Samson Lawal: Livingston coach reveals bizzare reason for handing Flying Eagles star his debut

The youngster impressed at the under-20 World Cup earlier this year, and he eventually sealed a transfer to Livingston this summer

Livingston coach David Martindale said he handed Nigerian midfielder Samson Lawal his Livingston debut last Saturday because he wanted the youngster to have enough money to pay his fines, Soccernet reports.

Lawal had a decent outing with Nigeria at the Under-20 World Cup, registering one goal in four appearances. Eventually, he sealed a transfer to Scottish Premiership side Livingston this summer on a three-year deal.

However, the tireless 19-year-old midfielder has not exactly found it easy to adjust to playing in Europe.

Lawal made his Livingston debut on Saturday in their 2-0 victory over Ayr United in the Scottish League Cup. But coach Martindale jokingly said that he had to give the youngster minutes so he could get some money to settle his fines.

“I’ve fined Lawal so much that I needed to help him out and get him his win bonus,” Martindale said per Daily Record.

“He’s just still getting used to things. On Sunday, he was down at the ground at 11am in jeans and a t-shirt. I said to him, ‘One, you’re two hours early, and two, where’s your tracksuit? and he said, ‘I’m sorry coach, I didn’t know.’

“He’d got fined £100 for putting his GPS tracker in the wash too, and he’s been fined for his finishing drills in training as well, so I thought that I had to help him out a bit and get him on the park and get him a used sub win bonus.”

Despite Lawal’s struggles, Martin is confident that the Nigerian midfielder will soon adjust to life in Europe. The youngster currently plays for Livingston’s reserves, but he may soon be in the first team.

“He’s been working really hard, and I’ve been really impressed. He’ll get a lot of game time with the reserves initially, but I don’t think he’s far off being game-ready for the first team.

“The reserves start back up next week, and he’ll get 90 minutes. That will help him adapt a wee bit to Scottish football but also get him some minutes into his legs,” Martindale added.