Livingston manager, David Martindale, is not in the William Hill Premiership to make up the numbers, he wants to make a real impact and the 51-year-old is determined to steer the West Lothian side to survival in Scotland’s top league.
He has recruited heavily during the close season and Martindale revealed: “If the (transfer) window was to shut tomorrow I would be fairly happy with where we are. Don’t get me wrong, but if a wee bit of quality comes along you would probably have to consider that, but I have been telling most agents that that my recruitment time is finished.
“There will probably be two or three outwards, but I am fairly happy with what is in the changing room.”
Livingston have been training, said the manager, “here, there and everywhere”, and the squad has enjoyed its first full week of training this week following the end of the Premier Sports Cup group matches which culminated in a 6-0 thrashing of Scottish League One side, Kelty Hearts.
The club, he argued, is in the best place it has been for years, and, in that context, Martindale revealed that he has more time on his hands now with support staff in place.
He said: “It has really taken a big work load off my desk. I used to go home and speak to lawyers, get emails from lawyers, and it was overly consuming at times.
“Now I find myself going home with a few hours to spare as I am not having to catch up. There are other people at the club doing that now and I can focus on the team.”
Martindale is relishing being back in the top flight and he said: “I could give you the cliché answers here. I want to manage and coach in the Premiership, the players want to play in the Premiership, my staff want to be coaching and managing in the Premiership, and the football club needs the turnover, that’s the bottom line.
“Financially, it is a much easier club to run when you are in the Premiership rather than being in the Championship.
“My target is to stay in the Premiership. I have had that chat with the owner, I’ve had that chat with the board and it is about consolidating and staying in the Premiership.
“I am not blinkered in that respect, and I know how difficult that is going to be, but, within the changing room, within the staff offices, we do not want to be here making up the numbers, we want to try and push and do as collectively well as we can as a group.
“The fundamental basic parameter is the stay in the Premiership and I am not going into the Premiership with that mindset, I want to compete with everybody. I want to compete with every team, I want to put points up and by doing that it should lead to the main objective and that is staying in the Premiership.”
Scoring goals will be crucial and he hopes that his latest recruit, 36-year-old Congolese striker, Jeremy Bokila, who has experience in Belgium, Turkey, Russia, Romania, America and Holland, could be key.
Overall, Martindale cast his mind back over the past decade and argued that The Lions have been part of the Premiership in seven out of ten seasons and he said: “You can argue that it is where we belong, but the counter argument is, being honest, is that we are punching above our weight.”
Saturday’s first test in the William Hill Premiership is at Rugby Park against Kilmarnock on Saturday (15.00).
The sides met in the Premier Sports Cup on July 16 an Killie squeezed home 1-0 with Mo Sylla scoring an own goal to separate the sides, but The Lions enjoyed 53 per cent of possession and Martindale is looking for a better result on this occasion.
TUNNEL VISION: The exit to the pitch at the Home of the Set Fare Arena. Picture Nigel Duncan
