I feel sorry for Celtic... it really is horrific for them
MARTINDALE TAKES PITY AS HE PLOTS A LIVVY VICTORY
THE dark clouds around Celtic show little sign of abating. For David Martindale, a man who knows a thing or two about being in the eye of a storm, he has only sympathy.
It was during Neil Lennon’s remarkable press conference yesterday that he was interrupted to be told the news that a second Celtic player had contracted coronavirus. It would have done little to improve his mood.
Yet for all the storm over Celtic travelling to Dubai, Martindale knows so much of this is just a lottery. Football clubs are at the whim of the pandemic as much as anyone else.
‘It is horrific for Celtic, to be honest,’ said the Livingston manager. ‘I have a lot of sympathy for them. This is really difficult to control.
‘They have gone to Dubai and everything is off the back of that. But that player could have picked it up outwith the trip. Now Celtic
We will not focus on who is playing for Celtic and who isn’t in the side
are back and there is another case. I wouldn’t wish this on any club. I think we all have to stick together and help each other.
‘I have a wee bit of sympathy for what Celtic are going through as I wouldn’t want to be going through it. It’s not great and it could happen to any one of us.’
Given the guess work surrounding the identity of the Celtic player in question, it’s a good job Martindale has long since abandoned trying to predict opposition line-ups.
Undefeated in nine games and victorious in all bar their trip to Parkhead on Saturday, the West Lothian side are surely now entitled to view the composition of their team as more important than who they are coming up against.
‘We will not focus on who is playing for Celtic and who isn’t,’ added Martindale.
‘I couldn’t care about what the team might be. The Celtic team will be the best they can put out on the park.
‘You look at the Old Firm game and the team they put out at Ibrox. It was a 4-4-2 diamond and they gave a good account of themselves.
‘I would expect it to be a very similar team to that one. But the Celtic line-up won’t come into our thinking.
‘It’s another tough game and Celtic will be back with an almost full-strength squad. That makes it a bit tougher for us again. But we are at home and there is no reason why we can’t pick three points up.’
Saturday’s encounter brought a welcome point for Livingston but also a nagging feeling of what might have been.
Handed a plethora of set-pieces by their opponents, the visitors’ poor delivery ensured Celtic’s suspect defence wasn’t asked as many questions as it might have been.
‘With a wee bit more composure in the final third, we could have maybe got a goal,’ said Martindale (right).
‘That is something I touched on in the team talk. But we played well, we drew, we got a clean sheet so I was trying to focus more on the positives of the game.
‘I wasn’t looking at negatives but, on reflection, we did think we could have been more aggressive at set-pieces in the Celtic box.’
The close proximity of Sunday’s Betfred Cup semi-final against St Mirren cannot be ignored.
There is more than a hint from the Livingston manager that the matches will be viewed collectively. He plainly believes he has a squad capable of winning both.
‘It’s about trying to get the best of both worlds,’ said Martindale.
‘We need to go out and try to pick up points — we want to stay in the top six. We want to get to a final at Hampden. ‘So, you’re trying to juggle it slightly, but I’ve got a lot of faith in the squad and a lot of faith in the players. ‘And, to be honest, SaturdayWednesday-Sunday is not the worst-case scenario. If it was Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday, I would probably be looking to mix it up a bit more. That extra day really does help on the recovery side of things.’ Quite what Celtic side will turn up — in every respect — no one is quite sure. Lennon’s side were impressive in their run of games before Ibrox and were even the better team in defeat that day. Forced to field weakened sides after Dubai, successive draws saw the storm clouds gather once more. The impact on morale will be interesting. Asked if there is a feeling that Celtic are more vulnerable than for a number of years, Martindale replied: ‘Potentially, but if there was going to be any vulnerability about them it was probably going to be in the Old Firm game at the turn of the year there.
‘And I thought they played really well. They were exceptional in that game.
‘Vulnerability? Maybe slightly, but I think that would be there more if fans were allowed in the stadium and they had 8,000 Celtic fans who, if it wasn’t quite going their way, would be getting on top of them.
‘I don’t think so, with no fans in the stadium. They’ve got players in that squad and players in the starting XI who have played at the highest level, so I don’t think that will be a problem.’
Meanwhile, Martindale’s fit-and-proper person hearing — when the SFA will decide if he can carry on in his new role as Livingston manager following a well-publicised drug conviction — has been again postponed from Wednesday, with a new date yet to be fixed.