Livingston boss admits to 'trepidation' ahead of season as fear of failure drives him to succeed

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Livingston boss David Martindale admits he feels ‘trepidation’ ahead of their Premiership campaign.But the gaffer confessed that’s no different to any other season as they kick things off at home to Aberdeen on Saturday.The Lions are set for an unprecedented sixth consecutive season in Scotland’s top flight and the gaffer confessed a fear of failure will drive him on as they try to defy the odds once again.Livi have yet to be involved in a relegation battle since their promotion back into the elite, but a £200,000 budget cut – along with a hugely disappointing end to the previous campaign – has many backing the Tony Macaroni Arena outfit to struggle.Martindale said: “I don’t think I’ve looked forward to a season at Livingston since the first year when I was excited about coming into a professional football club.“There’s trepidation.

There will be a lot of lows and some highs and hopefully there’s enough highs to keep us in the Premiership. You’re going to lose more games than you win so it’s about how you deal with the losses. "Last time out we won a third of our games so for 66 per cent of a normal season, the wife’s scared to talk to me, my daughter doesn’t come out of our room and even the dog doesn’t come to see me. “You go home on a Saturday hoping that no-one’s in but everyone is just sitting quietly until they see what kind of mood I’m in but I think that’s just life as a football manager.

I don’t think you actually get a chance to enjoy football. You get 10 minutes in the changing room after you’ve got a good result but that’s it. “Is it fear of failure?

Probably. If I get sacked at the weekend, I’m back on a building site on Monday because I’ve got a mortgage to pay.”He added: “The majority of people might tip