David Martindale has claimed that Celtic has a wage bill of £55m!
How the Livingston manager knows that sort of detail is anyone’s guess but it is way beyond time that Celtic reminded the SFA that players and managers shouldn’t be commenting on the business of others.
If Martindale wants to discuss the form of any Celtic player or the tactics of Ange Postecoglou that is perfectly fair but he has no right to be speculating about the wages of opponents. As long as Income Tax and National insurance payments are upto date the Livi boss just needs to concentrate on finding the first SPFL win of the season for his club.
Previewing today’s match, Martindale told the Daily Record:
Celtic have spent a fortune in the summer. They also have a wage bill of £55m so we have to try and make it uncomfortable for them at this ground. They are also in a transitional phase but Ange has them playing some very good football at the moment.
I read that they’re one of the top four passing teams in Europe but will they relish coming to a plastic surface? Will the likes of Jota, Liel Abada, to name a couple of players, look forward to coming to play here? Probably not.
How much Martindale knows about the contracts of Joe Hart, Carl Starfelt, Josip Juranovic and Liel Abada remains something of a mystery. It’s unlikely that Postecoglou will be blabbing about the wages of Martindale’s squad ahead of kick-off.
Matters that are on record are that Martindale served a jail sentence for drug dealing but was passed as Fit and Proper by the SFA. In December 2017 his assistant manager Marvin Bartley was fined £400 for threatening behaviour towards an ex-girlfriend.