Businessman Tony Bloom has undoubtedly achieved with a provincial club, Brighton and Hove Albion, preserving their top flight status in England and taking the South Coast club into Europe.
Now, he has invested nearly £10m in Heart of Midlothian FC and was a spectator as the Gorgie club earned three points to open their William Hill Premiership campaign on a high with a 2-0 home win over Aberdeen on Monday.
On the eve of the game, Bloom reiterated his desire to split Scotland’s big two, Celtic and Rangers, and David Martindale, Livingston’s straight-talking manager, warned critics not to discount the Brighton chairman who now as a stake of just over 29 per cent in Hearts.
History may be against Bloom as the Old Firm have won every league title between them since Aberdeen won in 1985 under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Martindale (pictured by Nigel Duncan), however, told a media briefing at the Home of the Set Fare Arena: “If I was a betting man, I would put my money on Tony Bloom achieving what he said he wants to achieve.
“I’d put my chips behind him because he’s shown what he can do.”
He was there to preview his club’s home William Hill Premiership clash with newly-promoted Falkirk who pipped Martindale’s men for last season’s Championship. The pair clash at 3pm on Saturday.
Livingston earned a valuable point on the road at Rugby Park last Saturday, coming from 2-0 down with goals from Robbie Muirhead and Scott Pittman, while Falkirk also drew their season-opener at home to Dundee United last Sunday. It finished in a 2-2 draw, Dylan Tait and Ethan Ross netting.
Martindale does not expect there to be much between the teams but he praised his men for their character and resilience in last weekend’s game, and he added: “We deserved something from the game, we deserved a point, minimum.
“They boys stuck to the task and we were a wee bit unlucky to be two goals down, we stuck to the process, stuck to the tactics, overall, the performance was there.”
He added: “Falkirk as a club have done tremendously well, and John (McGlynn) has done a great job. The club, John and the players should take a lot of credit and they are back in the Premiership.
“We had good games last year, there was nothing in the games, I don’t think there will be anything in this game and it will be a tight affair.”
He added: “I am looking forward to the game, we are at home and there is a lot of familiarity and continuity there with both teams. We’ve probably had a bigger turn around in terms of numbers but, in terms of the starting side, there is not a huge difference.”
Martindale may add to his side as he has suffered early-season injuries one, in particular, to midfielder, Aidan Denholm who he secured from Hearts, but he added: “If the window shut tomorrow I would be fairly happy with what we have got, but potentially we could strengthen one or two.”
Injuries have set the West Lothian club back in “the middle of the park”, and Martindale revealed: “We are quietly active on that front, but that is us reacting to injuries, if I am being honest.”
