Martindale would relish a box-office Keane clash
CELTIC fans may be Keane on Eddie Howe but David Martindale is praying Roy is the Bhoy for the Parkhead hotseat. An admirer of former Bournemouth boss Howe’s coaching credentials, the Livingston manager believes Roy Keane would simply be pure box office for Scottish football.
Martindale, who played junior football and was on the books of Rangers as a youth, would have run a mile from the Manchester United enforcer had the pair ever met on the park.
But he joked he would relish going toe-to-toe with the fiery Irishman in a tunnel bust-up should the 49-year-old take over at Celtic Park.
‘I would rather have Roy Keane — what an argument that would be,’ grinned Martindale.
‘That would be box-office stuff. I would love to have a tussle in the tunnel with him! I would have gone nowhere near him on the park! But he was an unbelievable player.
‘I don’t know a lot about Eddie Howe other than he is a good football manager. Mark Burchill and Marvin Bartley speak very highly of him and his coaching ability.
‘Eddie Howe is such a good coach I am sure he would have other opportunities in England. But I would be delighted if he was the next Celtic manager as it brings another good name and a good tactician to Scottish football.
‘He is a young, progressive manager and it would be good to have someone of that stature here. But I would love to see Roy Keane at Celtic. Steven Gerrard and Roy Keane managing up here would be fantastic!
‘I know that’s the wrong reason for him to be the Celtic manager but it’s just my opinion. In Scotland we have managed to attract some brilliant big name managers to our league.
‘Before Steven Gerrard got appointed you would never have expected the likes of him and Brendan Rodgers managing up here. But if it is Eddie Howe or Roy Keane, then either of these guys would be brilliant for our game for different reasons.’
In Scott Brown, Martindale (below) believes Celtic have their very own version of Roy Keane; a player he says is hated by 11 Premiership managers and loved only by his own.
He insists the 35-year-old captain’s imminent departure for Aberdeen at the end of the season will only bring out of the best in Brown as he bids goodbye to Celtic Park after 14 years.
He said: ‘Roy Keane was a dying breed. I don’t think there are many like him coming through youth academies any more.
‘But Scott Brown is a Scottish Roy Keane. He is a leader on the park and he makes the team tick.
‘I don’t think there are boys like them now. It gets coached out of them in youth academies.
‘I don’t think someone like Paul Gascoigne would last long in a youth academy in the modern day. And if he did come through he wouldn’t be the same character! But what Scott Brown has done for Celtic in his career is monumental.
‘Every opposition manager hates him and every manager who has worked with him loves him. That’s what you want. It is certainly the type of players I would love at Livingston.
‘When the opposition manager hates you, then you are doing your job right. Scott Brown will be trying to make sure to end his Celtic career on a high.’
Howe’s representatives this week released a statement saying he will not return to football management until this summer ‘at the earliest’.
Regardless of who does get the Celtic job, Martindale was just pleased the position was not filled before Livingston play there tomorrow. He is now aiming to make history by recording the Lions’
Steven Gerrard and Roy Keane managing up here would be fantastic!
first-ever win at Parkhead, which would boost their hopes of European football. ‘I was hoping nobody was appointed before the game because a manager sitting in the stand would probably get a bit more out of the players,’ he said. ‘They are all fantastic footballers and good professionals but they will probably have one eye on who is going to be their next manager. It’s going to be a difficult game but one that we can really enjoy. ‘We are not going to finish any lower than sixth. And, if someone had said to me before the season Livingston would finish sixth and get to a national (Betfred) cup final, then I would have bitten their hand off. We will be trying to win every game. ‘We have never beaten Celtic at Celtic Park but we nearly did it the last time in January but Conor Hazard made a great save from Josh Mullin (in a 0-0 draw). ‘In the past, we’ve managed to get results against Brendan Rodgers, Neil Lennon, and Gavin Strachan and now it’s an opportunity to pick points up against John Kennedy’s Celtic.’