David Martindale makes Uber quip, references Celtic v Real Madrid and 'takes hat off' to Ange Postecoglou

Livingston manager David Martindale joked that he was tempted to make a quick getaway in a cab after his side found themselves three goals down at half-time in their trip to Celtic Park.

But his frustration on an evening when his team ended up avoiding further punishment was that he had witnessed Ange Postecoglou’s men perform more adroitly against Real Madrid than was required to bag them their second and third goals against his men.

“It was lucky I couldn’t get a reception [on my phone],” he said of his thinking in facing a 3-0 deficit at the interval. “I was trying to get an Uber. I think it’s containment at that point. Are we going to come here and score three goals? Are we going to come here and score four goals? It’s all about going and getting the next goal. When you go in at half-time, it’s about getting their heads lifted and don’t concede. The next 45 minutes is making sure we don’t concede but can you get the next goal? We never got that goal to get the impetus to get us up the park. But I’m not kidding anyone on. Celtic are three up, they are coasting, they are dominating the ball. They probably took their foot off the gas slightly. The game becomes a bit easier for them.

“Celtic were worthy winners. I thought they played some nice football at times. It was a really difficult game for us to lay a glove on them. But I did think we gifted them two goals. The second and third goals we’ve got to do a lot better defensively. They’ve got international players. I’ve seen them do [what they did to us with their rotations] against Real Madrid – they were probably in that game for 60 minutes [before losing 3-0 than they were tonight]. You’ve got to take your hat off to Ange. What he’s done at Celtic, he’s done it incredibly well. It’s all right having money. It’s how you spend it and then it’s how you coach the players you bring in.”