LIVING WELL AT LIVI
Psychologist is helping to raise players’ spirit, says Martindale
“We need to get rid of the stigma. My door is always open for them to come and talk...”
FOR Livingston, a hugely-successful season has seen a top-six finish secured and the club grace only the second major cup final in its history. Should Hibernian win the Scottish Cup, the Lions would also qualify for European football if they beat St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park tomorrow to claim a fifth-placed finish.
Yet David Martindale admits part of him just can’t wait for a wearying campaign like no other to finally be over.
‘I’m looking forward to the game but I’m also looking forward to the season ending,’ said the Livi boss.
‘I think everyone feels the same. It has been a long and hard season.
‘I saw Pep Guardiola say this week this season had been his most difficult title with Manchester City and I understand that.
‘It’s been exhausting, really draining. It’s probably the first season since I’ve been at Livingston where I can honestly, hand on heart, say I’m looking forward to a break.’
But it is not just Martindale who has found this season, played out during a global pandemic, to be taking its toll.
His players, their wives or partners, have also been finding it tough, with Martindale having to deal with more off-field problems in his squad than normal.
With that in mind, he took the decision that if a club employs a physio to look after the bodies of its athletes then why not shell out for a health professional to take care of their minds as well?
That led Martindale to turn to Dr Jagdish Basra, a sports psychologist and clinical psychologist known as Jags, whom he met while studying for his UEFA A license.
‘We have invested a good bit of money in sports psychology,’ he said.
‘I actually sacrificed a player coming in to bring Jags in.
‘She’s brilliant. She’s been phenomenal for the football club and she’s played a massive part in our success this season.
‘The players do one-to-one sessions with her and anything personal doesn’t come back to me. But anything in a footballing sense does come back to me and the players know that.
‘When I’m scouting a player I look at their attitude, their ability, their appetite and their application. How many of those attributes are mental? But we don’t put any work into the mental side of football. We come in, we coach and we go home.
‘But psychology is huge and you see that in the most successful sportsmen and women.
‘For me, it is a part of the game, and a part of working life, that doesn’t get addressed. Is it getting better? I think it is. People are now talking about it but it’s still a part of the workplace we need to get better with.
‘When it’s a personal issue, I think there’s still a stigma around it being a weakness; asking for help and telling somebody you’re struggling. ‘We need to get rid of that stigma. The players know my office door is always open, and they can come in and talk. I think we at Livingston have embraced (sports psychology) more than most football clubs.’
Martindale’s colourful backstory of being jailed for drugs offences is a well-told tale.
But the now rehabilitated coach reveals he developed an empathy for mental health issues behind bars that he has taken into his football career.
‘When I was in prison I was a trained listener,’ he said.
‘The Samaritans came in and trained people. So I went about the prison in Glenochil and people would hand in a slip if they were having suicidal thoughts and they needed to talk. And I would go in and speak to them.
‘So it’s something I am well aware of. I think I personally have good mental resilience but a lot of players probably had a different upbringing to the one I had.
‘In terms of the players, I think travelling has been an issue this season and that needs to get back to normal. Players need to be able to go back home to see their families.
‘I have a young American kid, Brian Schwake, who has not seen his mum and dad for a year.
‘So I have allowed him to go home three weeks early just to spend a bit more time there.
‘It’s not just an age thing, either. Just because a boy is 25 it doesn’t mean he’s not a kid in my eyes.
‘He’s maybe not staying with his mum and dad but he doesn’t have a lot of life experience.
‘So I think travel opening up will be massive this summer for everyone’s mentality.’
Knowing how tough he personally has found this season, Martindale has huge empathy with Callum Davidson.
Ahead of tomorrow’s big game and next weekend’s even bigger Scottish Cup final, the St Johnstone boss is currently dealing with an ongoing Covid-19 situation at the Perth club.
‘Hopefully the game’s in doubt and we get the three points,’ joked Martindale.
‘No, seriously, I feel for Callum because we’ve been through all of this before.
‘I thought we had seen the worst of Covid, so for it to hit them at this stage in the season is unfortunate.
‘On the other hand, let’s be honest, and I don’t want to sound unsporting — because I’m not — but I’ve got to try to take advantage of that.’