Callum Davidson and Liam Fox’s wives BOTH asked why their husbands would want to be a manager – but St Johnstone boss has no regrets

Callum Davidson’s wife has asked him the same question that Liam Fox got from his better half when the Dundee United job became a possibility.

“Why become a manager?”

But, as the two men prepare to face each other at Tannadice this weekend, the St Johnstone boss pointed out that the pull of testing yourself as arguably the most important person at a football club is powerful.

“She said that to me last season!” joked Davidson, whose double-winning first season as a number one was followed by a close shave with relegation.

“You either want to do it or you don’t.

“There are only 12 manager jobs in the top league in Scotland and it’s a very hard thing to say ‘no’ to.

“There is a different pressure than when you’re a number two but you know that will be the case.

“The biggest difference is: the buck stops with you.

“As an assistant manager you can be mates with the players, you can enjoy taking training and you can go home and switch off a bit.

“As a manager it becomes 24/7.

“It’s a cliché but it’s true. You have to learn to deal with that.”

Different challenge every season

Davidson, an assistant to Tommy Wright, Gary Rowett and Stevie Crawford, added: “It’s something I’m still learning.

“I’m getting better at it after last season.

“The good thing is that the decisions are yours. You sign the players and it’s up to you to try and deliver performances and results.

“For me, all three seasons have been different, which makes it interesting and challenging.

“This one has been about a total revamp of my squad.”

Fight fire with fire

Davidson’s Saints team will be ready to fight fire with fire when they come up against a United side determined to lose the tag of being the only one in Scotland without a league win.

“We know they’ll be highly motivated for the game but that will be the same every week,” he said. “As it will be for us.

“I know Liam and Stephen well. They’ll be as desperate to win this game as we are.

“I thought they played well in the second half against Rangers. There are some very good players in their team.

“Every game this season will be tough and Saturday will be no different.

𝓒𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓼𝓽 📸

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— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) September 28, 2022

“Training has been really good over the last couple of weeks and I’ve been happy with performance levels in our last two games.

“We’re in a good place and I’m looking for us to hit that performance level again on Saturday.

“Dundee United are very good going forward so we need to do all we can to keep them out but we also have to cause them as many problems as possible.”