Former Wigan Athletic man loses Livingston job after less than 100 days
Former Wigan Athletic assistant manager and caretaker boss Glenn Whelan has been sacked by Scottish Championship outfit Livingston after less than 100 days in charge.
The Irishman - who Shaun Maloney brought to Wigan at the beginning of the 2024/25 campaign, and who left last February shortly after Ryan Lowe's sacking - has paid the price for a poor start to the campaign.
Livingston failed to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Premier Sports Cup, and have picked up only six points from their opening five league matches.
In a statement, Livingston chairman Calvin Ford confirmed the reasons for Whelan's exit, and the return of former boss David Martindale alongside Frankie McAvoy.
"I am writing to share an important update regarding the leadership of our first team," he wrote.
"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 Football Club, I want to express our gratitude for their hard work, dedication, and service during their time with us.
"We are grateful for everything they have contributed to the club, and we wish them the best in their future coaching careers and personal endeavours.
"In the short term, David Martindale and 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’s that will aid Livingston FC in finding the ideal candidate to lead our club forward.
"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 2026/27 season.
"Thank you for your continued dedication and unwavering support of Livingston FC."
It’s a far cry from as recently as May, when Whelan was appointed.
Martindale, then the club’s sporting director, had said: “I know it’s taken a little bit of time, but we needed to make sure we got the right fit for the club, and we feel we’ve done that.
“After detailed interviews, Glenn came across incredibly well, and we all feel there is real alignment between how Glenn approaches the game and how we want to do things ourselves.”