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 Republic of Ireland, Stoke and Aston Villa star Whelan was handed the reins at the end of May.
But after failing to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Premier Sports Cup, 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 Livingston, I want to express our gratitude for their hard work, dedication and service during their time with us.
READ MORE ON FOOTBALL
CRACKER
Win stunning £600k 4-Bedroom Luxury Home & BMW X5 for just £1.79 with our discount
LION RAGE
Declan Rice and Morgan Rogers in furious bust-up during Arsenal vs Chelsea
“In the short term, David Martindale & 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.
Most read in Sport
BUM NOTE
Sky Sports cameras reveal what was on note Xabi Alonso sent to Reece James
RACING HERO
Brit racing driver cheats death after hero rival pulls him from burning car
MATCH DAY-DREAM
Porn star breaks Man City rules in VIP experience and is blanked by Haaland
FURY-OUS END
Tyson Fury claims Anthony Joshua fight is off and calls out Oleksandr Usyk
BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK
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.”
This was Whelan’s first proper job as manager, having previously been caretaker and then joint-caretaker at Wigan.