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Livingston - all the threads merged


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13 minutes ago, EdinburghLivi said:

Think he's already agreed a contract with Hearts for the summer. We would have to agree a fee with Walsall now and offer him a big deal which won't happen.

Also, we have a million strikers.

From the sounds of it, it was called off and they've went with Gnanduillet instead I thought? He's out of contract in the summer so could sign a pre contract which he may have done with Hearts as you say but idk. 

We do have a lot of strikers but depends on quality as I can't see SKA making the grade, Poplatnik has disappeared as well

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On 25/01/2021 at 01:04, D.A.F.C said:

Why is Martindale being witch-hunted now? 
He’s served his time and reformed and was clearly the one running the show at Livingston for years. He should be celebrated not ridiculed. 
SFA get everything so wrong. 50,000 people sing about killing each other is fine apparently.

Was there not rumours that he was involved in money laundering with Livi? That seemed to be a popular story at a time when people couldn't get there head around why someone with absolutely no football experience somehow became so influential. 

 

Seems he was also a pretty good football coach though... 

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On 25/01/2021 at 01:04, D.A.F.C said:

Why is Martindale being witch-hunted now? 
He’s served his time and reformed and was clearly the one running the show at Livingston for years. He should be celebrated not ridiculed. 
SFA get everything so wrong. 50,000 people sing about killing each other is fine apparently.

It's clearly appropriate to question whether a man with convictions in relation to organised crime is suitable for a (relatively) high profile job in the game. This was a grown man with very long-standing links to some seriously unpleasant individuals (and no doubt some unpleasant behaviour of his own). He wasn't a daft wee laddie when he did these things.

If he's genuinely rehabilitated then he should be cleared for the post but it should certainly be looked at.

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27 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

Was there not rumours that he was involved in money laundering with Livi? That seemed to be a popular story at a time when people couldn't get there head around why someone with absolutely no football experience somehow became so influential. 

 

Seems he was also a pretty good football coach though... 

I see you also dip into the Falkirk thread occasionally. I think those rumours originated entirely from Duncan Freemason's wild and obsessive imagination.

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1 hour ago, Grant228 said:

Was there not rumours that he was involved in money laundering with Livi? That seemed to be a popular story at a time when people couldn't get there head around why someone with absolutely no football experience somehow became so influential. 

 

Seems he was also a pretty good football coach though... 

Yeah you're right. The reason we've been so comfortable in the Premiership and we're undefeated in 11 is entirely because Livi are clearly splashing piles and piles of cash and are just outspending the league with their ill-gotten gains.

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1 hour ago, Dunning1874 said:

I see you also dip into the Falkirk thread occasionally. I think those rumours originated entirely from Duncan Freemason's wild and obsessive imagination.

The aforementioned DF is also all over this thread, albeit in the dim and distant past. I vaguely recall that he did some work for/was owed money by Livi, or something like that.   

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1 hour ago, Dunning1874 said:

I see you also dip into the Falkirk thread occasionally. I think those rumours originated entirely from Duncan Freemason's wild and obsessive imagination.

Yep, something I've only ever actually seen on P&B, usually involving Falkirk fans (and that one weird St Mirren fan always on our threads), not sure it counts as a rumour :lol:

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Someone used to pop in occasionally a while back trying to infer he was somehow Rankin's front man - but that seems as Donald Trumpish in it accuracy as any other.

Ultimately there will always be Some who will say something like "a leopard cant change its spots" or some such. I was sceptical when he first got involved as it didn't seem to fit with the family friendly image but his continued work and dedication has won me over. His story has certainly worked for the team; many of whom already had baggage and some were on the verge of giving it up altogether. Personally I do find it a bit amusing when watching the live feed from our opponents and to hear the predictable "we apologise if you heard any "language" just then; Unfortunately its not something we have any control of". 

I do find some of the press coverage (over-the-top Cinderella spin) to be a bit much. Ultimately he appears to be a good guy; a good father and an exceptional manager. 

Edited by Durnford
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On 25/01/2021 at 01:04, D.A.F.C said:

Why is Martindale being witch-hunted now? 
He’s served his time and reformed and was clearly the one running the show at Livingston for years. He should be celebrated not ridiculed. 
SFA get everything so wrong. 50,000 people sing about killing each other is fine apparently.

It sounds as if the SFA put barriers in the way of him attaining his B licence, so he had to go through the Irish FA.  

Livingston boss David Martindale says 'judge me on who I am now' as he awaits SFA approval - BBC Sport

The good news for Livi fans is that the SFA has set the bar verrrrry low.

Rangers: Dave King passes SFA 'fit and proper' test - BBC Sport

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The SFA's PR man was on Sportsound last night and if I didn't know better, he was almost forecasting what the SFA decision would be. That is, that there is nothing stopping him picking a team and doing the tactics, but that he isn't deemed suitable for being Head of Football Operations. 

Wouldn't surprise me one jot if this is the outcome. 

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Just now, mozam76 said:

The SFA's PR man was on Sportsound last night and if I didn't know better, he was almost forecasting what the SFA decision would be. That is, that there is nothing stopping him picking a team and doing the tactics, but that he isn't deemed suitable for being Head of Football Operations. 

Wouldn't surprise me one jot if this is the outcome. 

Hasn’t he been Head of Football Operations for quite some time though?

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1 minute ago, mozam76 said:

The SFA's PR man was on Sportsound last night and if I didn't know better, he was almost forecasting what the SFA decision would be. That is, that there is nothing stopping him picking a team and doing the tactics, but that he isn't deemed suitable for being Head of Football Operations. 

Wouldn't surprise me one jot if this is the outcome. 

TBH nothing would surprise me about the SFA decision process.

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5 minutes ago, AJF said:

Hasn’t he been Head of Football Operations for quite some time though?

I think so. That certainly seems to be the case anyway.

4 minutes ago, Durnford said:

TBH nothing would surprise me about the SFA decision process.

Nor me. Whatever their decision is today (or whenever it is decided), it should be made clear with no smoke and mirrors, leaving no room for ambiguity at all. 

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4 hours ago, Pull My Strings said:

It's clearly appropriate to question whether a man with convictions in relation to organised crime is suitable for a (relatively) high profile job in the game. This was a grown man with very long-standing links to some seriously unpleasant individuals (and no doubt some unpleasant behaviour of his own). He wasn't a daft wee laddie when he did these things.

If he's genuinely rehabilitated then he should be cleared for the post but it should certainly be looked at.

They allowed a "glib and shameless liar" with > 40 convictions for tax evasion/witness intimidation to lead his "peepul". The only reason he didn't do a long term jail sentence in SA was that their system allows for the long jail time to be commuted if substantial financial recompense is made.  This charlatan got a gig in Scottish football, so the rehabilitated Mr Martindale should be a shoe-in. 

However, one was connected to the club nouveau, who are exempt from all SFA/SPFL rules, and one is with the "wee" team, Livi.  We shouldn't be surprised if the wee team is penalised.   There should be uproar if Mr Martindale is denied his opportunity to continue working at Livi, unless of course there is something in what's been said before about the criminality/money laundering involvement.  Even then, he's a reformed character as far as can be seen.

 

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4 hours ago, Grant228 said:

Was there not rumours that he was involved in money laundering with Livi? That seemed to be a popular story at a time when people couldn't get there head around why someone with absolutely no football experience somehow became so influential. 

 

Seems he was also a pretty good football coach though... 

He had footballing experience too, at junior level, and i'm sure i've heard him talk about being signed for a pro club too, but it didn't work out, may have been an injury i'm a bit foggy on it now, but he rated himself as a decent footballer when he was talking about his past.

 He obv has a flair for organizing things around the club, and the  business side too, maybe his past helped him there, not the drugs, the restaurants etc, though he ran into trouble there and turned to drug dealing to get himself out a financial hole. He does a lot around the club ordering strips, signing players, odd jobs etc.

2 hours ago, Durnford said:

Someone used to pop in occasionally a while back trying to infer he was somehow Rankin's front man - but that seems as Donald Trumpish in it accuracy as any other.

Ultimately there will always be Some who will say something like "a leopard cant change its spots" or some such. I was sceptical when he first got involved as it didn't seem to fit with the family friendly image but his continued work and dedication has won me over. His story has certainly worked for the team; many of whom already had baggage and some were on the verge of giving it up altogether. Personally I do find it a bit amusing when watching the live feed from our opponents and to hear the predictable "we apologise if you heard any "language" just then; Unfortunately its not something we have any control of". 

I do find some of the press coverage (over-the-top Cinderella spin) to be a bit much. Ultimately he appears to be a good guy; a good father and an exceptional manager. 

Yeah the Rankine connections hung about for years, but it seems totally bogus and unfounded. 

He's mentioned guys like John McGlynn and Burchill giving him his chance at Livi, then Hoppy and Holt, i'd say he has learned a bit from various managers along the way, and it would be unfair on those guys saying they were just front men, as a lot of talk around his rise to where he is has suggested. I've seen differences from manager to manager over the seasons, the high press is something that has brought success to us though, and every time we tweak it a bit and drift away from that we don't do so well. I think Martindale recognizes that the most and got us back to default mode straight away when he took charge. 

In interviews when asked what has changed since Holt left, Martindale graciously says nothing has, we were playing well under GH but just being unlucky, i think we all could see the immediate changes DM made, personnel, shape, tactics, not huge changes but big enough to make a massive difference.

JET couldn't press defenders for a start, Robbo does, if we're not doing that then they get too easy a time to bring it up the pitch and look for passes to start an attack. 

We experimented far too much in defence at the start of the season too, cramming CB's into positions they clearly weren't comfortable playing, just to give them all a game. Brown was absolute shite, so was Ambrose, even Guthrie had looked a shade of the player he was last season, and Fitzwater didn't look like he could play at junior level. Look at the difference in all of them since DM took over, and how solid we've been too, 5 goals conceded in 11 games. 

We are back to defending and scoring from set pieces too, both were dire this season, Mullin has made a big difference with his deliveries for us getting goals too, and wasn't getting a start in the league games. 

All in all DM has a clear plan and implements it, and if players are left out they get left out, same with substitutions, he makes tactical changes and it looks insane at the time, taking off players who are playing a blinder, but it has worked, and he explains his decisions in post match interviews. He's been quite refreshing since coming in as manager. 

 

Saying all of that, the minute it turns to shite he'll get pelters.😂

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