IT did not take long for the sacking of Ian Cathro by Hearts to become the subject of some cruel jibes yesterday.
Was Cathro, one impish online wag enquired, informed of his fate by a note passed to him by first team coach Jon Daly?
It was a mischievous remark which made fun of the widespread perception in Scottish football that Craig Levein, the Tynecastle director of football, has interfered in first team affairs.
Whether that was true or not remains a moot point. But the 31-year-old’s stewardship of Hearts had certainly become a joke. And it was one that was no longer a laughing matter for supporters.
The Edinburgh club’s failure to progress to the knockout stages of the Betfred Cup on Saturday was the final indignity for the handful of fans who still backed him.
Many of them, openly, vocally and viciously, lambasted the man in the dugout as their team, beaten by part-time League Two rivals Peterhead earlier in the week, failed to overcome Championship opponents Dunfermline at home.
In response, Cathro offered a wan grin. There has been precious little for anyone down Gorgie way to smile about since the Dundonian was unveiled back in December.
The former Dundee United youth coach and Rio Ave, Valencia and Newcastle United assistant began poorly and has been unable to halt an alarming decline. He paid the ultimate price for that after little over seven months in charge yesterday.
Accusations that Levein was undermining him by openly tampering in team affairs were completely justified.
Daly regularly moved from his vantage point alongside Levein in the directors’ box to the technical area during games just before tactical changes or substitutions were made.
In the league meeting with Aberdeen at Pittodrie in March – a game that Hearts ended up losing 2-0 - BT Sport cameras showed Daly approaching assistant Austin MacPhee directly in the dugout and relaying information to him.
Cathro was always going to have a job on his hands winning the confidence of hardened professionals, many of whom were years older than him.
In public, they have all backed him to a man. Privately, though, a few must have had their doubts. The aspersions about Levein will have done nothing to instil confidence in the man who was supposed to be calling the shots.
But ultimately it is the failure of the Hearts team to perform which has resulted in Cathro departing. His team only triumphed in eight of the 30 games he presided over. That is a win ratio of just over 26 per cent. No manager, no matter how promising, can survive with such a poor record.
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