Martindale is ‘a marvel’
Guthrie hails influence of new boss
HIS team-mates call him Melman, an unflattering comparison to the hypochondriac giraffe in kids cartoon Madagascar. But 6ft 4in defender Jon Guthrie, the club’s top scorer in the league, insists he’s not the only one towering head and shoulders over a small but perfectly-formed Livingston squad.
That honour is one he believes he now shares with boss David Martindale, who took his record to five wins from five on Wednesday against Hamilton.
With SFA approval pending, Martindale has stepped up to fill the void vacated by Gary Holt. Formerly assistant manger af t er being associated with the club for six years, Martindale decided it was finally time to put himself front and centre. He accepted that a drug-dealing criminal past may be scrutinised but insists his rehabilitation and reform is complete.
It’s an issue with which his players have no problem.
‘I’ve never played for a manager who was so audible, to be honest,’ said Guthrie. ‘You can hear him scream on the sidelines and he doesn’t give you a chance to switch off, which is good.
‘We all know what he wants from us. It’s been brilliant.
‘People will probably start to see more of him now — but under the last gaffer he was heavily involved. He’s been a massive part of what we’ve done, on the pitch and off. He’s a great leader and he’s had a brilliant start.’
Guthrie’s unlikely status as the club’s top scorer in the league perhaps adds to the perception of their physicality being Livingston’s biggest weapon.
From middle to front, though, not a single player in the team is taller than 5ft 9ins, and while their work ethic is prodigious in a defensive sense, their talent lies far more in their mobility and slickness of their ball circulation than in any lump-and-run philosophy.
They were infinitely superior to an admittedly depleted Accies. With today’s hosts Kilmarnock on a run of four straight defeats — running parallel to Livvy’s parade of victories — they go into Boxing Day with boundless confidence.
‘Even last season we got labelled a long-ball and set-piece team,’ sighed Guthrie. ‘But we’ve got players who like to get on the ball and are good technically.
‘We’re not really too bothered how we pick up the points. Some games will be uglier and we’ve got that side but we’ve got that passing side, too.’
Meanwhile, Chris Burke has urged his shot-shy Killie teammates to abandon their pursuit of the perfect goal and focus only on finding the net.
The Rugby Park club are on a worrying run, losing seven of their last eight Premiership games — and failing to score in any of those defeats.
Burke said after Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Dundee United: ‘ We seem to have to try to score the nice goal.
‘But sometimes you would like to score a deflected goal. We probably have to do that a little bit more.
‘ The attacking players have to take ownership because we probably don’t shoot enough or we don’t get into t he box quickly enough.’