Recalibrating his work-life balance has helped Callum Davidson become a better manager for St Johnstone.
When the Perth club’s season was careering into ever more dangerous territory a year ago, Davidson couldn’t find enough hours in the day.
But reflecting on a chaotic, and nearly catastrophic, Premiership campaign that followed one of unprecedented Saints’ success, the head coach came to the conclusion that a different mantra was needed.
And now, with a feeling of stability having returned to McDiarmid Park, Davidson is reaping the benefits of knowing when to put his phone down and pick up a tennis racket or a golf club.
“Looking back, it was a really tough time for me,” he said.
“I probably didn’t realise how much it was affecting me away from the football.
“I’ve learned a lot from it to be honest with you.
“When I took the job I was a big believer in making sure you made time to switch off from the game so that you would end up making better decisions.
“That December and January I didn’t have any real time off to clear my head.
“I feel that I’m in a better place now to make better decisions.
“What we did as a coaching staff and group of players to stay in the league from where we were was a huge achievement in the end.
“I don’t want to be back in that sort of position, of course, but I’ve learned so much from it.”
Managing stress
And that has meant figuring out how to keep himself in the best mindset to be the club’s figurehead.
“It’s about how I manage stress,” Davidson added.
“There were situations where I wasn’t in control of things and I felt as though I should be.
“I’ve learned that there are times when you can’t be in control and there’s nothing you can do about it.
“People were talking about me going from a really good manager to the worst manager ever.
“When I did get the chance to sit back and look at it I thought ‘what’s my clear picture, what do I want to do?’
“Now I would do that sort of thing more.
“I’ll switch my phone off on a Sunday now. I won’t be answering every call like I used to.
“Taking time off on a Sunday will help me make better decisions at other times.
“That’s how I see it.”
Golf, tennis and roast beef
So what does a Sunday in the middle of a football season now look like for Davidson?
“It looks like a golf course, a tennis court and roast beef!” he said.
“I’ll go and enjoy myself and maybe compete at something else.
🗣️ ‘Dunblane’s two greatest sportsmen going to battle it out…’ 🤣
St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson enjoys a round of golf with tennis star Jamie Murray before aiming to secure a cup double 🏆🏆 More on our Scottish Cup final live coverage…
⏰ 1.00pm
📺 BBC One Scotland pic.twitter.com/oy2oIXZctj— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) May 22, 2021
“Before I’d be thinking ‘I haven’t got the time because I’ve got to do this or I’ve got to fix that’.
“I didn’t want us to go down and be wondering if I missed something or asking myself ‘why didn’t I do that?’
“It could be a case of letting someone else do it or that it isn’t relevant to where we’re at.”
The next transfer window is shaping up to be a very different experience to the one which needed to be successful if Saints were to preserve their Premiership status.
“I was in a hurry to do everything in January,” said Davidson.
“I had players I wanted but some were holding off to see what else was out there.
“There were a lot of moving parts. It was all a bit cat and mouse.
“It was tough.
“But I had to get players in the door because we were so short.
“When I look back at January I’m actually very proud of what we were able to do.
“Everybody contributed in some way to us staying up.
“John Mahon is a perfect example – he came in for the second leg of the play-off and did brilliantly having hardly played before that.”
Conversation