didn't get the same luxury?

It's a very curious thing that we continue to fetishise criminals without a word for the victims other than perhaps the occasional cursory virtue-signalling platitude. Why is that?

Edited by oaksoft
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20 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

Then don't release them.

Millions of others manage to live very decent lives without resorting to crime. What's so special about Martindale that he deserves a second chance when perhaps his victims didn't get the same luxury?

It's a very curious thing that we continue to fetishise criminals without a word for the victims other than perhaps the occasional cursory virtue-signalling platitude. Why is that?

idealistic world view that it's so easy for everyone, coupled with a ridiculously brutal one that we should have life imprisonment for a massive array of additional crimes and rehabilitation shouldn't be allowed. There is a demand for drugs and other aspects of criminality, as long as that exists there will be people filling that demand, maybe people that didn't have some of your privileges/ opportunities? . 

No one is saying the victims don't matter in this situation or they should be forgotten about. The point is rehabilitating a man back into society and a role he's seemingly very good at. Is your view Martindale shouldn't be allowed to work a day in his life or he just shouldn't be allowed certain jobs?  

For someone that brags about being so smart, you are very ignorant. 

17 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

Spoken like someone without kids.

Irrelevant, I can guarantee there will be fathers that share this view and when (if) I do have kids it will not change. 

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