David Martindale on why he owes Chris Sutton and the SPFL apologies

The National

2 days ago

Who will come out on top when Heart host Aberdeen at Tynecastle in the William Hill Premiership at Tynecastle on Monday night? Who will prevail when Dundee face Hibernian at Dens Park on Sunday? It is impossible to say what will happen at the start of a new season.
David Martindale, though, is absolutely certain about one thing ahead of Livingston's first league encounter of the 2025/26 campaign against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday afternoon.
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'We're going to be the last on Sportscene,' he said at the Set Fare Arena yesterday during a break from the promoted West Lothian club's preparations for the challenging trip through to Ayrshire. 'You'll generally get a two or three minute clip of us.'
Martindale accepts that the size of his side's fanbase – they had an average attendance of just 3,582 the last time they were in the top flight - means that bigger clubs are always going to receive more air time on BBC Scotland's football highlights programme.
However, he also believes that misconceptions about their style of play have been partially responsible for them being cast in a supporting role to their larger and better-supporter domestic rivals in the past. He is keen to change that this term and confident his men can surprise a few people in the coming 10 months.
'I think there was a lazy narrative with us previously - big, strong, physical Livingston,' he said. 'It was lazy when you take into consideration how well we had played and what we had done.
(Image: Ross Parker - SNS Group) 'Yes, we were probably, during our the last year in the Premiership, a wee bit more 10 bodies behind the ball, play a wee bit more direct, hit the space in behind. But we play a different shape to what we played in the last couple of years in the Premiership.
'I don't want to waste a year's coaching. We actually want teams to come and press us now. So we want teams to come and give us that space in behind.
'The ideals have changed slightly, but you've still got to find a way to win that game of football. I'll be doing that every Saturday, but sticking to the basic fundamentals that we played last year, and the basic fundamentals that we coached last year. I think it's essential that we don't deviate from that too far.
'Are we better for the experience of promotion? I think we are. I think you'll still see a lot of traits of what you've seen at Livingston previously. But hopefully you're going to see attacking football.'
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Martindale stressed that he will have no qualms about [[Livingston]] throwing caution to the wind and taking the game to Celtic at Parkhead or Hibernian at Easter Road in the season ahead if he feels it will increase their prospects of recording a result.
'Believe it or not, I've never been short of confidence,' he said. 'In football, I've never felt unconfident. I've always felt confident in any environment I've been in as a coach or as a player. You can put me on the Broxburn Juniors park or put me at Ibrox, it doesn't really faze me either way.'
Martindale, who has brought in no fewer than nine new players during the close season and who added Congolese international striker Jeremy Bokila to his squad this weekend, has never been shy when it comes to defending Livingston. He has hit back at criticism of both their style of play and their artificial pitch in the past.
But the laying of a new surface at Almondvale earlier this month has forced him to re-evaluate his previous comments – and he extended an olive branch to both outspoken Sky Sports pundit Chris Sutton and the SPFL as he looked ahead to the Kilmarnock encounter on Saturday.
(Image: SNS Group) 'I'll be honest, I probably owe certain parts of the media an apology for the last two years,' he said. 'I'll explain why. Because I was at the club when our pitch got put down, I have probably not seen the deterioration in the park.
'I probably had a wee bit of a go at the SPFL at the tail end of last year by saying, 'I cannae believe they're telling us we're not getting any Premiership at that park'. Now that we've got a new surface because of the restrictions imposed on us and forced on us, I actually need to apologise because I was wrong.
'Did I still think the park we had last year was better than some grass parks I've played on? One hundred per cent. Some grass parks last year were diabolical, dismal. But can I see the journalists and media gripes about it previously? Yeah.
'I'm hoping that the bigger teams which come here are going to see an improvement in the surface. They're going to find an adequate surface. There's a bit more speed on the park. It probably changes how we are going to play.
'I genuinely believed our surface was okay in the last couple of years. Looking back now, I think I was wrong with that assertion. I think I owe the SPFL an apology, Neil [chief executive Doncaster) and Calum [director of football operations Beattie] probably.
'I owe certain media pundits a wee bit of apology. I think Chris Sutton had a wee bit of a go about the park and I maybe had a go back at him. Do you know what? I agree with him now.'