THE brief statement released by Livingston early yesterday morning to confirm they had parted company with their player/manager stressed the decision had been reached after cordial talks.

“Livingston Football Club has been in discussions over the weekend with Kenny Miller and his representatives,” the missive read.

“The club felt that the player-manager role wasn’t working and had requested that Kenny reverted to a full-time manager’s role.

“Kenny however feels that he isn’t ready to give up his football career at this time.

“As a result the club and Kenny have amicably agreed to part company. Livingston Football Club would like to thank Kenny for his honesty and openness and wish him well for the future.”

But Scottish football being what it is – a hotbed of gossip, rumours and innuendo – it wasn’t long before another altogether different story started to emerge.

Namely, that relations between Miller and senior officials at the newly-promoted Ladbrokes Premiership club had been strained and he had departed after just seven weeks in the job as a result.

Tam McManus, the former Hibernian player who now works as a BBC Radio Scotland pundit as well as a Herald Sport columnist, quickly took to Twitter to rubbish the official party line.

“Kenny Miller and Livingston didn’t part ‘amicably’,” he posted on Twitter. “Nor did he walk away. He was sacked.

“Nor was he asked to ‘give up playing to solely be the manager’. Nonsense. Take of that what you will. The way he has been dealt with by Livingston has been poor.”

The suggestion that the West Lothian club had grown concerned about Miller combining both playing and managing certainly doesn’t ring true. Why would they be after the start they have made to the new term?

Livingston have, all things considered, performed well under the former Hibs, Rangers, Wolves, Derby County, Celtic and Cardiff City striker during the 2018/19 campaign.

They topped their Betfred Cup group after beating Annan - in a game that Miller scored the only goal in – Airdrieonians and Berwick Rangers and defeating top flight rivals Hamilton in a penalty shoot-out.

Their Premiership form has hardly been disastrous either. There was never any chance they would defeat Celtic at Parkhead on the day they unfurled the league flag. There was no disgrace in losing 3-1 to their hosts.

They followed that up with a highly-commendable 0-0 draw against a Kilmarnock team who racked up some impressive wins over Celtic and Rangers last season at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Being beaten 1-0 in the last 16 of the Betfred Cup by Motherwell, last year’s beaten finalists, at the weekend, too, was hardly shameful.

So, what exactly was the problem with Miller combining playing with managing the side given their encouraging start to the new term? It doesn’t make sense.

Being a player/manager is certainly rare in the modern era. But the Livingston hierarchy agreed to it back at the end of June when the former Scotland internationalist was appointed.

Surely they discussed how it would work fully back then and knew exactly what they were letting themselves in for? Why, then, the change of heart?

The 38-year-old knew he would have to rely heavily on his backroom team to assist him with his duties and declared that bringing in another coach to help him would be one of his priorities.

Coming so soon after David Hopkin, who led Livingston back into the top flight via the play-offs against all the odds last season, stood down, the whole sorry episode reflects very badly on those who run Livingston.

There will doubtless be a long line of out-of-work, and no doubt some in-work, coaches and managers lining up to take over from Miller.

Gary Holt, the former Falkirk manager who last worked at Norwich City as a coach, and Gavin Skelton, the one-time Queen of the South player/manager, have been linked with the role.

Livingston have now had 14 different managers in charge in the last 10 years. Their off-field difficulties have undoubtedly contributed to that turnaround. But it also suggests a lack of backing for those who occupy the dugout.

Livingston will struggle to remain in the top flight in the coming months regardless of who is brought in to replace Miller in the coming days due to the size of their playing budget.

But if there is unrest behind the scenes or unrealistic expectations of whoever is in charge then it won’t help their already difficult cause.

It is, meanwhile, to be hoped that Miller, who parted company with Rangers on bad terms in the summer, makes a quickfire return to both the game as a player and to management.

He has a great deal to offer Scottish football in both roles - even if he does them both at the same time.