David Martindale stands by X-rated half-time rant at Livingston players
David Martindale stands by his X-rated half-time rant at his Livingston players at Stenhousemuir last week but is disappointed that it found its way into the public domain.
The West Lothian side were down 1-0 to the League Two team at the interval of their Scottish Cup tie when the Livi boss let rip.
The cinch Premiership side responded with three second-half goals to win through to the fifth round but, unbeknown to Martindale, someone had taped his expletive-laden pep talk and it was later widely shared on social media.
Ahead of the visit of Hearts on Sunday, the Livingston manager said: “I manage in all different ways, I am not averse to giving the boys a boot up the bum when I think they need a boot up the bum.
“On Saturday, I felt they needed a boot up the bum as a kick start, a jolt and that was it. I felt we were very passive.
“There are other times when you need to motivate the player in a different way and other times you need to pick the players up and give them a cuddle. I am not averse to doing all styles of management.
“It is disappointing that it has come out. It has obviously been a private conversation between me and the players and someone at Stenhousemuir has chosen to record a half-time team talk which I find very disappointing if I am honest.
“But am I bothered about the content of it? Not at all.
“I am not going to stick people in it. I have had stuff happen within Livingston over the years, when we were a smaller club, which I wasn’t happy about. It is just disappointing.
“It is the modern age with social media.
“A private conversation, a private meeting because that’s basically what it was, has been recorded and put on social media without my consent and without the club’s consent so that’s really disappointing.
“Am I bothered that it’s put there in terms of the content? Not really.
“If Netflix or Amazon were in the changing room at half-time on Saturday that wouldn’t have changed my team talk, I wouldn’t have changed a single thing.
“I don’t play up to the public. I do what I feel is right. I use my intuition to coach my players at half-time.”
Martindale admitted that it was not the first time this season that he had laid into his players at the interval but stressed that there is much more to his managerial style.
He said: “What I will say is that’s not just the way I coach.
“I hear people say ‘old school’. Believe it or not I am very modern in the way we approach the game. We go into a lot of detail.
“A publication done an article on us at the start of the season on how we go about our daily business.
“We have a very modern approach to football but, again, sometimes harsh realities need to be told at half-time, full-time and before the game and I am not averse to doing that.”