With surprise of Ian Murray’s sacking slowly dissipating, all the attention at Raith Rovers now turns quickly to his replacement.
Questions remain over Murray’s shock exit, but there are just as many posers over his successor.
Is there a new man in mind? Will they seek applications? Is there a budget to pay compensation for someone currently in work?
Do the Stark’s Park powerbrokers want someone they have previously worked with? Does it have to be someone who knows Scottish football and the Championship?
With all these issues up in the air, Courier Sport has taken a look at some of the possible candidates being linked with the job.
Rhys McCabe
Regarded as Scottish football’s up-and-coming manager, the 32-year-old stepped into Murray’s shoes at Airdrie in May 2022.
Since then, he has developed a reputation for his brand of passing and attacking football.
He steered the Diamonds to third place in League One in his first season in charge before battering Falkirk in the play-offs to clinch promotion with a penalty shoot-out in the final against Hamilton Accies.
The Lanarkshire men were back in the play-offs last season after finishing fourth in the Championship, 17 points adrift of Raith.
Defeated by Partick in the quarter-finals, McCabe has overhauled his squad impressively during the summer and they have won four out of five games so far, only narrowly losing to Aberdeen but still qualifying from the Premier Sports Cup group stage.
An opening-day victory over Raith on Saturday – their fifth win in six games against Rovers – proved the final straw for Murray.
The question will be whether Raith can afford any compensation due and whether McCabe sees enough progress for his career in moving to another Championship team.
Kevin Thomson
Having worked with Raith chiefs Dean Mckenzie and Andy Barrowman at Kelty Hearts, Thomson has already been floated as a possible replacement for Murray.
The former Hibs and Rangers midfielder led Kelty to the League Two title in 2022 and was actually linked with Rovers before Murray landed the job at Stark’s Park that summer.
The 39-year-old worked as a youth coach at Rangers before taking his first steps into senior management at Kelty.
He steered the ambitious Fife club to the League Two title by a massive 21 points before surprisingly resigning.
Questions will be asked over that decision and relations with the current Rovers hierarchy, as well as his time away from the dugout since.
But the style of football and some memorable results, including an injury-time victory over double-winning St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup, could make him a candidate.
John Potter
Another with a history of working with Mckenzie and Barrowman at Kelty and now in place as an interim boss at Raith.
The former Hibs and Sunderland number two replaced Thomson at New Central Park and found League One more of a struggle.
But the former Dunfermline defender and manager kept Kelty away from relegation trouble and subsequently followed his bosses along the road to Kirkcaldy last summer.
Installed as technical director, Potter has been a hands-on presence on the training ground as well as leading the club’s recruitment efforts.
On a match-day, he has been the management’s eyes from the stand, offering a different perspective to the pitch-side view.
Should he and Colin Cameron, Murray’s number two, prove a success as caretakers then Potter could be asked to take the role permanently.
Tam Courts
Another who cut his managerial teeth at Kelty, steering the former juniors club from the East of Scotland League to the Lowland League in 2018.
His resignation was ‘reluctantly accepted’ by the Fife club in October that year with the team sitting top of the fifth tier.
He subsequently landed a role in the Dundee United academy as head of tactical performance and then stepped up to become head coach at first-team level in June 2021.
Having steered the Tangerines to a superb 4th placed finish in the Premiership, securing European qualification for the first time in a decade, he then left to ‘explore other options’.
A short stint in charge of Budapest Honved lasted just four months and the 42-year-old brought to an end 20 months out of the game when he was asked to take over as development coach at Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia this summer.
Boasting the likes of former Real Madrid legend Nacho and Belgium international keeper Koen Casteels, whether Courts could be tempted back into management in Scotland and away from the bright lights of the Middle East is another thing altogether.
Conversation