Livingston boss David Martindale has warned he may have to walk away if performances don’t improve.
The Lions suffered a 2-0 loss away to Kilmarnock at the weekend which saw them fall to eighth in the Premiership table.
It’s now a run of just seven points from their last 11 games, while their blank at Rugby Park makes it seven consecutive away games without a goal.
Martindale concedes it’s not been good enough of late and says the solution is simple if there’s no improvement – either new players need to come in or he needs to leave.
Speaking to the West Lothian Courier, he said: “I’ve seen folk saying we’re at the beach. I can guarantee that’s not coming from the staff, but I can understand why it’s getting said to be honest.
“It’s up to me to get the best out of the boys and if I can’t do that then the club either needs to get new players in or I need to go. It’s that simple and I’ve said that to the players.
“What we’re getting collectively – and that includes me as the leader of the group – isn’t good enough.
“We’ve had talks this week and I’ve told the players that my summer recruitment might have to change very quickly because I thought I was looking for four or five and I might have to end up looking for eight.”
He added: “Boys need to start showing me that they want to be at Livingston next season. I’ll bite, scratch and fight for everything for this club and in my life.
“If they don’t have that fight in them then I’m probably not the manager for them and Livingston probably isn’t the club to be at.”
Despite all the doom and gloom of late, Martindale insists he’d have jumped at being in their current position if offered it at the start of the season.
He said: “To be honest, I’d have bit your hand off to not be in a relegation battle at the start of the season.
“I spoke to folk at Ross County who said ‘keep your head up, you’ve had a great season’ and the same at Kilmarnock. I’m going home absolutely devastated after defeats. It hurts. It really hurts, and I’ll do absolutely everything within my power to turn the corner.”
The Lions host Dundee United on Saturday, with the visitors sitting at the foot of the table.
Martindale added: “Our home form actually has been decent. It’s away we’ve really struggled. I hope the fans at home can help get us out of this rut.”
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