Glenn Whelan, the Republic of Ireland legend, has taken his first managerial job at Livingston, insisting the sour end to his playing stint at Hearts never put him off returning to Scottish football. The 42-year-old endured a miserable five months at Tynecastle seven years ago after being signed by Craig Levein but discarded by Daniel Stendel, who dropped him after just two games. Whelan was quoted at the time saying he felt “thrown under the bus” by the German boss and left Hearts in January 2020 midway through his contract.
No Hard Feelings Towards Scotland
“I had no issues with coming back to Scotland. There was no issues with Scotland when I was up at Hearts. That was never the case,” Whelan said. “It's a funny old game, you just never know where you're going to be in this industry. I know a lot of people said that it didn't work out at Hearts but you take the best out of everything and Hearts is a big club. At the time, it was probably going through a transitional period, which wasn't great, but it turned a little bit sour. Not on my part, it was more the manager who was coming in (Stendel) who didn't want me. He had a different way of playing and what he tried to do, so, it was never the case of Scotland itself.”
Whelan, who won 91 caps for Ireland, returned to Scotland last month to take over Livingston, who were relegated from the Scottish Premiership last season. He is determined to make a success of his second spell north of the border, working with staff who know the league and players.
Building a Winning Dressing Room
“For me, it's just about working with Livingston and trying to improve the players that we've got,” Whelan explained. “I try and think when if I was still a player, would I like to do certain stuff? I think it's now flipping that on its head a little bit to go in and try and get a tune out of the dressing room, to get the lads to enjoy coming into training, first and foremost. Now we've got a decent dressing room, can we make it better? Can we start winning games and build up confidence to have a good season? We're a big team in this league now and we'll be pushing to go straight back up.”
Livington are many people’s favourites to win the Championship after dropping out of the top flight. They looked good value as they beat Hearts 2-1 in Scott Pittman’s testimonial on Friday night, with goals from Cammy Palmer and Tyrese Sinclair. Whelan hopes his players can thrive on the expectation levels: “I hope so. Looking at performances, if you don't match it or if you can't start well, then things will change. If it's pressure on us, then we'll take all the pressure that comes with it. I back myself, I back the staff and I'm backing the players also. Obviously, it was difficult last season for the club being relegated, so they needed someone to come in and grab it by the horns and hopefully push it forward.”
Coaching Journey and Scott Pittman Tribute
Whelan spent two years at Wigan Athletic as first team coach under Shaun Maloney then Ryan Lowe, with a two-game spell as caretaker boss in between. “Shaun was great for me. Obviously, having worked with Roberto Martinez coming out of Belgium, he had loads of great ideas. It was great just to have the conversations moreso about how we see in football. The Wigan experience, like anything, you take the best out of it and hopefully improve,” he said. “For me, I played until I was late into my thirties, and now I'm on the coaching ladder, I'm looking to try and get as high as I can. I need to come in and try and prove myself, first and foremost to the fans at Livingston and get a tune out of the boys.”
Scott Pittman was rewarded for 12 years of service with a testimonial, having made a record 470 appearances for the Lions. Whelan praised the midfielder: “He doesn't say a lot but he's all action. He sets the tone with the way he trains, I think the lads look up to him. He’s got something about him where the lads feel when they're in his presence, you have to go and prove things to Scotty first and foremost. It was a great occasion, really glad the Hearts came and the fans came out for him because it was a real good test and it was a real proper game.”
