Scott Arfield has had his appetite for being a manager whetted by his short stint as interim manager of Livingston, but he still wants to play.
Livingston’s bosses still have to decide who will be in the hot seat next season and Arfield said that this period is a huge transition for the club.
He said: “They (club bosses) will announce the manager in the next two or three weeks, hopefully, and then it is about recruitment. The Championship is a really tough league, a really tough league. It is about raising the standards.”
Mediocrity cannot be accepted, and that cannot happen next season for the relegated club, and the emphasis must be to climb back out of the Championship immediately and return to the top division at the first opportunity.
The former Rangers and Falkirk player (pictured), and sometimes TV pundit, said: “Whoever Chipper (Brian Rice) and Calvin (Ford, the club’s owner) decide they need to get the manager right.”
Asked if he wanted the job, Arfield said he has loved being in the hot seat for a short period following the departure of ex-Hibs midfielder, Marvin Bartley, but he said: “I have seen the bigger picture from the experience of the last ten days.”
The advantage of being a player and they being an interim manager has undoubtedly opened the eyes of the 37-year-old and Arfield added: “I am completely innocent about this management game. This club needs and leader that has been through a lot. The championship is a hard division to get out of.
“This club needs a manager that one has probably done it and two wants to do it again.”
Yes, he has been working to achieve coaching badges, not just to have them but to try and make a difference at a football club, but he added: “I did not quite know I would love what has happened in the last ten days as much as I have.
“It has, 100 per cent, it has made me really enjoy peeping behind the curtain and seeing a different side of football.”
He added: “As we speak, I am still desperate to play. I will take a week or ten days to rest and look back at this (being an interim manager). We have only had four training sessions but, for the large part, I have really enjoyed watching the team and watching my current team-mates or former team-mates be expansive and really enjoyed themselves.”
