I told guy in hospital to wait a sec.. I was trying to make a sub!
Leven on managing from his sick bed
PETER LEVEN has revealed how he was on his mobile phone shouting instructions from his hospital bed to Jonny Hayes on the Aberdeen bench last weekend.
Somebody was walking up the corridor, stopped at his door and asked if he was an Dons supporter?
He politely asked them to wait for a couple of minutes because he was trying to make a substitution.
The interim boss was rushed for emergency surgery to have an infection in his hip drained last Friday.
Leven had to be hooked up to a live feed in the hospital and had player-coach Hayes passing on instructions to stand-in Scott Anderson.
Aberdeen extended their unbeaten league run to six games, with the 1-0 win over St Johnstone proving the perfect antidote for their boss. Leven said: “Last Saturday was so frustrating, the media team here were brilliant because they got me hooked up to a live stream. “I was screaming and shouting down the phone at Jonny Hayes telling him to pass on messages. “He wasn’t passing on the messages the way I was saying them – I was getting excited telling him to get boys tighter, and he was passing it on all very calmly! “I was having to tell him, ‘That’s not the way I’m saying it!’ It must have been quite funny to watch. “Jonny will be glad he doesn’t have to deal with me and Scott Anderson (coach) said that if it had been him on the phone to me instead, he’d have just hung up. “Thankfully, the hospital had me in a room on my own so I wasn’t bothering anyone else when I was raising my voice. The staff there were great, although I did have to tell one guy who walked past to wait a minute because I was in the middle of making a sub at the time!
“He popped his head round the door to say, ‘Are you an Aberdeen fan?’ I had to say to him, ‘Give me two minutes mate, I’m bringing someone on here’. It was a strange experience.”
Leven did go on FaceTime into the Aberdeen dressing room after win, although all sympathy for him disappeared when he told his players they were only getting one day off.
He said: “After the game I did FaceTime with the boys in my gown. It was good to speak to the players and give them a bit of a laugh.
“Although they were not too happy when I said they were only getting one day off and not two. They were booing me.”
Aberdeen could go top of the bottom six with a win at Hibs tomorrow. Leven knows they will be dangerous but is looking for the Dons to extend their unbeaten run.
He said: “They are a team who can really hurt you.
“We are going there full of confidence and will be hoping for the three points.
“The team is playing the way I want to right now, there are no excuses because we want to finish top of the bottom six.
“I’ve told them they’re not on holiday yet, the fans are paying hardearned money to watch us so we need to be right at it, trying to win every game.”
Jamie McGrath is keen to end Aberdeen’s dismal record at Easter Road, going back to 2020. The Reds felt a sense of injustice in their 2-0 defeat there last time.
The midfielder said: “It was probably one of the best performances of the season but typical of us, we didn’t get the job done on the day.
“It will be a very interesting game.”
He wasn’t passing on messages the way I was saying them
PETER LEVEN ON HIS EXCHANGES WITH HAYES