Let me boss in Scotland, pleads Landi

Published on Wednesday 1 September 2010 15:09

ROBERTO LANDI today broke his two-year silence over his controversial sacking from Livingston.

The former Livingston manager revisited the Lions on Tuesday to speak with chief executive Ged Nixon, who was on the board at the time of Landi's departure in December 2008. Nixon, who with chairman Gordon McDougall, was one of the main driving forces behind the rescue of the club, holds no grudges and believes the Italian was as much a victim of the chaotic ownership of Angelo Massone, as anyone.

Landi, who is still pursuing Massone for his unpaid salary through FIFA, said: "I am still owed money, but for me the biggest loss was my reputation in Scotland. I still believe we would have been promoted to the SPL. We were flying, unbeatable and then the club started falling apart.

"But I had nothing to do with that. I was brought in to coach the football team, not look after the business. What Massone and Tomasso Angelini did to people at the club was shocking - a disgrace."

Landi would love to work again in Scotland, but knows his reputation has been tarnished because of his association with Massone. He has been offered jobs across Europe and recently turned down a tentative offer from an Irish Premier League side, but would like nothing better than a return to Scotland

"If I have another chance to work in Scotland I would grab it," he said. "I have worked across the world and never seen such passion. I would love to be given another chance to work here but unfortunately, because I am Italian, many people associate me with what went wrong with Livingston, even though the financial side was none of my doing.

"I came to the club in good faith and agreed a two-year contract with Massone. But by late September I knew something was wrong. However, of our first ten games we won nine and drew one, we were flying, but then it went wrong.

"You cannot expect players to play for nothing. You cannot make promises and not keep them, you cannot deceive people and expect to maintain their trust."