“Things happened very quickly” – Marvin Bartley on landing the job as Livingston manager

Bartley was in charge of Queen of the South for 16 months but left in May 2024 after the Dumfries side finished seventh in the Scottish Premiership. He returned to West Lothian as coach earlier this season.

“Sometimes a new voice or a new approach can kind of shake things up,” Bartley said.

“And that’s what I hope is what we need to do. We realize that we need to get our results very, very quickly.”

“I’ve had a chat with him, as I’ve always been one of his coaches. But, yeah, in terms of moving forward, I think if Davie knew the recipe that would get us three points every week, we’d probably still be sitting here.”

Martindale remains a strong voice throughout the club, but Bartley says he will have sole control of football affairs.

“I will arrange training with the staff who are currently here,” the manager explained.

“On match day, I will choose the team, I will choose the lineup, I will choose the substitutes who are there. Am I going to rely on him? Of course I will. I would be a fool not to do that.”

“He’s refereed a lot of games, especially at this football club, for a very long time. So I’ll probably rely on him more than he probably wants me to. I’ll rely on him a lot. I definitely will.”