Cowdenbeath boss Jimmy Nicholl could be forgiven for hoping that the Manager of the Month curse strikes again when his side host Championship leaders Hearts tomorrow.
Jambos counterpart Robbie Neilson has picked up the accolade for November after maintaining the Edinburgh club’s unbeaten league record with three wins from three games.
It is perhaps a measure of Hearts’ early dominance that it was Neilson’s third such award of the season, adding to the ones he received in August and October.
But while the much talked-about managerial award curse – which has often seen managers lose their next game after picking up the trophy – has yet to hit Neilson, Nicholl would no doubt love to see it happen at Central Park tomorrow.
Cowden take on the runaway league leaders on the back of a similarly daunting game at Ibrox, although Nicholl felt his team acquitted themselves well in the narrow 1-0 loss to Rangers.
“At half-time I was happy enough because we had achieved what we set out to do, which was to frustrate Rangers and make sure they didn’t get early goals against us,” he commented.
“We showed some good use of the ball at times and put Rangers under a wee bit of pressure.
“As the game went on and it was still 0-0, I was saying: ‘Go on then, take a wee chance now and then’.
“So there are plenty of positives we can take out of the Rangers game.
“Hearts are flying just now but I think we’re good enough to get something from the game.”