Livingston boss David Martindale has distanced himself from the Hibs job – but believes Malky Mackay would be a great fit to replace Shaun Maloney at Easter Road.
Martindale has been linked with the vacancy after Maloney was dismissed on Tuesday after only four months in the dugout. And while he says it won’t be him in charge in Leith next season, he admits he wants to see Scottish talent holding onto the top jobs in the country.
The 47-year-old said: “I genuinely don’t think they would (want me). You hear it a lot down south, managers saying if they had snazzier names they’d have a better chance.
“What I mean by that is I think there is a lot of talent in Scotland. I was delighted when Jim Goodwin got the Aberdeen job because for me, that’s the way I would like Scottish football to go. I like to see opportunities for managers doing well in their current league.
“Roy McGrgeor (Ross County chairman) will hate me for this but Malky has done an incredible job at Ross County. Would I like to see him get the job? I think it would be a great appointment.”
He added: “There is a lot of baggage that goes with me and I am not averse to that, I understand that.
“I don’t expect anyone to be phoning David Martindale. But would I like to see someone within the Scottish game get the Hibs job – of course I would.
“But it’s not my money, my business model or my philosophy.”
Martindale also admits that a sense of loyalty to the Lions would make it difficult for him to pursue other opportunities should they ever arise.
Martindale has occupied a number of roles within the club during eight years at the Tony Macaroni Arena and credits them for changing his life after having served nearly four years in prison from 2006 for drug offences.
He commented: “Livingston Football Club changed my life and I am going to be loyal to them.
“If someone chaps David Martindale’s door and I go and speak to them I would then go to Robert (Wilson, chairman) and John (Ward, CEO).
“If they said go and do it Davie, I would take the opportunity. If they said they didn’t want me to, I genuinely wouldn’t do it.
“So until the day comes when they are happy for me to move on or they think results aren’t going our way and they want to go in a different direction, that decision will be made by people upstairs.”
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