What a gent Martindale is, and he has proved this throughout the course of this season. Obviously, he garnered a lot of attention in Scotland and beyond due to his personal redemption story, but he has been so much more than just a media story. For me, he has been one of the top 3 managers in Scotland this season.
You might remember the podcast he did with The 4th Official a few weeks back. In case you didn’t have a listen then, you can do it here. Not to toot our own horns, but we consciously decided to keep the podcast entirely on footballing matters and tactics instead of sensationalising his background as every other MSM outlet did.
I kept in touch with Mr Martindale after the podcast interview, and he is as nice a person in a personal capacity as you see in his public persona. I cannot divulge any of the conversations without his permission but trust me on this. Take his interview with Sky yesterday, for example. No mincing words, a refreshing honesty you can’t find anywhere else in his country. He didn’t even hesitate a second in confirming that it was indeed a Rangers penalty when asked.
Next time, when he says that it was not a penalty against Livingston, most will tend to believe him. That is what happens when you get a credible person in charge of your club. I wish David Martindale and Livingston nothing but the best next season.
It was almost a routine win for both Rangers and Celtic, with not much at stake in the penultimate game of the league season. The only challenge for Rangers now is to ensure that they finish the league without losing.
Double Standards Only When It Comes To Rangers Fans
Moving on to less pleasant things and it seems the politicisation of the anticipated Rangers fans celebrating on Saturday is on in full force. As you can see, fans have come out in full force all over the world when the team they support has won the league. The only exception to that was probably Man City, but that was only because not many bothered to turn up. However, nowhere has so many warnings and threats been made to the fans of the Champions.
Take Portugal, for instance. Sporting fans celebrating their club winning the league for the first time in nearly two decades clashed with riot police in the early hours of Wednesday. However, despite this, numerous fans across the board there described it as an unbelievable feeling winning the league after 2 decades. I suspect Rangers fans will feel the same.
As I write, protests are going on in certain areas of Glasgow, and before that, thousands gathered on the streets with Palestinian flags to protest Israel. I will not get into the politics of it, but where were the condemnations then or today?
No matter where you fall on fans gathering to celebrate, you cannot deny there is a double standard going on. If these protests were met with equal condemnation and force from the politicians at large as the thought of a Rangers celebration on Saturday, then fine, I would understand. That is definitely not the case here.
Editorial Note: If you love Scottish football and sick and tired of the same old biased MSM coverage, this is for you. The 4th Official needs your support. Did you know this article appeared first on our Patreon page? We need you to help save The 4th Official! Due to the unprecedented situation as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, the digital media space has been completely devastated. There has been a massive shortfall in revenue (even while viewership is up) as we scramble how to make sure that we go on with our daily job. We are proud to put up exclusive stuff on Scottish football as well as an early release of our podcast interviews with relevant personalities of the game (recent guests have been David Martindale, Matt Polster, Greg Docherty, Daniel Stendel & a lot more) on our Patreon account and hope you would support us in these tough times. We have supporters from atleast 9 countries, and you can be too by chipping in just £2.99/month (or you can avail this limited time offer of becoming an annual patron by getting 2 months extra content). Become a proud Patron of The 4th Official!
