IT’S GOOD TO TALK
Boss Holt asks stay-away players to keep healthy body and mind
Livingston manager Gary Holt has invited his players to get in touch for a chat at anytime during the coming months.
Speaking to the Courier, the gaffer says he not only wants the players to look after their physical health during the coronavirus crisis, he also wants them to take care of themselves mentally too.
He said: “We have said to every member of staff that you have our numbers and can call us or get in touch with us if you want to have a chat professionally and personally. It is also about the mental side of things, not just about the physical.
“We said to them you may have the unrest and uncertainties, so if you feel it building up then feel free to call us or text, or we can have a wee chat on Facetime if you want to see a friendly face and have somebody to listen.”
Livingston last played at St
Johnstone on March 7 and with recent developments it looks like being a while before there is any action.
Boris Johnson announced a lockdown throughout Britain on Monday but the players at Livingston have not been into the stadium for over a week now.
None of the players have tested positive for coronavirus but Livingston goalkeeper Robby McCrorie’s brother Ross who is loan at Portsmouth from Rangers has been diagnosed with the contagion.
Holt continued: “We have shut the stadium down and the boys are all on individual programmes to do that.
“We know we are going to be shut down for the foreseeable future so it is an in- depth dietary and fitness plan, rather than just a bog standard plan, and it will be tailored to all their individual needs.
“They have got their one a day opportunity to get outside but they can also go out into their gardens as well. Health is the most important thing at this t i m e, so they must be sensible, do as much as they can and then we will pick it all back up when they come back in again.
“The players have been a way from the club for a wee bit now and we had put things into place before they went so they are professional enough to know what they have to do.
“The respect we have for our players is twofold and we know that they will want to come back to us in good shape.”
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Livingston this week announced a new share scheme for fans to help keep the club afloat but Holt says the Lions are no different from any other business at this time.
“Money is a concern for everyone, it is not just football, it is every walk of life and every business and self- employed person in Britain that have their concerns but it is something we are working to try and navigate through and we will see as we go along how it affects us.”
He added: “It can be tough getting up in the mornings sometimes and having nothing to do. We are in a sport where you are outside for the majority of the day. You are always on the training pitch or at game so I am going stir crazy a wee bit, you know?
“With this unofficial, or official, lockdown in place you can only really get out to the garden, other than your one mode of exercise per day, so I have been getting out in the garden with the kids and the wife has got lists the length of her arm with jobs for me to do so I have been kept busy at least!”