Livingston manager David Martindale is one of those people opposition fans find it easy to parody. When he claimed to have ‘pound-for-pound’ the best team in the league, one online wit called him the best ‘gram-for-gram’ manager. Many of us were grateful when life offered a second (or subsequent) chance, what matters now is that David is an example of what can be, if you make the right decisions.
Admirable, as he undoubtedly is, I don’t like his football, or the pitch it is played on every second game. Livingston would have the game banned, if that was all we could watch. Still, though, what’s he to do?
Tomorrow a group of international footballers, many with Champions League and World Cup experience behind them, arrive at the Plastic Pasta Stadium to face a squad of players who would rather be anywhere else in the football food chain. We have no right to ask them to play any different than how they will.
Martindale knows how to get results. The current FA Premier Manager of the Month left the corresponding fixture at Livi empty handed two years ago. His side were as tight as a drum at the back and waited for an opportunity to present itself. A bounce of the plastic was enough to deceive Stephen Welsh.
It is incredible how momentum builds and falls in football. Brendan Rodgers knows enough about the game to put Tuesday’s result behind him and do whatever necessary to inject confidence and energy into his side. After going out of the League Cup on our only other game on plastic this season, you could suggest it is imperative to show we learned to better prepare for the surface.
While we are in a generous mood to others, imagine a mid-table Premiership side winning in Europe last night! Second bottom of the table almost took a point in Germany too.
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Hail hail
We made it to Friday!
It must do in the heads of Sevco fans to know that Celtic is in the group stages of the Champions League largely because of Sevco’s results in Europe these past few years.
A wee nod to Mick Beale for another badly needed coefficient booster last night.
Saying that, isn’t it about time that we recognised our approach to player development and team building is ill-suited to success in European competition?
Martindale should not be involved in senior football.
Day 1 Solheim Cup,11.30 am,tournament over
Martingale and naismith would not be allowed anywhere near a team any other league in the world. Let that sink in and then argue about better players wanting to come to our league and play on a carpet with part time refs.
Backwater.csc
KLV
I caught the Hearts v Aberdeen highlights last weekend and thought Hearts played some very good passing football. I was impressed. Feels wrong saying that.
Ugly pitch tomorrow. Ugly team, ugly tactics and a very ugly manager. A real WTF moment for our new players I’m sure, and god knows what our manager will think after experiencing the plush, green lawns of the world’s richest league.
It’s hopefully 3 points and another notch on the bed post closer for the old, risk-averse guardians of our football club though, who dream of adding to the business balance sheet next summer, by winning our local spat and bagging the improved entrance fee, where the best we do per game is a pluckiness, delivered by punts and projects, and excused by the unambituous.
The rainy day reserve fund doesn’t pay for itself, don’t you know.
Roll up. Roll up. Rinse and repeat. This is as good as it gets.
HH
Bada Bing
Day 1 Solheim Cup,11.30 am,tournament over
———————
I bought the closing few holes this morning. I’m no golfer but it looked to me that the gap between elite male and female golfers was smaller than it is between male and female footballers.
Mind you, I am no footballer too.
BURNLEY78 on 22ND SEPTEMBER 2023 11:32 AM
D9comedy
You are wasting your time.
Malcontents are never happier than when they have a bogeyman. The chap David 66 seems to be always upset at the unparalleled success Celtic has enjoyed since Peter Lawwell came to the club.
As the psychiatrist chap in the classic Fawlty towers episode said ‘there is enough material on here for an entire convention’.
……………………
I will ask YOU the same question that I asked DRCOMEDY earlier today.
Do YOU believe that Peter Lawwell told the TRUTH when he claimed to the RES12 BHOYS, that HE ( Peter Lawwell)…..had NEVER SEEN the 5 WAY AGREEMENT ?
A simple YES or NO will suffice.
I will cheer loudly if we win at Livi tomorrow. Winning a league still means a lot to me.
The best I can say about Livi’s pitch is – it’s not as bad as Hamilton’s.
Every league game in in effect a CL qualifier for us until the league is won and assuming we get auto CL entry or the right to play a CL qualifier.
How do we make the transition up is another matter. Effective player recruitment is only one part of the puzzle.
“THE EXILED TIM on 22ND SEPTEMBER 2023 11:48 AM
Lawwell lied to the Res 12 bhoys, that is undeniable.”
Pretty sure he could deny it. He might even be telling the truth!
I know a few mid level managers with 100’s / 1000’s of unread emails.
I know of other director level types whose emails can be accessed by PAs etc. and so ‘read’ items can be missed.
I still think he was party to the decisions and believed that the “Old Firm” (or even the newco / Infirm) model was best for the shareholders so went with it but it is not undeniable.
I disagree, I’d happily support/watch Celtic without any Ibrox team in the league but then I am easily pleased when it comes to Celtic.
If only we had forced the SFA/SPFL to apply the rules and only enter a team with 3 years accounts (Spartans?) then we’d not have the survival lie AND we’d have less “competition” too which would mean we could play more kids / youths and actually the league setup then might afford the breathing space to suit the development/projects model.
QB
Fair enough assessment Paul.
First off it’s a football blog. I get it.
“Many of us were grateful when life offered a second (or subsequent) chance”
I wasn’t and ain’t one of them.
I freely acknowledge the right to a second chance and welcome the fact an individual has taken it big time.
But as a general rule I don’t stretch to the level of “gratitude”… when it comes to convicted drug dealers who subsequently lead law enforcement a merry POCA dance.
I think Lawwell wanted rangers to stay in the spl. He was only thinking about the money. He wanted years of cheating to go unpunished.
Contrast his attitude to that of David Murray. In 1994 he wanted celltic liquidated. We had an overdraft of around £5m. He wanted us dead and buried. If he had gotten his way what would have happened to our club? The sfa rule book would have been pulled out and the rules would have been followed to the letter. Three years accounts required before admittance to the Scottish league. We would have been playing non-league football for three years and Murray would have been overjoyed. That’s what he wanted.
Rangers were liquidated owing in the region of £170m and Lawwell wanted rangers to remain in the spl.
As for the game, any kind of win would (obviously) do me.
Right now I think the chances are 50/50.
One of the most easily observed consequences of a team not quite clicking yet is the absence of slick, fluid passing moves.
Timing, pace, direction of passes, movement of next receiver all need time to mesh and gel.
Exactly where we are right now.
Add to that mix a pitch which does not run true
where “along the ground trundlers” look like they are running down a mountain !
and pitched passes absolutely dying on first bounce !
Think it’ll be an ugly watch.
Hope we pursue fast and pragmatic over precise and accurate.
1-2.
I have nothing but the greatest respect for Auldheid and those who supported him with Res 12 but I’m sure Peter Lawwell was acting under orders from DD.
I also feel that whatever really happened back then has no bearing on how we perform currently in the CL.
If ever it was apparent before, it is certainly blatantly obvious now (at least to me) that we will only really improve if we get the opportunity to play in a better football playing league. What are the chances of that taking place? Not great, imo; sad to say.
To paraphrase Oscar Hammerstein II
“How do you solve a problem like Pete-Lawwell”
Yawn.
That’s right Paul 67, the huns got a win last night.
So the standard of the SPFL, is not as bad as some are making out.
What will be the next excuse for our continual failure in Europe
Hatate to start tomorrow and hopefully we’ll see a real sense of urgency about our play right from the off. Clearly not a game to give Nat a run out.
I seen the first half of sevco last night before deciding life was too short to watch this standard of football. A truly dire match. There is an absolute chasm between CL and the Europa.
I wish we’d stop giving the players excuses to fail. Plaric, plastic, plastic. Every bloody year, every time we play Killie or Livi. Thank Hod Hamilton aren’t in our division or we would be reading about plastic pitches more often. Celtic chose to do nothing about them so we must live with it. Get the players training on our plastic pitch at Lennoxtown to prepare. If we don’t have one then go and find one.
The Huns seem to be able to negotiate these games easily enough most seasons. We on the other hand give our players excuses not to play well.
Three men have been arrested after masked yobs allegedly ambushed a hotel in Glasgow with bricks and flares.
Police descended onto the Broomielaw in Glasgow after receiving reports of the incident at Eurohostel on Clyde Street at midnight today.
The sickening scenes took place around two hours after Rangers’ Europa League clash with Real Betis at Ibrox. It is not known if football fans were involved.
…………….
Were the Hun support involved in this ?
I don’t know.
Anyone know were the Real Betis team and/or support were staying in Glasgow ?
AD- not sure if that pitch is suitable for guys with recent injuries, Hatate, Philips……
SEVCO got LUCKY last night imho.
SEVCO were largely outplayed for most of the match…imho.
Real Betis took a nose bleed when in range of the Huns Goal…..however, that is not SEVCOs fault.
My cash will be on BETIS when they meet again in Spain.
HH
I thank God as well as Hod.
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/11270803/rangers-real-betis-hooligans-europa-league-hostel-stormed/
Westcraigs
“I think Lawwell wanted rangers to stay in the spl. He was only thinking about the money. He wanted years of cheating to go unpunished.”
—————————-
I too wanted them kept within the arms of the SPFL or SPL as it was then, because they were the clubs most harmed by the years of Rangers’ cheating. That didn’t mean I wanted them unpunished. I wanted a proper investigation, full disclosure of wrongdoings genuine apology and title and trophy stripping.
Instead, as a result of fan demand, we delivered them into the welcoming hands of the Scottish League, run by Jim Ballantyne, whose own club had been liquidated by David Murray, but whose loyalties to his first love club remained staunch enough to overlook everything and welcome them in as the money-spinning club they were.
I also suspect, that 2 years out from the referendum, political pressure would have been placed on all authorities, to not let a major Scottish institution go to the wall in the run up. I very much doubt that DD or PL had the power to influence that outcome once the responsibility was passed on to willing brethren. But they did have the power to speak out, and on that matter, they failed miserably.
Celtic plc were cowardly but they were not the main villains of the piece.
Aye aye 🍀
TOSB
They have a slightly better record than us at Livi but they do get bother there:-
In their last 15 matches, Sevco won 9, drew 4 and lost 2. On previous form they would be 60/40 to drop points.
In our last 10 matches we have won 5, drawn 3 and lost 2. On previous form, we are 50/50 to drop points.
So it’s 6/4 against versus evens. Superior but not by much.
I am going for a rare 5:0 win for the good guys tomorrow
We won’t play well tomorrow because the surface is horrendous. That’s not an excuse to dop points because we should still win but we won’t play well in terms of what we want to do.
The huns go to these places and tavpen alongside backpost will commence their aerial assaults for 90 minutes. It’s a different story for a team trying to play football like we do.
Lazio has Monza, Torino and Milan to play before they visit Celtic Park.
We have Livingston on plastic and then Motherwell at Fir Park to get ourselves match ready.
No surprise it is not so easy for our guys to step up to the plate when it matters.
Yesterday evening i attended a mass of thanksgiving for Monsignor Charles Cavanagh
Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of his Ordination.
St Marys in Greenock was packed,showing the esteem respect and love with which he is held from all the parishes in tbe Diocese of Paisley where he has served ably,
Monsignor Cavanagh talked in a relaxed way at tbe end of the mass,highlighting the influence of his own parents and the support of his of his own family throughout his journey.
He said he could not remember much from his Ordination as it was a busy and special day for him…well except the Celtic got beat by Falkirk,which had a lot of the congregation smiling.
The relaxed nature of the evening continued with a massive spread of food and teasand&coffee for the many who went back to the hall.
A great night and long may he continue the good work of his vocation.
Hail Hail
I attended alongside Mr and Mrs BRTH
HH
Hi Folks,
Hope everyone is in good spirits and ready for the weekend’s excitement at the Tony Bolognese restaurant and community stadium carpets r us. I was a wee bit late posting any comments about the Feyenoord game as I sustained a concussion at soccer practice when a vicious 10 yr old girl on my team launched a missile of a shot right at the side of my heid. fortunately I stayed on my feet as the world began spinning really fast. I thought, like most people, we played well for the first half, but I had that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach when we conceded the freekick. Our distribution was not as good as it should have been and reliable folks like Calum and Reo were giving the ball away too easily. I thought AJ was excellent, though he did get lucky with the freekick in his favor. Obviously giving up a goal like that right before halftime is a kick in the hawmaws and then we started on the back foot at the start of the 2nd half. I thought it was a silly challenge by big Gus, and Odin was just over enthusiastic. the remaining players worked their tails off to keep the score as is. No one likes this shitty field tomorrow, and the fact that we have these pitches in our highest competitive league is a shambles. We have to be wary of their deadballs and throw ins as that is the extent of their build up play at David Livingstone. Keep the faith Bhoys and hope all of you are in the best of health and happiness. Got to go turn the lights doon in my classroom as the heid is still spinning a wee bit:)))
Hail Hail.
Sean
An Tearmann,
I remember
“Father “ Kavanagh at St Charles Paisley when I was a boy. A nice man , thanks for the info from last night HH
Big Jimmy from earlier – yes this is September weekend.
Off with wee Riley, his sister and all of sharons crew.
My big mate is here with his Family, a big blue nose but a lovely big guy and a good drinker and laugh to boot.
D :)
QUADBHOY on 22ND SEPTEMBER 2023 1:04 PM
I never mentioned emails, but, it would have been a dereliction of duty on his part as the CEO of Scotlands biggest club not to have seen any email that concerned the club, and the 5WA sure concerned the club, also one of our directors was on the spl board at the time, but there are those who will stick their head in the sand and back Lawwell all day long.
He lied to the Res 12 bhoys, that is undeniable, I will believe what Auldheid and the Canman tell me any day over a liar like Lawwell.
DAVID66 on 22ND SEPTEMBER 2023 3:39 PM
Big Jimmy from earlier – yes this is September weekend.
Off with wee Riley, his sister and all of sharons crew.
My big mate is here with his Family, a big blue nose but a lovely big guy and a good drinker and laugh to boot.
………………….
Cheers mate.
Have great time this weekend.
HH