Martindale relief over Euro sweat
Livingston boss David Martindale admits he’s relieved the club didn’t finish in fifth place – because they would likely have been unable to play in Europe had they qualified.
A fifth-place finish would have been enough to see the Lions reach Europe for just the second time in their history if Hibs beat St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup final this weekend.
Despite being disappointed not to grab fifth spot, Martindale does admit there’s a touch of relief that the likelihood of being denied entry into UEFA competitions has been avoided.
He said:“We lost fifth place by two goals. That probably comes down to the 6-0 loss at Celtic. To lose six goals, we let ourselves down slightly.
“I’m disappointed but on reflection it’s been a fabulous season and the boys have got to take massive credit for that.
“I’ll be honest, there was some trepidation about finishing fifth and the club not getting into Europe.
“It would have brought another massive negative to the football club. So part of me is relieved that we didn’t finish fifth and part of me is disappointed that we finished sixth.”
He added:“We’ve not got the youth academy for the UEFA club licensing. That was meant to have started up last March but then Covid hit. A big part of getting the UEFA criteria is that you’ve got to have a youth academy.
“It was something we were working on but obviously with the finances and fans not returning to stadiums, it’s been difficult.
“As a club, it’s probably a year too early. There were loopholes in the UEFA regulations that could have potentially sneaked us in the back door but part of me thinks we’d have been dealing with a massive negative if we did finish fifth and weren’t allowed in Europe.”
The gaffer now turns his focus on guidng the Lions to a third straight top-six finish next term, but admits the uncertainty around the return of fans is proving tricky.
He said:“There’s going to be a massive turnaround of players due to various reasons, mainly financial, but on the flip side of that success brings other clubs looking at your players and staff.
“There’s a lot of stuff in limbo but I will focus on the positives, keep cracking on with recruitment and I will make sure we will have a squad capable of trying to get us back into the top six.”