Martindale’s teams in the Premiership were renowned for being awful to play against. Physical. Aggressive. In your face.
Coupled with an ageing plastic pitch, watching silky soccer wasn’t a Saturday staple for the Livi support.
However, since dropping down to the Championship, he has taken the opportunity to rebuild and rethink. Quality players like Lewis Smith, who scored his side’s fine first in Dingwall, Robbie Muirhead and Stevie May were recruited.
Combined with a solid core in defence, Livingston finished the Championship with the second best goal difference of 28.
“They’ve reinvented themselves, this is what one year in the Championship has allowed them to do,” said former Livingston boss John Robertson on Sportsound.
“Martindale’s recruited really good football players. They play good football which is not something you associate with a Livingston team who’ve had to find a way to stay in the league for six years.”
BBC Scotland pundit Michael Stewart added: “He drives a lot of it, he’s recruited really well, they play good football, they’ve got new investment and you heard it from the man himself the club are in a really good position.”
