Premier League Legend Dismissed After Just 5 Games in Short-Lived 98-Day Tenure

GLENN WHELAN has been sacked after just 98 days in charge of Livingston – with David Martindale set for a sensational return to the Almondvale dugout.

Former , Stoke and star Whelan was handed the reins at the end of May.

But after failing to qualify for the knockout rounds of the , the Lions have picked up just six points from their first five league matches.

Friday night’s 1-0 home defeat to Marvin Bartley’s Stenhousemuir proved the final straw for chairman Calvin Ford who has reinstated Martindale on an interim basis.

Ford confirmed: “After careful consideration and thorough discussions, the Club can confirm that head coach Glenn Whelan and assistant head coach Danny Ventre are no longer with the organisation.

“On behalf of everyone at , I want to express our gratitude for their hard work, dedication and service during their time with us.

“In the short term, & Frankie McAvoy will temporarily step in as interim coaches assisted by Grant Murray and Brian Potter.

“Davie’s past success and proven track record in the Scottish Championship made this decision easy and we look forward to refocusing and finding success on the pitch while he holds this position.

“Looking ahead, we have already begun the process of securing the appropriate search firm to help us find our next head coach.

“Our net will be cast far wider than it was in our previous search and the focus of the search will be via data analytics that fit in with the clubs game model and other important criteria that will aid Livingston in finding the ideal candidate to lead our club forward.

Fixtures Results Table

Wednesday 9 September

Rangers

19:45

PRE

St. Mirren

St. Johnstone

20:00

PRE

Celtic

Tuesday 15 September

Falkirk

19:45

PRE

Hearts

Hibernian

19:45

PRE

Kilmarnock

Motherwell

19:45

PRE

Aberdeen

Sunday 6 September

St. Johnstone

2 – 1

PRE

Hibernian

Hearts

2 – 1

PRE

Dundee

Saturday 5 September

St. Mirren

1 – 2

PRE

Celtic

Rangers

1 – 0

PRE

Motherwell

Dundee Utd

1 – 1

PRE

Falkirk

Aberdeen

0 – 0

PRE

Kilmarnock

Pld Pts GD W D L Form

1

5

15

10

5

0

0

2

5

12

7

4

0

1

3

5

10

3

3

1

1

4

5

10

2

3

1

1

5

5

8

3

2

2

1

6

6

7

1

2

1

3

7

5

7

0

2

1

2

8

5

6

-2

2

0

3

2nd Phase – Championship Group Pld Pts GD W D L Form

2nd Phase – Relegation Group Pld Pts GD W D L Form

“Mediocrity is not an acceptable solution and we will continue to work to find the leader that delivers on the ambitions and aspirations of sustained, high-level success that we expect at Livingston.

“Nothing else is acceptable.

“As always, we are led by the credo that the club comes first.

“We are driven by our desire to win and compete at the highest level and we feel that this decision is appropriate given the unfortunate start to the season.”