David Martindale showers praise on Celtic and dismisses 'not the same' Ange Postecoglou comparison

Livingston manager David Martindale proved effusive in his praise of Celtic for how they outplayed and outworked his team when reduced to 10 men.

Livingston manager David Martindale embraces Celtic counterpart Brendan Rodgers after the 3-0 defeat. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

And the performance of Brendan Rodgers in the 3-0 victory at the Tony Macaroni Arena, for the 49-year-old gave the lie to claims that they have dipped from the level that snared them the title under Ange Postecoglou last season. Signs that they were finding their groove evident, he felt, in aspects of their play even in losing their Champions League opener away to Feyenoord 2-0 with nine men.

Martindale was despairing of his side’s inability to capitalise on Joe Hart’s 30th minute red card with the score at 1-0 following a “schoolboy error” with Luiyi de Lucas’ concession of a penalty converted by Reo Hatate, but he was magnanimous in his assessment of his opponents across the afternoon.

“I thought when Celtic went down to 10 men they stuck to their task very well, and got an early goal in the second half to make it 2-0,” he said. “And from that stage onwards, I have to be brutally honest, I thought they were fantastic in their application and how they approached the game. Celtic were worth their money. I thought they worked a lot harder than us all over the park. Their application, their endeavour, their desire was probably a lot better than what we showed against 10 men. Sitting here, hugely frustrated at the result, but I don’t think we deserved more from the game in all honesty. There was a big chance for Joel Nouble at 2-0, if he puts that away you are back in the game at that stage. But the longer the game goes on, the longer it was 2-0, the players really, really struggled with Celtic’s shape and their application within their shape was fantastic.

“They can do both [outplay you and outwork you], and I think they have always done both, if I’m honest, since Ange’s days. I watched them on Tuesday and I thought they were fantastic in the press, trying to get the ball back. There have been a few things floating about ‘aw, they are not the same’ ‘they’ve not clicked’ but, nah, I think you saw a wee bit of a change with the Champions League and then today, I think they showed true character and true spirit when they went down to 10 men. But we shoot ourselves in the foot by giving away a really avoidable second goal. When I look at all three goals, really avoidable goals.

“We are probably not expected to get anything from the game with 11 v 11. But, when Celtic go down to 10 men after 30 minutes, I’m not having that we shouldn’t expect to get something from the game. Expectations go up at that point, but the harsh reality is we got beat 2-0 with 10 men. That is the harsh reality of the situation. And I don’t think we defended our final third well enough and that is something I’ll have to look at.”