The Real Saints

Oh wow, good grief. Either this was such a traumatic event that my brain has since blocked it out, or it occurred after I left the stadium in a state of disgust after his lap of honour with Zander.

I don’t recall a solo lap of honour from Davidson. I recall him waiting for Zander Clark and then staying glued to him like a velcro puppy while he did his lap of honour.

The teenage volunteer is no John Motson? That sounds very unsatisfactory. We must get rid immediately.

I thought the six figure fee was well-publicised in the media at the time. Not sure it’s too far-fetched considering we offered a six figure fee for Jordan White.

Yeah, I wouldn’t say the line-up is particularly defensive… If Levein was trying out some masterplan to keep the score tight, he wouldn’t select such a lightweight midfield. He’d select Sprangler. We will likely be overrun today.

I think he talks us up a fair amount, albeit in his trademark low-key style. He is complimentary of the team’s potential based on what he has seen, and his response is positive when a journalist suggests that this group of players are capable of achieving more than simply survival. Thought it was a good interview, clearly of a noticeably higher standard than anything we’ve seen at this club since early 2020.

It’s very rare that the odds reflect who we’ll hire as manager. Having said that, if there is any time where we’ll go against our usual transfer policy, now is that time. And I have no issue with that. Whatever gives us the best chance of staying up. I was impressed/surprised with the David Martindale links because I thought it showed a bit of initiative to go for someone like him. I wouldn’t even have considered it being a remote possibility. I have much more faith in the decision-makers than I would have been a year ago (or even six months ago).

I understand that it’s easy to become oblivious to what’s going on elsewhere when Saints are in the doldrums, but Livingston are a shambles at the moment. The future of their ownership is up in the air, David Martindale is working without a contract, they are 100% in a worse financial position than ourselves, and elements of the fanbase are starting to turn against him due to recent results. I’m sure we’d be giving him longer-term assurances as part of the contract talks. He’ll absolutely give this move a bit of consideration at the very least. With a positive result from our game in hand, we’d only be three points behind Livingston. If that ‘history’ was 20+ years ago, and the intervening years had been filled with consistent evidence that he was a rehabilitated man, showing obvious remorse, giving talks to prisoners, going to university to turn his life around, gradually working his way up the footballing ranks through hard graft, and then excelling in a managerial role, I don’t think I’d consider it to be a factor whatsoever, to be honest.

Have many employed managers ever said ‘Yes, I’m interested’ in response to this line of questioning? The key factor here is that he hasn’t said ‘no’. Of course he’s going to say he’s focused on the upcoming Livingston match rather than St Johnstone. He’s the Livingston manager. It’s quite easy to read between the lines. I also have no idea why his ancient misdemeanours would bear any relevance to his suitability as a football manager in 2023.

I think we’re all waiting for the link to an article where Martindale has said no? You’ve just included the link to an article where there’s an indication that he might be interested in the role. Think you might have sent the wrong link. No rush though.

This happened about twenty years ago. I’d understand your point if he showed no remorse or personal development, but Martindale is the prime example of a rehabilitated man. We’ve seen absolutely no reason to doubt his character or integrity during the time period of his rise through the footballing ranks. Quite the opposite. So no, I doubt that the ‘young Saintees’ would even give it a second thought (unless the subject is brought up by people like yourself).

I wouldn’t describe the Livingston job as ‘settled’ right now. It’s easy to get caught up in the bubble of your own club’s chaos, but I can absolutely see why Martindale would be looking to jump ship. Judging by Eric Nicolson’s recent tweets, and the odds dropping massively since this morning, I’d be very surprised if there was ‘zero chance’.

Ali Crawford against County last December.

I feel I’ve maybe missed something or already forgotten due to my old age, but I’ve seen a few overly critical comments about Gallacher recently and I’m not sure why? My recollection is that he’s pretty raw but was one of our better performers until getting injured.

Strange comparison. Both play in different positions and both signed in completely different circumstances.