If Martindale Thinks The Mooch Is Matching Celtic For Football He’s Not Watched Them.

David Martindale leaving our game would be good for Scottish football.

There, I said it. His team not making the top six would be good for Scottish football.

Do I need to justify that? I’m going to but not because I have to. Other people can talk that kind of trash without having to. I’m just not shy to admit the truth. I just don’t like him or the way his team plays.

Today he’s in the papers.

When is he not in the papers?

After talking up Celtic in order to make his team look better if they get a result, he’s now talking up The Mooch and his team with the same objective in mind. I’d be amazed if anyone buys this guy’s shtick anymore.

You can only pull the same trick a couple of times before it gets old.

“How do you beat (them)?”, he asked, presumably rhetorically. Since this is what he’s paid to do, you would think he might have some sort of plan. “You are going to need a little bit of luck on the day.” Any manager relying on luck is a bust.

“Am I correct in saying Michael’s record is the exact same as Ange’s record since Michael took over? For me, Celtic were the best team in the country before Michael came in He has come in, he has done a fantastic job and him and Ange are now head-to-head obviously Celtic have got that head start with the points they picked up previously ….”

For openers, no, the records haven’t been the exact same.

If the records had been the exact same we’d not have increased our goal difference. We went to Ibrox and got a result. He hasn’t yet done that at Celtic Park. So even an on-paper assessment makes his claim a nonsense.

But of course, if you’ve watched the teams you’ll know it’s an even dafter comment to make, because the difference between watching Celtic and The Mooch’s team is like the difference between some Bach played through good speakers and elevator music played over the top of grinding gears.

We can look sublime. They would get football stopped as a spectator sport. Only someone who hasn’t watched both clubs would claim they’re on our level. Martindale is playing his usual game, but he’s playing it particularly badly here with such a daft suggestion.

His team will barely put up a fight. He says he has a “game plan.”

Much like Robbie Neilson’s, I’m willing to bet it bears no resemblance to the way he uses on us. They will back off and give Ibrox’s side all of the ball instead of getting in their faces.

The first team outside of Celtic to get a result against them will not do any of that. They will go for the throat, where The Mooch’s team is vulnerable. That won’t be Livingston this coming weekend, not in this lifetime, not under this guy.