Marvin Bartley Returns to Livingston as Stenhousemuir Manager

Marvin Bartley has not spoken to David Martindale since the day he walked out of Livingston. On Friday night, under the BBC Scotland cameras, he meets him again – this time from the opposite dugout, as manager of a Stenhousemuir side that refuses to blink.

A split that still lingers

Back in May, Bartley and assistant Neil Hastings stunned Livingston by resigning after being told to reapply for their own jobs. They felt they had "no option but to resign". The decision cut deep.

Bartley had only stepped up into the Almondvale hotseat in January, promoted from the backroom team when Martindale moved upstairs into a new sporting director role. It was a quick rise and an even quicker exit.

Since then? Silence.

"No, I've not seen or spoken to Davie since leaving the football club," Bartley said. "Obviously, he's got a busy time over the summer in terms of bringing in players. He's busy, I'm busy so I've not spoken to Davie since leaving the football club."

The only contact with Livingston has come from elsewhere. Chairman Calvin Ford reached out with what Bartley describes as a "lovely message" after Stenhousemuir knocked Livi out of the League Cup on penalties at Ochilview. A small gesture, but one that landed.

Hurt, then clarity

The manner of his departure bruised him. He doesn’t hide from that.

"At the time, I was definitely hurt in the days that followed - but if you're asking me now, my full focus is on Stenhousemuir," he says.

The shock was real.

"When the situation happened, I was really, really shocked.

"But the more people I spoke to people about it - and the more people that found out about it who weren't shocked - probably made me realise that I was maybe a little bit naive and green.

"That's probably just me as a person. I take everything at face value."

The sting has faded. The lesson remains.

"Right now, I have got no kind of feeling to it. It's just another chapter in my book and I'm just continuing to try to do the best I possibly can for Stenhousemuir."

Stenny’s startling surge

If this is just another chapter, it is an explosive one.

Stenhousemuir, part-time and widely tipped to struggle, have ripped up the script. Nine games in all competitions. Still unbeaten. Three wins and a draw from their opening four Championship fixtures. A 3-1 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle last weekend to underline that this is no early-season fluke.

They sit looking down the division at clubs with bigger budgets and bigger reputations. Nobody expected this.

Bartley arrived at Ochilview after Gary Naysmith – the man who delivered promotion from League 1 – left for Ayr United. It could have been a destabilising moment. Instead, Bartley has accelerated the momentum.

Stenny came through a strong League Cup group, then dumped Premiership side Motherwell out to reach the quarter-finals. Hearts await at Ochilview next Friday night, another test of how far this story can stretch.

Before that, though, comes Livingston and Glenn Whelan’s side, who have taken a more ordinary path into the season – two wins, two defeats in the league so far. For Bartley, the narrative is obvious. The emotion, he insists, is not.

Dreaming without drifting

The Scottish Championship has seen this kind of thing before. Arbroath, part-time and fearless, took Kilmarnock to the wire in a title race for the ages five years ago. That campaign rewrote what was thought possible.

Stenhousemuir now face the same question. Do the Warriors dare to dream of back-to-back promotions and a first taste of top-flight football? Or does that kind of talk only cloud the work in front of them?

"Every club in the pyramid now dreams of one day being in the top flight," Bartley says.

He knows what the table shows. He also knows how quickly it can turn.

"There's still so long to go and it's a boring answer for you all, but when I came into the job we spoke about what we hope to achieve and that's not changed.

"We've got that target and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what that target is because everyone had us as favourites to go down in this league and we understand we are only four games into it.

"We can't get carried away with thinking about promotion or play-offs or anything like that because this league is unforgiving.

"We're thinking about achieving our goals and if we do that, that's a minor miracle in itself when you look at the financial constraints we have compared to every other club in this league."

A minor miracle. A former club in the opposite dugout. A live TV audience.

If this is just another chapter in Bartley’s book, what on earth does the next one look like?