Livingston boss David Martindale believes defender Ayo Obileye is the perfect example of the Lions’ success at developing players.
The 28-year-old joined Livi after a career spent mostly in the fourth and fifth tiers of English football, prior to a season in the Scottish Championship with Queen of the South.
After an inconsistent debut campaign in the top flight, the centre-back has been a colossus in the heart of the Livi defence this season and Martindale says neither of those things surprise him.
He said: “Ayo has been brilliant this year. There was inconsistency in his game last season but I did expect that. There was some inconsistency, which you get with all players, but this year he has been one of the stand-outs.
“He’s played a huge part in what we’re doing. My interactions in terms of putting demands on Ayo this season have been limited whereas last season it was a bi-weekly occurrence. Texting him, pulling him into the office, on his case in training.
“This year he has really kicked on. I feel he’s now low maintenance in terms of his coaching but you get a high output from him.”
He added: “Last year it was a bit different but we still had 10 years of, non-league, Championship in Scotland to re-programme. Boys become programmed to the environment they come from and it’s up to us to change that as quickly as possible. Sometimes it’s three months, sometimes it’s three weeks, sometimes it’s six months.
“Look at Cristian Montano. I’d probably debate it has taken him 12 months to get him to where he needed to be.
“Joel Nouble did not have any Scottish football experience so we had to fast-track him to Arbroath to try and get that into his locker. Between Ayo, Joel and even Cristian, the boys have been very good. I’m really happy with the progress of the three of them.”
Livingston have contract options on all three for the 2023/34 campaign which will almost certainly be picked up.
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