Former Newcastle United coach Ian Cathro will see the curtain come down on a difficult season with Heart of Midlothian this weekend.
The Magpies sanctioned Cathro’s exit to Tynecastle in December but life has been far from easy for the 30-year-old in his first managerial post.
Hearts could end the season on the back of a win-less run of six matches and Cathro’s team have won just four games in total since the turn of the year.
Losing to Hibernian in the Scottish Cup hardly helped him either.
Cathro’s win ratio is just 24% with Hearts ending the season with a tough game at Celtic which the home side need avoid defeat to end the season unbeaten and be crowned “invincibles” in the Scottish Premiership.
With the Scottish media focusing on Brendan Rodgers’ team it means that Cathro and his team might be able to slip out of Parkhead in a relatively low-key manner.
But the inquest at Hearts will go on over the summer - and so could the media intensity that surrounds Cathro’s tenure at Tynecastle.
Even before he’d been appointed, former Rangers star Kris Boyd question how much involvement Cathro actually had during his time working with Rafa Benitez.
Boyd also said in December: “For me the practical stuff involved in coaching is easy — it’s dealing with highly-charged players that’s the hard part.
“And for me Cathro is way, way out of his depth.”
Negative headlines have been consistent with Cathro’s poor results of late too.
This week he found himself fending off suggestions he had a bust-up with his striker Bjorn Johnsen in the tunnel after the defeat at St Johnstone.
Cathro has tried to give Hearts fans some hope looking ahead to next season and even held a tactical presentation for supporters to give them some insight into his managerial style.
Fans were also allowed to grill Cathro in a Q and A session into what had gone wrong in the season so far.
Next season a big improvement will be expected and with Hibs returning to the top tier, losing to their bitter rivals simply won’t be an option for Cathro’s Hearts.
Cathro’s words with the fans may buy him some time but in a results-driven business and with pundits queuing up to give their opinions on the ex-Toon coach, a good summer transfer window followed by a flying start in the Scottish Premiership will be needed next season to keep the critics at bay - and keep the Hearts boss in a job.